"You did well," the Cat-man said, calm yet edged with concern.
Sumit opened his eyes, finding himself once again in the dream world. The familiar darkness enveloped the surroundings, pierced only by the shimmering form of the black Cat-man, who stood with arms crossed, his tail swaying in subtle agitation.
"I did well? I did great!" Sumit grinned, sitting up as if to bask in imaginary applause. "Did you see that? I defeated the tree and its three guards all by myself! Plus, I revived most of the stone animals, and I'll revive the others by using the ground's aura in the same way I used the tree's aura once I woke up."
"Yes, you did achieve all of that," the Cat-man acknowledged, his golden eyes narrowing. "But you put your greatest possession on the line."
"What?" Sumit's expression shifted to confusion. "Oh, you mean the staff? Don't worry, I'll find another one later."
"No, you idiot," the Cat-man snapped, his ears flicking in irritation. "I meant your life. How can you be so careless? You could have died. Why didn't you retreat when you were outnumbered from the start?"
"I could have," Sumit admitted with a shrug, though his tone carried little remorse.
"You could have waited for them to leave and dealt with the tree then," the Cat-man pressed pacing.
"I could have."
"You could have hunted them individually, weakening their numbers first."
"I could have," Sumit repeated, his voice calm but resolute.
"Then why," the Cat-man growled, his frustration palpable, "were you in such a hurry that you ignored your own life?"
Sumit's expression softened, his gaze falling as if weighing his words. "Because if I'd waited too long, they would've killed more animals."
The Cat-man froze, his piercing glare faltering. For the first time, he seemed at a loss for words. "Uhm…" he muttered, tail swishing in thought. Finally, he sighed. "Even so, you must not forget—your life is the most important thing. Cherish it, kid."
"Understood," Sumit said with a small nod, the resolve in his voice unwavering.
For a moment, silence lingered between them. The Cat-man's usual sharp demeanor softened as he studied Sumit's face, perhaps recognizing the unyielding determination that had driven the boy to act despite the risks.
"Now then, tell me about the technique you used to defeat the tree," the Cat-man asked, his tone more inquisitive than stern.
"You mean 'energy drain'?" Sumit replied with a hint of pride. "I was able to do it after experiencing it twice. Before I tell you how I did it, let me ask you something—what exactly is aura?"
The Cat-man blinked, caught off guard by the question. "What? Didn't I already tell you? Aura is the power that everything has."
Sumit shook his head with a knowing smirk. "This is where you're wrong. Aura isn't present everywhere. It's a technique—a way to harness the energy that's already there in everything."
"What?" The Cat-man tilted his head, his ears flicking in confusion. "I don't follow you."
Sumit leaned forward, his tone taking on the cadence of someone who had stumbled upon a revelation. "You see; after experiencing my aura being sucked by that tiger-monkey monster, I realized something. It wasn't sucking my aura. It was pulling the energy—the raw essence—from me. It felt the same as when I released aura into the air, but reversed. That got me thinking—what if I could reverse the flow? Instead of releasing, what if I absorbed it?"
The Cat-man's tail flicked faster, his expression narrowing in thought. "Interesting theory. So, that's what you tried on the tree?"
"Exactly," Sumit confirmed. "When I let the tree's massive energy flow through me, I noticed something strange—tiny, sparking things in everything around me, at least for a moment. That's when I knew I wasn't just channeling my aura—I was interacting with the raw energy of the tree itself."
The Cat-man let out a low hum, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That's an intriguing approach. By your theory, these 'sparking things' must be the essence of energy itself, and you've somehow figured out how to see and absorb them."
Sumit nodded, a small grin creeping onto his face. "Yeah, exactly! Cool, right?"
The Cat-man's expression darkened slightly, his ears folding back. "Not so fast, genius. I have some bad news for you."
Sumit's grin faltered. "What? What bad news?"
The Cat-man sighed, his golden eyes narrowing as he tried to explain. "According to your theory, you could absorb the tree's energy because you could sense it. But think about why that worked. The only reason you could do it was that the tree's energy channels were open to you."
Sumit tilted his head, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Simply put," the Cat-man continued, "when you grabbed the tree, it tried to absorb your energy first. That action opened its energy channels, creating a flow. When you sensed the energy moving, you reversed it, turning its technique against it. But here's the catch—this only worked because the tree let you in, even if unintentionally."
"Oh…" Sumit said, frowning. "I think I get it. But what's the bad news here?"
The Cat-man's voice lowered; each word delivered with deliberate weight. "The bad news is you can't directly absorb the energy of anything you touch. The tree was a special case—it opened its channels to you, which let you use your technique. But with something like the ground—those channels are closed. You won't be able to absorb energy from them, which means…"
Sumit's heart sank as the realization hit him. "Which means I won't be able to revive the stone animals."
The silence between them was deafening, the weight of the truth settling heavily on Sumit's shoulders. He clenched his fists, frustration bubbling beneath the surface. "But I promised them that I would save them"
The Cat-man stepped closer; his voice soft but firm. "Listen, idiot. You did something incredible. You destroyed the tree, saved most of the animals, and stopped a force that could have killed even more. But you're too busy staring at what you couldn't do to see what you did do."
Sumit looked up, his eyes reflecting doubt. "But the ones I couldn't save—"
"Kid," the Cat-man interrupted, his gaze piercing. "You can't save everyone. That's the hard truth of life. But you saved most of them. Look at what you've accomplished, not at what you couldn't. That's how you keep going."
"I… I guess you're right, but I will still try" Sumit said slowly.
"I knew you would say that now go but remember you did your best"
...
When Sumit opened his eyes, the soft light of dawn filtered through the trees. He moved to the nearest stone statue of a plant-wolf and placed one hand on the ground and the other on the statue. With determination, he tried to replicate the energy-drain technique, focusing on the faint hum of energy within the ground.
"Come on… just a little," he muttered through gritted teeth. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull the energy toward him.
Frustration clawed at his chest. "Damn it… how can I call this a victory if I couldn't save them all?"
WOOOOOOO!
A sudden sound broke through his thoughts—a low, harmonious howl.
Sumit looked up to see the animals he had revived earlier. Wolves, monkeys, and others cautiously approached him. Their eyes, once lifeless, now shone with gratitude. Slowly, one by one, they bowed their heads to him in silent acknowledgment of his efforts.
"…"
Sumit froze, overwhelmed by the gesture. As the animals began to leave, their figures disappearing into the forest, a small smile crept onto his face.
"Your welcome"