“What?!” she staggered a few steps back.
“No! I mean, I’m not the version of your brother you know!” Relic panicked when he saw Hana’s expression. Quickly calming himself, he continued: “I’ve already lived here once.” An air of melancholy suddenly surrounded him. “Only, that was many years ago…”
Relic began to reminisce about the days when his master first picked him up. His master, who found the crying little boy buried underneath some rubble.
“W-what are you trying to say?” she asked, a bit frightened.
Relic snapped back to reality and said, “I’ve lived for over a hundred years, and for those last few years of my life, I was together with my master. The last thing we saw was the sun setting over the horizon before we took our last breaths over the calming sea. Hana…I’m not the brother you know because that version of me has already grown up and died.”
“....” her mind was in a wreck. She couldn’t understand a thing her brother was saying.
Relic could see Hana was still confused.
“What I mean is, after my death I was somehow able to come back into the body of my younger self. I’m from the future.”
Hana released her grip on the peacock. She was shaken by this new information. She had contemplated many ideas on how her brother could have done so many miraculous things but never would she have guessed he was actually an older version of himself.
“H-how is that possible?”
“I don’t know. I’d like to believe the heavens had taken pity on me and allowed me to fix the unresolved issues in my past.”
Hana was speechless. She couldn’t dispute what her brother was saying as everything he had done so far were already out of the ordinary. If she accepted his reasoning then everything would fall into place. His ability to predict and counter his opponents, as well as knowing things he shouldn’t. Yet, although they lived in a world where cultivators could slice a mountain in a single swing, or separate the ocean with a simple breath, she couldn’t help but feel doubt in her heart.
“Hana…”
Hana snapped out of her daze.
“You don’t need to believe me right now, I’m sure you will either learn to eventually accept what I’ve said or you will learn to ignore it.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?” She finally asked.
“Honestly, I wasn’t planning to. However, after seeing you today, I see you are someone who has a good heart and great virtue. You are someone who would put themselves in harm’s way in order to save others. Also…”
Relic put down Jiro’s head and proceeded to bow his head towards Hana. “Thank you for taking care of me when I was young.”
Hana stepped up and tried to get Relic to stop bowing. Only she knew the sacrifices she had made in taking care of her brother, but never did she expect any type of gratitude from him. “Brother, please don’t be like this.”
“No, I don’t remember much about my time in this place but I can see that you must have sacrificed much in order to take care of me. Honestly, thank you.”
It didn’t escape Relic’s eyes the way Hana carried herself. She didn’t have many friends, spends most of her time with her brother, and was willing to go beyond the duties of a sister in order to take care of him. Relic could imagine most of her childhood was ruined because of him.
Hana felt warmth come over her heart and she nodded shyly.
Relic straightened his back and said, “I owe you a debt for taking care of me for all these years. So I want to give you a choice. I can give you the option to live a life unfettered by the restraints of this world. You will be able to do things regular people could only dream of. If you wish to fly through the skies then all you have to do is will it. I will guide you down the road of immortality and all the truths of this world will be yours!”
Hana couldn’t help but make a gulping sound.
“I will also offer you a second choice. If you choose this, we can forget everything we had been talking about. After I leave this town, I will visit you all periodically and bestow onto you wealth, land, and protection from any dangers. You will live each and every day in comfort for the rest of your natural life.”
Relic’s demeanor had not changed the entire time he was talking. It was as if he truly believed what he was saying and that he would keep whatever promise he was making. At least, that was what Hana was thinking.
With every passing moment, she became more and more confused. In all her years on life, she had never fallen into such a situation. Although she tried to speak, no words came out.
“It’s fine, you don’t have to make the decision now.” Relic patted Hana on her head gave her a smile. “Let’s get him home first, if we wait too long I won’t be able to fix his neck.” When Jiro heard that he immediately began to sweat and even growled lightly as if to tell them to hurry.
Hana silently nodded and the three of them continued walking until they were back at their home. Their parents were still at work and no one was around.
Relic had Hana stand back as he took a hold of Jiro’s neck.
“This might sting a little.”
“(It doesn’t matter, if you can...)” Before Jiro could finish his sentence, Relic had suddenly kneed him in the neck! Jolts of pain ran throughout Jiro’s body and he let out a high pitched shriek.
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Relic was fast and merciless; with his new found strength Relic was able to grasp Jiro’s neck and bend it into impossible angles. At one point, it looked like Jiro’s neck was bent into the shape of the letter Z!
Hana’s face paled when she saw Jiro’s neck bending and cracking. She quickly covered her ears from the miserable shrieks and turned away.
“This should be it!” Relic moved his hands along Jiro’s neck until he touched upon a small bump. Using all of his strength, he slammed down his palm on this bump.
Jiro let out one last ferocious shriek. He was beginning to think Relic was never going to fix his neck and was just going to torture him for fun. However, before he knew it, he realized that his neck was off the ground and he was capable of moving it himself. Aside from a little numbing sensation, there was no pain at all!
Jiro unfurled its wings and strutted around in happiness.
It took him a good few moments before he noticed the two children looking at him. Feeling a little embarrassed, he furled back its wings and pretended to look uncaring.
“(Looks like you can keep a promise).” He said and then turned his head away.
Hana could only stare in shock. She was sure her brother was just making random movements, but in almost an instant, the spirit beast's neck was miraculously fixed.
“Hana, I want to formally introduce you to my partner. Come greet.” Relic extended his hand. Hana felt a little more distant from Relic after he revealed everything but she still slowly took his hand. Relic slowly guided her hand to Jiro’s body.
Jiro gave Hana an indifferent stare. He could see what Relic was trying to do so he did not move, allowing Relic’s sister to touch him as repayment for fixing his neck.
She was still slightly scared of Jiro, having seen the damage he could do to those kids, she tugged away slightly. However, Relic was insistent and continued to inch her closer.
As soon as her hands touched Jiro’s fur, a glimmer of light could be seen in her eyes. “So Soft!” she instantly used both her hands and touched all over Jiro. It had a different feel to it than when she had grabbed hold of his neck.
Jiro quickly felt somewhat embarrassed and shook slightly as the little girl touched all over him.
“His name is Jiro. From now on, you do not need to worry about him anymore.” Relic assured her, but at this point, she wasn’t even listening anymore.
Hana continued to brush her hand across Jiro’s body with a smile on her face. Jiro on the other hand, felt quite uncomfortable having this tiny human keep touching him. He really didn’t have that great of an opinion of humans and so he wasn’t quite sure how to act in front of this girl.
“(You humans are strange!)” Jiro got up and left, leaving a saddened Hana.
Relic couldn’t help but chuckle seeing the expression from his sister.
.“Now that your neck is healed I hope we can work together and help each other. L...”
Jiro looked over with a smirk on his face as if to mock Relic. “(Why should I help you? Did you think I would be emotionally inclined to help you because you helped fix my neck? Or that because the terms of my spirit contract were so lenient that I would be thankful? While it is true because of you I’m now free and capable of movement, that does not mean I trust you humans or feel obliged to you!)”
Jiro unfurled his wings once more but this time in a more menacing way.
“(I’m a Divine Paradise Peacock, my family are the Rulers of the 5th desolate Region, the Divine Skylight!)” Jiro began to flap his wings, lifting himself into the air. “(I won’t kill you or your sister as we have formed a spirit contract. But understand this, humans and spirit beasts will never get along. We are destined to be eternal enemies.) ” Having said that, Jiro no longer cared of the two children and was just about to fly away when Relic suddenly spoke
“Oh, is that so?” Relic spoke calmly. “Well if you have to go then I suppose there is nothing I can do.” Relic turned and began to walk towards the house, stopping just before the door. “Of course, I do applaud your bravery in returning to your home in that state.”
Jiro immediately furrowed his brow. “(What do you mean?)”
“Hmm” Relic turned around with a surprised expression. “Weren't you leaving?” he asked surprised.
Jiro was not stupid enough not to understand Relic was mocking him.
“(You know about my injury?)” Jiro slanted his eyes and asked.
Relic smiled, “Do you mean the fact that your beast core is cracked? Of course I know about it. You are an arcane spirit beast, a beast capable of handling even expert level foundation realm cultivators despite being several levels lower. Based on your species, you should be three times your current size.” Relic then smirked back at Jiro. “That’s why I applaud you for going back to your home. Based on your state not only are you smaller and weaker than those in the same realm, you have also lost any opportunity to unlock your ancestral bloodline. To go back home in that state is something not even I would dare do.”
Relic proceeded to sigh. “If you had stayed with me I may have been able to help you fix it but alas… I suppose it wasn’t meant to be.” he shook his head in a helpless fashion and then entered into his home.
Jiro continued to hover in the air, unsure how to respond.
Finally, after a few moments, Jiro landed back onto the ground. “(C-can you help fix my core?)”
“....” There was no response.
“(Please...)” Jiro said in a desperate tone.
“(There are no certainties in life.)” Relic came back out. “(But there exist a sect that may be able to help you with your problem. The cost to attain that method will not be cheap, but if you stick with me I’m sure I can find a way!)” Relic spoke as if he was certain he would be able to heal Jiro.
Jiro couldn’t quite explain it, but he felt like Relic was telling the truth and that if he didn’t stay with relic he would regret it for the rest of his life.
“(W-what do you want me to do?)” Jiro lowered his head.
“Let’s look out for each other.” Relic smiled and extended his hands
Jiro looked at the extended hand. He couldn’t understand why Relic continued to treat him with the respect of another human. He had grown up hating humans, more specifically, cultivators.
“(Hmph, let’s see how long you can keep this up.)” Jiro thought to himself
Jiro extended his legs and they shook on it, indicating they had an understanding.
“B-brother, what happened?” Hana asked with a curious expression.
Hana understood they were able to communicate in a way which they could understand each other. However, to Hana, it just seemed like her Brother was speaking and acting randomly.
Relic laughed and said, “No, it’s nothing; we just had a small conversation.”
She tilted her head in confusion.
After communicating some more, Jiro lowered his head and Relic got on.
“Shall we?” He extended a hand to Hana.
“Where are we going?” she queried.
“Let’s go exploring!”
Hana’s eyes seem to light up when she heard those words. Her entire life had been confined in this town on top of this great mountain. Since they were children she had to mature a lot in order to take care of her brother who was incapable of taking care of himself. The result was that she really did not experience much of her childhood or do anything she wanted. The moment Relic extended his hand a seed for adventure seemed to blossom within her.
She took his hands and he hoisted her up onto Jiro. Jiro unfurled his wings once more and took to the sky, carrying the two children towards the edge of the mountain before diving towards the forest below.
Elsewhere, on top of an unassuming roof top, sat a handsome man with two dog beasts next to him. The dog beasts lazily slept next to the handsome man as he rubbed their heads. This man was the mayor who had spoken to Relic prior. “Just who are you...” He slanted his eyes.
He had kept a close eye on Relic after he had left and was stunned to now see that crippled spirit beast flying normally. His suspicion seemed to grow stronger than before. He would never believe a regular eight year old boy would be capable of downing a divine spirit beast, but now, he had just witnessed that same spirit beast flying as if it had no problems. In his eyes, even the Yan family were less of a threat than the boy who seemed to appear out of nowhere.