Stepping away toward the forest, Aonair started to lose breath.

The adrenaline numbed his sense of pain, but the fatigue is still piling up.

His eyes were blurry because of his tears, and his feet began to lose its balance.

Aonair is in a state of shock. He just left his best friend to his death, only to save his own life.

He couldn't think. His head was filled with anger, pain, and regret.

Then, as if to sympathize, the night sky got darker and it started to pour rain.

The water was cold, but the fresh blood from his wounds made it felt warm.

Aonair didn't stop a single moment. He didn't want to look back, nor did he want to go back there.

Internally, he's screaming and blaming himself. But if he breaks now, he will lose control.

That's why he bit his lips until it bleeds to make him stop thinking.

(Just run... Run!)

His mind was focused only to escape.

But the physical and mental pain made him weak. The ground was slippery, and just when he almost got inside the forest, he fell.

"Agh!"

He fell right to a puddle. The muddy water splashed his face and covered it with mud.

Aonair wiped it off and accidentally saw his reflection on the puddle.

"...Ah..."

The puddle wasn't steady and it's constantly blurred because of the falling water drops.

But what surprised Aonair was his facial feature.

Blue skin.

Long ear.

Gills and scales on his cheeks.

He has turned into a monster.

"Wa.... WHAAAAA?!?!"

Aonair fell into confusion. He screamed as if he got possessed. He touched his face and felt an unusual sensation.

"What... is this...? What is happening?! What am I turning to?! What in the world...?!"

He scratched his face as if to deny his transformation, but the result was only pain.

"Aa.... Ah... No, no, no!!! This can't be happening!!!"

Then, before he even understands what's happening to him...

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TING

Congratulations, you have unlocked the true name of your skill. The transfer will begin in 3 seconds.

(What is that?!)

A mysterious bell sound rang inside his head and a static inhuman voice spoke to him.

He looked around hastily, but no one is near to him.

Now, let's begin the transfer. Please make sure you are ready.

"Who are you?! Please talk to me!"

He asked, but there was no reply. The static voice continued its countdown, ignoring Aonair’s plead.

Three

"Hey!"

Two

"Please answer me!"

One

"... I don't want to be a--"

Transfer started.

Before he finished, the static voice completed its process.

Then, Aonair felt like getting struck by a lightning bolt.

"GUAAAAAAHH!!!"

Many information was filling his head without mercy.

His mind who's still in unstable state was suddenly hammered with foreign information.

"Uguh... Help... Aaaah!!!"

He held his head tightly and clashed it against the tree. But the pain of having something shoved inside his head is still there.

"STOOOOOOP!!!"

After the surge of pain for ten minutes straight, the transfer has finally stopped.

Aonair felt tired and dizzy.

He stood up and walked inside the forest with an empty head.

Why he did it? No one knows. He couldn't think, nor feel anything.

Then, after a little while, his feet gave up and he fell down.

"Ugh..."

Aonair couldn't even sit, let alone stand or walk.

All he could do was just grunting and moaning in pain.

His head feels like having a heavy headache. All he wants now is to go to sleep.

(I'm tired... This is just a bad dream...)

He started to hallucinate his friends were there in front of him and his mentor was waiting for him.

A nostalgic sight, even though it just happened no more than three days ago.

"... Let's go back home..."

...

.......

Darkness.

Emptiness.

Everything dyed in black.

A space where nothing exists.

In the middle of it, a single, small flickering of Life was floating around.

It has nothing but a small light in it. It’s simply there, waiting to fade away and to be consumed by the endless darkness.

But suddenly, a purple Light appeared.

The Light was very bright and it took a shape of a human.

It walked slowly toward the flickering Life as if to not scare it away.

After a short while, the Light reached the flickering Life and took it on its hand.

And then, the Light spoke,

"Are you alive?"

The flickering Life kept silent. It didn't give an answer. As time goes, the light inside the Life is getting dimmer.

The Light then speaks again,

"Are you giving up?"

The Life didn't answer again. It just stayed there, not moving a single inch.

But the Light kept asking to it.

"Do you have regret?"

"Are you going to die?"

"Is fading away your goal?"

Even though the Light asked it again and again and again, the flickering Life didn't respond.

The light inside it already reached its limit and will be gone in mere seconds.

Seeing the Life is going to fade away, the Light asked it for the last time.

"Do you want to live?”

But unfortunately, the light inside the Life has completely gone.

The Light dimmed for a while, as if to grieve the faded Life.

It couldn't see the Life anymore, and it slowly put its hand down slowly.

Then, the Light went back to where it came.

One step.. two steps...

The Light slowly gets further from where it picked up the Life before.

Three steps... four steps...

The Light slowed down. It felt something that shouldn’t be there anymore.

Five steps... six steps...

Knowing something was wrong, the Light almost stopped.

It felt the something was moving at its back.

It shook its head, thinking it's impossible for the Life to be alive again.

But when it took the seventh step, the Light couldn't bear it anymore and turned its head.

The fragile Life that has vanished before, is gradually lighting up again.

The surprising event made the Light grew bright.

The light is slowly growing stronger and stronger and eventually, the light in the Life has reached the same state as the Light.

The only difference between the Light and the Life was the color. The Life has a dark purple-ish color on it.

Then, it slowly but steadily came to the Light and floated in front of it.

"Are you alive?"

"..."

Just like before, the Life didn't respond to the Light’s question. But different from before, it moved to answer the Light.

It slowly moved sideways as if to say no.

"Do you want to live?"

"...!"

But when the Light asked that question, the little Life moved up and down as if to nod.

The Light felt happy from being responded. It grew brighter and held the Life on its hand.

"I will give you life."

After that, the Light absorbed the dark purple-ish light from the Life and poured its own purple light into it.

The Life moved freely with its new light.

Then, the Light said to the Life.

"You will live. And from now on, I will be watching you. Let us meet again."

The Light prayed for their next meeting, and then, it stepped toward where it came before.

The Light thought its role here has ended. It will be watching the Life it saved before for a long time.

But as the Light goes, the Life followed from behind.

Seeing that, the Light tilted its head.

"Why are you following me?"

The Life spun around the Light. It didn't say anything, but the Light somehow understood.

"You have no obligation to thank me by coming along."

The Light never thought it saved the Life.

The Life came back again with its own will.

The Light simply found the Life and helped it to be stable again.

But the Life didn't stop and keep sticking onto the Light.

"There will be sorrow and pain waiting for you if you come with me."

The Light tried to intimidate the Life, but the Life won't budge. It’s shaking, but it stood firm near the Light.

Seeing that, the Light couldn't help but feel happy. It grew brighter and took the Life on its hand. Then, it put the Life close to its chest.

"Very well. Let us go together."

With a Life on its hand, the Light vanished to nothingness.

The surrounding space turned dark once again, leaving nothing but emptiness.

...

......