Verdant's Realization

"Greetings." The green robed young man nodded to Ishtar and the others, about to introduce himself when Ishtar spoke.

"The Verdant Wyrm Lord approaches us. Why?"

Pausing for a moment, the young man smiled wryly and raised his hands in front of him.

"I come in peace, I swear."

Marshall and Ishtar exchanged glances; Sylvia seemed incredibly uneasy and pale, likely because she had yet to truly get over the effects of Crimson's spiritual power.

"What do you want, then?" With her tone, Ishtar all but demanded an answer. Verdant pressed his lips together, and the greenness of his eyes seemed to deepen for a short while.

"I was hoping I could ask you some questions about that boy over there. The one fighting our eldest brother."

The three of them all narrowed their eyes, somewhat incredulously, yet also out of suspicion. As they tried to determine whether the Verdant Wyrm Lord was serious or not, he eyed them with an even expression, smiling thinly.

However, an explosive force broke out of the nearby clearing with a boom, forcing even the clouds above to disperse. Some of the scant trees were blown away, burnt to ash as the raw power of that explosion overwhelmed them.

Gilgamesh and Crimson stood face to face, fists meeting at a single point. That clash had created another crater beneath their feet, leaving indentures in the land itself.

The other Wyrm Lords were barely holding on after that, but managed to keep themselves and Gold alive. The same could not be said for their armies, though. The majority of the soldiers were in terrible shape; their unconscious bodies littered the landscape. 

"You took more of it, didn't you!? Give it back to me, damnit!"

Crimson pushed forward and momentarily overpowered Gilgamesh, then grabbed him by his clothes and hoisted him into the air. Without a second thought, Gilgamesh quickly elbowed Crimson's arm and forced himself out of his grip.

Once he was free, and still in the air, he fired a kick at the Wyrm Lord's face and forced him to evade. This created a small distance between them, but they soon went at each other once more.

After a few more exchanges, they once again stood some distance away from each other. Those looking on felt as though the two seemed evenly matched, and were amazed that such a young boy was able to match their big brother.

"Don't you get it, boy? The Obscure Spark restores my energy consumption faster than I can use even a fraction of it up, and I'm constantly draining you of your energy. The longer this fight continues, the more you're going to help me grow."

"Tch!" Crimson growled, but his eyes betrayed his worry.

"Eventually, you aren't going to have anymore to give. Then you'll have no choice but to give up. So, do yourself a favor and give up now."

Gilgamesh folded his arms. He breathed those words and smirked, at the height of confidence.

"I don't get it. You... Father... How are you able to acquire the power of the Obscure Spark?"

Gilgamesh sighed, "If you were smarter, maybe you could have figured it out on your own."

Silver and Black almost choked on their spit; this little boy did not hold back one bit! 

"Fine then, I'll enlighten you."

Gilgamesh unfolded his arms and walked closer to Crimson, who was still a bit on edge.

"Relax," Gilgamesh said as he extended a hand, "and make some fire for us, will you?"

Crimson's rage seethed, but he knew his defeat was imminent. Fighting Gilgamesh was no different that fighting his father, and he was all too aware of how such a fight would go.

Setting his rage aside, much to his sibling's surprise, Crimson obliged and made a small fire in his palm.

"Your problem is an annoying one, but it's easy to overcome if you're disciplined. Get me?"

Crimson nodded; his siblings also found themselves nodding involuntarily.

"You are attuned to this fire-- you feel its nature clearer than you feel the nature of anything or anyone else. It's life is a reflection of your own, as it changes, you change and vice versa."

"When you try to sense the nature of the Obscure Spark, which is the ancestor of fire, you wind up feeling its effects but not its essence. You feel in the Obscure Spark the very thing that allows it to create fire, and it has strengthened you greatly."

"That's why you aren't truly grasping the power of the Obscure Spark. It does not exist in your flame, but the opposite. Fire is merely an expression of it."

"So stop limiting yourself to this singular perception."

Gilgamesh's stern instruction was grating to Crimson's ears, but he was not stupid enough to think that the boy was merely posturing. Gilgamesh knew better; it only felt like he was talking down to Crimson.

The Wyrm Lord simply bowed his head and extinguished the flame. Gilgamesh smugly dusted himself off and folded his arms behind him, then started walking away.

"Tell me why," Crimson uttered the words as though they were hard to say.

"Hm? What was that?" Gilgamesh turned around and pretended he had not heard.

"Why help me? Aren't you worried that once I acquire the power of the Obscure Spark, I'll use it against you?"

Gilgamesh's brows furrowed and he shook his head, "Of course not."

"Wha- What do you mean 'of course not?' You aren't worried at all?"

"Nope," Gilgamesh blankly responded.

"Well why the fuck not!?" Crimson was getting annoyed again, but he was doing a better job of keeping himself in check.

"The Obscure Spark is an incredibly powerful skill, and understanding it further is a very important goal for you. Not so?"

"Yeah," Crimson nodded, "the 'Knowledge of the Obscure Spark' is one of the base skills required for achieving 'Total Understanding.' Without it, you can never hope to rise in this world." 

"Therein lies the difference between us. Whatever power the Obscure Spark was forged from, did so for my benefit. I am the only one who can master it, and I will exploit it as I see fit, so that I may reach heights beyond this world. As for people like you, you can only ever hope to tap into it."

Gilgamesh had nothing more to say on the subject, and so he prepared himself to return to his friends.

"Oh! Before I forget: There's some kind of ancient beast living somewhere on this continent, the one that created the mirelings. You all should keep that in mind."

That was the end of it. Three pairs of eyes followed Gilgamesh as he left; Gold was still unconscious.

Crimson eventually returned to his siblings' side, and healed Gold as he said he would. The Wyrm Lords would eventually all gather here, and would surely discuss what had transpired.

While Gilgamesh was walking away, he talked to himself a bit while recalling what he had said to Crimson.

"I know for a fact that I was telling the truth about that, but I have no idea how I know that. Sometimes I feel like I'm too arrogant for my own good, but it doesn't feel like arrogance at all, does it. It just feels like I'm being ...me... sigh."

"Hm?"

As he was walking along, he passed by Verdant. The young man was staring at him with a crooked smile, and seemed to want to be on his way as fast as possible.

Gilgamesh did not say anything to him, and they passed each other awkwardly. 'What the hell was that about,' Gilgamesh scoffed in his head.

When he finally came up on Ishtar and the others, they were resting beneath a tree. Ishtar told them that Gilgamesh was coming, and so they decided to just stop and wait.

"Glad you're all okay," he said, taking a seat next to Ishtar.

"Sylvia's still in pretty bad shape; Crimson overwhelmed her with his spiritual pressure."

Gilgamesh walked up to Sylvia and put a hand on her forehead. It was cold, and he frowned. "You were afraid, weren't you?"

Sylvia hesitated for a bit, then nodded.

He nodded, and used his own spirit to help restore tranquility to her own. Once she was no longer as pale, Gilgamesh looked at the others and gave them a smile.

"Let's find a spot and relax in the house. Sound good?"

They got up, and Marshall and Sylvia led the way in a random direction. Gilgamesh and Ishtar finally returned to each other's side. Only when he felt his hand rest on her shoulder did he allow his body and mind to relax, and he instantly felt himself go limp.

Ishtar reacted quickly, and helped him remain upright, while also wiping his mouth with her hand. Once the first wave of exhaustion and debilitation was past, he turned to her.

"Blood?"

Ishtar nodded. "Blood."

Gilgamesh smirked, and the rest of his face went dark. The four of them found a good spot, and Ishtar brought the house out. 

...

Later that night, in the clearing where Gilgamesh and Crimson had clashed...

A large fire was made within the smaller crater, and the Wyrm Lords all sat around it. Silver and Gold were sat together, the latter had only just woken up. Verdant sat directly opposite to Crimson, with Black right next to him. Azure and Violet were there now, both wrapped in bandages but still very much alive.

"You're telling me," Azure pointed at Crimson while she spoke, "that a little boy beat you up, then gave you pointers before saying the most arrogant thing I've ever heard?"

Crimson and the others nodded, and Azure shook her head with a sigh.

"Did anyone even get his name?"

Crimson thought about it for a little, "I think it was-"

"Gilgamesh. His name is Gilgamesh." Verdant answered, attracting everyone's gazes.

"I spoke to his friends, and I was able to get some answers out of them. Even so, one of them- a woman- was incredibly resistant to my methods."

At the mention of Gilgamesh's friends, a few beads of sweat ran down Crimson's face once he recalled what he did to Sylvia.

"Why bother going that far," Silver asked.

"Yeah," Black chimed in, "why not just ask him yourself?"

"Because I couldn't be sure that my Honesty Spores would work on him. It wasn't worth the risk, so I went to them instead. Even so, I got the answers I needed."

"Needed?" Violet's eyes narrowed.

"What are you getting at, Verdant?" This time, it was Crimson that spoke.

"When I saw the sword, I knew that something was off about him. Due to my nature, I'm especially adept at assessing the natures of others-- as you all know."

There was a collective nod amongst the siblings.

"The sword's nature reminded me of our father's, but it was separate from Gilgamesh's nature. It was also nothing like the 'Obscure Spark' skill that both Crimson and Gilgamesh use."

Crimson was actually the first to speak up this time.

"Are you saying there's another skill involved? A nature that only our father and that sword possess?"

Verdant nodded.

"Not just the sword, but Gilgamesh as well."

"What!?"

"Didn't you just say that the sword and Gilgamesh's natures were separate?"

"I did, but think back to what Crimson said. When he got cut by the sword, it assimilated some of his spirit. However, Gilgamesh put away the sword for the rest of the fight, yet Crimson's energy was still being assimilated."

Looking at Crimson through the fire, Verdant continued, "You said that Gilgamesh told you it was the Obscure Spark restoring his energy."

"But, both Gilgamesh and the sword were able to assimilate Crimson's spirit, and I know for certain that the nature of the Obscure Spark was not present in that sword."

The Wyrm Lords silently processed the information around the fire.

"So, like our father, Gilgamesh possesses two natures, and a sword that possesses that other nature. I get why you were interested in him, Verdant."

Verdant looked to Gold and shook his head.

"That's just the beginning. You guys have no idea what kind of anomaly this 'Gilgamesh' really is."