“Hey, wait up!”

“Nah, uh! Why should I wait for slowpokes?”

Two distinct voices, high-pitched and happy, could be heard on the vast plains surrounding Frie Mountain. The verdant, earthy fields reeked of jovial laughter and youthful vibrance. A girl and a boy ran through the flowery meadows, one wearing an expression of pure mischief, the other a face of complete fatigue.

They were both in their early teens, probably not even twelve from their combined height and pimple-free faces. The girl didn’t care for the boy’s screams and ran happily without a care in the world. She ran and ran, not caring about her pursuers swollen feet and tightened thighs. The girl was only interested in trekking up the tall mountain and onto the legendary peak of myth.

“Hah… Hah… Liera! Learn to care for others for once, can you?!” Finally catching up to the girl, the boy took a moment to catch his breath before lodging a complaint.

“Ahaha, you’re the man Hsin! You should learn how to keep up with a weak girl like myself!”

“What part of you is weak?”

“Ah? Did you say something?” Liera clenched her fists, issuing a threatening growl towards Hsin.

“No… Nothing in particular.” Hsin snorted and promptly turned his head. Alas, that proved to be the wrong move. The direction in which he averted his gaze, just so happened to be the precipice of Frie Mountain. The legendary land in which history’s latest Spirit Immortal had ascended from.

What would it look like? Would it be filled to the brim of spiritual and elemental energy? Would alien flora and fauna be exploring the lands, birthing Primordial Beasts by the herds? Or would it have a thousand Spirit Venerates guarding the area as a glorious monument stood tall for all to see?

Well… it was none of that.

“This… it wasn’t what I’d expected.” Hsin pouted in defiance. “Are you telling me, we climbed all this way just to see an empty peak? There’s nothing there!”

“Hehe, that’s the way Spirit Immortal Shin willed it,” Liera educated her disgruntled friend with a beaming smile. “He didn’t want any monuments, neither did he wish for anyone to guard the place.”

“Why is that?”

After thinking for a while, Liera shrugged her shoulders with a sigh. “They say that Spirit Immortal Shin didn’t really care for titles and glory. He attained power not because of status, but because he wanted to protect those he loved the most. They say that Spirit Immortal Shin never really saw himself as a hero or anything, so he probably didn’t think he was worth any remembrance.”

“Spirit Immortal Shin said that?” Hsin found the whole story to be quite the incredulous tale. His eyes twitched wildly, and his lips contorted to the side. “The man that single-handedly ended the war against the madman Akumu and the hordes of Primordial Beasts that he had? The man who had attained the title of the strongest being in recorded history? THAT MAN didn’t think that he’s a big deal?”

Shin may have denied any monuments to remember his name, but history wasn’t so kind to his requests. The prodigal Spirit Immortal who learned how to become One With Water. The strongest cultivator in history. The man who unified the entire world. The one that fought history’s greatest villain. The genius of modern times. The amount of monikers given to Shin were innumerable.

Even though the continents and countries were still as divided as ever, Shin’s name reverberated through the entire world as a story of a shining hero that saved the world time and time again. He was the beacon of hope for all those suffering and in pain. The story that anyone who worked hard enough could turn their misfortunes into benefits. And most importantly… Shin’s story was a tale to be remembered. From this day to humanity’s last day.

Shin was in by any definition of the word, a legend. And Liera knew that all too well.

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“Some people just don’t feel that way, Hsin.” Liera smiled sweetly in reply to her partner’s excessive praise over Spirit Immortal Shin. “That’s why he’s my idol!”

“Ah… So that’s why you dragged me all the way here? To see the place where your idol ascended?” Hsin folded his arms as he sulked away. The way Liera’s eyes sparkled as she talked about Spirit Immortal Shin, the way she overly praised him in any tale she accounted and the way she never shuts up about him… That made Hsin’s heart prickle quite a bit.

“Well, there’s that, but...” Liera cuffed her right hand over her left wrist, tiptoeing closer towards the leafy peak. “There’s another reason why I brought you here today.”

“Hmmm? What is it?” Hsin raised his eyebrows and leaned in closer to his partner.

Liera played around with the swaying grass, her mouth opening and closing sporadically. There were words at the tip of her tongue, but the young girl just couldn’t voice them out. Her face started to flush, and her rosy cheeks turned even more vermillion, adding a certain mature charm to her pubescent body. In the end, the girl steeled her nerves and threw a confident fist in the air before turning towards the boy she dragged up the mountain.

“Hey… Have you heard of the legend of the Eternal Burning Tree?”

“Yggdrasil? Yeah, I’ve heard of it. It’s the Tree of Life, right? That was Spirit Immortal Shin’s whole reason for entering the Immortal Realm. To resurrect the people he loved and to live a happy eternal life with them. You’ve told me that story a hundred times before.”

“That’s right… The Tree of Life.” Liera’s face continued to flush red. “Yggdrasil is a symbol of life and death. The dream that Spirit Immortal Shin pursued and the ultimate goal of eternal life. Also… It’s a representative of the eternal love that Spirit Immortal Shin had...”

“Yeah?” At this point, Hsin noticed that something was awry. Liera never beat around the bush for this long before. Also… that face of hers was just too freaking adorable! Without realising, Hsin’s heartbeat was also raised as his face turned just as red as Liera’s.

“... You know... Legend has it that sometimes… Yggdrasil will descend at this very location. It will burn with a beautiful flame, as an adorable little cerulean fish encircles it. To remember the deeds that Spirit Immortal Shin had accomplished throughout his mortal life.”

“Okay?”

“And! A-a-a-and! T-they say that those who confess when Yggdrasil appears! T-they they they… Will be together forever!”

“A-Ah Ah Ah! I-I see!”

“...”

“...”

An awkward silence remained on the mountain as the couple continued to feel the heat rush up their faces. They were juvenile and pure, never encountering such a delicate situation before. So, though Liera was clearly insinuating something, Hsin didn’t know how best to respond.

“B-but! I guess we came here for nothing!” Liera broke the ice, scratching her head while trying to hide her blushing face. “The myth is fake! There isn’t any tree or fish here! Hahaha! False alarm!”

“...”

“W-We… should go! Our families are still waiting for us down the mountain! It would be rude to keep them waiting!” Liera attempted to cross Hsin’s path to descend the mountain.

‘Ahhh!!! So embarrassing! Stupid Yliy! You said that it would work! I just want to kill myself now!’ Liera cursed her busybody sister, who suggested this stupid idea to her in the first place. ‘Okay! I shall hole myself up in my room for the next week! That way, I won’t have to meet Hsin and deal with this embarrassment! Wait for me, oh soft bed!’

However, just as Liera was about to cross past Hsin, a firm grasp held her back.

“Hic!!!” Liera squealed, not prepared for Hsin’s sudden attack. She paused for a few moments before turning her sultry eyes up towards the blushing youth.

“That story… is that true?” Hsin tried desperately to keep it in, gulping and tapping his chest to untie the knot that Liera had placed on his heart.

“Y-yeah?”

“That’s good then...” Hsin inhaled rapidly before blurting out his true feelings. “Liera! I like you! No, I love you! I’d loved you since the moment we met! Will you… Will you be my girlfriend?”

“HIC!!!” Liera’s pupils dilated as she gasped out in a squeal of shock, and a mixture of bliss of course.

“I-I...”

“Liera, please think it through! I really, really like you! I’m willing… to spend my entire life with you! I don’t care if Yggdrasil exists or not! I want to spend eternity with you!”

“Y-you… you...”

“Liera, please!”

“OH SHUT UP!!!” Unable to bear it anymore, the abashed girl landed a right hook on Hsin’s lower jaw, pushing the boy a full two-metres away. Hsin got up from the clean hit, rubbing his swollen face while clearing his convoluted mind.

“Ouch… Your love is painful.”

“W-who said anything about love?! You blockhead! Why should I love you?!”

“Huh? Didn’t you drag me all the way up here to confess?”

“YOU!!! YOU!!! Oh my god, can’t you read the mood?! Bloody hell! Why did I fall for someone like you?”

“Aha! See! You like me after all!”

“Y-You… You!!! I’m not talking to you anymore!” Harrumphing, Liera turned her back away from Hsin and continued to descend down the mountain.

“Liera! Wait up!”

And just like that, the couple’s expedition up Frie Mountain came to an uninteresting end. Which was a devastating shame. Why?

As they descended, for a tiny second, really just one second… An image of a burning tree came to view on top of the glorious Frie Mountain. It glowed with a fiery, holy image, not one that burnt all life to the ground, but one that gave life its true meaning. Its leaves were in flames, but not one of them fell to the ground. They remained on the tree, not harming the branches, trunk or roots in the slightest. It was a beautiful sight to behold and more stunningly...

A cerulean koi encircled the flaming tree, its humongous eyes smiling at the adorable bickering couple. And just as quickly as it appeared, the burning tree and the cute little fish vanished into thin air. Like a phathom, it continued living on in legend, forever entangled with the tale of history’s greatest Spirit Immortal.

~~~ End of Spirit Immortal ~~~