24 Time to prove yourself 7 (1/2)

Few times in the course of his long life had Kirin feared someone, and even then, they were all truly terrifying creatures, capable of destroying the whole universe. Not even the King of Dragons could instill in him such fear, at least since he had become the ancestor of all the Qilins himself.

How many creatures could boast of having startled a beast almost as old as a universe?

Helial did not know that what had just happened was an anomaly. That boy should have died stabbed in the heart, unable to react. Why had he embraced death? Couldn't he at least dodge his sister?

Could he wish for death?

Kirin's head was now killing him. After seeing Helial pass the test that way, he really wanted to vomit blood on the ground.

What happened? What was that shudder? Could it have been because of the boy?

Kirin kept wondering at those events, without finding an answer despite of how hard he thought about it. How many people in this universe could take control of one of his Illusions, even if generated only by a fragment of his Soul? No Immortal on this planet could accomplish that, let alone a boy not even in the First Phase.

Not even an Immortal could do something like that, but more than that how many Immortals would have the courage of renouncing to their lives? And why someone would throw away their life to save a loved one in an Illusion? Many would have attacked the Illusion, being aware of its deceitfulness. But if one day you could not tell apart reality from illusion anymore, would you kill your loved ones? This kid has a terrifying amount of Destructive Energy in his body, but despite this he spared the life of his sister and accepted his own death at the hand of the girl. Clearly, these old bones still cannot understand some things, even after all this time. The boy is not evil, but he has too much Destructive Energy. Maybe his passing all the Test and obtaining the Partial Skill is a good thin-, wait a second! I almost forgot! He didn't get the Partial Skill, but the Complete one!

In the midst of things, Kirin had almost forgot about what was at stake.

Body of the Qilin is a Skill that originates from the biggest Flame of the Forces of Life. This Skill merely at the first level will increase exponentially the amount of Life Energy in the body of the boy. At his level is normal to have a mix of the two kinds of Energy. Usually, after progressing, the man cubs gradually took one or the other path. This kid, however, already possesses such powerful Destructive Energy. What will happen with Body of the Qilin? Body of the Qilin gives an unlimited amount of Life Energy; this cub cannot hope that the Destructive Energy prevail on the Life Energy, but… seeing how much Destructive Energy he has in the body, I seriously doubt he can eliminate it. He will likely go mad due to the clash of the two Energies, so different from one another that have always been the essence of the world. But since the being came into existence, they have been immiscible, though still tightly connected.

Not even Kirin could imagine the outcome of two forces so powerful and different in the same vessel.

Helial watched Lumia dissolve in front of his eyes, still smiling, she winked at him and then vanished, and the surrounding landscape with her. Helial blinked and found himself back in the dimension created by Kirin.

The boy was still shaken by the emotion he had to face just a second before. But a moment later took a gasp of air and said: ”Give me the Skill, I need to rush back.”

Why the hurry, now?

”Lumia is outside alone, I have to stay close to her.”

Boy, time in this dimension is extremely dilated, only a couple of seconds elapsed since you left that filthy cave. Even if days or weeks went by, for your sister it would be just a couple of minutes. Do not worry, in case something happened I will protect her as long as you are here. Now…

Kirin sighed and, without saying anything else, let out a roar.

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAARA

Suddenly, Helial was surrounded by sparks. He could feel the extreme heat let out by those tiny yellow-reddish speckles.

”What's happening?”

Do you think it is that easy? Now we will see if you are able to earn the Skill. To get Body of the Qilin you must let your body be completely remolded from head to toe. Your Mana will change, and so will your blood vessels, your muscles, your bones and Meridians. Not even I have ever experienced a complete change of the Meridians, since they were already atrophied. You could not only gain enormous power, your body will also become nearly indestructible among people at your level. You will become a living treasure. If anyone knew about the properties of your skin, you would be used to make armors. I anyone knew about the properties of your bones, you would be used to make weapons. But all this comes at a price. You will have to survive my Flame.

Until today, no one in the universe has ever gotten the complete body of a Qilin, since my Legacies are scattered over all the Planets and they disappear after being collected. So, you will have the greatest of privileges. But there is a reason why no one has ever managed to get the Complete Skill. When someone picks up the third Legacy, the pain that must be borne is so great that they often get lost and consumed by the flame. Even if the pain is proportionate to one's Phase, since a higher level brings about a more radical change, you might think you have an advantage, but remember that you will have to endure the equivalent of three Legacies.

Until today, no one has collected the third Legacy, for it is very difficult to get. Let alone three together… are you ready? You will need to stay lucid in the pain; if you lose consciousness, the flame will stop working on your body, destroying it. The faster the process, the grater your chances of survival. So, man cub, pray that the process be a short one.

***

Some years earlier, in the village

”Hey, Idiot! Look, I sewed the tunic!”

Helial looked at Lumia, who was handing him his badly patched clothes, and smiled. ”You are really getting better. Was it hard?”

Lumia beat proudly on her chest. ”Umpf! Those women are always saying that I am hopeless at sewing, but they are just jealous. Look what a beautiful seam, and it wasn't even that hard!”

Helial looked atcrooked seam that bulged visibly in contrast with the flat fabric. He smiled again. His sister had put a lot of effort into that mending, why should he criticize her? How many people in that world were as nice to him as his sister?

”Lumia, you have to stop using those words, though. You're a girl, and girls have to-”

”Shut up, idiot”, that angel with platinum hair and eyes green like jade puffed her cheeks, almost angrily, ”why can't I say those words? In the village everyone talks like that, how should I talk?

Helial was speechless. Of course Lumia had always lived in the village and the cultural standards there were not very high, quite the contrary. Most of the people lived off subsistence agriculture, a couple of animals to get by in tough times and they traded some low-quality Alchemic Herbs. None of the villagers had ever embarked on the Dao of Mana. They were all mere mortals.