~January 2nd, dawn~

While the two Alba Stella assassins casually broke into the bungalow mansion, Jet's consciousness were already gone. No, not to dreamland. But somewhere else.

Somewhere fortuitous

“Wh…what kind of tree is this?” Jet asked aloud.

The tree was huge. Bigger than the size of the octagon bungalow. The more he looked at it, the more Jet realized that it was not a huge tree. Rather green plant vines that gathered and shaped themselves to look like a tree. With a face.

“An ugly face too, hehehe.”

As if offended by Jet's remark, the ‘eyes’ and ‘mouth’ of the tree opened up. The earth began to tremble. Light burst through the eys and mouth, as if the tree was shooting energy beams. The brighter the light, the greater the earthquake.

“S…sorry O great Tree. Y-you are not ugly. Y-you’re the prettiest tree ever!”

“Hahaha! I forgot how much of a coward we were!”

Jet was shock. A voice could be heard coming from the tree.

The light covered the ‘face’ of the tree. Slowly, it enlarged until it became as tall as two adults and as wide as an arm. From the opening, the silhouette of a man appeared.

“...who are you?” Jet asked, trying his best to suppress his trembling.

The silhouette said nothing. He flew from the opening, and landed a few steps in front of Jet.

“Do you recognize me?” The stranger asked. A teasing smile on his face.

Jet shook his head. Yet, for some reason, he felt familiar with that face. Almost as if he had met the guy before.

“Hehehe, don't worry about it then. You'll soon know who I am. But that's not important right now.”

To Jet's surprise, the man stabbed his own chest with his bare right hand. Jet was preparing himself for a gory image of a bloody, still beating heart.

Fortunately, no such thing appeared. Instead, a glowing orb came out of the stranger's chest. Brimming with energy.

“Energy core!” Jet's eyes were glistening. Having followed his father and mother to the royal hunting excursion before, he recognized it instantly.

“That's right.”

“...is it for me?”

Joy illuminated Jet's eyes. Rivalling the light from the orb. He was so excited, he forgot the wariness of facing the stranger.

Jet studied the orb with his eyes. “What kind of energy core is this?”

“Kamiryuu's core.” The man said nonchalantly.

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Jet was shocked. “The Beast Lord?” He immediately, stared at the guy. “Are you…are you Lord Kamiryuu?”

“Hahaha, silly boy. I'm human.”

“Then…why is the core inside…you?”

The stranger sighed. Regret heavily plagued his tone. “This core is proof of a huge mistake I made. A mistake that destroyed my world.”

“... I'm sorry…”Jet said awkwardly.

“Hahaha. I forgot we used to be this naive. It's not your fault, boy.” He paused for a bit, then added. “Not yet anyway. Not if I can help it.”

“Huh?” Jet noticed it again. The word ‘we’.

But the guy simply waved his hand. “Don't worry about it. And besides, I don't have much time to explain anyway. I'm here to fuse this core into your body. And teach you how to train it.”

Jet wanted to ask, but suppressed his inquisitive desire. This stranger is giving me a gift, he said. Just shut up and take it.

“Okay. Thank you so much sir.”

The guy smiled. Without warning, he plunged the orb right into Jet's heart.

The effect was instant. Jet's heart was energised multiple times over. His heart beat like the cavalry on the battlefield.

“ARGHHHHHH!”

The stranger did not show any sympathy for the young thirteen year old in great pain. “Endure it! Or would you rather be a loser your entire life?!”

His sentence snapped Jet back into reality. Jet gritted his teeth so hard, it's a wonder they didn't crack and shatter. Still, he managed to endure.

“Sit! Lotus position!”

Jet did as he was told. Sitting cross legged on the ground.

“This is called the Deathwish core. Since it came from the Beast Lord, its core is akin to Magic Beasts. And to all animals, their most effective training, is their daily struggle for survival.”

Jet tried his best to ignore the pain so he could listen to the guidance of the stranger.

“Resist the embrace of death, boy! Embrace the pain, and channel the energy into your core!”

“...wh-wha…”

“Hush! Do as I say!”

If he wasn't in so much pain, Jet would have rolled his eyes already. I just got this core dude, he sneered. How the hell should I know how to do all that?

Yet, Jet knew complaining would be worthless. He was also afraid that the stranger would take the core back. So he tried to do as the stranger hinted.

Jet let go of the control that suppressed the pain. It was now really unbearable. His pain multiplied. He almost blacked out.

But he persists. With a shred of sanity left, he focussed everything on the newly implanted in his heart. Hoping that something would happen.

Miraculously, it did. The pain slowly subsided. And in his place, an amount of vigor began to simmer from his heart. Instead of only blood, his heart began pumping out energy.

The stranger began to laugh obnoxiously. “Hahaha, it works! It really works!”

Jet ignored the annoying echoes of laughter. Even if he didn't, it won't matter. He was euphoric. This energy was amazing. Is this how people who awakened their cores felt?

Finally, the intense pain subsided. Jet managed to breath properly, pain free. More importantly, the energy coursing through his veins is still there.

“This…this is amazing!” Jet exclaimed. He turned to the stranger, and bowed. “Thank you.”

The man, again, just waved it off. “Forget it. Helping you is helping me as well.”

“What does that mean?”

“You'll see. Why bother thinking about unnecessary things? Right?”

Jet shrugged, and nodded. “What do I owe you? This wasn't free, I assume?”

“Hahahaha, cheeky brat.” The stranger wiped the tears from his eyes. “What I want is simple. For you to go and seek the four Divine Beasts. Don't hurt them or anything. Just meet them and talk. That's all.”

Jet frowned. It sounded simple. But will it? “That's it?”

“Yup. But that will have to wait until you're strong enough to defend yourself. Right now, all you have to do, is to train yourself until you are on the edge of death. And as I mentioned before, surviving death is the best whetstone for your energy core.”

Jet finally had the chance to roll his eyes. “Why the hell would I want to do that? I'll just go and train extra hard. Will that be okay?”

“Hahaha. You can. However, hehe, I don't think that fate has given you any choice.”

“Huh?”

“You'll see when you wake up. Right now, my time is up. See ya.” The stranger began to fly back into the glowing hole of the tree.

“Hey wait. What about…”

“Oh, one more thing.”

Jet stopped talking. This must be it. The skills corresponding to the core.

“Do not trust the Third Prince and Fourth Princess. Or you and all of Ottilia would be destroyed.”

Jet was startled. He wanted to learn about fighting skills, maybe magic skills. What would he do with this tidbit.

But the stranger had already entered the hole. Clearly, it is left to Jet to figure out.

“Goodbye, kid. Remember, your parents love you. They sent you here to protect you. Don't ever judge the book by the cover. You got that?”

Jet frowned, but nodded. He could kind of guess why his parents had to do what he did. Both his father's side and mother's side of the family are ruthless. Having a coreless child would have attracted trouble.

And with that, the man disappeared.

###

“Heh, you didn't tell him?” The man with that beautiful set of antlers said as he scoffed from his throne.

Jet, kneeling in front of him, nodded. “He would have found out anyway. He's not an idiot.” Jet paused for a bit. “Well, he's not that stupid.”

“Hahaha, are you praising yourself?” Lightbringer asked mockingly.

Jet only smiled. “So, I guess, this is it huh?”

“Indeed. Now that the vine of time has been trimmed and sprouted anew. The old time, that is you, will be trimmed as well.”

“Good. I'm glad.”

For the first time since Jet met with the Devil, Lightbringer gave a warm smile. “You have indeed made great effort to atone for your sin. Even sacrificing your soul from entering the cycle of rebirth. I pray that the new you will be as noble as you are now.”

Jet smiled.

Suddenly, his soul body began to disintegrate. Right in front of Lightbringer, Jet is slowly turning to dust. Returning to the Kronos Vine. Still, there's no regret in his eyes. Only gratitude.

“Thank you, Lord Lightbringer. And farewell.”