The darkness of this room is like a night without a moon; however, in Twy's eyes, it couldn't be clearer.

His gaze paused upon the iron door, eerily placed in the middle of the opposite wall.

'Look over there.' the kitten glanced at his partner and pointed his paw towards it.

However, instead of being curious, he saw Aster pick up his weapon with a serious look.

Twy smacked his furry head, 'Right, he's blind as fuck in the dark.' and before their miscommunication grow, he softly called him.

“Meow.”

Aster looked down in confusion and saw his partner gesturing him to sit down. His eyes then widened when he realized something. “Is there any danger?”

The kitten raised his left paw.

The young man sighed as he flopped back down to the ground and started rubbing his eyelids. “Looks like I'm still too tense.”

Aster then once again looked at his side. “So, what are you pointing at?”

'Hm... how do I tell him?' Twy racked his brain for a while before his eyes widened.

He raised his mitten, pointing first at the door behind them, then towards the darkness.

Aster watched as his partner repeated those actions three times before guessing, “Is there another door over there?”

Twy smiled as he raised his right paw.

The young man held his chin, glanced into the distance, then looked back at his companion. “Let's rest first and tend to your injury.”

Twy flinched... reluctantly, he got out of the comfortable pocket; however, as soon as his left hind foot touched the ground, he hissed in pain.

Aster took out a tube of light green potion and a cloth from his backpack. “Lay on the ground. I'll patch you up.”

Twy did as he told and watched his partner unplug the cork out of the tube. It brought an unpleasant smell to his nose — he almost gagged when the potion was brought to his mouth.

“Drink half of it,” Aster ordered. However, when he saw the kitten pulling his head away from the tube, he explained, “This would heal your bones in an hour or so. I created it, so I'm sure of that.”

'If you're the one that cooked this, why make it smell like shit?' Twy glared at him but still opened his mouth and drank the green liquid.

Aster then poured the rest of the potion onto the kitten's injured leg before skillfully tying the cloth over it.

“That's done, but don't move and just rest for now,” he warned the kitten before he put the empty test tube back into his backpack.

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Twy nodded. He then watched as Aster pulled out another potion and drank it without any change in his expression.

'Yuck.'

He closed his eyes in disgust, only to feel a warm energy coursing through his body.

'Is this the mana from the potion?' Twy dived deeper into its comfort like a moth to a flame. 'It's a lot different from the mana I've been cultivating.'

The energy relieved his fatigue and the pain he was feeling slowly subsided. Embraced by this warmth, Twy found himself breathing calmly.

'If mana during the day is like passionate heat and during the night it's a gentle cold, then this particular mana is like a verdant forest, full of life.'

Twy's body started to heave up and down in a particular rhythm. He unconsciously started cultivating with his Yin-Yang Breathing Technique.

The remaining mana on his muscles and the verdant mana from the potion gathered at the center of his body, swirling like a developing tornado.

What he's doing, however, attracts the mana inside the dungeon.

Aster who's tending on his burns noticed this and snapped his head towards Twy.

“Hey—!”

A darkness that was darker than the room crawled towards his partner, threatening to swallow him.

He was about to interrupt the kitten, but suddenly remembered the phrase: 'both light and darkness, he'll wield.'

'Twy most likely got enlightened after he felt the mana from the potion.' Aster scratched his head in distress. 'But, he doesn't know how dangerous it is to cultivate in this place!’

The young man stood up and started pacing around the kitten — his eyes never left Twy.

'This is my fault in the first place. Twy acted so intelligent that I sometimes forgot that he's only two months old.'

Aster's feet stopped. The darkness surrounding them turned deeper and more sinister, yet the kitten in front of him had it calm.

“I wouldn't interrupt you for now, but if things get dangerous, I would stop you even if you get hurt in the process, okay!?”

•••

“...”

It felt like someone was whispering next to me, yet also shouting from far away. It continued for a while until it suddenly vanished.

‘Was that a tinnitus or something?'

There's no need for that thought. I cleared the doubts in my heart and emptied my mind. The refreshing feeling of life continued to circulate with the impurities I'd gathered.

But—

'It's not enough.'

The balance will break if only one side is greater. I need to balance the verdant energy with something against it.

I whisked away most of that refreshing mana and made the rest move in a slow spin, just like my previously broken washing machine. And similar to that junk it worked.

I could feel the mana brushing against my whiskers before entering my nose.

“...”

Another faraway whisper echoed, but I paid it no attention as I continued taking in the mana. However, my calm heart almost lost its rhythm when it crept out of my control.

It's corruptive and forceful like an untamed bull. It was hard to make it join the cycle, so I stopped trying to take in more of it and instead focused on holding this mana down.

If the mana from the potion is like a green forest filled with vibrant life, this mana is the trash that litters and disgraces nature.

Once the dark mana was forcefully pushed into the center, I immediately moved the green mana I separated earlier, letting it duke it out against the corruptive bull.

The impact they made was felt by my muscles and bones. Thankfully, they merged in balance before my body could explode.

I slowed down the spin to stabilize them first, and after who knows how much time, I once again made them swirl faster.... and faster.

With each cycle they made, I could feel something was going to happen. So, I followed that instinct and let the two opposing forces spin as fast as I could make them.

But just before I was about to collide the two, the tinnitus came back — this time much clearer.

“...light... Twilight stop!”

I snapped my eyes open but found them heavy. Despite feeling an amazing amount of energy in my body, I felt strangely lethargic.

“Stop cultivating, Twilight!”

I turned my head towards the shout and found Aster's purple eyes looking at me worriedly.

'Why are you so worked up—!'

My brain froze the moment I saw the reflection in his eyes—there was me, an old, small cat, looking as if about to sleep his last.

'...Fuck.'

•••