Deep within a chasm of darkness, a lonely island floated, the radiance emanating from the tree in its top paving the way in the deep depths of this abyss.
The soft sound of flowing water falling down endlessly was occasionally overshadowed by that of splashing. A young human with two different eye colors, brown hair and two blades in hand could be seen, covered in sweat and water, his muscles bulging from overexertion.
Jack swung his swords in many different ways, jumped, dived, blocked and dodged an imaginary opponent.
He had been in that place, training for days, he knew nor for how long Yggdrasil would last, but knew that there wasn't much he could do until an opportunity of escape presented itself. At least it wouldn't be too soon, his instincts told him, and the water that spawned from the tree would keep him alive for some time as it was filled to the brim with nutrients that could partially substitute food.
That added to the fact that as a blooded, he had less of necessity for food than regular humans, being able to survive months without it.
Thus, he decided to get used to his new-found strength by training on his somewhat limited terrain.
''It should help me be more aware in battle, as I can't always rely just on my instinct.''
Plus, the water at his knees, made for quite a favorable environment as it could either make movement harder or easier, depending on what Jack willed it to do. If he wanted to check his limits and try shadow-sparring at his best, he would use the water to accelerate himself or, if he wanted to make things harder for himself and train his body, he would make it be neutral to his movement as water regularly would or even force it to resist his mobility.
Watching from afar was Arbo, laying cutely on the roots of Yggdrasil, his front paws hanging while slightly touching the water surface and its adorable black eyes followed Jack while he moved around the small island.
Above him hanged a gorgeous golden fruit similar in format to a peach, it swayed lightly in the wind that indicated that this oasis was constantly moving instead of static and stuck in the air.
Jack had opted not to eat the fruit yet, as he had no idea if eating it would negatively impact Yggdrasil, shortening their time to wait for an opportunity to get out and quite possibly sending them to plummet to their deaths.
And just like that, weeks went by with training, growth and communion with nature.
Until finally, when Jack was beginning to lose track of time, he saw something big approaching in the distance, something he never felt he'd miss. A giant stone pillar, one of the few still standing in this weird underground of this world.
"Wait a second, how have I only just noticed this? What the hell is sustaining all those pillars above the darkness if there are so few pillars down here that it takes weeks to reach one?!"
His thoughts began to swirl like crazy. ''What could even hold such a monumental weight with no solid foundation?'' He worried, as the more time he spent in this mysterious world, the fewer answers and more questions he had.
''And could it even have something to do with the ancient civilization and that portal?'' After all, they had uncovered so little about it, except how its energy and influence had changed the surrounding fauna.
"Oh, Yggdrasil, I wish you were still awake to answer some of these questions..."
Somehow, both he and Arbo had gotten quite attached to the ancient tree and were even sad that their time together was coming to an end.
Organizing his thoughts, Jack turned to the golden fruit hanging above the pool of water in which they had lived for the past month or so.
''I guess it's time we finally taste it, isn't that right, Arbo?'' He said to his dog-like companion while picking him up and walking closer to the fruit.
Next, Jack rose the water level underneath until they were high enough to grasp it, and so he did, but not before whispering:
''Thank you for everything, for helping me hatch Arbo, for saving my life and helping me grow stronger, even at the cost of your own scarce and precious energy. I promise I will return some day and plant you somewhere you can grow as tall as the sky itself.''
After he was done, Jack plucked the fruit out with no resistance and descended back to ground level, where he perceived it would take a few more hours until the island reached the pillar.
Thus, he left his pet on the top of his head and walked towards the trunk of the tree, eventually sitting down at its feet in a meditative position.
Finally, he began eating the fruit and giving bits and pieces of it to Arbo, it tasted unlike anything they had ever tried.
Jack felt he was about to melt from deliciousness as a refreshing, sweet fragrance and taste enveloped his entire being. It was like having a cocktail with all the fruits in the world mixed with soda, while still not being too sweet or sour.
But that wasn't all, as Jack felt the same comfort and warmth he had felt when Silva first imparted his energies to him. It filled every cell in his body with energy and vitality, no more than that, he could now feel the flow of natural energy all around him as it spiraled around the floating piece of rock centering in him, Arbo and the tree.
Yet, Jack felt conflict within himself, as if there was something inside of him that wasn't of the same mind as the nature energy entering him. His heart even began hurting some as the two energies clashed and repelled each other within him.
A few hours passed like that until finally Jack felt the two energies that were wrecking havoc inside, eventually attaining a certain equilibrium in him.
His eyes opened to witness the pillar growing dangerously close and, just like he had predicted, Yggdrasil's shining branches grew dimmer as the luminosity released by the entire island fell to almost half of its previous state.
Looking at Arbo, Jack noticed he was still absorbing the energy thus, instead of waking him up, our hero gently put his little boy on his backpack and got ready to say goodbye to the small oasis and the great wise tree.
The conflict within did worry him, and he'd need to find out more about eventually, but now wasn't the time, what it was time for was to climb.
He slowly walked towards the edge of the island, where the circular waterfall dropped tons of water every second into the pit.
There, he looked at the pillar with burning determination.
''I should be done in a second!'' He encouraged himself, just before controlling the water, to create a bridge of sorts in between the two terrains.
Unwavering, he walked on top of the waters, just like a supposed ancient religious figure, until he was face to face with cold gray stone once more.
But Jack didn't let go of his connection to the island yet, as its water didn't let go of his lower half. The days he spent there helped him find something he hadn't in his entire life... his connection with his element, with water.
Sometimes its control was hard, yet sometimes it felt as natural as breathing. Like a fish who had been deprived of water all its life, suddenly tossed in a small fishbowl, drinking it, living in it, surviving in it.
Simultaneously, a soft whisper that was both his instinct and the will of Yggdrasil at once resounded in his head:
''Go child, reach the top of this world and become its apex as well as its balance.''
''Just like the description of my skill, given by the blooded system...'' He thought, then put his hand to the rock wall.
The moment he had a stable grip, he started circling the water close to him in three arches orbiting around him, those flowing circles got tighter and tighter until dispelling in contact with his skin. A thin layer of water formed all around him, adhering to the wall and preventing any accidental slips.
Jack was focused, but he felt the island slowly drifting away behind him.
''Farewell, my friend.'' He said, and began his ascent, nimbly climbing from rock to rock with impressive speed and no fear of a fall. After all, nature itself was helping him.
No longer were the days of struggling to climb, he was two stars and a deadly beast now, though even he didn't know how to use his deadly beast powers beside the manipulation of water. Although, it was this very power that gave his already exquisite physical prowess a boost to make climbing so much easier.
In just a few minutes, he was already hundreds of meters higher than before, and moving faster than any professional climber could ever achieve.
At one point, Yggdrasil was so far away that Jack was slowly plunged into total darkness, he couldn't help but reminisce, it felt like only yesterday was he fighting a giant bird while falling in the chasm of blackness.
The young monster couldn't help but to even feel nostalgic, he had come so far just in surviving that whole ordeal, and now he was as strong as he had ever been.
Still a long way to go, though.
Jack was beginning to get tired after what felt like hours, but he never lost his concentration. His relationship with Laura and his hatred of Hella, the bearer of the hammer, kept him moving forward.
''I've already surpassed far too many of my boundaries to let mere exhaustion and anemia defeat me!'' He yelled, pushing himself even further and stronger.
Yet, Jack never broke as when he was getting even closer to his limits he heard something coming from his improvised bag.
*Woof! Woof!*
Stopping for a moment, he used the water in his body to support himself while he opened it up, so that Arbo could get out.
Surprisingly, the pup had grown from the size of a melon to that of a basketball, due to the effects of the Yggdrasil fruit they both consumed, though in different amounts.
With no hesitation, the green wolf pup climbed to Jacks shoulder and began releasing some of his energy. Then, from Arbo's body, several vines began to pop out and stretch towards the rocky surface, grabbing the nearest slab of stone.
###''So you want to help me little guy? Alright, lets do this together then.''
Now with the help of the pup's vines, climbing went from a moderatly arduous task that was slowly chipping away from Jacks reserves of energy to a easy and almost no effort climb.
Another hour went by when both finally saw, way above them, a ray if light cutting throught the abyss, after an entire month in almost pich black darkness they would finally see the light of day once more.
What ensued was a mad climb towards it as both were desperatly craving for the sunlight to touch their skins.
Finally, after some time, the abyss slowly spit them both out and it was a wonderfull experience for Jack who had missed beeing able to see beyond a few meters ahead of him. On the other hand, to Arbo it was even more intense as Silv's child was basically born in darkness and was now seeing the sun for the first time ever.
It was the first hours of the day as both stood there enjoying the view.
''Waait for me Laura, I'll see you again.''