The island itself was quite small, as it's width was an observable 10 Kilometres from the shore, while being only 2 from the front.
From where they had landed, far 'North' was the cliff side where Tyr was buried. Currently, Azdin was exploring the 'west' side. A direction he chose as he could feel less gazes in that area, rather than to the 'South'.
His reasoning for this was simple.
'Fresh water is vital to survival like Hugo said, so more powerful creatures should be hogging it. Their numbers should be lower.'
But that also begged the thought.
'If I end up running into one of them, wouldn't they attack me?'
If that were the case then things would quickly get violent.
He had a way of protecting himself in that case though.
His grip around his sword tightened, as he glared at his reflection within it's silver sheen.
Just holding onto it made him feel anxious. He thought nothing of it before, but now, he could only imagine that blood thirsty monster of himself in Hugo's stories.
'I don't want to become that kind of person.'
Was it those dungeons that twisted him into that monster, was he just a product of his environment? Or was he truly just an evil person at heart?
'What even was the point of all that? What were those people trying to achieve?'
Either way, he had already decided that he wouldn't live that way anymore. He had the strength to change that now.
**
"What is an awakened? You said that the both of us were one."
Looking up at him, Hugo struggled to hide his profound confusion. His mouth hung slightly lowered, and his brows were drawn together as if a thought in his head had collided into something impossible.
After a few moments, he quickly regained his composure.
"I keep forgetting that common sense isn't common to you anymore."
Azdin could only stomach the insult.
"To be awakened, is to have ones body and soul be elevated and open to higher powers. They must gain ahold of their dormant soul essence, control it's flow, and then continuously cycle it within the body at high speeds until it collapses under its own weight. This causes it to crystallizes into a singular mass, also known as a soul core."
Hugo raised his hand and placed it's palm just above his heart.
"The process of gaining control over this essence can vary, but the one we were.. forced to take, was not just the fastest, but also the most brutal."
The act of slaughtering other creatures was to harvest their soul shard, which contained the broken remains of their soul core and the trickling amount of soul essence that it had left behind.
Hugo raised up a small crystal, with a dim glowing white light at its centre.
It was the Dormant Soul shard of the Azure Cub that he had harvested.
"The excess soul essence would mix with your dormant one, and so taking control of that essence becomes even easier. The more soul fragments that were absorbed, the better."
Azdins arm reflexively moved the moment Hugo raised his own, as he threw the Soul shard in his direction.
It landed squarely in the palm of his hand.
"The result of this, is a body far stronger than a mundanes, and a power that defies what can be classed as ordinary."
Then, looking around, Hugo caught sight of a decently large boulder almost triple the size of his head.
Approaching it, he placed both of his palms around the rough mass, before lifting it up as if it weighed nothing at all. Stone dust flaked off against his fingers, while his arms stayed steady, unrestrained, almost casual.
Then, with a small turn of the wrist, he brought the boulder up to chest height and tightened his grip.
A sharp crack rang out, as the rock split and collapsed inward, breaking apart in a sudden burst of fragments and dust that clattered into the sand like hail.
"In other words, we are strong."
Azdin observed it all with deep interest, a little amazed that he could do that too.
Still curious, he asked,
"Right.. and what is soul essence?"
"..."
**
He could feel it, just above his heart. His soul core brimming with soul essence, as well as the tremendous power that dwelleld within it.
He was sure that if he concentrated and focused, he could take a hold of it's flow just like Hugo reminded him, and use it to enhance his body. That was where the main source of an awakeneds supernatural strength came from.
'Although I may have lost those memories of learning and awakening, being able to control soul essence has been engrained within me like an instinct.'
Just like how he was able to still speak in runic despite having lost all of his memories of even learning the language, he still remembered how to breath, and how to control his soul essence.
But it wasn't just the physical prowess of the body that increased along with awakening, but also it's senses.
Tunning into the environment with his ears, a short distance away, he could hear the sound of running water.
In his joy, he let out a slight smirk.
'It seems I was right.'
Continuing to advance forwards, he pushed away the last bit of vegetation and dense plants, and entered into a much more open expanse of land.
The grass and dirt seemed to fade away, turning into grey gravel as it approached the source of the familiar sounds.
Laying just beyond a bay of stones, was a small river threading its way in-between scattered rocks, clear water slipping and murmuring as it passed. It wound gently through the stones, catching the light in small soft flashes.
Immediately, Azdin could feel the thirst in the back of his throat, begging for it to be satisfied.
Next to it however.
'Oh man.'
A large blue and furry mass lay completely still, with lighter shades of teal streaking across it's body in consistent patterns. He couldn't quite tell what kind of creature it was, but it did give him a very bad feeling.
'Is that what's hogging everything?'
It must've been strong then, there was no telling by how much though.
Dismissing his thirst, he decided,
'My job here is done, time to leave!'
Slowly turning around, he lifted a foot slowly before placing it back down gently, trying to tip toe away without making even the slightest bit of noise.
Despite his carefulness though, that didn't stop him from being noticed.
The blue mass suddenly shifted. At one end, something like a snout lifted into view.
The giant Azure bear sniffed the air, it's nostrils flaring as it caught a familiar scent. It yawned, slowly pushing itself upright, rising onto its hind legs.
It was terrifyingly tall, it's shadow alone being vast enough to stretch to the opposite bank of the river, dwarfing the Azure Cub in size, being almost 4 times as tall, or twice his own height.
The creature steadied itself on two feet, but by the time it had fully shaken off it's drowsiness and turned to look around, Azdin had already taken off.