"We're really grateful that you helped us! We thought that when you brought the Embers of Life here, it was the end of our clan and thank the gods that Cremorgon introduced a new member to us!" the old man gratefully said, as he bowed once again before facing the two.
"I'm quite lost?" Arie scratched his head and confusedly looked at the Ashen Elves in front of him.
"We'll inform you when we get to the Brilliant River!" the old man said, and he gestured the two to follow him as he led the group of skinny Ashen Elves towards a direction leading deep inside the Ash Forest.
The forest looked magical, despite the color of the trees. Even though the trees' trunks were black and the leaves were grey, the tips that looked like embers made it look magical. It made the forest glow with a dim red light. There were Fire Class beasts that emit either flames or embers roaming around, adding a flavor to the magical atmosphere.
Even though the two went back and forth through the forest, it had never been this magical before.
"Why do these trees glow now? If I remember correctly, they were not glowing before!" Arie asked while fantasizing about the surrounding view when the old man chuckled.
"Correction, young man! It never stopped glowing until the day the volcano stopped erupting!" The old man said while continuing their march in a certain direction that the elves, other than the two, knew.
"What do you mean? I still can't understand!" Arie replied.
"The volcano, particularly, the lava gave life to Asheville and the Ash Forest, it gives energy to all of us and the trees, that's why the tips of the leaves glowed red, because of the fiery origin of the energy that it consumes." The old man explained as he raised his hand and grabbed a bunch of leaves from the trees.
"But when the connection from the source is cut off, the energy will also stop from flowing." He added as he showed the bunch of leaves from his hand to Arie and Urie.
The two looked at the old man's hand and saw that the tips of the leaves lost their glow when they were detached from the tree.
"Can you see the connection now? The lava from below gives life to the beings above! The same mechanic works in Asheville. When the source was cut off, the Asheville became the same as the leaves." The old man continued as they looked in front and saw that they were close to the end of the forest.
"I see! I completely understood!" Urie nodded.
They all went silent when they reached their destination.
It was a river that divided the forest into two parts, but it was not an ordinary river. It was a river of lava.
Rocks could be seen floating on the river and some embers could be seen flying out of it. It was flowing thickly like a river of honey.
"That's the Brilliant River! An artificial river of lava that was created by the Ancient Ashen Elves. They made a series of canals deep beneath the ground towards Asheville that gives energy to the town." The old man introduced as he nodded his head and all the elves rushed towards the river.
They all looked excited as they jumped in the river as if they were just taking a bath at a normal river.
Some were even scrubbing their bodies, enjoying the boiling hot lava coursing through their skins.
"W-W-What? H-h-how?" Urie exclaimed while glitching as his body went to different places even though he's not moving.
"Argh! He's glitching again! I should watch over him for a moment!" Arie slapped his forehead and monitored his brother's avatar.
"Glitching? What is that? Why is he appearing at random places? Do gods give him that power?" The old man asked while scooping some glowing hot lava from the river and scrubbed it to his body.
"Oh yeah! They know nothing about the game since they are the game NPCs!" Arie thought to himself as he kept his eyes focused on the places where Urie's avatar appears.
"More like a curse to him. When he's in that state, he can't control what he is doing!" Arie replied without batting an eye at the old man.
"Oh! I see! How about you? Aren't you going to take a dip?" The old man asked Arie, but he rejected the offer and focused on his brother that was glitching.
A few minutes passed when the glitching subsided and Urie's avatar stabilized.
Arie quickly came before his brother's avatar to support him as he returned.
"It happened again, hasn't it?" Urie asked, and his brother answered with a nod.
"So, you have a World Curse, right?" the old man asked while scrubbing his body.
"Just say that you have! I'll fill you in later!" Arie whispered.
"You can say that an ability is a curse if you can't control it, but if you have perfect control with that ability, what will you call it then?" the old man asked as he lifted himself up from the river and a qualitative change could be seen on his body.
He looked like he regained his vigor after taking a dip and sat at the shore of the river to chat with them two.
"A blessing!" Urie exclaimed, as if he just thought of something.
"Yes, it's a blessing as long as you see it and perceive it as one!" the old man smiled as he stood up and took Arie's hand. "It's also time to receive your Blessings of Flames!"
He dragged Arie towards the burning river and pushed him in.
An interface appeared in front of Arie, giving him a warning.
[The acceptance of the Blessing of Flames has started! HP will slowly decrease during the process. Avoid bringing HP to a critical level!]
"Bro! I'm in trouble!" Arie shouted out, trying to stay afloat.