A drop of water fell from the stalactite hanging around from the ceilings of the cave. There, a ridiculously huge foreign crimson flower, glowing red, resting peacefully in the dark. Its root veins spread around, seemingly absorbing the nutrition out from the place.
BADUMB
BADUMB
A beat of life could be barely heard inside of the foreign flower from the outside. Soon an arm emerged from the hidden eye of the foreign flower. A squishy sounds could be heard as the creature pushed and ripped apart its tissues.
"Egh...!"
Like a newborn infant, soaking in a sticky liquid, Haise got out from the foreign flower. The first thing he seek was the water he could drink while feeling trapped in the decades of thirst.
Haise saw a strange pond, strangely glimmering in the dark. His naked body wearily crawled on the dirt towards the pond. As the pond beaconing its surroundings, Haise noticed his arms looks foreign to him. But because of the thirst he was feeling, his mind was all focus on the crystal clear water of the pond.
The moment Haise reached the pond, he immediately buried his face to the water. He opened his mouth and gulped the cool and most delicious water he ever drank in his entire life. As he continued, he could felt its coolness rushing down into his throat; spreading with such comfort to his weary naked body.
"Gah!"
Haise pulled his face up, gasping for breath afterwards. Like a curious pup seeing its tail for the very first time, his gaze was stick on his pearly white tone arms and hands with red nails as red as blood.
"Is this me?"
Haise held his once brown hair. His once bluish-white eyes widened the moment he saw his youthful reflection upon the water for the first time since waking-up. The face staring back at him greatly resemble him. However, it was younger with sharper and fourteen year-old features, jet-black hair, rosy white skin, and pair of big round neon golden cat-like eyes, complementing by his double eyelids along with his perfectly long jet-black eyelashes. The scars from his life and death experiences and other things were all gone, leaving only a flawless pearly white tone skin as white as milk without exposing a single veins of his body, the same way as he saw his hands' and arms'. The scar behind his head, back, arms, legs... All of it were all gone. And his permanently injured right leg no longer needed a knee guard.
'Did I just become like Vamirha? Then why my hair is not the same as hers? We should be one now, right?' Haise wondered, seeing his Half-growth fangs, jet-black hair and slim body. Yes, his body had become slim just like girls' for he became one with Vamirha herself. Haise was still unaware of that fact, but he clearly remembered her words and offer well.
The reason why he was relieved despite the changes of his body was because his partner for reproductive system was still there, hanging on the same place between his thighs.
'Wait! Now that I think about it... Where in the bloody world am I?' Haise wondered, still remembering the world where everything was all in ruins.
'What are these images? What's happening to me?'
Strange and unfamiliar images suddenly splashed in Haise's mind, as his brain was still recovering in confusion, specially from the hellish experience back when Vamirha became one with him.
Haise wandered his gaze around with the thought of getting out of the place. However, as he observed the place, he discovered that he was still in a labyrinth.
'Are those all just a dream?' Haise frowned in confusion, holding his chin. Then, he tried to grasp his mana within his body. Suddenly, his vision doubled and became hazy as he felt a foreign sensation bursted inside of his body.
Haise stumbled on the ground. Soon after, an unfamiliar image splashed in his mind again. It was the image of a flamesoul – a spherical flame, serving as a core of container that dwells within the body of a mage— Wrong! Rather, a kind of magical core dwelling within a jaxmith, an existence gaze by the nilucis, also known as the light of knowledge.
Haise was still unaware of that fact for he was still a newborn. However, as if something or someone within him is guiding him to every step or pace he would make. He could felt his blood within him, lively reacted to his impulsiveness.
Thanks to the images splashed in his mind, Haise had a clue on how to establish a flamesoul. It was similar to how a mage establish their mana center, granting them the ability to use mana to perform magic via magic-circle to formulate a spell with their mana— of course, it's still all accordingly to one's elemental attributes... However...a little different from someone like him since a mage doesn't actually possess a flamesoul, given the fact that he was an elemental attributeless. It means, he could only control and manipulate pure mana to create barrier, thus, he had suffered from discrimination.
The first thing Haise did was sat-down solemnly meditate to grasp the sparkle particles in his mind.
'It's kinda similar, however, it feels odd.'
Back when he was still an ordinary mage (At least that's what he thought), just like what's he's currently doing, he gathered all the sparkle particles together into one and synced it to his body.
Haise thought it was going to be easy just like how he did it before, however... Such thing couldn't be acquired without pain. After accumulating the sparkling particles, Haise began to meditate the gravity-like force, sucking the strange mana from his surroundings like how black whole does.
Pangs of hardships to keep on his quest, struck him like a curse. Haise felt like he was being electrified to death because of the gravity-like force. He also felt like he was being suck and crush. Soon, he felt like being freeze. Every part of his body became all numb and heavy. Then a burning sensation, feeling like he was being engulfed by the blazing fire. Did he ever react to such pain? No! These pain are nothing compared to what he felt back when he became one with Vamirha. Being torn apart again and again! No pain mean to him. Thank's to his blood reacting lively to his impulsiveness, all the wounds were utterly healed. The red aura, slowly, calmed down. A spherical bluish-white flame, blazing like a star; rippled like a water as it beat like a heart of life, a flamesoul was born. And as the red aura calmed down, a colorless aura emitted in red aura's instead. it was streaming out formlessly like a steam of a boiling water.
'I did it?!'
'So this is the magical power of the flamesoul. It's totally different from the mana center.'
Haise felt like he was becoming one with the nature itself. Normally, when a mage awakened their mana within in their body, they will feel the characteristics of a single elemental nature. To those who could felt two or more are rare. Those who have it all are extremely rare, like the heroes and true saints, like Daiki; the hero and Yuna; a true saint. However, despite the success of forming the flamesoul, the process was still incomplete. Why? Because if the colorless mana continue to escape from his body, he will grow tired and will collapse from fatigue for it's his life energy.
Thanks to the foreign memories splashed out of the blue in his mind, Haise knows what to do.
Haise stood at a relaxing stance. He closed his eyes and concentrated on keeping his mana within his body. Then visualized it flowing like a blood through his body. The colorless aura begun to form like a latent clothes, covering every corner of his body.
When the process magnificently settled, Haise slowly opened his eyes and felt odd. A sensation of his floating in the space and being covered by a comfortable yet chaotic mana.
'What the...!'
But what shock him the most was his eyesight. His world was all purple. He could see the ghost-like silhouette moving around through his surroundings, however, those ghost-like silhouettes became clear and more realistic when he focus his vision onto them. He could also zoom his eyesight, granting him the ability to see from long distance.
'Woah! ...I should still call this one trinigan, right?' Haise thought in excitement.
'Never thought my eyes would become even more special.'
"Now that I'm all good. Time for me to explore and get out of this place."
'Now then...'
Haise looked up to an open ceiling of the cave, his eyes glew neon gold and uses his so-called trinigan to peek through from long distance. His world became purple and clearly see what he wanted to see.
'So I'm really still here in this labyrinth, huh? Or rather, my supposedly grave.'
'What happened to me was indeed an unbelievable miracle.'
'This is it! My precious second chance.'
'I'm not going to waste it this time... And I'll make sure to play my cards more, more...wisely...'
"But before that..."
Haise looked down at his flawless naked body.
'I need some coverings first.' Then his gaze turned to the foreign flower, but it was no longer there.