A gods vessel

"Dan! Dan!! Wake up," a calm, soothing voice called out.

Opening his eyes slightly and emerging from his dreamland, what had seemed like a sweet voice now revealed itself to be the angry grunt of his troublesome older sister, Ana.

"Wake up, you insolent brat! Don't make me go around the village looking for you," Ana exclaimed in anger.

Ignoring his sister's usual antics, Dan scratched his rough, dark hair as he recollected what he had been doing.

"Aha…" Dan's memories came flooding back.

He got up from the ground and dusted off his clothes.

Dan took a few steps forward and peered at an old, rusted machine that looked like a modern-day weathercock. He examined it but was unsatisfied with the results.

"It's busted," he muttered, sitting cross-legged on the ground, pondering ways to fix his current situation. However, his sister's continuous nagging kept disrupting his thoughts.

"Hey brat, are you just going to sit there and ignore me?"

"Shut up, old hag. I'm trying to think here," Dan snapped back for the first time.

"What did you just say, boy…?" Ana placed her hands on her hips, swinging her head left to right, showing off her long, elegant dark hair similar to Dan's, and her well-shaped figure. "…You call this beauty an old hag?"

"You are twenty," Dan replied, making his sister fume for a moment.

"More importantly, you are still playing with this spoiled machine," she said, stepping closer to him.

Dan's irritated expression vanished as his blue eyes brightened and a wide grin spread across his face.

"I'm glad you asked, big sis."

"I didn't ask—"

"Today, unlike other days, I was able to take a step closer to unleashing the Ryo energy around the village," Dan said with a grin.

Ana looked lost and stared blankly at him.

"According to Mum's book, it says that Ryo exists everywhere," Dan continued.

Ana was already bored and let out an exasperated sigh.

"If only I can compress the Ryo in the air to form rain…" Dan said, looking down the cliff at the small houses.

"Dan, dinner is ready, but first we need to meet the herbalist to collect some herbs for the night," Ana said, leaving Dan alone with his toys.

***

On their way home, the siblings branched off to the herbalist's shop as planned to get some herbs. Without wasting time, they collected the herbs and left.

Ana shocked Dan by asking, "What do you think about going to the capital for school?"

She was often nagging and sometimes caring, but she had never talked about the future before.

"School? What's that?" Dan played dumb.

"Are you joking with me, brat?"

"Oh, school. I'll pass on that offer, sis," Dan said with a stoic tone.

"Hmm, that's weird. I thought since you are always stuck with mom's writings and machine, you'd be interested in going to school." Ana let the conversation drop.

"Even if I leave this village, I want to find Mom and become a Guardian," Dan said with a grin.

Guardians, as their name suggests, are responsible for protecting countries and small cities. They vary based on continents and countries, but one thing they all have in common is a perfect understanding and usage of Ryo.

"Dan, there are strong beasts and people outside this village..."

"That is not a big deal. If it's a person, I'll beat them up. If it's a beast, I'll cook it," Dan grinned.

"Haa, this boy, when will you grow up?" Once again, Ana surrendered and just sighed

***

As they arrived home at their small hut, Dan went straight to take a bath while Ana set the food on the table.

Not long after, they both finished their tasks simultaneously and came out to have dinner.

"Sis, why is there so much food on the table?" Dan asked, eyeing the spread. It wasn't every day they had the opportunity to eat three square meals; sometimes, they went a day without food.

"Today, the manager decided to pay us double at the farm, and besides, how could I forget my cute brother's fifteenth birthday?" Ana said, hugging Dan tightly.

"Hey, quit it, old hag," Dan said, escaping Ana's embrace and sitting down.

"How I wish Dad and Mom were here with us," Ana said, trying to mask her grief.

About eight years ago, a war between two countries broke out. The conflict lasted for three years, drastically reducing the population of the involved nations. The war took almost everything from Ana and Dan: their home, friends, and father. A few months after the war ended, their mother vanished without a trace.

Dan shook off the sad memories and focused on the food in front of him. "Thank you for the meal," he said, and began to eat.

***

After eating, Dan stepped outside the hut and gazed at the night sky. He then walked towards a nearby barn, which housed no animals, only hay and patched roofs. At the far end of the barn was a chest filled with books, all by the same author.

Dan retrieved two books titled "The World and Its Wonders: Introduction to Ryo" and "The Concept of Ryo." He placed them on the hay-covered ground, side by side, and opened them to the last pages. Making himself comfortable, he sat down with his legs crossed.

Dan picked up "Introduction to Ryo" and began to read. "In this book, Ryo is described as the energy from the earth and its inhabitants," he read aloud. Finding little of interest, he quickly dropped the book.

With an unsatisfied look, he picked up the second book, "The Concept of Ryo." "In this book, Ryo is described as the energy possessed by humans alone," he read.

After finishing the second book, Dan was dismayed. He dropped the books and began to ponder. It had been over two years since he found these books, and despite going through them hundreds of times, he still didn't understand them.

In frustration, Dan threw the books back into the chest and called it a day.

***

The next day, Ana went to her workplace while Dan headed to his playground on the cliff overlooking the village. This time, he brought some conductor rods with him.

He fixed the conductor rods at the designated area of the weathercock. Then, he went under a huge tree beside the weathercock and opened another book to study it again.

"It says here that this is built with a special material that absorbs Ryo and redirects it to any place of choice." Dan made sure the rods were steady and looked for a switch but didn't find any.

"How do I make it work?" Dan pondered, scratching his head. Normally, he would have quit, but quitting wasn't in his vocabulary.

"Will pouring my Ryo into it do the trick? I can't even feel my Ryo—how will I direct it into an object?" Dan laughed and sat on the ground, thinking of other techniques.

"There is no harm in trying," Dan said, getting up and touching the machine. He began to concentrate, but his focus was interrupted when a drop of water touched his hand.

Dan's eyes widened. He hadn't looked up yet, but he could feel it; he could smell it.

A cold, chilling wind swept past the cliff, making Dan shiver. Gently, he raised his head and beheld a cluster of black clouds above the village.

From little drops to drizzling, it finally began to rain. Dan knelt on the ground, stupefied and elated, unable to speak but screaming with joy.

Obviously, he wasn't the only one in that state—the whole village couldn't believe what they were witnessing.

***

Ana wore a terrified look on her face, her eyes screaming with fear as she wondered why the people were celebrating. Yes, it was raining, but still, couldn't they see what was going on?

She looked around and noticed that the clouds were much darker over the cliff, Dan's playground. Dropping everything she was doing, she began to run towards the cliff.

"Get out of there, Daniel!" she shouted.

She could sense something terrifying approaching, and to make things worse, it was coming after her younger brother.

Ana finally reached the cliff. Dan was still jubilantly playing in the rain; it was his moment after all. He didn't know how, but he had managed to summon the rain with his first goal.

"Dan!" Ana yelled, catching his attention.

"Oh, Big Sis, I told you it would work," Dan said boastfully.

"No, Dan, you got it all wrong. You need to leave that place now," Ana urged, walking towards him.

"What do you mean, Sis?" Dan was still confused and found it hard to interpret Ana's sudden action.

Ignoring her, Dan continued his celebration.

"This stubborn brat," Ana cursed under her breath.

As Ana approached Dan, a thunderous sound echoed throughout the village, abruptly halting their celebration.

Before Dan could move a finger, it happened as if time had stopped—a huge bolt of lightning enveloped Dan and shot back to the sky. It was so fast that the normal eye couldn't see it.

Dan stood still as smoke rose from his body, his skin smelling like freshly roasted meat. His hair was rough and stood straight, pointing to the sky. His eyes were white and showed no life.

After staggering, Dan fell to the ground lifelessly.