Damien entered a state of relaxation where all of his stresses, worries, and fatigue disappeared. He could no longer sense anything outside of his own world. His mind was aligned with his body while he felt every blood cell flow through his veins. He lost track of time in this state and finally let it go of everything. It was a hard reset he needed after all the things he had gone through on this trip.

During this time, Aya thought it would be best to leave him here while she did her own things. There was nothing for her here and she’d rather be doing something useful. She met with Kyro for a moment, inserting slight threats if anything were to happen to Damien. Kyro understood immediately, especially when he was faced with the full brunt force of her aura. His feathers were cowered back and all of his prestige vanished in front of her. Luckily it was for him it would never reach the ears of others.

Kyro watched over Damien for the rest of the day and even joined him and his head for a rest. He could feel the sense of peace coming out of Damien and into his own body. He also felt a sense of comfort coming out of Damien’s core, which put him in a quiet slumber. This action was quite beneficial to Damien as his closeness to the Golden Crow also allowed him to get used to the energies and Mana of the Solar Fire Dao. It unknowingly planted a seed into Damien’s Flame Core waiting for its gestation of knowledge and comprehension.

After a full day of rest, Damien finally came back to reality. The slight change of his mood awoke Kyro as well. Kyro prodded his face over Damien’s with his beak almost slicing his face open.

“It appears you are ready to begin training. I’ll walk you through the benefits and how I generally cultivate here.”

Damien outstretched his relaxed body with a calm mind. He was truly prepared to start learning. Kyro took the time to explain the basic principles of the Solar Fire Dao which Damien took in surprisingly quickly. Once he had him prepped up on the most basic foundational principles he brought him to the prayer mat in the magma.

“That prayer mat was made from the wood and leaves of the Solar World Tree. Its purpose is to clear your mind of all thoughts except for those understanding of the Solar Fire Dao. It is a powerful cultivation tool that will speed up your training many fold.”

Damien was surprised to know such items existed in this world. Others would kill to have such an item instead of constantly wasting their money on pills and potions. He then thought of the column of light that bathed Kyros when he first arrived.

“Did that column of light come from the sun? I kept hearing the whispers of the Dao but I could not filter it out to something comprehensible.”

Kyro instinctively cried out in surprise. Its screech bombarded Damien’s eardrums until he was dizzy.

“You are able to hear the whispers, even though you know nothing of the Solar Fire Dao? That is unheard of! You’d have to be a natural born genius in such an obscure Dao like me! Or your Fire Dao is able to connect to it. But that would mean your Dao of Fire is on a higher plane then just…”

Kyro’s ending words came to a whisper and then to nothing. He left Damien cold turkey on knowledge he had no idea about. Kyro however knew he was speaking too much about a subject that he could not reveal yet. Instead he quickly changed the subject as it was too soon for such a young kid to know what is too far beyond him.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“How about this, show me a demonstration of your Dao. I would like to assess your level of comprehension. Here you can sit on this mat instead.”

Kyro materialized a different mat on top of the flowing magma so Damien could relax. If he had gone on the Solar World Tree mat he would not even be able to summon his Dao since it did not align with the it’s Dao Source. Damien complied as he sat cross legged on the mat. He began his process of clearing his mind and feeling out the Fire Dao in his core. His white Flame Core jumped to life, pulsing incessantly in a rhythmic manner. A white spark appeared outside in front of Damien’s chest. He followed it by pumping his golden silk of Mana Fluid through his meridians in the programmed order of his cultivation technique.

A loud screech cried out of his body like he was coming alive. As if birthed by flames his body ignited altogether, fueling the spark. He was in the Pete t environment for his abilities to shine the most. Here he felt invincible and almighty. Damien gathered his Mana Fluid straight into the spark, along with the endless supply of Fire energy on the outside. Usually, Damien would have to devour any type of heat energy inside of objects causing them to collapse into a pile of ash, however things were different here. He directly targeted the magma he was floating on, directly making turbulent waves rise around him. The bubbling intensified in multitudes while it gathered around his spark.

Kyro spectated with excitement in his eyes. As a fellow practitioner of a Fire Dao, he couldn’t help but become worked up as well. He flew around in circles enjoying the sensation of chaos. On the other hand, Damien created a whirlpool of magma around his ability. It powered up to levels he had never seen before. The White Spark grew in size becoming like a planet in its own domain. Its gravity was enough to have the lake of magma engulf it in a constant fluid motion. There was no end of its charge as it reached into the inner levels of the magma bubble far below in the depths of the tree’s roots.

Suddenly the now blazing ball of white fire dropped down into the depths below. It carved its own pathway with its intense gravitational force it has on anything related to heat and temperature. It planted itself like a seed while still being connected to Damien. At this point, Damien was subconsciously doing what was best to make it into its strongest form. It was an instant chemical reaction that sent the whole caldera ablaze. Damien could no longer contain the power within his control and it was slowly cracking away. The invisible Mana ball that controlled his ability snapped open, releasing all of its power at once. It was his ultimate display of Devour and Explosion in one move.

Kyro stopped his encircling movement and realized what was to come next.

“It’s going to blow!”

He screeched even louder this time while he flew out of the caldera. He was like a beam of light, exiting outside in a millisecond. Damien stayed inside as the magma erupted for the first time in ages. It shot out with intense force that brought him out as well. Damien was sent flying with no sign of stopping. Kyro had to swoop in and catch him by the claws to stop him from exiting the atmosphere. Damien finally awoke to a scene out of this world. He was way past the clouds, watching the lava spew out beyond where they stopped. It continued past the atmosphere into space where it floated away. Ash and lava plagued the night sky, covering the entirety of the stars. It took minutes for the eruption to finally reach a calm, and recess back into the roots.

The sky was now illuminated by the brightness of the lava until it would fade away by the force of another planet. Forever to travel space with no target. Kyro and Damien watched the phenomena happen on the same wavelength. Kyro then landed them on the very top of the tree where he would be perched.

“It is the same sight that brought me back here, albeit 1% of its glory and force. It had the world blanketed in light for weeks. This should disappear in a couple of hours.”

Damien didn’t say a word, but he could not imagine what it was like when the Solar World Tree went out in a blaze of glory.

‘Life is mysterious and wonderful in so many different ways. I have to get stronger here!’

Damien looked out to the world where he could only see a horizon with boundless oceans outside of the borders of the Zyres continent. It appeared like it was the only thing left in the world, however Damien began to doubt that now. Things were too magnificent to have limits. He could only wait in anticipation to begin exploring as he wished. In the meantime, Damien and Kyro sat quietly together. While Damien was enjoying the view and thinking about his future plans, Kyro was reminiscing. Once the light in the night sky vanished into the infinite beyond, Kyro spoke up.

“Where did you learn such a Dao of Fire? It is beyond anything I ever witnessed by a mortal.”

Damien knew it was not wise to speak about the special nature of his Flame Core, but he did want some answers. He ignored the part about mortals since he believed he meant humans in general with their short lifespan compared to his.

“I don't know how to explain. It was like it was inside of me and I just listened.”