With a satisfactory pop, the ruinous bubble-hurricane that had caused destruction everywhere is now nowhere to be seen! Even the other, more hidden and discrete ones had silently retreated under the threat of Ran's sigil.
With the disaster gone, the countless chains rattled joyously.
They rose up, as if facing the heavens themselves before a change occurred. Like the wind, the chains that you all thought were solid were actually not! After all, how could it be a solid when in fact, it's a fluid!
Much like the structure that healed the Giant Sakura tree, the chains were actually an extremely viscous fluid; so much so that it behaved almost like gelatin. Gummy and gives way to pressure while maintaining its structural integrity/shape. At the same time, it is runny enough to flow like water.
And as they rose up to the skies, even higher than the tree itself, they all lost their structural integrity; turning into a goopy rain as it poured onto the whole world itself.
As the rain splashed onto everything, it all began to glow resplendently and one by one, everything came back.
The glass and marble cities resurrected from the ashes and the people reconstituted themselves, looking at each other with wide and silly grins on their faces.
All of it, everything, was repaired to what it once was beforehand. Yet, silently and in the dark, small imperceptible shifts happened.
What was once seen, cannot be unseen… unfelt….
As the chains slowly receded from the skies victoriously, the once resounding roar that had originated from the center of the sigil had been quieting down; it grew softer and increasingly hoarse, only a shadow of its former might and trepidation-inducing self left to fill in as background noise.
And then:
"Cough."
"Oh! You ok there? You don't have to worry about us anymore!" The tall figure looked at the sigil with worry as it spoke. The chains had long since disappeared and the sigil began losing its radiance.
"Shit. Seems he got a little too angry this time." The figure muttered while shaking its head. It was all jt could do.
…
"Cough."
Another one!
"Hey! Seriously, I don't think we'll be needing your help for a while now. It's… okay now… we're okay now." With those words, the tall figure smiled, mysteriously. The words that rang from its mouth appeared to have provided some comfort as the roar finally vanished smoothly and without its prior ferocity.
Yet, its smile froze as it felt a tingling sensation on its neck and back.
It was the kind of sensation you get when your hair stands on end and you feel as if someone is breathing down your neck. The kind of feeling you get when you think… someones watching you.
It turned its head around and glanced around itself.
Behind it a ways back, an object could be seen floating silently.
Its hairs immediately stand on end as it stared at the object.
It was Rans sword! It had been nowhere to be found before and now it's back!
The sword floated silently, Rans name sparkling with a vital light as embers and sparks that surround it and dissipate soon after.
With Rans name facing both the sigil and the figure next to it, "it looked" on in silence.
It turned slightly in the figures direction as if to "observe" her. The shift in orientation was so small it would barely register to the human eye. Yet, this small change in direction freaked the figure out immediately; it scrambled about it in anxiety.
"Alright, hang in there man! I'll talk to you later!" The tall figure spoke to the sigil for one last time before it looked at the sword one last time.
It shuddered and instantly regretted its action; it quickly turned around and ran like the dickens! Who knows where it'd go.
"It's high time I get out of here!" The figure quickly disappeared out of view.
At the center of the tree, the sword turned its direction back to how it was beforehand; watching the sigil in a "silent and eerie" manner.
The sigil, and by proxy the whole tree, shuddered as the eerie atmosphere took hold. The sigil had already been losing its intensity for a while now, but it quickly began flickering in a hurry, unwilling to stay the least bit activated in such an environment; it shut down.
It lost its sparkling red-pink light and returned to its dull and inactivated state.
The flowers also lost their glow and previously excited state.
…
Everything returned back to normal.
Everything.
***
Day 3:
Today started out like any other. You know, sucking up all that rainbow mist within the Ocean in his mind. But for some reason, Granny still wasn't there. Maybe she had some emergency in some other origin point? Anyways, besides that, Ran also noticed that the crystal's strength was also beginning to dim.
Now that was unexpected. It had to be known that Granny had been here before he even discovered the place! Maybe she wasn't absorbing it and was waiting for him? Regardless, it seemed that the ability for the crystal's to produce the rainbow mist was declining and probably would stop entirely within the next two to three weeks.
If you assume that Granny hadn't taken any of it though, considering his bloodline, it was still somewhat expected. It just seemed as though he was absorbing it at a quickened pace; which would also explain his rapid increase in strength lately.
If he could easily pick up 150 kilograms (330 pounds), then he could now easily lift double that. And it would probably double again by the time the mist is completely absorbed. Better yet, he didn't gain any bulk! Well, a little, but still!
Phew, imagine my rep if I have some sort of jock as the protagonist.
But… that was probably the least of his worries today.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going!?" Ann exclaimed in an authoritative tone. she had just caught him trying to leave the dorm.
These past few days (specifically after the crystal necklace being acquired), Ann had been pretty sluggish and had been waking up at a later time of day. Though she seems slightly more energetic than usual?
Thus, with Ran not wanting to wake her up (she can get cranky when people wake her up), she had not come to know of all of Rans recent activities. But, like how all good things must come to an end, she had surprisingly woken up early enough to "catch" Ran running off to whatever playdate he was going to attend.
"Uh, to Max's shop." Ran answered nonchalantly.
Good, if you show any sign of weakness, a woman could play you to your grave! Trust me bud, at the very least, you need plausible deniability. She ain't got s**t on my man Ran!
"Max?" Who's max, she mentally asked herself as she combed through her memory in an effort to identify this person. Seeing such confusion, Ran ended up telling her about how he wanted to train to "get back" at Bob and all of the encounters he's had with Max. Truly, he had no choice in the matter. His bum can only absorb so many hits.
"Bob? Good, these days, he's been getting too cocky for his own good." she muttered under her breath with narrowed eyes. It was more of a whisper, but Ran had heard such words. He couldn't help but gulp at her words and could only silently pray for Bob's safety.
Don't worry Bob! While I can't protect you, I'll put in a good word; that way, she'll only beat you half to death! Ran told himself and was pleased with such an action to help out a brother.
"I see. So this "Max", is she in it only for the money?" "Yes. She's a businesswoman, why else would she be in it?" Ran turned his head sideways, as if to physically show his confusion. Such an interrogation had more or less been caught on by Ran, but he didn't really care, or rather, he had no choice. Ann was her own woman after all and thus, her mind was already made up to cause some trouble.
"Well… I'd like to see this woman!"
Ha! I, for myself, want to see how ugly this woman is! How dare she try to swindle his Tiny Holiness! I'll tear her bloody arms off! The dignity of his Tiny Holiness is most sacred and the likes of you shall be purified from this world in his name!
Aw s**t, Ran be careful man! You're treading on thin ice! One slip and it all comes crumbling down. God, listen to her blabbing to herself over there, her fury knows no bounds!
"Meor."
"You too Fluffy!? Why does everyone want to see her? Am I, Ran, perhaps missing something?" Ran was beginning to ponder whether or not he should get Bob as well since he seemed pretty left out lately. But… he doesn't truly need to go, now does he?
"Meor meor, meor." "What? She gives you nice pets? So you're saying I don't give you nice pets!?"
Gah! Ran clutched his chest. To be insulted by your companion, oh how awful! Fluffy didn't even bother to look at him in the eyes, though.
She was, however, slightly amused by his handsome face being contorted into one of sadness.
"Hey! Are we going or not!?"
Ann lost her patience with these two and kicked Rans bum; launching all the way out the already open… door? Did she plan this beforehand!? Gah! Ran clutched his chest; to be mistreated this way. Oh the sorrow!
And just like that, they all left to harass one woman in one shop, for like half an hour.
Yet, once they headed outside, a small commotion was already brewing.
As they walked by the dorms, they couldn't help but perk their ears as their fellow students whispered to each other.
"Hey. Have you heard? The emissary for the Dire Wolf's tribe has arrived and is already speaking with the king even as we speak!"
All around them, the eager voices of young men and women pounded their ears, causing eager smiles to creep up on their faces as well. They looked at each other and saw their mutual excitement.
While their patriotism was a little on the low side, the rewards for participating are enticing nonetheless!
"Yeah and I heard they were all standing upright!" The voice of one particular student caught Rans attention.
Upright? Ran thought, but then it clicked.
You mean they all have bipedal forms!?
The image of Granny appeared again in his mind. He had been reading up in the library these days and had come to know all about it.
Basically, there were two ways for a spiritual beast to get their bipedal form.
One, they rank-up all the way to the first transformation, aka, rank-5.
Two, being born as one. Usually, in these cases, the parents of the child have unlocked their bipedal forms after their first transformation and the child is born permanently as a bipedal.
With literally every spiritual being having this capability, being in their primal forms is considered a sign of inferiority; especially since the prerequisite is being rank-5.
Rank-5 is such a step up from the rest of the other lower ranking ones that technically speaking, you can't be said to have truly entered the world of power then.
But that's all gobbledygook for now, so how about I skip ahead to the good part.
***
Jingle.
With a step, Ran and company entered the now familiar shop of various low-end goods. The tidy arrangements of uselessly shiny equipment, a welcome sight to be sure.
"Heyo. Max, I'm here!" Ran shouted as he had yet to see the feline figure.
Then a creak was heard as two feline ears poked out of the counter. She stood up to greet her most wealthy customer, one that seemed to enjoy fattening her wallet so much, he had been visiting everyday!
Ah, she swore she could just hear the voice of her father, encouraging her to get as much as she could get her hands on.
"Yep, I'm here. I was just cleaning the basement seeing as you were so disheartened the other day." Max said as she got out from the basement and into the view of the three existences in front of her.
When Ann and Max's eyes met each other, Ann became stiff.
This woman is strong! She completely ignored her previous thought of Max being ugly; she didn't like being wrong.
No matter! Just look at those crummy, furry looking hands; those are the hands of a criminal! A criminal I say!
"A friend of yours?" Max glanced at Ann for a second longer before asking Ran.
"Yes, this Ann." Ran introduced them to each other.
"Meor." "Oh! How's it going Fluffy; hey, have you grown softer since yesterday?" Fluffy had already cozed up to Max and was being rubbed to her heart's content. Ran could only watch in silence as he mentally prepared himself for today's trial.
"Hehe, today's going to be a fun one!" Max grinned widely saying this and Ann glanced suspiciously at her.
"Hehe?" Ann asked, repeating after Max.
Max only walked up to Ann and whispered to her ear.
"Spiders."
"Spiders?"
Ann and Max looked at each other's eyes and found a familiarity within them.
Then invisible sparks flew all over the place! Aw s**t, are these the sparks of friendship!?
Ran, you better prepare yourself as the worst thing in the world just happened.
Two women, one commonality.