"Capture that kid!" "You impudent brat."
"Don't let him escape," "Shameless!"
"Indeed impudent," "Lowly human!"
"You disgusting rat!" "Rude child!"
"Detain him!" "Hand him over to the guards!"
.....
These strings of insults were exchanged, and they flowed from the mouths of the people witnessing the theft carried out by Bony that night at one of the bread stalls. Bony, shocked by the sudden outburst of insults, could only stand there in silence, staring at his friend on the opposite side.
Several people there quickly seized both of Bony's hands and bound those small hands behind his back.
"Stop—" Fiona tried to shout, but suddenly a hand covered the girl's mouth.
Fiona tried to look at the figure that stopped her scream, and what she saw was the bread seller, who slowly shook his head, signaling Fiona to stop screaming.
"You'll get involved if those people see you caring about that child," the shopkeeper whispered the words slowly into the girl's ear.
Bony, who witnessed the incident while being bound, suddenly showed a small smile on his face as if relieved about something.
Then, not long after, the people who started pulling the kid to take him to a city security guard who guarded the market area that night.
From a distance, Fiona faintly heard the conversations of the people taking Bony away, and what she heard was that they accused Bony of being responsible for the recent theft cases that have been rampant in the market area. While Fiona knew very well that this was their first time stealing again after their last theft was two years ago, just before they met Rayn, an older brother they cherished so much.
"You don't need to steal anymore; I promise you can eat every day without feeling hungry at all, so stop crying, you crybabies, hahaha," the words from Rayn two years ago were slowly repeated in Fiona's head, making the girl's tears flow down her cheeks and fall between her legs.
"Little Miss, little Miss! ... Alright, now you should go home; don't let them see you again," the bread seller seemed worried about the girl.
Bony, who was slowly taken away by the city guard, took the opportunity to turn his face to the rear and gave a broad smile to his friend who was so absorbed in the heavy tears.
Bony seemed to say something directed to his invaluable friend.
"Stay alive."
Fiona, who saw Bony's lip movements, quickly realized what her friend was saying, and she wiped away the tears that had already wet her face. The girl turned around and tried to run as fast as possible back to the alley that became their hiding place. Fiona kept running with tears that fell on every street she passed and made that night one of the most painful nights for her, the night she saw her precious friend for the last time.
"I'm sorry, Fiona, I'm really bad at making plans," Bony said a sentence that opened the door for all the tears he had held back since earlier.
(Mount Severu, in the backyard of Mpu Ganddru's residence - On the same night)
"Damn it, how long should I be stuck here?!" Rayn looked like a madman shouting at the sky.
Rayn had been near the forge of Mpu Ganddru for several hours, without any progress.
"The old man explained the communication channel between humans and Saithe, but what are the conditions for the realization of the channel are only through touch?" The young man looked so confused.
"No, no... Not physical contact, he talked about energy that interconnects and connects... If only I could extract my energy from my body."
Rayn got lost in his thoughts.
"I seem to remember the sensation of releasing energy when I was using one of Arukh's attack techniques [Incision Storm]. At that time, I felt my energy and Arukh coming out of my body and being radiated when I was using that ability, as if the energy could manipulate the wind around me, making me move at extreme speed... I have to be able to remember the sensation clearly at that time and use that sensation to train my body to be able to release my energy itself." Rayn looked so serious.
Time passed so quickly without Rayn realizing it. The night was about to reach its peak, the full moon had already risen in the night sky, accompanying Rayn in pursuing his ambition.
Although he looked unreliable, in essence, Rayn was quite a genius and nimble young man, the survival instinct that had always guided him to go through all the obstacles that kept coming to him.
"If I'm not mistaken, Arukh once explained to me how people of the past obtained extraordinary control over their energy; he mentioned that the ancients tended to perform an activity called 'Semedi' to increase their focus, which would be useful as a tool for controlling existential energy." Rayn slowly found a glimmer of light in his dilemma.
"Well, I'm going to try now."
"Come... [Kein Arukh]!" The young man's shout resonated on a quiet morning.
Rayn heard a strong wind blowing from the north, and slowly, the wind approached him, getting faster and faster until it finally reached his wrists and revealed its original form, the Kein Arukh Kris.
(Inside Mpu Ganddru's residence)
Mpu Ganddru slowly opened his eyes and grinned. The question that had been bothering him since yesterday evening had finally been answered, and the answer that Mpu Ganddru found about Rayn's uniqueness was:
"He's such an idiot!!!"
Mpu Ganddru immediately stepped out of his residence after hearing the roaring wind from behind his house. Rayn, aware of Mpu Ganddru's arrival, prepared a triumphant smile, tinged with a hint of arrogance, to respond to the insults he had received the day before.
"You've been caught off guard again, old man! Hahaha," the young man suddenly gave a morning greeting that was so cutting to Mpu Ganddru.
"I admit you did manage to call Arukh back to you, even though I thought you'd never be able to do it."
"You're the one who told me about the communication channel, right? I was just following your advice, old man," the young man smiled with a sense of pride.
"In fact, people who don't perform the binding ritual won't be able to establish the communication channel without physical contact with the Saithe Weapon. But I didn't expect that you're so foolish, and unfortunately, your foolishness led to your victory over me," Mpu Ganddru shook his head in amazement.
"Enough, a win is a win! Arukh is mine, as promised... Besides, I have no idea what you meant by 'foolishness' or whatever you were mocking me about, old man," Rayn felt even more triumphant.
"Just so you know, what you just did to establish the communication channel with Arukh could have killed you instantly!" Mpu Ganddru suddenly put on a very serious expression.
"..." the young man fell silent after hearing Mpu Ganddru's words.
"I admit you're clever because you knew the only way for your voice to reach Arukh was to create a 'communication channel' between you and Arukh. You also know that the communication channel is not only established through physical contact but can be done through an energy contact, like what you just did. But here's where your foolishness comes in—you managed to gain control over your existential energy access somehow, and you blindly released all of your energy with the hope that it would definitely reach Arukh because you thought I kept Arukh not far from this place. Can you imagine what would have happened if the energy explosion you unleashed haphazardly failed to reach Arukh?" Mpu Ganddru stated firmly.
"The answer is, you would have died! That's what happens when all of a person's existential energy is released from their body. You're lucky that your energy burst happened to reach Arukh, allowing him to soar directly to you, filling the energy void in your body caused by your reckless energy expenditure, which resulted in a lot of your energy being wasted. The fact that you can still breathe fresh air right now is because you absorbed energy from Arukh!"
Immediately after listening to Mpu Ganddru's detailed explanation, Rayn lowered his gaze to the weapon he was holding.