Two serpents.
One was Arin.
The other, Kael.
A low, breathy chuckle escaped Arin as his eyes glowed with a cold, malicious light.
Kael lay motionless. Sweat clung to his scales as his gaze locked onto Arin.
His vision sought to retreat, but Arin's persistence allowed no such mercy.
"Kael," Arin said softly, "I know you understand me… at least more than the others."
Arin's tail moved. Slowly, deliberately, it traced a single letter into the dust.
A
"This," Arin continued, his voice dropping,
"is where it begins."
He continued drawing.
R
I
N
"A-r-i-n," he said, his tail pointing toward himself.
"Do you understand?" he asked slowly.
Kael's head was empty. Nothing went in.
He didn't understand.
Not at all.
His neck lowered toward Arin's symbols.
His tongue flickered.
He… licked it.
Arin's body stilled.
"Ah."
"I thought you would have understood, since you broke through, but…"
He clicked his tongue softly.
Kael just stared at Arin's disappointment.
His tail rose.
Slowly.
He traced.
A crooked diagonal line.
Then another.
Arin's eyes lit up.
"Yes."
Arin's body jumped without command.
Dust burst upward, spreading through the air.
And the crooked A vanished beneath the settling dust.
"No—!"
Arin gazed at Kael.
"Why did I jump? I shouldn't have—ahhh… I'm so sorry…"
Arin's face lowered.
Kael simply stared at Arin in his agony.
He didn't understand a thing.
Why was that symbol so important that it could make him this sad?
Kael looked down at his own body.
As if—
just a little, only a little—
his self-awareness seeped through a tiny hole in the dark.
Kael's tail rose once again.
Slowly.
He traced.
A diagonal line.
Then another.
Arin stared as if he were witnessing a miracle anew.
A
The symbol rested there once more—
steadier than before.
The sequence repeated.
Every word brought him something new—
a quiet, unfamiliar happiness.
Now—
K
A
E
"That's you."
Arin's tail pointed toward him.
Kael stared.
His tail rose.
Slowly.
It turned—
toward himself.
"Right," Arin said softly. "That's you."
Then a realization settled in.
"Oh—ah. Let's start from abcd."
At the time, Arin didn't consider whether Kael truly understood what it meant.
It just… didn't matter.
Time passed
.
Slowly, but surely, things began to change.
Arin coiled,
cultivating.
His eyes shut, then opened.
Thin, transparent energy gathered around him.
He exhaled sharply.
"I'm sure of it," he muttered.
"The peak of Qi Refinement."
The air grew heavy, pressing against his breath.
The four serpents slithered toward him.
"What?" Arin asked.
They stopped.
All except Kael.
Kael moved forward alone.
He lowered his head to the ground.
And simply—
sensed.
Arin stared at him, bewildered.
Then—
Arin did the same.
The moment passed.
But it made one thing clear.
Undeniably—
beasts were few.
His heartbeat rose.
The first chapter of his life flashed through him.
"F—k."
"Why?"
"Why didn't I notice it earlier?"
"No…"
For the first time in his life, he felt a true sense of relief.
No struggle for survival.
And yet—
it had come to an end.
"And it's just when I was about to break through…"
His voice deepened.
At the thought alone, his coils tightened.
Fhhh—
he drew a deep breath.
He focused.
He found it.
He turned.
In the distance, a forest rested.
The qi there was denser.
Stronger.
But that also meant—
no more peace.
Arin swung his head.
A signal.
Let's leave.
He slithered forward.
Then—
he stopped.
His body refused to move.
Not because there was another choice—
but because he didn't want to accept it.
There was no other way.
He moved again.
Once more—
toward a new destination.