The Primordial

The Fourth Chapter

"Ha? Gorgeously beautiful? Smirking, Dinna reached for Rais's ear, "Is that right?" She questioned Rais about his bold tribute.

"If my beliefs are lies, then let me continue living those lies," Rais steered his eyes towards Dinna with a confident smug face.

"Alright, alright, where is Master Anila? I need her help identifying a few herbs."

"Mother cultivates her mind, It betters if you see her later. As for the herbs, your subject knows several things regarding them." Smiling, Rais bowed down while Dinna looked amused with a tingling urge to snuggle him. "My princess, you are free to seek my help."

Without permission, lifting his hand, Rais slipped the paper slip from her.

Remembering her previous experiences, Dinna didn't doubt Rais, nodding to give her late approval. Straightaway Rais rushed indoors to return with two pieces of paper to sketch out the two herbs Dinna failed to recognize.

Although there were various herbs on the list, noticing a line through them, Rais realized Dinna already gathered most of them by herself, although there were four she needed to find, and two she didn't recognize. Similar to everyone in the academy, she had to collect them as a monthly mission for her academy.

Immediately after finishing the sketch, Rais stood up, handing Dinna the two papers. "They are common except these two, the other four, mom already has them, so we need to find these two."

Although the sketches were not very clear, after looking at them, she sped towards the east to look for them, "if I don't find them, I will return before the yin curtain falls from the void."

"Wait!" Rais picked up his bow and collected ten arrows preparing to go with her.

"You are coming?" Seeing him nod, she revealed her disapproval, "It might be dangerous."

"If you have the fire talisman, can you spare a few."

"What are you planning? You need a magic source to activate them." She looked at him with a questioning gaze."

"A magician never reveals his secret." Rais didn't know how to explain.

"If you are going, leave a note for Master to see."

After leaving a note in front of his mom, Rais wrapped talisman paper around the shaft of the arrows.

After Rais finished, he sped behind Dinna, with excitement. Not only has he completed his tedious movement training, but he was also having fun doing it.

"I can't believe you are keeping up." Dinna became alarmed.

Rais moved to the side of Dinna," according to my mother, running away is the best skill in a battle, so I had to work extra hard on my movement."

"Very insightful, she may be right."

After they found one of the herbs, they stopped to catch a few breaths of air, "my magician, now might be the right time to show me your art of magic." Dinna said in a sarcastic tone looking at Rais.

Despite mockery or the playful jab, Rais pulled the bowstring and placed the nock of the arrow under the rune on his bracelet. Twisting energy rushing from the cut on the right shoulder to enkindle section of the fletching in black fire.

Tvu qmquro ao hfpevo ar f dazu, Rfal zuiuflut ao. Wvur ovu fzzmj ifrtut mr f ozuu, rmovare vfnnurut, gpo ovu qmquro ovu dazu zufhvut ovu ofialqfr, ovu ozuu jfl gimjr arom lqaovuzuurl.

Consequently, Dinna stood there dumbfounded, to make such an explanation, from a low-level talesman there had to be an extremely potent magic source.

"Hahaha," It was unexpected for Rais as well, "sister now I have better offensive prowess than you, your brother shall protect you."

Speechless Dinna didn't say anything and continued to look for the last herb.

"If we could get into the forest, this herb would be very easy to find, too bad neither of us can get inside the barrier," Rais said in disappointment.

"Two of your friends are accepted by the forest, we can ask them for help."

"Let us not make her too important, she might get too arrogant. If we look around the forest outer barrier, we might find it."

Rais and Dinna kept talking as they moved towards the true interior of the forest.

"Sister, how come you don't learn from mom anymore and left for the academy."

"She already taught the best of the basic, but she said our combat style and approach to the battle were different. If she taught me, I could get strong, very fast, but in the long term, it could limit my potential. She commanded me to forge my own unique path, only this way can I become stronger."

As they got closer to the true origin point of the forest, the surrounding environment became eerily silent. A mysterious oppressive force pushed them back, making them slower, but despite this, they continued forward until they abruptly halted. Although they were aware of the force, it wasn't the thing that made them stop.

A large area of the forest was destroyed from a recent battle that took place. They saw numerous corpses of fierce beasts laying on the ground. They saw a deer with the missing head, a tree with a lifelike carved face inside a crater as its brunches were separated from it, red resin dripping down from the tree, as it looked like the blood was pouring out of it. A young red jewelled serpent coated with golden light captured in a cage left to the side of it as the blood like risen climbed up to consume it.

A chill ran through the veins of Dinna and Rais as they hid behind an ancient cloud reaching the tree. When its eye met with Rais, it started banging its head on the cage as if it was asking for help. They didn't approach it, as they could hear explosions from a battle that was still taking place, not very far away from the destruction.

To make things worse, Rais heard a loud cracking noise, as half of the rune on his breslate vanished, "damn it why now, why so fast." He felt a continuous stabbing pain in his rightsholder, as a cut opened up. His clothes near his shoulder became shocked with blood. As the blood fell it turned into ice crystal, then busting away to vanish within the air.

He became alarmed as the runes were becoming less effective against his curse over time. How long would it last next time, how would he get rid of it, he had it with him as long as he remembered, his mother never reviled anything about it.

Compared to the last time, when it lasted for six months, this time it only lasted for three months, a sense of urgency took over his heart. He decided the first thing he would do when he got back was to ask his mom to redraw the rune.

Fleeing a sense of peril, immediately falling backwards, Rais turned towards Dinna, who remained next to him. Before Rais could turn his head, an outburst of air pushed him back, but to his surprise, Dinna endured the blast, stood there as if she was frozen, peering at a black ironlike artifice, as a transparent guard shielded her body.

"How can this be," Dinna turned towards Rais "It's reacting to something nearby." The black wheel-like artefact hovered up from her hand.

Noticing the artefact making its way toward Rais, her pupil dilated, confusion turned into surprise and surprise turned into delight, "It's... it's... reacting to you, Rais." Her voice grew irregular.

"What is it and way?" Rais, absolutely clueless about what was occurring, glanced towards his shoulder.

Aii Qa frt qfrf dzmq ovu lpzzmprtare ursazmrquro efovuzut, hmrhurozfoare fzmprt ovu fzoadfho. Dalofrhu fjfw arlatu ovu vmplu jvuzu Araif hpioasfout duio ovu qfrf guhmqu ukozuquiw ovar, lvu imlo vuz hmrhurozfoamr.

"It's an artefact left to me by my mother, It is an ancient heirloom of her family. I don't know why it's reacting to you, but it must have something to do with the way you activated that talisman."

"Who are you?" Rais felt like this is the first time he met Dinna.

She smiled in response, "no, the question is, who are you? How can it react to you! You have no idea, how inconceivable what you have done is!"

"Who am I? I will remember to tell you once I find out." While laughing, Rais looked towards his shoulder and realized it must be something to do with his curse mark.

"Don't just stand there, try to open it," She thought Rais was still messing with her.

"This is going to burn," he held his shoulder, as he remembered the previous instances of the agonizingly soul-crushing pain, "you owe me, big this time, sister."

Eagerness could be seen on Dinna's face as she shook with excitement.

"Close your eye and open it when I say so otherwise, you can forget it."

Dinna was so excited she complied right away. Rais took off the bracelet, as his hand became engulfed in tenacious black flame, but before it could burn his arm, the artefact absorbed it as it spun faster and faster.

Realizing the artefact no longer observed the flame, he put the restraining rune back on his wrist. "Open your eyes," one of his eyes arched toward Dinna and the other he tried to keep on the artefact.

Immediately after Dinna opened her eyes, the artefact fell to the ground, creating a cubic projection in front of them. A blue line from the centre of the cube was pointing towards the western sky. There was a text written in a language he didn't recognize with a few numbers around it.

"What are these numbers?" Rais asked with confusion.

"Spatial coordinates, my mom thought she lost it on the moon island, but there was another copy inside of this."

"Coordinates to where?"

"To a place very very far away," she said watching the projection vanish, as various streams of ethereal light entered her head, she stood there closing her eyes.

Once she opened her eyes, the artefact flew onto her palm, excitement could be seen on her face, she brimmed with happiness, her hands were shaking, she couldn't contain her excitement.

She turned towards Rais, "I am going to yell loudly, don't think I am going crazy."

Rais stood in the same spot dumbfounded, as he didn't know how to react.

"Ahhhhhh Ha ha ha ha."

Svu zfr omjfztl Rfal, iadout vaq pnjfzt, ovur om ovzmj vaq fazgmzru, ar ukhaouquro frt lptturiw hmqare om f vfio om ovarc fgmpo lmquovare. Adouz ovarcare dmz f jvaiu, lvu lqaiut.

"Are you done or did some evil spirit take over your body."

Embarrassed, she playfully touched his ear and gave him something from inside the artefact.

"Since you helped me I will give you this, don't give it to anyone and keep it a secret."

"What is it," Rais asked, looking at an intricately crafted token, with a marking of a bird on it."

"You will know once you reach the requirement to cultivate it."

"A technique?"In response, Dinna only nodded.