Inhaling the air through his nose, Nicholas taps completely into his meditation. He feels a strange feeling of energy dwelling in his veins which causes his eyes to flinch as veins appear on his forehead.
"Hey, Nicholas." Aya dropped her rock and ran towards him.
However, she stops running after running into something solid. She raises her hands and swings them forward, hitting a wall. She glares while pushing the invisible object in front of her.
"What does this mean?! I was just telling him to meditate!" she spoke in confusion, "He did! But what is this wall? I haven't heard anyone do this!"
"Nicholas!" she repeatedly slammed her fists against the wall in front of her.
Inside the mediation of Nicholas, a white plain surroundings with him standing in it. He looks around him with puzzlement in his gaze. "Where am I?"
The entire surrounding disappears causing Nicholas to blink. Before he can think of another word, he is already falling into an endless level of bright blue sky.
"I DON'T AGREE TO THIS!" Nicholas closed his eyes while holding it with his hands, "DARN YOU PASSERBY! STOP COMING TO MY HEAD!"
"The titans are coming!" A voice spoke in front of him.
Nicholas releases his eyes, slowly opening his eyes to see the stare of the passerby. Annoyance fills Nicholas' head, and veins pop on his forehead. "Why am I here?! And who is this titan that you are talking about?"
The passerby remains staring into his eyes without saying another word but he speaks after a second but gets interrupted after hitting a solid cloud. Nicholas bursts out laughing while looking at the passerby, and Nicholas ends up hitting another cloud.
He stands up and brushes the dust from his polo shirt. "That was weird! Where am I?!"
"So, you are the replacement of my master?"
"Who in the bird are you?!" Nicholas looked up, seeing a gigantic blue eagle flapping its wings.
"After the crystal of nature chose you, I began watching you nonstop," the eagle replied, its voice sounding calm like a lullaby.
Suddenly, Nicholas remembers the time he was doing private things like shaving (you know) and he covers his crotch with his hands.
"PERVERT! DARN YOU!" Nicholas roared.
The eagle tilts its head in confusion. "I am not staring at your bird but I keep on watching you, how you treat the people around you. I must say, you're a good person but short-tempered sometimes."
"E-Enough! Now, tell me, what am I doing here?" Nicholas turned around, thinking about the true reason he was brought to a place where he is now.
The eagle blinks repeatedly before opening its yellow beak. "You are here because our link has been unlocked which is the first path in unlocking the full potential of the crystal that chose you."
Nicholas rubs his chin while pointing his lip. "So, is the crystal that chose me different from the crystal that Aya is protecting?"
The eagle releases a cry before landing on the edge of the cloud where Nicholas is standing. The giant creature sits on the cloud. "The crystal that chose you is one of the rare crystals that the ancient warriors have passed on, and what you have is the crystal of nature. The crystal that Aya is guarding is the crystal that serves as the beacon to open the gate of the monsters."
Nicholas nods with understanding in his look. "So, what do I have to do now?"
The eagle immediately answers. "You have to go back to the village, and help Aya. After that, meditate while thinking of how air feels on your skin, and in that way, you will be able to come here."
After that, Nicholas' eyes open with a jerk of his body. He breathes faster while looking around him.
"What happened?!" Nicholas asked in a loud voice.
"You were surrounded by an invisible wall!" Aya pointed at the ground between them.
The young man stands up and walks toward the white horse. "Let's go back to the village."
As they are riding the horse that leaves a trail of dust while galloping, Nicholas is holding on to the leash of the horse while staring seriously in front of him. "I feel something bad. The passerby hasn't appeared."
Aya luckily reaches him while riding her horse. She looks at him and senses something different about him. "Hey! Are you okay? You're so serious after the self meditation."
Nicholas shakes his head. "The truth is, I didn't see myself but a giant blue eagle."
Aya's eyes widen, and she nods slowly after hearing him. "Well, it seems that you saw something serious."
Nicholas is taken aback by her words, and he asks, "What exactly do you mean?"
Aya answers calmly as the air blows gently upon them. "I know a bird that matches what you caught sight of, and that bird is no joke because it's the legendary eagle of the supreme sky."
"What?" Nicholas turned out to be confused.
Aya remains quiet as her horse keeps on galloping. She slowly turns her eyes to him, and Nicholas feels the seriousness in her gaze.
"When you look at me like that," Nicholas told her, "I know what you'll say next will shock me."
"Shock you? Yes. That eagle is the eagle of the Great Warrior of Nature, and it's a bird known to make tornadoes," Aya narrowed her eyes, watching the terrain they're travelling on, "If the bird has shown itself to you, then, you are a descendant of the crystal of Nature."
"A what?!" Nicholas asked with widened eyes, he felt a strange sensation creeping over his entire body.
A smile creeps on her face, and she tells him. "This is a good opportunity! Because I've found one of the powerful descendants!"
"But where are the others?" Nicholas asked.
"There is one in the Headquarters of Guardians," Aya rubbed her chin, "I think one of them can use teleportations."
After miles of galloping, Nicholas waves the curtains of a house, and he steps inside which brings him to the spacious living room. A young woman with long green hair is sitting on the bamboo chair at the corner of the room.
She closes her book and looks at Nicholas with a welcoming smile. "Hello! Do you remember me?"
"Oh! You're Elesia, the one who blasted the monster away," Nicholas said, pointing his index finger at her.
The woman nods while chuckling. "Yeah."
A pair of footsteps comes from the stairs, and Nicholas looks up, only to see Aya. Elesia watches both of them interact, and Nicholas begins speaking, "So, what are you going to give me?"
With a bright smile, Aya extends a necklace with a green diamond as the pendant. "Here, this is for our friendship."
Nicholas gently holds the necklace, and his eyes are mesmerised by the beauty of the pendant. He looks at Aya while he wraps the necklace around his neck. "Thank you for giving me this."
Meanwhile, farther away from the village, a wooden woman wearing the appearance of her victim steps out of the shade of the trees. Her brown human eyes return to her original green eyes, and her human skin peels from her body which revealing her wooden curvaceous body wrapped in leaves.
"Tonight, I'll prove that I can match my siblings in power." Her eyes are now filled with evil intent, and large flytraps emerge from her back with green fluid dripping from the corners of their mouths.
"With my power as the third-ranking seed, I Coseria," she raised her wooden hand with her palm facing the ground, "summon the seedlings."
Multiple tiny seeds emerge from her palm, and as they hit the ground, they blossom onto wooden humanoids with no face and no clothes but spikes can be seen on their wide wooden back.
"Tonight, we will feast upon the screams of the villagers," she said, licking her bottom lip.