As Reika said her goodbyes to Faron, she dragged her somewhat heavy luggage behind her, her emotions a mix of excitement and nostalgia. She knew this journey marked the beginning of a new chapter, but part of her still didn't want to leave. She glanced back at the warm, familiar paper-craft shop and silently promised, "Faron, I'm going to make you proud!"
Just as she took her first steps toward Springwood City, a familiar voice suddenly echoed from behind, "Wow, what a coincidence! Running into you here!"
Reika whipped her head around, only to see Zephyr jogging towards her, his face lit up with that sunshine-bright grin of his, looking as carefree as ever.
"Coincidence? Yeah, right. You've been tailing me, haven't you?" Reika shot back with a playful smirk, masking the small bubble of happiness in her chest. After all, she'd learned by now that Zephyr's appearances were never random.
Zephyr shrugged, his expression one of pure innocence. "Hey, don't be like that! For one, you've become the core of my family's ancestral furnace, so I kind of need to stick around if I ever want to use it again. And two, I'm also headed to Springwood City to find a master. It's like fate!"
"Fate? More like you're a piece of stubborn gum that won't come off my shoe!" Reika grumbled, though secretly, she didn't mind the company.
And so, they set off together, with Springwood City awaiting them and the path to cultivation now laid out before their feet.
Zephyr's carefree attitude dominated the journey, keeping things light and breezy. He cracked jokes that were so bad Reika couldn't help but snort a laugh despite herself, though she would never admit it. "Your jokes are so cold, I might turn into an ice sculpture if you keep going," she would complain, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, staying cool-headed is important in cultivation, you know!" Zephyr replied, his face full of mock seriousness. He then pulled out some spirit fruits from his seemingly bottomless bag, handing them to Reika. "Here, have some spirit fruit. It'll cool you down."
But when he fished out yet another mountain of spirit fruits and offered them to her, Reika couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Are you going to Springwood to become a cultivator, or are you moonlighting as a spirit fruit farmer?"
Zephyr chuckled and took a bite out of one of the fruits. "You can never have too many snacks on a journey. Gotta keep that spirit energy up!"
Despite the playful banter, Zephyr had serious thoughts brewing under the surface. He had never heard of someone becoming the core of a furnace before—what kind of constitution did Reika have? And why did she have no idea about it herself? There were too many unknowns. Not to mention, her past was still a complete mystery. While he found himself growing more fond of her with each passing day, the questions surrounding her identity gnawed at him. Who was Reika really? And how did she tie into the deeper conspiracy involving the Obsidian Crystals?
"What are you thinking about?" Reika's voice snapped him back to reality.
"Huh? Oh, nothing… Just wondering how hard it's going to be to get accepted into one of Springwood's sects," Zephyr quickly deflected, his mind still racing with his secret plans.
Suddenly, the sound of someone muttering caught their attention.
"Why won't the spirit lines activate? I'm sure this is where the flow is supposed to go… Wait, no, this doesn't make sense…"
The two exchanged a glance and crept closer to investigate, only to find a young cultivator engrossed in a thick book, his face scrunched in confusion.
Zephyr approached him with a friendly grin. "Hey there, what are you studying?"
The young man looked up, his face quickly shifting from confusion to a bright smile. "I'm Sylas! I'm studying the principles of spirit weaponry. Are you interested in artifact crafting?"
Reika and Zephyr shared an amused look. Zephyr couldn't help but peek at the book Sylas was holding. His smile grew wider when he noticed the book wasn't about spirit weapons at all.
"Uh, buddy, that's a Bestiary, not a spirit weapon manual," Zephyr pointed out, trying to hold back a chuckle.
Sylas blinked in surprise, glancing down at the book before laughing awkwardly. "Ah, no wonder none of it was making sense! I grabbed the wrong book—what a blunder!"
Zephyr laughed too, shaking his head. "You've got to be the first person I've met who's confused spirit lines with animal tracks."
Sylas scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, well, it happens when you're juggling too much research. But don't worry—when it really counts, I won't mix things up!"
The trio laughed together, the awkwardness melting away. Sylas beamed at them, excitedly asking, "Are you two also headed to Springwood City?"
"Yep! We're on our way to join one of the sects," Reika replied with a grin.
"Awesome! I'm hoping to study artifact crafting in Springwood. I've heard their inner-city sects are some of the best in the world!" Sylas said, his enthusiasm contagious.
Reika's eyes sparkled with excitement. "That's great! We'll all be heading in the same direction, then. Let's go together!"
"Sounds like a plan!" Sylas agreed. Traveling with friends was definitely preferable to going it alone.
And so, the three of them continued their journey, laughter and jokes accompanying them along the way. Sylas' tendency to spout bizarre theories, combined with Zephyr's antics, kept things entertaining. At one point, Sylas confidently declared, "You know, according to my research, bowing to spirit beasts during artifact forging actually activates the spirit lines more effectively."
"Bowing to spirit beasts?" Reika nearly choked on her laughter. "Where on earth did you come up with that?"
Even Zephyr couldn't hold back. "That's got to be the most creative crafting technique I've ever heard! You should write a manual on it!"
Sylas rubbed the back of his neck, laughing along with them. "Hey, it might be worth a try. Who knows, maybe I'm onto something!"
Their journey was filled with moments like these, full of banter and lighthearted exchanges. But soon enough, they came upon a glowing sign that read: "To enter the Inner City, you must pass the trial. Proceed this way."
Zephyr rubbed his chin. "Already time for a test, huh?"
Reika, her eyes gleaming with determination, pumped her fists. "A test? Bring it on! Let's see how tough this trial really is!"
＊＊＊
"Wow! Is this the legendary Phantom Tower?" Reika looked up at the towering structure in front of her, her eyes widening with surprise.
The tower shimmered with a faint blue glow, like a staircase leading up to the heavens. The door slowly creaked open, and from within came a strange aura that made all three of them feel an inexplicable pressure.
Zephyr, as casual as ever, shrugged and said, "I've heard about this tower before. It's filled with illusionary trials designed to test our willpower and inner strength. No big deal for me, though."
"No big deal, huh?" Reika raised an eyebrow, not missing the chance to tease him. "Weren't you the one who almost passed out in an illusion last time, after eating my spirit dumplings? And didn't you spend the whole night crying for your mom?"
"That was an accident! A total fluke!" Zephyr stammered, forcing a laugh to cover his obvious embarrassment.
Sylas, still clutching his hefty tome, looked intrigued. "I've heard that the trials inside the Phantom Tower are personalized, designed to match each person's inner character. I'm curious to see what kind of challenges we'll face."
Once the three of them stepped into the Phantom Tower, the scene around them immediately shifted. The hallway split into three separate paths.
"Three paths... looks like we have to split up?" Reika blinked, already sensing trouble ahead.
Zephyr, full of confidence, crossed his arms and declared, "It's a personal trial, no doubt about it. None of us should hold the others back! Someone like me, a natural-born genius, can pick any path and clear it with ease!"
"Don't get cocky just yet," Reika shot him a glare, not even trying to hide her skepticism.
"So, how do we decide who takes which path?" Sylas pondered aloud, his nose already buried in yet another book. "Hmm, according to ancient texts, the choice should be made based on—"
"Rock, paper, scissors!" Zephyr interrupted, waving a hand dismissively and cutting off Sylas's long-winded explanation.
Reika blinked in confusion. "Rock, paper, scissors? Seriously? You do know this is a cultivation trial, not a carnival game, right?"
Sylas sighed, still holding his book. "Maybe we should consider a more strategic method. I really don't want to leave this to chance…"
"Come on, ancient rock-paper-scissors is the fairest way," Zephyr said with utmost seriousness, his hand already raised and ready to play.
And so, after an intense bout of rock-paper-scissors, Reika ended up with the left path, Zephyr took the middle, and Sylas chose the right.
"Don't fall behind!" Zephyr called out cheerfully before confidently stepping into his path. Reika sighed and reluctantly entered the left one.
As soon as she took her first step, the world around her shifted again. She found herself standing in the middle of a massive arena, surrounded by cheering—and jeering—spectators.
"Is this... a spirit food competition?" Reika muttered to herself, staring at her new surroundings. It looked like she had been thrown into the middle of a grand event, but the weight of the situation pressed down on her, as if everyone around her was just waiting for her to fail.
Her eyes drifted toward the judging panel, but instead of faces, there were three blurry figures sitting high above. Even though she couldn't see them clearly, their powerful aura hit her like a punch, making her heart sink. A strange, overwhelming sense of dread filled her chest.
"I don't like them…" Reika whispered, her hands suddenly cold. Though she had no memories of her past, something deep inside her stirred with unease and pain.
She strained to make out the figures' identities, but her mind was a frustrating blank. She couldn't understand why she felt such an intense dislike for these people, but her body reacted with a chill that she couldn't shake.
"This spirit dish... is trash," one of the judges sneered, the voice belonging to an older woman dripping with disdain.
Reika's heart skipped a beat. That voice... it sounded familiar, but no specific memory came to mind. All she felt was a sharp sting of fear and frustration. She clenched her fists, reminding herself this was just part of the illusion.
"Your cooking is nothing but garbage," another judge, a middle-aged man, spoke with a voice so sharp it felt like a knife twisting in her heart.
Reika took a step back, her face pale. She didn't know why, but this man's words hit her harder than anything else, like they were meant to tear her apart. She had the sinking feeling that, once upon a time, this voice had belonged to someone important to her. But now, it was as cold as ice.
"And you dare serve this trash? Your skills are so bad, you should be feeding pigs instead!" The third judge, sounding like a bratty child, cackled mockingly.
Reika's hands trembled, fragments of memories flashing before her eyes. But no matter how hard she tried, those memories remained shrouded in fog, impossible to grasp. She couldn't figure out who these people were, or why their words hurt so much.
"I... I tried my best!" she muttered, her voice trembling, as she stared at the spirit dumplings she had painstakingly made. They glistened with golden light, their crispy skin perfect. Yet, the judges' scathing remarks made her feel small and helpless.
"And someone like you thinks you can compete? What a joke!" A blurry figure of a young woman sneered, twisting the knife even further. Her voice was full of venom.
"Do you really think you have what it takes? You can't even get your own life together, and you're here trying to win a spirit food contest?" The older woman chimed in again, her tone dripping with condescension, as though Reika's existence was laughable.