The tribe was at its tensest moment, yet Walter knew nothing about it. For three days, he had endured the pain of plucking his own wing feathers, tying them to stones with vines and throwing them down. After throwing them, he would hurriedly return to Kaelen's side, afraid that while he was gone, some wild beast would come and harm him.
Walter had dragged Kaelen near the entrance of the valley for three days; aside from not having a fever, Kaelen remained in a constant state of delirium.
Kaelen didn't have a fever but didn't wake up either, unable to eat anything other than a little berry juice and spring water. Walter, being from the Avian tribe after all, was able to catch a few small birds, roast them, pound them into a fine paste on a rock, boil them in water, and feed them to Kaelen. Unfortunately, Kaelen couldn't swallow it. Walter had to feed him the broth and eat the solids himself.
The air was getting colder; perhaps winter was coming. He wondered if his Papa was so worried about him that he refused to eat or drink. It's so cold, is Papa wearing warm clothes, has his dry cough flared up again...
Walter stared at the fire, sorrowfully thinking of his Papa, then gazed blankly at the lush greenery outside the cave entrance.
He had also tried exploring the valley outside, but it was limited to a radius of a few hundred steps; any further, he didn't dare. The vegetation here was quite diverse, but none of it was familiar to him. Afraid of eating randomly and getting poisoned, Walter only found some berries and wild vegetables around the stream banks, and gathered a few bundles of dry firewood to stack in the cave.
A white rabbit hopped back and forth in front of the cave; Walter glared at it with hatred. This rabbit was definitely doing it on purpose. It had been lingering in front of him these past few days, but every time he tried to catch it, he missed. He could see the disdain in its red eyes.
"Hmph, get lost!"
Walter picked up a small stone and threw it at the rabbit. The stone flew with a *whoosh* and hit its forehead; the rabbit rolled over onto the ground. He stared blankly at his hand and then at the rabbit lying stiff, feeling a wave of bewilderment in his heart.
Was this the Beast God manifesting, granting him the power of perfect accuracy? Or was the deity also annoyed by that arrogant rabbit, so he let his stone hit it?
He walked closer to the rabbit, extending a finger to poke its body. The rabbit was still breathing, but completely motionless; it seemed to have been knocked unconscious by the stone.
Right at this moment, a strange phenomenon occurred, scaring Walter so much he fell to the ground, his entire body stiffening.
He saw the surrounding plants suddenly emit many green specks of light. Then, green specks from everywhere in the valley densely appeared, rushing toward him like moths to a flame.
They passed through his body and shot towards the cave where Kaelen was lying.
Even though his legs had gone soft from fear, out of worry for Kaelen, Walter braced his hands on the ground, trembling as he crawled into the cave.
He saw Kaelen's body emitting a strange green light; the green specks of light fluttered around and fell one after another like summer rain. A few green particles fell on Walter, healing his festering wound, while the rest all fell onto Kaelen.
The wounds on Kaelen's body healed at an astonishing speed. Even the dry branches serving as his bed seemed to be watered, sprouting roots and buds, then clusters of tiny white flowers unfurled their petals, blooming and emitting a sweet fragrance.
Walter watched, dumbfounded. He didn't know how to describe the scene; his small mind could only utter the word "miraculous".
Walter looked at Kaelen, then at his own healed wound, his mood extremely complex. He had heard a very sacred phrase - "Messenger of the Gods"; was Kaelen the Messenger of the Gods everyone spoke of?
Time passed very slowly. Walter didn't dare to leave Kaelen, nor did he dare to get closer; he only knelt in place, clasping his hands together, chanting an ancient incantation they used during sacrificial ceremonies.
Day turned to night; despite not eating or drinking anything, Walter didn't feel hungry at all.
"Cough!"
A cough rang out, interrupting Walter's prayer. The green light, like frightened fireflies, quickly scattered and fell onto the leaves, vanishing without a trace.
Kaelen opened his eyes, blinking a few times. It was pitch-black in front of him; he pushed himself up to sit, looking around blankly.
"Ka, Kaelen?"
Walter's timid voice sounded. Propping his hands on the stone floor, he leaned forward slightly.
In his heart, Walter was completely certain that Kaelen was the Messenger of the Gods; his actions and words also carried a bit of caution. Kaelen turned his head towards the voice, vaguely making out Walter's small silhouette.
"Cough cough! Cough cough!"
His throat was very itchy; Kaelen couldn't help but cough continuously. At this moment, worry overcame his reverence; Walter nimbly crawled to his side, using his hand to pat Kaelen's back to smooth his breathing, and asked worriedly:
"Are you okay?"
Kaelen shook his head, remembering they were in the dark, so he placed his finger on Walter's arm to draw symbols: [I'm fine.]
"Is there anything wrong with your body? Wait a moment, let me start a fire."
Walter rubbed his hands, which were stiff from the cold, picked up two pebbles, and struck them together. Sparks flew into the tinder, and soon it caught fire. Walter added more firewood; the whole cave brightened up, and the air warmed slightly.
Kaelen moved his body a bit, surprised that the wounds on his body no longer hurt. He slightly mobilized his ability and discovered his magic source was incredibly abundant. Not only that, he had broken through two levels consecutively while unconscious; he was now a level-three ability user just like in his previous life.
Thinking of the spiritual energy integrating into his body while leveling up, Kaelen couldn't help but recall Walter's somewhat cautious voice just now. This kid had definitely seen something and let his imagination run wild.
Kaelen didn't explain either; wait until later when he researched the method to awaken abilities for everyone, the wild thoughts in Walter's heart would naturally disappear. He gestured: [How long was I unconscious? Where are we?]
Before losing consciousness, he clearly remembered the rock crevice they took shelter in was very small, not a cave like this.
"Since I woke up, the sun has risen eight times. This stone cave is just behind the rock crevice where we initially took shelter; outside is a valley."
Walter pointed to the dark space outside the cave, then immediately retracted his hand. What is this, why are there so many red things running back and forth in the dark, even on the trees...
He immediately ran to Kaelen's side, hugged his arm, and said tremblingly:
"Oh Beast God, what is that outside. It's so scary!"
Kaelen looked outside; besides a few pitch-black tree silhouettes, he saw nothing. He closed his eyes again, using his ability to weave through the gaps in the leaves, observing the surrounding situation. Aside from a few small animals active at night, there was nothing.
[There's nothing, you probably just saw things.]
Walter poked his head out from Kaelen's shoulder; that cluster of red was still there. He was so scared he started crying: "There really is something! So many! They're all red! Boo hoo, I'm so scared, when will everyone find us!"
Under Walter's insistence, Kaelen used his ability to check once more. There truly was nothing like Walter described.
[Can you describe their shapes and locations?]
Walter swallowed hard: "Over here." He pointed his finger in that direction: "There's something moving, about the size of my fist."
Kaelen extended his ability towards where Walter pointed, sensing the shape of a mole. He was slightly startled, then signaled Walter to continue. Walter described several times, Kaelen verified several times, and finally discovered they were all living animals.
He looked at Walter in astonishment, asking: [Have you ever seen this before?] Then, thinking of something, he added: [I mean, not in the tribe, but outside, at night?]
In the tribe, there were occasionally mice or small warm-blooded animals; if Walter had this ability, perhaps he had seen them before. Walter shook his head: "Never. I didn't see it the past few days either, only today."
Kaelen became serious. By the firelight, he observed Walter's entire body, his gaze stopping on Walter's perfectly healed right arm. He knew clearly how much ability he used on Walter before passing out; it definitely couldn't heal a wound so perfectly without even a scar like this.
[Before I woke up, what happened?]
Mentioning this, Walter was like a jukebox turned on. He gestured animatedly, vividly describing the miraculous phenomenon he witnessed for a whole day and night. Kaelen listened intently, rubbing his chin in thought.
Judging by this situation, the Wood-element spiritual energy during his level-up had unintentionally infiltrated Walter's body, healing his injuries, and also awakened some latent skill?
Kaelen tapped his forehead again, visualizing his previous research, arranging them in a unified sequence.
In his previous life, when children in the mortal world reached ten years old, people from the Magic City would come down, bringing measuring tools to search for ability users. When a child stood before the measuring tool, the tool would emit a dense stream of spiritual energy enveloping the child, and after about half a minute, it would yield a result.
He recalled his feeling at that time. When the spiritual energy enveloped him, his whole body felt like it was wrapped in warm water, the pores all over his body expanded, and a warm current constantly moved along his body, gathering between his eyebrows, forming a vortex. At that time, a strange scene suddenly appeared in his mind: he saw himself standing on a cracked, arid piece of land; in the middle of the land was a slightly elevated mound of earth, atop which a sapling swayed. Although it only had one leaf, it was incredibly green and lush.
The measuring tool yielded the result: he was a Wood-element ability user.
However, prior to that, he was completely unaware he had an ability. Perhaps under the stimulation of spiritual energy, his ability was awakened?
Kaelen felt as if he was on the right track!