Chapter 602: Man of Sea (2) (2/2)

He stood at the edge of where the waves stopped. They didn't cover above his ankles, and Truen looked at the water receding into the distance under the blue moonlight. As the water retreated, it took some of the sand from beneath Truen's feet with it. The archer didn't move from his spot, waiting for the next wave to come along. He was curious to know if the sea would take all the sand from under his feet if he didn't move and bury him deep within the earth.

For almost fifteen minutes, Truen didn't move from his spot. The sea continued taking sand from beneath his heel. However, that wasn't everything. As the sea pulled and pushed, it also carried some other things onto the shore that Truen never realised before. While sand was getting pulled from under his heel, the sea pushed sand, shells and sometimes seaweed on top of his toes.

”What a curious system,” Truen thought as he stood still. The water was cold initially, but it was starting to feel comfortable after standing in it for a while.

On impulse, Truen took one step towards the incoming wave. It was just one step, but already, Truen could feel the difference. Here, the pull of the water was stronger. It reached above his ankles, and Truen finally understood what he saw in the sea.

As an immortal, Truen thought that he wouldn't be afraid of death. It shouldn't be possible. After all, he was hanging out with the person born from the void. However, the sea made him remember the time when his soul was lost in the void. It was a horrible experience, and it took him so long to realise the unresolved trauma. Looking at this mass body of water full of the unknown, Truen remembered his uncertain future and helplessness.

”Truen!” a faint voice called from a distance, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Far in the distance, Truen saw Zero running towards him, with Bob following not far behind.

He waited for Zero to reach him as he stood unmoving. Having Zero come to him instead of him chasing after Zero was an odd feeling. For the longest time, Truen thought he needed to play the role of a protector. Now, he wondered who was truly protecting whom.

”Truen! How can you sneakily practise without me! I can't believe you snuck away to get a head start on me! How could you!”

Bob facepalmed. Leave it to Zero to come to such a conclusion. Yet, he expressed concern from behind his raging master. The wood elf had such a lost expression, and the dragon didn't know what would happen if they didn't meet with him. Was he suicidal?

”You know that you can tell us when you're struggling with something, right?” Bob said. ”You don't have to keep everything to yourself.”

When Zero heard how Bob snatched the chance from him, he gaped. He shouldn't have told the dragon about how glad he was that Truen wasn't the incredibly perfect creation with no flaws and how happy he was to be able to help Truen in something he wasn't good at! That sneaky credit-stealing dragon... Zero will add extra ingredients to his food tomorrow!

Nothing Zero or Bob said registered in Truen's head. The wood elf was surprised that the sinking feeling from earlier disappeared as soon as he heard Zero call out to him. He stared at them for a very long time, enjoying the lull of the waves without the dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach for the first time.