Ascenders Rift 151 The Spirit Seed, A Sudden Change

The sky was of an unnatural color, sparkling with stars from an unknown constellation. It was here an unusual tree had grown beyond irregular portions, its roots unseen, reaching towards the distant ends of eternity. It is unknown how this place had come to being, nor how long this tree had existed, as it seemed as if it was always in existence, in a perpetual state of tranquillity.

Yet, despite this fact, it would seem that this phrase was destined to come to an end, for unknown to even the world itself, a being had appeared here.

It was a human, a young one at that, a girl of long golden hair with refined features. She stood before this tree in a daze as it remained motionless to all things. Soon, the absentmindedness on this female's face changed as she gradually came to her senses, noticing the giant tree that stood before her.

"This... what is this? Where am I?" She exclaimed in surprise as her voice echoed.

Yet, as if the world itself heard her thoughts, it spoke as if it were a person.

"A zone between spirits, connecting souls from distant reaches. Welcome child, you have done well to make it here. It was an eon ago, I left behind a seed in the voids connected to a myriad of worlds; it was supposed to bloom in splendor and become a radiant spirit in those lands. But sadly, this seed had failed to bloom. It was hindered by another, and sought by many, ultimately fading into the bowels of s.p.a.ce-time..." 

The ancient voice said, causing the female to remain confused by those words; she had no idea what it was trying to imply. As if the world sensed her confusion, the all eclipsing tree shook as it glowed in a radiant hue sending a small ball of light towards her.

Instantly, the ball merged with the female causing her to feel like she'd returned to her roots. Soon, the voice spoke again.

"Child... you are the incarnation of my Spirit Seed, the last of me from that old world. In time you shall bloom... in time… you shall rise with splendor..."

As if those words carried a strange power, the girl seemed to lose all consciousness as she hovered at the center of this world. Instantly, a dazzling light shone from the core of her being, spreading out to all corners of this s.p.a.ce, as she faded from this world into the sea of radiance.

***

The sun had s.h.i.+fted positions as the sky had once more taken on the dark purplish hue, signifying the hours of the late afternoon.

At this time, Joe and the others had long since set up camp in a cave near the waterfall. They had adopted more primitive means instead of fancy technological equipment, it seemed that they wanted to take this rare chance to embrace nature at its core.

"It's getting a bit chilly; I wonder if they found anything?" Layla said that while staring at the entrance of the cave, the vague purple lights dying a portion of their surroundings in its hue.

Breya was also nearby, she was currently trying to tweak a few devices, but as she heard Layla's words, she looked at her and replied, "Judging by the time, and how long they've been out there, it's highly unlikely they found it. I suppose we can only wait for Emmy to wake up..."

Layla sighed as she heard this, her eyes s.h.i.+fting towards the sleeping Emilia that had shown no signs of movements.

"Yes, I guess you are right..." Layla said as she turned her sights away, once more staring at the scene on the outside with complex eyes.

Breya was also finding the sights pleasing; the previous days of constant fighting had also begun to take its toll on her. Even when growing up in the MSS, she didn't have to do so much battle.

However, it's only natural, as the world though filled with constant conflict isn't as dangerous and unsafe as what you find in an apocalyptic setting. This kind of world would tire out even the most experienced soldier, breaking their minds over more extended periods.

While Breya and Layla had sunk into their thoughts, a scene was occurring behind them. If one looked carefully, they would notice that Emilia's body was vaguely glowing in a yellowish-green light, but this only lasted for an instance of time before returning to normal.

Outside of this cavern, the distant sounds of creatures could be heard from all over. However, as if they were repelled by something none of these beasts had shown interest in this valley.

Currently, Joe was searching through the wilds, combing through the hedges and carefully overturning rocks for secret entrances of diagram markings.

After placing down a large rock, he sighed and wiped the sweat from his head as he spoke, "Ah darn, it's so hard to find this entrance. I don't see any mysterious diagrams, nor do I see a rabbit hole, where the h.e.l.l is this entrance?"

As Joe finished his words, he felt lazy and didn't want to bother continuing; he sat himself down on the very same rock he lifted with a tiresome expression.

Swis.h.!.+ Suddenly, a remnant shade appeared in a tree branch nearby, forming into Rick, who looked at Joe and spoke, "Did your sister ever tell you that you've read too much fiction? Do you think that you're that 'Alice' from the movie?"

Joe scoffed and replied, "I know I can't be her as I'm not that lucky, but there's something I know I can certainly portray..."

Rick raised one of his eyebrows and stared at him, Joe seeing his look sneered as he spoke with sharp eyes, "I can be the firmness walls of the tallest tower, and the final door to Rapunzel's lair..."

Rick's face turned pale as he heard those words, his look at Joe changed as he gritted his teeth and swallowed his pride before he spoke in a softer tone, "Joe, you do know I was joking right?"

"Of course, I do... but, ah... I'm not feeling so well. Lately, we've been traveling for so long, doing all that fighting; I'm even beginning to feel a bit sore. If only I could get a shoulder ma.s.sage, or maybe a little bit of extra care when fighting, you know how hard it is a be at the forefront, blocking attacks left and right," Joe said with a pitiful expression on his face, but if one looked closely, they would notice that his eyes were sharp.

Rick obviously knew what Joe wanted, he clenched his fist and cursed inwardly, 'This d.a.m.n fatty...'

As Rick cursed, he was now in a dilemma, as he didn't want to submit, but he would only be forced into climbing great walls to reach his prize if he didn't.

Joe sneered as he saw this scene while thinking, 'Hmph! You want to take my sister; you've got to go the extra mile...'

The scene grew silent, as Joe seemed in control, but right when things were about to go his way, a slight noise was heard as Evan suddenly appeared.

"Hmm, what are you guys doing?" Evan asked with a curious look on his face.

With Evan's sudden appearance, Joe clicked his teeth as Rick made a rare happy expression before returning to normal. He replied, "I was searching as well, but couldn't find any strange pa.s.sages, how was your search?"

Evan, hearing this shook his head and replied, "Futile, I couldn't even catch a trace of it, they've done well in hiding it."

Rick and Joe shook their heads at those words; they knew that it would be pointless for them to continue wasting time in the wild if he couldn't find it. Only one person is more attuned to nature, and that was Emilia.

Joe looked at Evan and asked, "Are you certain that Emmy will be able to find it?"

Though Joe knew his sister was special, like everyone else, he wasn't able to see everybody's core talents as clearly.

"If she can't, then no one will," Evan looked at them and said, but deep down, only he knew that he could but just didn't have enough energy to search again with the Void Blood Pendant properly.

Joe and Rick's eyes flashed as they understood his meaning, Evan seeing this was about to say something, but right at this very moment, he along with the trio turned and looked towards the cave in the distance.

There, a bright light had lit up, sending a strange aura around the area. Evan's face sunk as he cursed, "Darn, such a large fluctuation. This isn't good; we have to hurry over!"

In a flash, Evan vanished from the area, following by Rick and Joe who was much slower. Soon, Rick had arrived at the entrance along with Evan, who then waved his hand causing the void around the cavern to warp; this then caused the light from the cave to be trapped.

Though Evan was a bit surprised that the theory worked, he didn't have time to think about it, as the scene before him made his eyes widened in shock.