—Later that day
A young boy—no more than six— was meditating in a clearing within the Lios forest. His silver hair flowed with the wind, and his golden eyes shimmered in the light of the evening sun. Paired with his beauty, it gave him an ethereal presence.
A pale blue mist rose from his body like steam. The mist gathered together as it rose, forming dim stars that lasted for mere moments, further extenuating his ethereal presence.
He was like a guiding spirit that brought good fortune.
Not far from the boy, there was a young girl with long raven hair tied into a half-tail hairstyle and aquamarine eyes. She brimmed with energy as lightning and wind covered her body. Her punches and kicks echoed with a thunder clap. The surface of the tree she struck cracked and splintered.
The Girl was like a guardian spirit that rained judgment on her foe.
Both of them radiated a kind of majesty that made one want to follow them.
Smiling, he then walked away.
***
Aries stood up from his meditation and dusted his clothes.
'This…'
Not only did he feel his chi control getting better, but his chi purity also increased. Not only that, he felt his chi capacity increase as well.
'When did humanity come up with such an amazing technique?'
He murmured to himself.
Chi was represented in a numerical form; then, mundane humans would have about ten chi capacity, with a chi purity of zero. This wasn't that bad, as there were many creatures with less capacity, and most started with zero percent chi purity, but there are creatures with much higher initial capacity and purity.
With each rank an individual reached, their capacity was increased by a factor of ten, and their purity would be improved by ten. So a human who reached [Null] would have a chi capacity of a hundred and a chi purity of ten percent, and an [Awakened] human would have a chi capacity of a thousand and a purity of twenty, and so on.
Though this was not the case for all humans, as those with a special constitution had an increase in chi. Those with the Merlin's constitution had the highest increase, with them having about five times the normal amount.
Mythical creatures, which Aries was, had the least increase in chi, with them having about two times the normal amount, which was quite a lot, but not much compared to the others.
With all of that in mind, Aries before would have a chi capacity of two hundred and a purity of ten. Aries now would have a chi capacity of two hundred and five, and a purity of ten point five.
It didn't seem like much, but to have it increase so much so quickly was close to a miracle. He was only here for about five hours, so that meant his capacity increased by one every hour, and his purity by point one percent. The techniques from Aries's past life took days— weeks even— to do the same thing, and those were the faster ones. And, there were no techniques that were capable of increasing one's purity.
'This is crazy! How have they advanced this much?'
He held his head.
'Has it really been that long? Why didn't I do like the others and establish my decree among the people?'
Sigh… Aries hit his palm with his fist, now having a new goal.
'Alright, get the people on this planet to believe in my old self, shouldn't be too hard.'
Setting aside his new goal, Aries took up the book and rested it under a nearby tree before returning to take up his wooden sword.
"It's only three, so I have a bit of time before it gets too late, so let's train a bit."
He slid back his foot and took a battle stance.
'The book said I should try using the breathing technique while training. I wonder what difference it would make.'
Aries closed his eyes and drew in a concentrated breath. He let the warm air flow through his body before expelling it. Then, he drew the hot air back in and let it rest in his lungs. The air formed a 'bubble' that slowly leaked, burning-hot air that mixed with his chi and enhanced its flow.
Popping the bubble, Aries allowed all the hot air to mix with his chi. His chi boiled, scalding his chi veins.
He took in another breath, letting it course through his body, cooling it slightly, then re-inhaled the air, this time slowly mixing it with his chi before the bubble even formed. The air condensed and formed a bubble as its heat continuously increased.
The chi inside heated to the point of almost burning up inside, cleansing the chi of impurities and purifying it. The bubble popped once more, and the process repeated.
Now that the process had started, Aries could now focus on training. He gripped his sword and did a string of moves.
First, he did a horizontal slash and used the resulting force to spin himself into a vertical strike. Without wasting any time, he brought his sword upward into another vertical slash. Then, he finished with a double thrust.
As he finished, Aries's eyes widened in surprise.
"I- Was I faster just now?"
'Not only that, I'm pretty sure there was more force behind my attacks as well.'
"Just who is th—"
A sudden burning sensation overtook Aries's thoughts. The sensation enveloped his lungs and throat, causing him to fall to his knees.
"Haaa… Haaa."
A few dry, hoarse breaths escaped him, but it wasn't enough.
'W–what I–s… H–appening t—"
Not a moment later, he fell unconscious.
***
Moonlight flooded the room as the curtains swayed in the wind. The windows were pulled open for some strange reason. It wasn't uncommon for the residents of Lios to leave their windows open for the cool night air to enter, but, it wasn't so for this household. In fact, they were quite cautious people, so it was strange for them to leave their windows open.
Yet still, the moonlight found its way into the room and illuminated Roanna's sleeping face, sleeping carelessly and without worry.
The moonlight gathered, forming sparks of light. These sparks flowed into a single point, forming the silhouette of a cloaked person. The dark cloak fluttered in the wind, revealing black bishop's robes.
A lock of silver hair peaked from beneath the persons cloak, blown by the settling wind.
The cloaked figure spoke, their voice resonating with the night air.
"You are one of the friends of the purple eye one, hmm?"
A hand extended from the cloak and moved towards Roanna. Gripping a chain with a silver medal that had the symbol of a fox nestling the moon and held it over her.
"You deserve a hint at what's happening here. You and that shining snake."
An unnaturally white liquid—to the point of seemingly glowing— oozed from the medal and a single drop, and no more than that, fell onto her forehead and promptly disappeared.
The cloaked figure stood staring for a moment, then the curtain passed over them, and in the next moment they were gone, as if they never existed.