215 Finding Direction (1/2)

'What the hell?' Laz had no idea how he suddenly knew this, but connecting the dots, he knew it had to have something to do with what the owl did before.

The information was profound, but understandable. It involved doing what he had already figured out by himself, circulating his energy in an effort to dispel the grey mist and use the residual energy to strengthen the inside of the body. The biggest difference that Laz learned was in the same way that increasing the oxygen going into a fire causes a fire to burn hotter, using energy from the air can result in more of the mist being burned away. The idea was to forcefully mix outside energy into your center to help break it down faster. Laz had never tried this, thinking that the energy wouldn't cause a difference since it couldn't get through the mist towards his foundation, but now that he knew it was doable, he would be more than happy to try it.

Looking at the giant owl that was about to leave, Laz found that it wasn't as annoying looking as before.

:Ok?: Tyr asked.

”Yes. I'm fine. Just a bit sore now.”

:Good. Bad birdie! I yelled.: Tyr said as Laz leaned over and petting his furry head. Tyr had shrunk down to dog sized now that he wasn't needed to carry anyone.

:I'm not a bird.: The owl seemed to overhear their conversation and decided to interject. Sarah was still standing there waiting and Laz didn't want to hold them up, but he did have a few questions first.

”How long will this take her?” Was his first question.

:Based on your human's telling of time? Around a year or so.:

”Sigh. I guess this is goodbye then huh?” Laz looked over at Sarah's glazed over eyes, knowing that she didn't know what was going on as she was currently lost in her own mind. He walked over calmly and gave her a hug, telling her that she would be fine and that when she was done, she could come find him if she had any problems.

When Laz turned around to talk to the owl again, he failed to notice a tear drop that started falling down Sarah's face.

”What is Tyr?” Laz asked, hoping to find an answer.

:That's for him to say, not me. One more question and we have to be off.:

:Don't compare us to those inferior creatures. You humans had truly regressed so far as to not even know this. We are considered spirit animals and the biggest difference between us and your demon beasts is that we have intelligence and a blood line from birth which affects our growth. Unlike you humans, we can't exactly write things down to be remembered, so memories and abilities are imprinted into our bloodlines which then get shared by our future generations. This allows us to pass on our inheritance so that things don't get lost over the cycle of time. Although we are similar to demon beasts in that we store our energy inside a crystal inside our bodies, the similarities end there.:

”So you are really smart demon beasts?” Laz wasn't trying to be an ass, he was just trying to make sense of things. But it didn't sound that way.

:Are you an ape? Just... less body hair?:

”No.”

:Same thing then. You might have been an ape at one point in your evolution, but you are already very different. Despite that, there are similarities. Now, if your done, it's time for use to go.:

Before Laz could ask anything else, Sarah and the owl started walking away, quickly disappearing from sight. Laz just stood there and watched them leave, even after they had long departed.

”I guess I had better go tell her family. Let's go Tyr.”

As Laz made to turn around and start walking, he noticed that Tyr was still standing in place, as though he was thinking of something.

”What is it?”

:Tyr... needs stay.:

”What?!? But why?”

:Needs... energy. Mist. Grow stronger.: Tyr was trying his best to explain with his small vocabulary. It didn't take long for Laz to understand. Despite feeling depressed over this loss of another friend, Laz didn't show it. Instead, he leaned over and picked up the boxer sized Tyr and gave him a big hug, one in which Tyr happily returned back. Two arms gripped Tyr tightly while eight arms gripped Laz tightly back.

Letting Tyr climb down, Laz noticed that the young spider looked a bit depressed, as if he understood that Laz would be leaving while he stayed. The environment in this realm wasn't one that Laz should stay in for too long, especially since he was still recovering from the last time.

”Don't worry. I will see you again soon ok? And besides that, there is still Vivi, Ruby and Leona out there along with two others who you haven't met yet.” Laz comforted Tyr, not really thinking about what he was saying.

:Our... family?: Hearing the question, Laz was taken back. He had never really thought of it like that. He had no idea what would happen with the girls long term. And sure, Vivi might be like his little sister, but would she still feel that way the next time they met?

Still, seeing Tyr's excited face, Laz could only laugh and nod, agreeing with him.

:YAY!: Tyr said, doing what Laz could only assume was a happy spider dance.

Laz knew that he should be going, so that Tyr could get to doing what he needed. As he turned to walk away though, he heard Tyr's voice one last time in his head.

:South. Go... South. Thing there. For you.: Tyr said as Laz stepped though a patch of shadow. Once he was through, Laz was almost blinded by sunlight that was coming in from between the branches of the trees and hitting him in the face. When Laz turned around, he noticed that the shadow had vanish and the entrance was no longer there.

”Sigh. South huh? Alright. I guess I have no choice.” Laz smiled a bit, but there was an obvious sadness to it. Laz slowly made his way back to the farm house.

...

Back inside the spirit realm, Tyr had caught up to the big owl who was strangely floating along next to Sarah. While there was still two trails of tears, they had started to dry while Sarah herself was focused on finding her guide.

:Is he gone?: The owl asked Tyr.

:Yes.: Tyr replied, while his little legs just seemed to drag along.

:Are you sad?: The owl asked, almost amused by Tyr's relationship with the human.

:Yes.:

:It's for your own good. You interrupted your training the last time without even scratching the surface because the human woke up. You almost drove those old ones to death when you took off then. These things are not something a human can teach you little one.:

:Yeah.:

:Have you considered that the faster you finish, the faster you'll be able to go see him again?: The old owl asked the question while not being sure what to say to comfort the young spider. But after hearing this, Tyr seemed to perk up immediately while coming to a stop.

His head was bobbing up and down for a moment while his little legs wrote out a few numbers in the dirt. After another few moments, Tyr jumped up, did his happy dance and took off like rocket, heading towards the spider's faction of land in the forest.

The old owl stood there, shocked.