"How funny .." Theo looked at her and laughed along ...
"What is ...?" he asked after that heartfelt laughter. ..
"You and your idiotic jokes .. I wonder what's inside that head of yours ..."
Theo harumphed and said .. "Well if you must know .. I'm an etiquette noble man ... and inside this skull .. lives the most valuable treasure that could even make the Gods jealous ... "
"I really worry about you .." the two then stared at each other in a moment of silence before they suddenly laughed .. both at the same time ..
the atmosphere .. turned .. from being gloomy to joyous ..
the feeling of being disappointed instantly vanished from Theo's eyes ... as he smiled while he talked with the captain with happiness ...
"Haa~ .. the good old days ... " captain Rose sighed ...
"You say it like .. you've spent a .. thousand years ... in war ... what a 'battlemaniac' ..."
"pffft ...." the captain choked on her breath and laughed ....
"Hey ... I told you I'm a civilised gentle humble lady ... I'm not like you ... you brute ... " she then pouted ...
as they were laughing ... pain suddenly spiked his brain ... causing him to grab hold of his head ... trying to suppress the pain that he couldn't ignore ...
captain Rose who was beside him ... was startled and got anxious as her hands went towards him ...
"No don't ...!!!" Theo gritted his teeth and said ... blood seeped through the gaps between his teeth ...
the captain backed off reluctantly .. and watched as his veins bulged through his head like tree vines sprouting from the ground ...
his eyes were starting to get moist and red ...
'Whats happening ...!!!' he exclaimed inwardly ...
but alas no answer came ...
captain Rose bit her nails in frustration and worry ... as she watched over Theo whose situation wasn't getting any better ...
she didn't know what had just happened to him ...
but she could see that he was in pain ... from looking at the bulging veins and blood seeping through his teeth ..
she wanted to listen to what he said ... but her heart couldn't stand it ...
she suddenly thought of what he said ... the time he mentioned his power being intertwined with her's ...
she looked at her hands .. and thought of an enveloping aura ...
but even though she thought about it ... that feeling couldn't get to her ...
even if what he said was true ... whatever she was thinking about couldn't have been right
but still ... she couldn't bear to see the sight of him in pain ... and refusing her help ...
all in all .. she was offended .. but more than that .. she was really worried and her heart ached .. with each groan that escaped through Theo's mouth ....
she looked at her hands again and looked at Theo ...
her moist eyes .. trembled at the sight but she refused to become a weak captain .. especially when her subordinate was in need of her help ...
she quickly inserted energy into her eyes ... and enhanced her sight a little bit ...
at that moment her eyes opened up to a world of energy ... in which Theo was covered in a mix of elements ...
but from deep within .. her eyes caught a glimpse of a golden dot ... and a flickering white flame beside it ...
she immediately stopped and led her eyes deep towards the two mysterious holy lights ...
when she arrived before the two lights .. she could see a light ... a humanoid golden shadow ... trapped by thick golden chains ...
the humanoid figure was motionless and didn't even struggle ... it's entire figure was blurry so she couldn't see it's details fully ...
even if she inspected it further .. she doubted her inspection would get any far ... than discovering three fingers ...
and beside the trapped humanoid golden light .. was a giant white flame ... with a powerful conscious ...
from looking at it .. she could deduce that ... the conscious was a combination of Theo's original power and will ...
after all he defeated a person who was many stages above him ... in one swoop and even paralysed him with fear ...
anyways ... she then turned again and looked at the golden figure infront of her ..
the energy waves she could sense from the figure were similar to the golden aura he mostly used on healing and heating the body up against cold ...
but she couldn't detect any aura or any power surging on its exterior and interior ....
even the flickering giant white flame was like a normal flame .. which was only different by color ...
the two mystical forces looked a little frail ..
now that she saw them .. she realised that this was the effects of overusing the power ...
although she knew that the golden power was Theo's origin power .. she understood how strong it was .. and recalling back their time together on previous coincidental missions ... she now became aware of the dangers she had caused him ...
despite him being all smiles ... he was actually getting damaged from the inside ... using up all of his reserves to save everyone ...
although he had only just met them ... his deeds made it feel like they knew each other for years ....
'He's dying ...' she said blankly inside her mind ...
she subconsciously released her power which contained a little amount of red flames covered with a blob of golden light ...
it wasn't as pure as Theo's but it was still good ...
when she saw what she did ... she looked back at him .. and ran to him .. with her hand flying towards him
..
before he could even react ... the golden blob ... went inside his mouth ... instantly enveloping his innards with a vigorous luminous golden energy ... that healed his antibodies ... and cells which were breaking apart with each second passing ...
but with the blob of energy inside of him ... the cells and antibodies strangely stopped shaking and started repairing ..
although some were still breaking ... that didn't mean they weren't healing ...
each crack got affected by the golden light .. and instantly healed ...
but even so .. the process was as slow as a bored snail ...
on top of the fact that .. Theo had way too many cells and antibodies ... the process took a lot of energy from the captain and sapped every last bit .. considering that the golden blob was a part of the golden energy ... his body accepted the healing without problems ... and even accepted the tiny little red flame swirling inside ...
the healing cells .. multiplied ... under the enhancement of a different element ...
and beside all the other elements ... a new swirling fog of red appeared ...
and red flaming cells appeared as well ... taking over the other cells and even multiplying across his system ...
by the time .. his pain .. went away ... captain Rose was already out of juice ... she laid beside him panting ... and sweating
..
after evolving to a new higher stage was not child's play ... it might've been a good thing .. but at some times .. it wasn't ... no matter how much a person was experienced in a certain stage .. it didn't mean it was still the same in the stage above
....
being weak was one of the effects of evolving to a new stage ... unless one was like Theo ... and had great knowledge about different stages ... this could've been prevented ....
captain Rose had been tired out from using a newfound power that didn't belong to her .. which was considered an origin to Theo ...
she was aware of the consequences but .. she didn't hesitate to help him ...
after calming him down and healing his cells and body ... Theo regained his sanity ... and strength ...
he slowly removed his hand away from his head .. and took a breather ... before looking to his side ...
"Captain .. are you okay ... " he said hurriedly .. as he crawled to her side ...
the captain nodded with a weak smile ... before closing her eyes ... replenishing her energy ...
as he waited ... five whole hours passed ... as the captain exhaled with a breath filled with a powerful pressure...
she then opened her eyes ... and infront of her eyes ... was a man with raised brows ... who had a worried expression ...
but from the captain's sight ... he was too close .... very close ... she subconsciously raised her hand and slapped him across the face ...
he was sent flying into a tree ... and destroyed it ...
"What was that for ....??" Theo asked ... with a pained tone ...
he then stood up holding his hips .. like a groggy old man .. after he sprained his spine ...
"You were too close .. soldier ...!!" she shouted ... and looked away as a blush found a way on her cheeks ...
"Sorry ... I thought you would've taken much lesser time to replenish your energy ... so I wanted to check on you ... after 5 long hours ... I didn't know that was considered a crime ... as well ..... why don't you just handcuff me and put me behind bars ...." he wailed like a wronged maiden ... as he fell down like he fainted ...
"Argh ..." the captain sighed and sped right at him .. and princess carried him to their previous spot ...
"Oh .. is that the white light .... oh angel of mercy please take me .. I cannot live in this world ... filled with so much hatred for handsome men ..." captain Rose suddenly dropped him to the ground ... and slapped him ...
"Oh wait ... I was just kidding ... bluaargh" he tried to lighten up the mood .. but alas ... the beautiful jade hand ... smooched his face ...
"Oh sorry ... soldier .. I thought the angel of mercy had already gotten away with you ... " captain Rose spoke .. looking at the sobbing man beside her ...
"I'm just a golden ranked soldier .. you didn't have to be so mean .. captain ... what if I broke a shoulder .. it worse .. my neck ... and arms ... who would I be able to embrace ... without the ability to move my arms ... " he complained ...
"Well .. aren't you just lucky ... it seems like you didn't break anything ... it'd be very bad if something were to happen to your face again though ...." Theo gulped and cast a healing skill from his golden element on his face ..
whilst he was still healing himself .. he suddenly felt an electric current passing through his body and cells ...
he immediately stopped and looked at himself ... causing the captain to look back at him .. "What's wrong .." Theo then conjured a red blood ball in his hand .. which disappeared as quickly as it appeared ...
"My will has been ... terminated .." he said in a shaky voice ..
"Your will ...?? ..." Theo nodded and tried to conjure a few more balls .. which instantly flew away with the .... wind ..
"I see ... is there anything we can do to recover it ...??"
"This means ... I've been overusing it ... that's why I wasn't able to recall the path the creature led me on ..." he muttered under his breath .. completely ignoring the captain ...
"Hey .. are you okay ..." captain Rose then grabbed his shoulder gently and turned him to her ...
"Uh ... yes ..." he replied ...
"So I was asking .. what can we do to recover it ...???"
"Recover it ...?? ... oh ... " Theo lowered his head and thought about it over and over ..
'This .. ' as he was pondering ... the captain heard leaves ruffling at the top of the tree infront of them ...
she instantly stood up and took out her blade ...
Theo noticed her suddenly jolting up ..
he stood up as well .. and followed her gaze ...
before his eyes could catch on what she was looking at ... a huge beast ... the size of the mammoth .. jumped out from the tree's leaves ...
it looked like an iguana with a tall body with a long width ...
it's four legs had magnificent silver claws ...
it had beady green eyes ... and small bumps on its head ...
had a huge tail covered in red spikes ... it's body was covered with dark green scales ... it's black snake like tongue ... spit out green gunk that stunk like feces ...
already it was covered in a its aura ...
it's beastly power exploded in their faces like a water balloon ...
the captain .. hurriedly looked at Theo .. and bit her bottom lip ...
"You go ... ahead .. I'll catch .. up ..!!" she said as she ran forward .. with her blade covered in fervid orange flames ...
the ground got scotched ... by her flames ...
she then raised it in the air .. preparing for a strike ....
the iguana though looked at her only once and turned to look at Theo ... with squinted eyes ...
"Stop ..!!" Theo stepped in between the captain and the iguana ... with both of his arms raised ..
"Theo ... I told you to run ... " she said weakly ..
"I wouldn't leave you for the world .. captain ... besides .. I don't think the ugly dude .. wants to fight ..." when hearing the insult ... the iguana spat out a green arrow made of that gunk ...
though .. it missed Theo under his armpit ...
"You see ... it would've already killed me if it wanted to ... " he said with a smile .. easing up the captain's caution ... but still .. she activated her armour just in case .. anything bad was to happen .. between them ..
"I'll take your word ... for now .." she said .. with furrowed brows as she glanced at the iguana ...
"Phew .. what a relief .." Theo heaved a deep sigh .. 'Really though .. my will isn't terminated entirely but I won't have the strength to stand up against a creature of this calibre ... I have yet to reach up to the captain's rank ... ' he said to himself inwardly ...
"Okay .. then ... I bet you know how to communicate with humans .. right .. spit it out .. what do you want ...?"
silence crept up between the three ...
Theo scratched his face and tried to think of another solution .
and well .. he did .... he lay down on his stomach .. and stuck out his tongue like a snake ...
the iguana seeing this .. was weirded out ... as it pulled its head to the side ... with its eyes squinted ...
'Calm down weirdo ... ' Theo suddenly stopped .. and listened to the message he got inside his head ..
"Oh good ... phew ... you know how to converse through transmission .. good grief ..."
'I thought you were a bit special when he chose you .. but I now realise how wrong he was ... you're just an ordinary human .. with a golden ranked soul .. and a weird freakish personality ...' ... the iguana said through transmission ...
"Oh .. you're one of those outcasts from a village .. who didn't get chosen to complete a certain mission ... so your leader chose an outside creature ... who was much more handsome .. and more pleasant to look at ... I understand your pain ... after all you're really ugly ..."
... at that moment ... the captain understood the lizard's reason for beating her companion up ... so she didn't involve herself ...
screams of agony and unending pain echoed inside the forest ... for nearly 2 hours .. and even past that ... the screams didn't end ... instead the person screaming .. found it very much better to scream in a low pitch tone ...