Miss Florinda felt like she had aged another one hundred years since she met the bizarre boy with orange hair at the beginning of the night. "No, I should not think of him that way," She scolded herself. "He is our tribe hero, who saved our lives and gave our Crimson Coast back. But I cannot forget he was not the only one who fought for us." The old lady sat by the side of their tribe heroine, who lay soundly asleep on the shallow water.
"Poor, poor girl," Miss Florinda had tasked herself to stay by Hai's side so she would not drift away. "You couldn't just ignore the hero, could you? You had to be more stubborn than him and challenge him even though he clearly outmatched you." She felt horrible for reprimanding Hai. "But you did succeed in the end, although I think you cheated a bit there. I only hope that it wasn't all for nothing, though." Miss Florinda looked into the distance, to the other side of the beach, where their hero Mac Key Kast had run off carrying an extremely malnourished-looking man on his back.
"Are you sure you should move this much in your state?" Mac asked Lapido as he tried to find the perfect balance between speed and stability.
"This is a conundrum indeed, Mac Key Kast." He said. "The passing of time or the wind, I wonder which will cause my body to corrode faster. But since you took so long to become my disciple, we need to compensate for the time lost."
"Hey, hey, hey, I haven't said anything about becoming your disciple. I only want you to tell me how to fix my Small Orbis."
"I naturally have my conditions, Mac Key Kast," Lapido was talking as if he wasn't someone Mac could kill with a sneeze. "And they aren't outlandish compared to what I offer in return, that I am sure."
"You know I can make you give anything I want with a few words, don't you?" Mac retorted. He was not feeling that well about threatening a rotted corpse for its secrets, but that was just a drop in an ocean of bad things he had done in his life, so he was not that concerned about losing sleep over this single misdeed.
"Oh, the Hidden Will. A weapon of the tongue, completely independent of your connection to the world. Being one of its victims, I can vow for its powers. Although-" Mac could feel Lapido smiling behind him. He was happy that he could not see because he imagined it unfathomably creepy. "- I have my reasons to believe you will not be able to get the solutions you seek from me that way!"
"Really?" Mac was up to the challenge. "So why don't we give it a-"
"This should be far enough, Mac Key Kast. You can put me down." Lapido interrupted. "I doubt outsiders will bother us here."
"You know that we are the actual outsiders here, right?" Mac could have been more careful with Lapido when he laid him on the water. "We barged into their tribe at midnight and almost provoked a genocide of their people. You especially should feel awful since it was mostly your fault."
Mac wanted to go on a lengthier rant, but Lapido seemed tired of his speeches. "I admit my blame for the lapse in my judgment, but let us ignore that for now. There are more pressing matters at hand. We need to finalize our contract as a master and disciple."
With no words in response, Mac left the shallow red waters and gave a quick look at this part of the beach. It was mostly the same, with clear soft sand bordering on the fumble wall built by the invaders. The only difference was that there were dozens of foot size glittering black oval rocks with smooth textures scattered around this part of the beach. He found one big enough and sat on it without a care to give. "Let's get this over with, then. I think that it is only fair that I grant your last wish. But first, I want you to tell me how to fix my Small Orbis."
The frizzle bones of Lapido were not enough to sustain himself, so he fumbled and fell to the side. "Very well, Mac Key Kast. And so, to answer most of the questions you may have at once, I shall retell you a bit of my story." Lapido said, staring at the sky.
"Do whatever you want." Mac sighed. He could relate to the desire to share your tale moments before your impending death. "But don't die on me because you took too long."
Lapido went silent while he observed the ever-cloudless blue sky. Mac worried the black skeleton had kicked the bucket there, but he eventually started talking. "I was born to be one of the strongest beings in this world, Mac Key Kast," Lapido said with his coarse and ghostly voice. "Far, far away from this land, near the true pinnacle of this world, I came. From a long lineage of heaven-defying cultivators, I was the only son to inherit their legacy. But the heavens were not kind to me, or rather, not kind to those who defied it before me. My talent was not enough, above average, undisputable, but not enough. Most of my peers were naturally superior to me and would surpass my years of intense training and meditation in a single evening night."
Mac listened with his head resting on his hands. He had a hard time finding sympathy for Lapido, but he chose to continue listening in quietness.
"For so many centuries, I tried to live up to the expectations of my blood and genes." Lapido continued on his bumble. "I had so many recourses to use and abuse, but I still could never hope to compare to the true talent of this world. Those truthfully destined for greatness and purpose. It took me about a millennium and a half to understand my place."
His own clothes were exceedingly clean, Mac noticed. He was trying to distract himself before he made a dumb joke about how the great Third Hevi could never relate to Lapido's struggle because he was just that awesome. It took a lot of his will to be considerate.
"It was... dishearting, to say the least, accepting that all of your efforts were for nothing in the end." Lapido could not stop. "But life went on, and so did I, and not without help, I will tell you that!" He laughed while his body threatened to collapse due to the sudden movement. "I eventually grew out of the despair of chasing a goal set by my antecessors and actually found passion in something I excel at, something I could be the best at." Lapido laid both hands on his lower dantian. "The study of Orbis!"
"We are finally getting somewhere, it seems." Mac saved this comment to himself. He started to listen with a bit more attention.
"I started to understand what satisfaction was then," Mac noticed the spark of light growing on Lapido's dark eyes as he rumbled his tale. "There was so much to know about this organ of ours that even if I still had my original lifespan, I could not tell you all that I know, Mac Key Kast. So many other millenniums well spent, for once, where I came to learn the true nature of the Orbis."
Lapido stopped talking at once and stared at the sky while Mac confirmed that the smile of a burned skeleton was indeed creepy, especially from that angle. He "respectfully" awaited Lapido to proceed with his story, but since he seemed lost in nostalgia, Mac tried to amuse him.
"I see," He crossed his legs. "If what you told me is the truth, there probably is no one out there more capable of healing my Small Orbis than you."
"Indeed, in my research, I did learn about multiple methods to solve your problem. There are places and treasures in this world with that power, although they are particularly unique. But you do not need to worry, because as your master," Lapido got up in a flash, and Mac almost did the same with a scare. It was beyond him how the walking corpse had the fibers to do that. "I have the best solution to your crisis right here." He touched the area of his lower dantian.
Mac stared, confused for an instant, before an idea came to mind. "You... are going to give me your Small Orbis? Is that even possible?" He had never heard of such practice, although the concept didn't sound outlandish considering everything he knew about the world and its rules.
"Oh, the transfusion of Orbis. A fairly common technique, normally adopted by evil masters and parents, where a kidnapped talented youngling has their Orbis forcefully transmitted into the body of a less blessed disciple or child." Lapido sounded a bit too excited for his condition. Mac could feel a deep passion coming through the coarse and rotten voice. "It hurt me a little that you would consider your master capable of such a thing, but I will pardon you for your ignorance and actually congratulate you for the creative thinking." The black skeleton nodded. "Well done, disciple!"
"Well, I am that creative after all-. WAIT A MINUTE! WHEN DA FUCK DID I ACCEPT TO BE YOUR DISCIPLE, SMART ASS???!!!" Mac could be really gullible when someone praised him.
"Nonetheless, disciple," Lapido would not let it go. "Please, allow me to finish my story first this time. As your master, it is my job to teach you patience. So make sure you stay quiet while your master is talking and raise your hand if you wish to speak."
Mac gritted his teeth as he silently wondered if a flick on Lapido's forehead would explode his skull. He was yearning to try that theory, but he managed to control himself since he was still dependent on Lapido's help.
"Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. I did not even get to what came of my millenniums of research." Lapido's face slapped, which actually caused a cavity on his face. He continued as if nothing had happened. "My grandest creation, indisputably one of the most valuable treasures in the world, which multiple worlds would war against itself if they knew about what I have in hands." Lapido put his right hand on his lower dantian again, but this time, from his body, he dragged something radiant. "Through my studies and resources, I spit in the face of nature and reality and declared: I can do better! Behold, my disciple, the most perfect and powerful Orbis, synthetically created by no one else but me." Lapido looked at his own creation with pride as dark and sludgy tears rolled down his eyes like tar.
The light from the artificial Orbis was so bright that Mac could not look directly at it. He could not even tell how the thing looked with the light coating of the Small Orbis being that thick. But at once, he understood how Lapido planned to "cure" him, and Mac was not really sure he liked the idea very much.
"So you supposedly created the most powerful Orbis in the world? Huh, alright then" It was hard to believe that someone so challenged as Lapido could do something of that magnitude, but Mac was far too used to this type of people who sucked at everything but at this specific matter that they surpassed everyone else. "But I feel there is a lot of context missing here. Why don't you use your "grandest" creation yourself? Why do you need a disciple for that? And why me? Wait a minute. That is true! How do you even know about me? We've never met before, as far I am aware."
"Ah, a curious mind aptly suited for a disciple. Although, It worries me greatly how long it took for you to ask me that last question. You ought to be more circumspect, disciple!" Lapido seemed to be having fun scolding his disciple.
"I will show you the circumspect, you pretentious motherfu-" But Mac did not finish as Lapido intervened.
"Either way, better later than never, as people say," He said while the synthetic Orbis floated gently above his dark boney palms. "You see, disciple, I may not have infinite experience as you claim to have, but I do not fall short on the matter, as I have gone through lifetimes of failures and successes that taught me lessons and pains which shaped the man I am today." For some unexplainable reason, the lingering defunct did not sound convincing to Mac. "From the time that I still tried to live up to dead expectations, not only was I surpassed by people more talented than me, but there were also those who defied their birth-given places and reached heights I could never reach, even if I had more advantages than them. At first, I resented and looked down on them, a pathetic loser I was. But now, experienced and wise-" Mac would beg to differ. "-I see the reason why I could not match them. I do not have the drive, the will to break senses and norms, the pride to face death with a smile; I do not have the power you have, Mac Key Kast!"
Mac eyed Lapido suspiciously, like an animal seeing the same trap twice. "Yeah, I see your point." He said, barely learning from his mistakes.
"Since I found peace with myself, I never even considered using my creation on me, even if it could make me stronger." Lapido looked at his bright "creation" with all the care and affection his dark, dead eyes could demonstrate. "No, this Orbis is destined to an outstanding user! I don't want it wasted on me." There was no melancholy in his voice, only awe. "That is why I need you as my disciple. To achieve my dreams and ambitions! To- to..." Lapido then fell on the red water like a wet bag.
"Oi, old man!" Mac jumped, surprised, as he ran close to check on Lapido. "You reaching your limits?!" He saw how the dead skin floated away as if the red sea dissolved the tar corpse.
Lapido had fallen with his back on the water, and air stopped going in or out of his mouth. Yet, he still had the strength to support his creation. With his right tumbling arm stretched to the sky, his hand woefully played around the floating Orbis as if fully independent from his circumstances.
"That is right. I do not have dreams and ambitions anymore," His voice sounded surprisingly clean and coherent, as if it was not the body talking anymore but its ghost. "Revenge against the person who poisoned me and destroyed me. To murder the one who betrayed me. Yes, that is the only thing that should be on my mind, nothing more, nothing less. You, Mac Key Kast, as my disciple, shall avenge me through the help of my creation."
Mac sucked cold air as he panic. He was not expecting for the old man to deteriorate so fast as he showed more joy telling his story than Mac usually showed telling his own. With a fumbled mind and speech, and without knowing if Lapido could even help him anymore, he could only muster a few words. "Their name. What is their name?"
"Their name?" Lapido repeated, more confused than Mac. "Oh, lord. Why can I not remember their name?! My memories are scaping me! At this rate, I can't make you my official disciple and instruct you on the right path as my last but fulfilling moments!" He mourned for his plans that would never come. "No! I can't die such a shameful death! I did not wish to come to this, but yet..."
As the last remnants of life, Lapido closed his hand around his creation. That seemed to accelerate the process of crumbling, as in just a few moments, Mac observed the skin melting on the water, then the bones, and finally whatever rested of Lapido's insides, disappearing and being cleansed by the Crimson Coast. The right arm collapsed too, at least. Every sign that Lapido was ever there vanished away on the sea, along with his tattered clothes. Everything except one thing, of course.
The artificial Small Orbis floated aimlessly without its creator. Mac feared the "thing" would be taken away by the wind, yet, he did not try to grab it. A mixture of fear and respect for Lapido compelled him, even if it was minuscule feelings. Instead, he watched cautiously as the shield of light gradually lessened.
But before Mac could react, the "thing" disappeared in a mist, and Mac immediately felt a pinch on his lower dantian. "I am sorry, my disciple," He heard a voice from nowhere. "I will be borrowing your body for the time being."