26 Chronicles of a Trickster (2)

The old man laughed heartily, "Such youthful energy! It's healthy, but please keep it on standby for now. Wouldn't you agree, Astrona?"

"Of course! It's good to see you, Patriarch. And you too, Quint." Astrona greeted the two old men.

Patriarch Nero, ignoring courtesies, placed his handle on Astrona's shoulders, "Haha. No need for formalities. I'm the same Nero as I was back then, y'know?"

Quint nodded in agreement, "Uh-hm, The three of us were quite the trio, weren't we? Despite having aged so much, the three of us could still work together in perfect synergy, don't you think?"

Astrona followed self-deprecatingly, "It's been far too long, and I'm afraid—or maybe I should be happy—my cultivation has halted at Foundation Establishment Stage 6, while the two of you have reached half a step into Core Formation already. My power isn't befitting of our old trio's style."

"Don't give up so easily, once you breakthrough that bottleneck of yours, you'll probably skip from Stage 7 to Stage 8. If you wanted, we could make an exception, and you could even be a Grand Elder at your current stage." Quint refuted.

"Uh-hm. And despite being a stage 6, you could give even those in stage 9 a run for their money, y'know?" Nero added.

"I'm fine with the title of Elder, it's less of a burden on my mind. That's how it is for you as well, isn't it Quint?" Astrona shook his head, to which Quint rubbed his nose awkwardly. Astrona continued almost inaudibly, "And what I fear most is breaking through Stage 6."

A trace of reluctance flashed across the trios' eyes, the looks in their eyes speaking more than words could.

Astrona shook his head, "Anyways, there's no need to worry about me, you two. Now's not the time for this, is it?"

"Haha! You're right! Today's a joyous occasion—it's the day of Icrin's bloodline awakening! Let us prepare the ceremony!" Patriarch Nero enthusiastically remarked, Icrin's eyes shining in anticipation.

As if summoned from the shadows, the village elders and grand elders arrived. They cordially congratulated Icrin one-by-one before assuming their positions on old, seemingly delicate, marble seating rows. While the seating rows seemed worn, they possessed their own elegance, as if they made up an ancient theatre.

As for the entourage of people who had followed closely behind Ced and Faline, they coordinated themselves while talking quietly among each other, only finding their own seating after the elders and grand elders had taken their positions.

While the seating accompanied a large area, the five life-like statues each had their own surrounding of space, lined up in order. After the five statues was the Ancestral Hall, an archaic hall of beauty and antiquity.

Icrin's heart beat fast and he felt the fluttering of butterflies in his stomach as his anxiety soared. Questions passed through his mind, 'What stage will I awaken? If I only awaken my bloodline to stage 1 or 2, what will everyone think of me? What will mom, dad, and gramps think of me? Will they be disappointed?'

As his line of thinking continued, the feeling only continued to worsen, until he felt as if his weight had drastically increased. He attempted to move, to lift his foot, to raise his hand, but he couldn't! It was as if he were possessed, another being controlling his body, his anxiety forcing him into submission.

That was until Icrin heard the quintet's jesting, a special comfort present in their words regardless of what they spoke.

"Patriarch Nero told us to stay on standby for now, and so I have put off giving you a beating until after the ceremony. Just wait, Icrin." Tsyun gave a smile that wasn't quite a smile, possessing a darkness that made Icrin shiver.

"Icrin, you can't be feeling nervous from just this, right? I need to practice my sword skills later, so don't go getting sick now, got it?" Phu remarked.

"Hoy! What's there to fear about awakening your bloodline? Phu has only managed to awaken his bloodline to stage 2, whereas Shin and I have only awoken stage 1. As for Tsyun and Haz, those monsters managed to reach stage 5." Ichi added.

"There's no point in worrying about something that can't be trained. Leave it to luck, while you use your effort on something that matters—like muscle! Ah! Damn it, Haz!" Shin shouted.

Haz knocked Shin on the head, "Don't forget, technique stems from far more than bloodline. Your bo staff technique, it possesses an eloquence that can't be mastered with any bloodline, only through hard work."

"Everything is in order, you may begin when you're ready, Icrin. Quint, let's take our seats? Astrona, I assume you'd like to sit with your son and daughter-in-law, the three of us can catch up later on." Patriarch Nero spoke quietly before he and Quint assumed their own positions.

"Icrin, no matter what stage you awaken, strength still has to be trained. While a bloodline will have a big impact, it will only get you so far without effort. As for what type of techniques you may develop from the statues, that is dependent on how you perceive their insights." Astrona spoke earnestly before returning.

Icrin's parents and grandfather smiled calmly as they nodded encouragingly to Icrin, concealing their inevitable worry as to soothe Icrin.

Having mustered up his courage, Icrin took the first step into a new life, followed by the second, and so-on. In a matter of seconds, he had arrived in front of the first statue. It was that of a bird with a small caption reading: 'Bird's Nurturing'.

It depicted a large bird flying into the sky, and upon touching it with his hand, his eyes closed as various scenes flashed through his mind. And he saw the bird, the very same one in the statue, gliding across the sky gracefully.

He felt as if he were there, and finally realized that these weren't mere memories inside his mind. He was present in a strange reality, looking up from the earth's surface at the bird. That was when the bird looked down, the two locking gazes, as the bird smirked briefly before shifting his gaze above in aggrievement.

Icrin followed the bird's gaze, but couldn't understand. It was just the sky above it, so what?

There had to be more to it though, right? There had to be! And so, he whistled a small tune to the bird. The bird chirped as it landed on the earth beside Icrin, its body growing in size as it nudged Icrin to hop onto it. Off into the sky, filled with white clouds of fluff and the whistling of wind, the duo ventured.

They looked down, and Icrin held the same gaze as the bird, he smirked as if he held absolute freedom from the surface—from the earth! Yet when he followed the bird's gaze up, he realized it wasn't looking into the same sky he saw as he stood on the earth below, but the heavens! And between the sky and heavens was another form of imprisonment!

As he continued to stare off into the sky, the white clouds in the sky transitioned to a dark grey, from which chains manifested. The chains shot down, surrounding him and the bird as they formed a prison. It was as if there was a barrier within the grey clouds, restricting them from going any further than the sky.

Icrin's mind echoed with the bird's insight, 'Living with freedom above the earth, but imprisonment below the heavens. Is freedom an illusion or reality in our world? Are we truly in control of our own destiny?'

He felt his young blood boiling in his desire to soar even higher than the sky, as he erupted with a power that was beyond even the heavens. He released a cry and the bird, empowered by his resolute attitude, followed in synergy.

Icrin screamed out, "If destiny was predetermined... If I lived life on someone else's schedule... What would be the point? These chains used against me... This imprisonment inflicted upon me, I'll just take them for myself! Spectral Chains—Spectral Imprisonment!"

Together, the two synchronized their power and will, forcefully releasing the prison around them before manipulating the chains to constrict around the grey clouds in a counterattack. Under the chains' pressure, the barrier in the heavens collapsed, ceasing to exist.

Icrin marveled in delight as he and the bird ventured off into the heavens—a mystical land of floating towers, strange beings, the passing of stars, and the aura of ascendancy—having long lost track of the time, before the bird finally descended back onto the earth.

The bird prompted Icrin closer before pecking his forehead gently, signifying the completion of his Krose bloodline's first stage awakening, as it once again ascended into the heavens, turning to give one last call to Icrin.

Gradually, Icrin's dark blue eyes opened, appearing a little lighter than previously alongside a newfound confidence. And so, he continued onto the next statue.

His attention void of everyone watching the ceremony, he neared the second statue, the fox statue. It was captioned as: 'Fox's Teachings'. The fox's face seemed to be smiling, yet frowning. It seemed to be filled with vigor, yet empty like a withered plant. The statue was so inconsistent, its meaning seemingly paradoxical, and yet Icrin could only continue on as he placed his hand onto it.

His eyes closed to reality and opened to a world of illusion. It was an empty grassy plain, and the only life around consisted of vegetation and one animal, a fox—an exceptionally old one at that.

"So? What am I supposed to do now?" Icrin questioned as the fox approached smugly, stopping ten feet from his position. The fox, it seemed as if it were challenging him to a duel?

In response, Icrin stood tall and readied his fists before his mind pulsed with the insight of a cunning fox, 'Perception and delusion. Are realities always true? Are illusions always false? Based on what evidence can we turn to these conclusions? Maybe it's your perception that deludes you into thinking along a certain path while ignoring all paths that differ from your own.'

"Perception and delusion? Realities and illusions? I've been nicknamed as a Trickster in my home. And a true Trickster doesn't worry about such complicated ideas! I will strive to make reality and illusion what I desire! I will be in command of true and false! And my delusions will drive my perception to broader depths! That is the path of the Trickster!" Icrin winked, prepared to rush forward as soon as the battle commenced.

However, the fox backed down as if to say Icrin had won. Where was the battle? Was this one of philosophy and not action?

Icrin hadn't the chance to express disappointment as all the roots of the vegetation around him started pulsating like veins, followed by the loud beatings of pulses and the continuous reverberation of a heartbeat.

The trees, bushes—all of the plants in the forest rose together as the roots pulled free from the earth, forming into the massive figure of a giant made of lush vegetation. Its head was made up of an old tree trunk, its face covered by a canopy of leaves.

Its arms and legs were long wooden branches, with thorny vines coiled around protectively, and its hands and feet were covered in a thick brush. Its body blossomed with an array of flowers and colors, a beautiful site for the eyes to behold if not for its dreadful aura.

Standing out the most however, was a large, shimmering silver gem instilled within its chest. It was the source of the heartbeat—its vitality.

A bewildering sight to behold, Icrin froze in shock, his mouth agape. The old fox sent a simple transmission to his mind for the first time, 'Vultisori, Prodigium Silvis. The Beast of the Woods.'

Icrin looked towards the fox inquisitively, receiving a simple nod that said to follow his footsteps and work together as a duo.

Vultisori looked down at the duo like they were mere ants, its hands formed from vines swinging towards the two in hopes of entangling them like a spider to its prey. The vines neared the fox, only to miss by the smallest of thresholds. The monstrous creature considered it a fluke, only for the same outcome to present itself five-times over.

In the meantime, Icrin paid close observation to each step. He looked for the smallest magnitude of change possible, finally taking notice of a slight intensity in between the fox's changing of stances.

Suddenly, the fox opened its mouth revealing rows of sharp teeth. Vultisori redirected its vines to grasp the fox's mouth, only for the fox's face to suddenly duplicate. The face grasped amidst the vines vanished, while the other clenched its teeth over another one of its vines, tearing through it ravenously.

"GRAHH!" Vultisori cried out in pain, attempting to throw the fox off of itself in vain.

Taking advantage of the situation, Icrin rapidly neared the beast's chest. There-in was the silver gemstone, seemingly the core of the beast. Yet, as Icrin closed the distance, he faced the cost of exposing his position.

"GRAGHH!" Vultisori screeched out in enragement as the tiny ant approached its vital area, numerous vines, thistled weeds, and thorned roots acting like spares pierced towards Icrin's body.

Wide-eyed and under strenuous pressure, his body moved on its own while duplicating the parts of his body before they were spared through one after the other.

"This style of combat... Trick the enemy into thinking they managed to injure you, or trick the enemy into blocking a fake attack. This technique, it's an Illusion Style."

The beast looked on in surprise, had it not managed to injure the ant with its rapid succession of attacks? Shaking its head, it readied itself to launch another volley of attacks before the fox crudely reminded it that the battle was a two on one.

Together, the fox rapidly tore through vine after vine, and Icrin evaded each attack with slight adjustments to his footing before calling out, "Spectral Chains: Spectral Imprisonment," tying the beast's arms together as chains rapidly manifested.

Without its arms, the beast lost much of its control against the two. It swung its long legs, made up of trees, in an attempt to stall out time for a battle of attrition only to be quickly overpowered in vain efforts. Out of energy and having lost its will, it trenched onto the ground and watched as Icrin's hand neared the silver gemstone in its chest helplessly.

The canopy of leaves covering its slowly separated, floating seamlessly to the ground. Of its two eyes, one socket held a cyan-blue iris flower that had somehow managed to still survive, despite its heavily wilted state. It's other socket was hollowed out with traces of sap leaking out from within. There were mushrooms growing around its nose, and its mouth weathered by the passing of time.

Icrin's hand paused as he looked at the "beast," known as Vultisori, before giving a gentle smile—the same ones his parents and grandfather had always given him when they forgave his mischievousness.

The fox and Vultisori, the beast of the woods, were bewildered. Though, the duo quickly came to an understanding and made peace with each other, and it was approaching the time to say their goodbyes. The fox looked proud, as if he had raised a proper disciple.

As for Vultisori, he seemed to have been deliberating carefully on something. And seeing it was time for Icrin to depart, he quickly made up his mind. It controlled one of its vines to carefully pluck the cyan-blue iris flower from its eye socket, as sap instantly started leaking from that eye socket as well. Ignoring the sap, it handed the cyan-blue iris flower to Icrin carefully, with a gentle smile forming on its withered face.

"For me?" Icrin asked anxiously as he looked between the flower and Vultisori's wound, while the fox started up in concern.

Vultisori creaked its wooden smile before croaking in an aged voice, "Pro-tec-tion".

"It's beautiful, Vultisori." Icrin smiled brightly as he received the flower with utmost prudence.

The iris flower slowly transitioned from that of a flower to a cyan-blue sparkling orb, before suddenly entering into Icrins body, and planting itself deeply within his soul like some sort of seed.

And before Icrin could say anymore, his eyes snapped open to the bright sun overhead, alongside a hot stream of tears.

The sensation felt real, everything felt so real! And the flower, he couldn't feel it after it had entered his body, but he earnestly believed it was still there, hidden somewhere deep within him as it watched over him protectively.

Empowered by this newfound revelation, he wiped the tears from his now-lighter blue colored eyes before moving onto the next statue, the serpent statue, titled: 'Serpent's Rebirth'.