Do You Want To Go With Us?

Connor was heading in an unknown direction. Everything around him was just white ground, so it didn't really matter which side he would go. He had no navigation instruments like a compass or sextant. By the way, Connor tried to figure out his location by looking at the stars, in case he was still on Earth, and as you may tell, this didn't work out. The stars and their positions in the sky were completely different from what he studied back on Earth.

Around ten minutes after Connor started his journey, he realized that walking was quite a slow method of moving, so he did the first that came to his mind, he tried to run.

In the beginning, he was moving his legs at a slightly faster rate. He still remembered how he fell hundred times while trying to learn how to walk, so he was conscientious this time, but now, as he got purple energy supporting his body, the process of learning was going quite smoothly.

He slowly increased his speed and the amount of purple energy inside his limbs, paying close attention to how much energy he was spending on movement. Connor increased his speed until he felt that energy consumption was higher than energy absorption, so he balanced those two parameters to move at optimal speed and never run out of energy. Quite a pleasant feeling for Connor.

If someone was watching from aside, it was quite a fascinating view.

A small child rushing through the snowfield, smiling from ear to ear.

"Hahahahaha, running never felt so good for me!"

As you can tell, Connor wasn't very interested in sports in his previous life, so running before only brought him a feeling of exhaustion and lack of breath, but now, as long as he has enough energy, running brings him a feel of speed, momentum, and freedom.

Connor was running forward non-stop, enjoying the power of his own small body.

After some running time, excitement left him, and now all he was feeling was calmness. There was nothing really interested in this white wasteland, he was thinking about going to the mountains first, but then he remembered how cold mountains could be and decided to try and find a warmer place. So, in the current situation, all he could do was wait for something to appear on the horizon.

And it did appear.

Small black dots were slowly moving in a direction perpendicular to Connor's. He was unsure what to do in this situation, but his curiosity took over, and he decided to check out what was going on.

He was slowly approaching these dots as Connor saw that they were actually a large group of humans. Irrational joy and happiness filled Connor's mind. He was alone in this god-forgotten snow desert for a very long time now, so the sight of some other human beings was quite relieving to him. But he couldn't afford to lower his defense right now. It was an unknown place in an unknown world\planet\universe. He must be cautious, very cautious.

With that thought in mind, Connor turned off his heat coverage, stopped running, and started to walk normally, even slightly shaky, to simulate tiredness and lack of powers. He was slowly closing his distance with the group of people. It appears that they were wearing some black clothes that covered them almost completely. It was the reason Connor could so easily spot them on the white snow. He was coming closer and closer to them, so naturally, one group member pointed in Connor's direction, and all the crowd turned their heads to him.

He was relieved that this group of people noticed him, so he didn't have to shout and break his poor-and-shy child image.

He came close to this group and stood before them.

A middle-aged tall man with red hair, a red beard, and a well-built body came out of the crowd, squatted down, looked at Connor for some time, and slowly said.

"What is your name, Child?"

Connor suddenly realized that this man was talking in a bizarre language he easily understood. He was relieved that they could communicate with each other in the same language, it would be a huge problem if they couldn't even understand each other, but at the same time, it was extremely mysterious to Connor, how would he know the language that he even not learned once? He will definitely think of this problem later, but now he has more urgent things to take care of.

After thinking for a while, Connor decided to tell his true name because, If it's an unpopular and strange name in this world, he could change it later, or, If this name meant something in that world, he would know about it, or, at least, it was just a normal name that everyone was okay with.

"I am Connor....."

Words flew off his mouth like he was a native speaker. It was an extraordinary feeling like he had an automatical in-built translator in his mouth. Another thing for him to research later.

-What are you doing here alone, Connor?

A tall man talked with him calmly, not sensing any danger from Connor.

-Waiting for my mum

-And where is your mum?

-I don't know

-She told you to go here?

-Yes

-What did she say?

-She said that we would meet here

-Did she give you a concrete location?

-No, she said that we would meet in the center of the snowfield.

-How long have you been here?

-Two days

There was a face of confusion on a man's face.

-What? Two days? How did you survive in this cold?

Earlier, Connor tried to make up a story of how his mother abandoned him, so this group would pick him up. That's why he said that he was already two days here. And of course, this question wasn't a surprise for him, so he knew what to do.

Connor stretched out his hand and created a small ball of heated air. Before, he didn't want to show his skills, but he thought it would be the correct decision. He couldn't explain how he survived for such a long time without showing his purple energy.

-So, you're cultivating?

A crowd behind the tall man looked shocked and confused, Connor didn't know what a cultivaton meant, but from the reaction, he could tell that it was something rare. Connor took his chance to find out something about this world.

-What is cultivation?

The well-built man looked at him with a questioning expression on his face.

-You don't know?

-No.

-Well, it's a process of gathering energy between heaven and earth - Qi, you gather it inside your body and become stronger.

Connor stretched out his arm once again and now showed just a sphere of purple energy

-This is Qi?

-Yes, it is.

The red-haired man nodded in approval and then asked a question.

-Did your mother teach you how to create a fire orb?

-No, I learned it on my own when it became too cold.

-So you're saying that you created a cultivation technique yourself?

Connor once again had a chance to learn a new term.

-What is a cultivation technique?

-Oh, right, you don't know. Cultivation technique is a unique method of using one's Qi in a specific way, for example, creating an orb of fire just like you. These techniques are usually owned by the large sects or clans and considered top-secret information in them, so I ask once again, are you really the one who created this technique?

Connor felt that he creating a cultivation technique, was quite ridiculous statement according to the rules of this world, but now the only thing left for him was to just speak honestly.

-Yes, I created it because I wanted to keep warm.

-I see....

There was an awkward silence between them for a moment, but after a short amount of time, the red-haired man continued to talk.

-Do you want to go with us? We have food and clothes. We can give you home and friends.

-I need to wait for my mum.....

Connor got what he wanted, but he won't take that instantly because it could be considered suspicious in a tall man's eyes.

-We are from a large family with many friends, we could help you find your mother, but I'm afraid that she won't be happy to see you

-Why?

-You see, when a mother sends her own child to a frozen wasteland like this, she doesn't expect it to return. It's a miracle that you survived for so long and found us.

-My mum will find me no matter what.

A little child-naivety from Connor

-Yes, of course, so, will you go with us?

-Um..... Can you really help me find my mother?

-Of course

-Then, I'll go with you

-You won't regret it, I promise.

Connor nodded at the red-haired man's words.

-I'm Alrick. Welcome to the Jarvinen family, Connor.

For the first time, a soft smile appeared on Alrick's face.