Seven days had passed since Star arrived in Paradise, and on a usual sunny morning, he was heading out with Elysia by his side, looking at the golden spear he held in his right hand. Despite its appearance, the polearm wasn't too heavy, and its pointed end gleamed with a soft sheen, as if it could pierce the very heavens.
The shaft was actually made of wood but was still quite sturdy, truly worthy of being called an Advanced weapon. Soul-crafted weapons depended on the potency of the shard with which they were crafted, and they came in six possible grades.
Advanced weapons were crafted with shards of the second-lowest grade: Awakened-grade soul shards, and thus had the power to rival most things of the same rank.
However, although he knew how much power the spear in his hand possessed, he could not bring himself to fully appreciate it. The fact that, unlike Elysia, he hadn't Awakened yet left much to be desired when it was him rather than her wielding the weapon.
Star could not channel his essence and thus could not call upon the golden spear's enchantment. In his hands, it was nothing more than an ordinary spear, just a lot better in every practical sense. But it could be so much more in her grasp.
Stopping briefly, he spun the spear for a short while and attempted a quick stab. Elysia also stopped to observe him keenly, nodding in approval at his brief performance.
"You're getting better at it."
Star frowned, clearly unsatisfied with his performance. He did not say anything, though, and Elysia chose to ignore him after that as they ventured farther away from the Heart of Paradise.
They soon arrived at the field of crimson flowers, where Elysia stopped to observe them with keen interest. She was just as intrigued as he had been the first time he saw them.
After staring at them for a while, she reached down and tried to touch one of the flowers. Her fingers caressed the stem, feeling its smooth crystalline body. A slight frown creased her face as she mumbled,
"It's not alive?"
Star furrowed his brows, having heard what she said, but he didn't have time to ponder her words because, in the next second, Elysia reached farther down and pulled at the flower.
The ruby-crystalline flower easily gave way but shattered into a hundred pieces before she could even raise it to her face. The pieces glittered softly before they shattered into a thousand more pieces, and then more, until they were nothing more than ruby dust.
Star winced, taking a quick step back. Each time he passed by the field of red flowers, he would hear a myriad of voices softly calling out his name. Now they were a litany of screams, but those wails sounded like cries of joy rather than agony.
'What could they possibly be so happy about?'
Elysia tried to pick another flower, only for the same thing to occur. The flower broke into shards that kept shattering until only sparkling red dust was left.
Seeing her struggle to get one of the flowers, Star walked forward and tried to do the same. He had stayed away earlier, knowing what would happen the moment he got close, and as soon as he did, all the crimson flowers began leaning towards him.
It wasn't the wind causing this strange reaction. Plus, he could hear the litany of joyful cries growing louder. They weren't exactly discomforting, but that did not make them any less strange.
"Kent! Kent! Kent!"
The calls were unrelenting, beginning to sound no different from occultic chants. He pulled out a flower and quickly moved back, watching the flowers lean away the moment he was out of their reach.
The crimson flower in his hand did not shatter like it had with Elysia, and it continued to lean towards him when he brought it to his face. The calls continued, but now he could discern a single voice louder than the rest. He quickly lowered his hand.
Elysia's expression subtly changed as she glanced at him, tinged with something that resembled curiosity. She did not say anything, though, and instead continued towards their intended destination.
Star quickly followed behind her, holding the golden spear in his right hand and the delicate flower in his left. They continued forward for a while, only stopping at the entrance to the small forest.
Elysia studied the trees with keen interest before gesturing for them to continue. As Star walked through the forest, he looked up, wondering when the birds would finally notice their presence and promptly scatter away.
But to his greatest surprise, the birds remained where they were, singing. Elysia suddenly stopped, prompting him to do the same. He looked at her with a silent question, but all she did was look up at the canopy of leaves above with a smile on her face.
He followed her gaze, watching as a bird flew down from one of the trees and perched on her shoulder. When she held out her palms, it flew off her shoulder and hastily landed on them.
'It must be her affinity.'
Despite thinking that, Star couldn't help but feel a little jealous. These birds wouldn't even bother looking his way, and his shock only continued as more and more birds flew towards her.
There were half a dozen of them perched on her shoulders, arms, and the top of her head. She stroked one of the birds and turned to face him, the smile on her face only growing wider.
"Do you want to hold them?"
It was the brightest her voice had ever been since the day he met her.
He smiled back, nodding as he reached his hand towards her. After a moment, the bird sitting on top of her head flew towards him, perching atop his shoulder. The crimson flower was still in his grasp, and after eyeing it, the bird flew down from his shoulder to his wrist.
Another bird leapt off her shoulder and landed on his head while the one on his wrist began pecking at the stem of the flower. Star opened his palm, wondering why the bird was so interested in it.
The second he did, the bird took the flower in its beak and flew back to Elysia. It placed the flower in her palm and quickly went to sit on top of her head once more.
Elysia blinked a couple of times, as if surprised by the bird's little act. However, Star was not buying it. Keeping his jaw from dropping took a lot of effort as he couldn't believe she would actually employ such tactics just to get a flower from him.
'She just had that bird steal from me.'
Seeing the look on his face, her smile suspiciously dimmed.
"Do you want it back?"
Star spared her a glance before walking past her and continuing towards the beach. He didn't need the flower and wasn't prepared for a scuffle simply because of it.
Just as the white sands came into view, he heard Elysia's voice from behind him.
"You can find me with the bird if anything happens, and try not to lose my spear."
'The hell?'
In the end, he couldn't hold it in. His jaw dropped as he hastily spun around, only to see that Elysia had already climbed one of the trees. She slithered up the ginormous thing like a snake, and just as she was halfway up, she waved the crimson flower, which continued to lean towards him.
After that, she continued up the tree and soon grabbed one of the large branches. Then she swung with a great deal of force, flying towards the next closest tree. Like some kind of monkey, she danced through the trees, quickly disappearing from his line of sight.
"I knew bringing her along would be a bad idea."
He mumbled to himself, having lost all the zeal he had earlier. Back when they first met, he had assumed that she was someone quiet and a bit introverted, with the knowledge he had of the original story to back up his belief.
And he wasn't wrong. She was indeed quiet and quite reflective, but he was a variable. Elysia wasn't loud either; it was more that her presence and personality were overbearing. No matter the situation, she would somehow always find herself taking the lead, driving events with little effort.
Star found her pleasantly annoying, and he made sure to keep the bird sitting on top of him in mind as he stepped onto the beach. Most of the birds quickly took off the moment they noticed him, and the others farther away joined the fray after hearing the calls of their brethren.
Not minding them, he continued to the shore of the river, and after studying the fish swimming close to it for a while, stabbed the spear downward. A moment later, he pulled the spear back up and looked at the fish embedded on its tip with a smile.
It was struggling weakly, but it was so small that weak struggles were all it could muster. Star didn't think twice before freeing the fish, knowing it would never be enough.
He needed a much bigger meal.