He spread his wings and flapped them.
The sounds he made carried a warning, while his imposing presence alone prevented any approach.
Karon slowly walked toward the owl.
When he stood right before it, he floated into the air and reached toward its broken beak.
The owl stepped back once, then waited and allowed him to touch it.
With a faint murmur, it released a silent cry filled with pain.
"You're broken just like me."
Karon slowly descended and walked toward the snake's corpse.
He stretched out his hand, and the sword embedded in the tree tore free and flew back toward his wrist.
With the blade in hand, he skinned the snake.
He cut the meat into small pieces and gently floated them toward the owl, trying to feed it.
The owl refused to eat.
"Your fear of me is pointless. In your condition, you couldn't resist even if you tried."
The sorrowful words pierced his own heart like a dagger.
"The state you're in because of me already breaks my heart. At least let me help you in your final moments."
He pulled the floating meat into his hand and crushed it.
Then he floated beside the owl and, stroking its head, carefully pushed the meat past its broken beak.
After eating the food Karon offered, the owl straightened itself with the little strength it had regained.
It opened its talons, grabbed Karon, and began to rise.
Surprised, Karon simply waited.
After reaching its nest, the owl released him and walked toward the round object in the corner.
Using its head, it rolled the egg toward Karon.
Karon looked at the egg with tenderness, reached out, and embraced it.
"So you're a mother."
The owl looked at the egg resting in his arms and let out a deep breath.
Slowly, it closed its eyes and laid down.
"You can rest now."
The child it had protected while disregarding its own life was finally in safe hands.
It ignored its wounds, dismissed the life it had sacrificed, and at last drew its final breath within its nest.
Karon lifted the owl's corpse into the air, then slowly floated back down himself.
He stared at the body as he gently lowered it into the grave he had dug.
The proud gaze of the mother left a deep wound inside him.
He tightly embraced the child of the mother whose death he had caused.
"I became your monster."
***
Karon continued his unbalanced training, now focusing on lifting the eight stones.
The rocks orbiting around him moved at different speeds, constantly shifting angles, rising and falling.
The training continued for a while before Karon finally stopped, breathing heavily.
He wiped the sweat running down his cheek and walked toward his bed.
He sat beside the egg wrapped in cloth and placed a hand on it.
"In this massive forest, it's just the two of us."
"It's hard to get along with me."
"I'm warning you now — be careful of the mistakes I'll make in the future."
"No matter what happens, don't turn me away."
"Because I always value the people I care about."
"As long as I tell you I love you, your place will always remain special."
"If we ever end up in conflict, just leave me alone for a while. I'll recover."
"Just don't turn your back on me."
He rose from the bed and sat at his desk.
Even though the formulas exhausted him, he picked up the pen and forced himself to continue working.
***
"Pfff…"
Rubbing his head, he stood up from the desk.
"I can't complete it."
He stepped outside and grabbed a piece of jerked meat.
Its color and smell felt as if they had been designed to make it inedible, yet Karon covered his nose and shoved it into his mouth anyway.
He rotated the weight inside his stomach and quickly spread it through his blood.
The tortures he once endured had become nothing more than memories.
Poisonous meat had become an ordinary snack to him.
He raised his hand, and the papers on the desk lifted into the air and arranged themselves neatly.
As he compressed the pages together, vines wrapped around them under the guidance of his other hand.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he muttered,
"Even this level of control is exhausting."
"I need to finish the formula."
As Karon wandered through the empty room, he raised his hand and the door opened.
"Your time's up."
The creature thrashing inside the cage perked up its ears at the sound of the lock opening.
The black creature inflated its hind legs, lunged forward, and slammed its head hard into Karon's stomach.
Karon coughed as pain spread through his bones.
"So you figured out my intentions?"
The creature kept bouncing around the room, attacking him from every direction.
With every impact, Karon's skin rippled and trembled, yet he remained standing.
A few seconds later, the rabbit-like beast suspended in midair and began to float helplessly.
"Even incomplete, I'm still more than enough for you."
Karon pulled out a small knife and slit the creature's throat.
Greenish blood flowed down his arm and reached his leg.
The blood spreading across the floor turned into Karon's footprints.
Covered in blood, he walked to the table and began butchering the creature.
First he skinned it, then cut off its head and tail.
The smell of the brownish flesh made Karon vomit.
He skewered the remaining meat and began roasting it over the campfire.
The red meat gradually blackened, taking on a dark, charred tone.
The green liquid dripping from it resembled his own blood.
Karon grimaced as he bit into the meat and forced himself to eat.
While chewing, he continued mixing the heavy energy in his stomach into his bloodstream.
As he repeated the same process, the sound of something breaking echoed from inside...