Daiden wondered many things from his short time as a resident of Mioverold. He started with the validity of his second life, in a world currently under threat from an eroding force in Nilheim. The thought weighed on his mind but whittled within the Sea of Trees. He clenched his chest, feeling the pounding of an immeasurable love, a simple emotion. But his optimism stemmed from something else entirely.

“It took Nilheim three thousand years to erode a tenth of this world,” observed Daiden. “I have time on my side, maybe even enough to overturn the fate of this world. But more importantly…”

With a shake, Daiden pointed Takshaka at the enemy in front of him. His eyes narrowed to the ugly creature, its insect like-body, about as large as a dog from the Earthen Realm. Its black exoskeleton cracked in odd patterns, projecting a soft, blue aeter-light. Daiden gulped when the liquid from the creature’s maws spilled, corroding the grass beneath its head; it resembled something more human than monster. The creature tilted its head, inquisitively, and cracked with a gurgled laughter. It stirred the leaves, a predatory wave of energy.

Daiden felt his mind tingle with something familiar in that moment, dormant Mioveroldian knowledge. He could recall merely a name, nothing more. Chrun’s Descendant. Daiden didn’t need much more. His body moved into an angled stance, optimized to the size of his sword. He remembered his confrontation with Aelius, the flow of his aeter; it appeared in a sliver at first, veiling his body in something white and translucent. His limbs lightened with the aura, ruffling his hair with a gentle force. With a nod, he launched into an offensive, with pursed lips and a firm expression. He needed it this time, to accept his situation as absolute, his new reality.

With light footsteps, Daiden narrowed his distance to the creature and swerved to the side, swinging Takshaka with neither doubt nor hesitation. It struck the thin, yet rock-like limbs, erupting a sound that disturbed the forest. His wrist ached from the impact. His eyes remained in focus, enough to notice one of the creature’s limbs in motion for a counter-offensive. He cursed when the attack hit his shoulder, tilting for a deeper cut.

“Fuck!”

Daiden ignored the pain, overcome with frustration instead. He dislodged the limb from his shoulder and leapt to a safe distance. With a deep breath, he sprinted once more, without worry. Daiden stabbed his sword at the creature’s face, and noticed it evade in haste. His eyes sharpened at the sight, and his feet followed for another attack. Daiden stabbed his sword faster this time, scratching at the creature’s maws. It screeched in a response, fiercely spewing poison in retaliation. Daiden stopped when he noticed it melt away a portion of his leather amour. It forced an imbalance in his form, causing him to stumble with tangled feet.

“I’m still not used to this,” cursed Daiden, in a whisper. He struggled from the ground but felt something foreign drizzle from atop of him. The blue liquid seeped into his body in an instant, paling his skin with immediate effect. His fingers trembled, and his vision distorted, filtering everything in sight to shades of blue. “Don’t tell me…poison?”

Daiden groggily observed the Chrun’s Descendant shiver and release another spray of blue liquid, from the patterns on its exoskeleton. He barely avoided the poisoned drizzle and scrambled to safety. With his back turned to the enemy, he shifted from inexperience and stumbled again. He caught it then, from the corner of his eye, the maws of the Chrun’s Descendant, in a weird twist, resembling a smile almost. In frustration, Daiden felt the embrace from Ehedus. He calmed to the situation and sighed, choosing to avert his eyes from his slowly bluing skin.

Takshaka reverberated, and then again, out of concern for its master’s condition. It forced the exertion of a cloudy, green aeter around Daiden’s wrists.

“Are you suggesting that I might die soon?” asked Daiden, lacking any expectation for an answer.

But Takshaka reverberated. It yearned for a conversation, struggling without a voice for words. Daiden shook his head comfortingly.

“You can say only one of two things now,” said Daiden, faintly. “I can only hope that I’m right with this guess.”

[Jade Serpent’s Breath]

Daiden heard the words in his mind and felt the flow of his aeter moderate to the command. It dulled from its translucent form and assumed a murky, green colour. The aeter flushed through the entirety of his body, liberating Daiden from the interference of anything foreign. The poison retaliated, its blue aeter battling against the flood of green. But the latter persisted, in a slow absorption that built into resistance. Daiden watched the colour of his skin return to normalcy and smiled, giddy from the experience.

“Now that’s more like it!”

With renewed strength, Daiden darted towards the unexpectant Chrun’s Descendant. He struck its hard limbs in a test and succeeded, slicing away two of the eight stony legs. The creature stumbled from a loss of balance, allowing another attack to its head this time. Daiden fiercely pierced through the skull and swung Takshaka in fluid motion, with a half-moon like trajectory. When the Chrun’s Descendant fell, without a face, Daiden relaxed in celebration of his first victory against a hostility in Mioverold. He laughed nervously, and then a little louder, with pride.

It lasted a mere moment, when another hiss followed. The bushes rustled, and another Chrun’s Descendant emerged. Daiden dulled with exhaustion at the sight, and slowly straightened to his feet. He still felt the force of the Jade Serpent’s Breath. Daiden clicked his tongue then, when he noticed a second pair of eyes, in the bushes, and then four more. They started with a screech and then hurried to the corpse of the first Chrun’s Descendant; the creatures fought amongst themselves, as they feasted on the remains of the lifeless body, leaving little more than the black exoskeleton. They cocked their heads when finished and gurgled into a strange laughter.

Daiden ignored it. He remained in focus of his predicament and completed the footwork for his sword dance. The creatures failed to predict the trajectory of the attack that followed; a thick stream of green aeter splashed against the Chrun’s Descendants, slowing their bodily motions to near stillness. Daiden gulped at the effect but held to his composure and followed through with a fierce offensive onslaught.

“This is transcendental!” exclaimed Daiden, when disposing of the first Chrun’s Descendant. In another second, he managed to slash and hack away at three more, and in the third, he swung to decapitate one of the two that remained. At the fourth second, the last of the Chrun’s Descendants, sluggishly regained the use of its limbs. Daiden hopped away a little and lowered to a stance. “I can do this. This choice, it wasn’t a mistake!”

Daiden concluded his victory with several minor injuries, and a deep wound on his shoulder. It had already started clot around the edges. He winced with pain when the aeter slipped from its protective embrace.

“Maybe someone can take a look at this, at Mutuba Village?” wondered Daiden, uncertainly. He took a deep breath and almost put Takshaka away; in that moment, his Mioveroldian Page buzzed with new information. With a gulp, Daiden expectantly peeled his eyes onto the contents of the page. “This should be worth it.”

[You’ve earned greater recognition with Takshaka with your victory against the Chrun’s Descendants.]

[You are now eligible to read the Origin of Takshaka.]