A Den of Minerals

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|| CHAPTER 9 | A Den of Minerals ||

"A place of gems and crystallised minerals are rare founds in Xenorynth. With the solidified mana within each clear wall and the hint of life twinkling within each gem, they're alive as well.

"Do you know, little one? That most mages use them for magic energies? The earth is a source of mana itself, converting them into gemstones and Magic Cores to be used.

"I wonder... Would the livings get over their greed for treasures? Would the livings win over their sins and wrongdoings, saying no to each one of those breathing beings.

"I would say that it'll be quite impossible for them to change. But maybe... If only... Someday... there's someone in this world that could change that, wouldn't it be a much more beautiful place to live in?"

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"Oh? What brings you two here? Shirocchi, Kikucchi?" Kazuto greeted with a large grin, leaning forward to give a small bow to the two (far) older spirits.

The pair of kitsunes smiled back, with Shiroyuubi giving a lopsided one to the human. The blonde walked past the brunet and sat on the couch, leaving Fuyukiku to do all the responding.

"We have some things to talk to Eito-sama, Kazuto-kun," Fuyukiku softly replied with both his hands hidden beneath the long sleeves of his kimono. The gesture he always wore didn't seem to tire Fuyukiku, even after dealing with the ball of energy in front of him.

Kazuto bobbed his head up and down vigorously before blinking in confusion. "Wait, why are you not calling him 'Master'?"

"Kazu-nii, did you forget? Their contractor is Shizu-neesan, not Tou-san." Konata smacked Kazuto's closest upper arm. The latter ignored his younger brother's hit and Konata's words just dawned upon him.

"Oh, right! I forgot!"

Fuyukiku chuckled amusingly while Shiroyuubi just deadpanned at him. 'Oh, gracious Gaia. How forgetful can this guy get? It can't possibly be worse than that royal undine, right?'

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While the others were doing their own things, a pair of adolescents had a small chat in the smaller kitchen. Shizuka's azure vision landed on the back of Mitsuru's figure, silently observing him.

"Say, Mitsu-nii, what are you making?"

Looking up from the blender, the said male turned around halfway and made eye contact with his sister. "Oh, this? Just some fruit smoothies, nothing special. Do you want me to make one for you?"

"Ah, no, no. It's okay! I still have my yoghurt inside the fridge." Grabbing her blueberry-flavoured drink, she took a sip out of it and her eyes sparkled up immediately.

Squealing, Shizuka praised with an excited voice, "Mmm~!! Amazing as always!!"

Laughing softly at his sister's antics, Mitsuru continued to blender his smoothie. With his back facing the female who enjoyed the sip of her drink, Shizuka fiddled with the lid of her bottle and stared at the older male.

Shizuka always envied the teal-eyed teen. Even though they're not directly related, Mitsuru's still her idol in some sort of way. He excelled in everything, just like Mizuto. From academics scores to his battle stats, they were all perfect in her eyes.

Not to mention, his Wind element, just like Eito.

The female Ichijou had always wished she had that affinity rather than a Light one. It's much more beautiful to her rather than just playing with glowing figures of her magic.

Sighing, Shizuka took a seat by the aisle and rested her head on her palm, eyeing Mitsuru's movements. The male didn't mind his sister observing him like this. She had done so since the first time he set foot in the main Ichijou residence.

They both admired each other, truth be told.

They did all sorts of random stuff while waiting. Time went by quickly and it's then '07.00 PM' on the clock. Eito and Yuuma entered the room, with the former in the lead.

"Are you all ready to go?" the Head of the Ichijou Clan queried stoically, keeping his temper composed.

Most nodded and responded positively whilst others still asking some stuff. A question popped into Shizuka's head. "Do we need to change into our formal attires?"

Yuzuru quirked an eyebrow and slumped his shoulders, sulking for some reason. "I'm comfy the way I am though."

"No, you don't need to." Eito shook his head and patted Yuzuru's shoulder. "Let's go. If we go now, we might make it by nine."

Shizuka let the pair of dogs she came with, return to their resting spots. The rest nodded and headed to the car, following behind Yuuma, with Shizuka catching up later on.

Their father stayed behind–– possibly to make sure they're all going. Two tall fox spirits also did the same.

"Eito-sama, we have some reports for you."

"... It's about Trenarrol and the siren attacks. To report simply, they've been sighted more."

Eito locked his gold orbs with theirs, his eyes glowed a little and they seemed to understand the message.

"As you wish, Eito-sama..." they answered while bowing and slowly disappearing to thin air. The dark-haired male went into the car and they drove away into the night.

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They arrived at a secluded area far away from the city, in the vast plains of Viraciyan, specifically in front of a cave inside a forest. The mentioned cave had a narrow entryway that was almost unnoticeable that one had to squint to see it.

To others, it's just a normal cave.

A surprise that they didn't encounter any terrariont or their bigger kin, the trevarionts. They usually snuck up on people passing by the plains at night, never missing their chances.

Those tree-like creatures really annoyed most people who passed the plains daily, including adventurers, merchants, and travellers.

Though, it's not like they were complaining. Getting attack by terrarionts was the far most common thing to happen in the wildlife of Xenorynth. It only worsened the situation if any trevarionts came to help the little pesky ones.

They got out of the car and went into the cave one by one, seeing that the entryway's too narrow for two or more people to fit.

Yuuma was ordered to stay behind and guard the place, in case there's an attack–– may it be from those nasty bushy creatures, or even from outsiders.

The maroon-haired butler was handed a small, black box, that he saved into his right pocket. A magic tool to conserve his mana, Eito informed simply.

Their car became invisible after they went in, but it's still there. Yuuma also disappeared into thin air, and all that is heard is the coos of the Moonstream Owls and the rustlings of the leaves under the bright rays of the silverish full moon.

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Inside the cave, they strode straight forward without any light nor glow to lit their way until they reached a wide place. Well, it's at least wider than the narrow entryway. They switched places with Eito leading the group.

The man chanted a spell quietly with his palm wide open, facing upwards, that only his children were able to hear, "Caerula Tempestas: Lunae Lumina."

Small blue glowing spheres started to form on his palm, quickly growing bigger every second. Once they're as big as a terrariont's roundish egg, they floated upwards.

They're not that bright at first, but they began to emit blue sparks that connected them. Eventually, they're almost as bright as the Westwing Star, lighting up the cave in every corner.

"Ack...! They're blinding..." Kazuto muttered lowly and shielded his eyes at the brightness of the light. However, once his eyes had adjusted to the glow, he soon found himself mesmerized by those moon orbs.

Kazuto, Yuzuru, Shizuka, and Hinata's eyes were sparkling in amazement while the others just watched in amusement at their expected reactions.

The Ichijou family continued their walk, forward they went. After a while, they reached a place filled with ginormous crystals.

Each crystallised mana had some sort of constellations within it, with the night skies fading into the background. The sight reminded them of those starry ceilings they always saw whenever they ventured into the Viraciyan Plains.

The ceiling had little white blooms, glowing and twinkling, making them looked like the stars. Gold chains attached here and there with weapons of all kinds stuck to the ground.

Clear streams of cold water came out of the walls, flowing into the river that was inside the cave. Lining the ground and marking it as theirs, the branches of the river rowed in different directions.

They walked towards the centre of the big place, where a white tree with glowing white 'leaves' on it. The roots were surrounded by smaller versions of crystals that invaded the rocky space.

Those said 'leaves' were butterfly wings.

Cautiously approaching the glowing white tree didn't seem to work when the butterflies moved away from the tips of the branches. Guilt and slight disappointment washed over their faces, but they soon recollected themselves when Eito stepped forward.

In the middle of the tree trunk was a burning blue flame with cackles of purple, white, gold, and black. The fire wasn't burning the tree, nor was it blazing hot.

It's just... there.

Eito walked up towards the tree, with the others following him like little chicks. The male held out his dominant hand into the orb of flame and it developed his whole body at once.

Of course, worried as they were, the younger ones jumped a little at the fire's action towards the dark-haired male.

Kaoru assured them that it's just the fire communicating with their father, called the 'Spirit's Fire.' Meanwhile, Shizuka's eyes were gleaming with excitement at the thought of communicating with a fire.

A FIRE...!

How often in your life that you will communicate with a freaking FIRE???

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Meanwhile with the Head of the Ichijou Clan, after the flames had enveloped him, his state of mind was immediately brought to a white-stained Space. With the medium being the Spirit's Fire and the Space belonging to another, all Eito could do was stay quiet.

There he was in the corner of the room, somewhat see-through and floating. Whenever he took a step forward, he felt lightweight. Eito opened his, now-transparent, gold eyes and searched for a certain 'person.'

The owner he searched for was in the middle of the Space.

Donning long, flowing white hair that faded into light yellow. The eyes that once saw light were deep purple with rectangular-shaped pupils–– dead and unemotional.

The male wore a long, plain shirt with loose white pants. He's barefooted and gold chains were tying his ankles and wrists, separating them from each other.

The chains were similar to those in the cave. There's a glass wreath on his head and his skin was pale. Eito casually walked up to the younger-looking male.

With the icy tranquillity looming over them, the owner of the Magic Space made no indication to start talking nor moving. He just... stood there.

The 'boy' looked at him with his voiding, cloudy eyes without a single word. The one who wanted to break the silence first was none other than the gold-eyed male.

Eito's gold orbs clashed with violaceous ones. A spark of emotion flickered within those dead eyes once their owners caught a whole look of Eito's figure walking up to him. A smile finally crept up to his visage, sweeping away the emotionless state he was once in a few seconds ago.

Nodding at the Head Clan, the owner of the Magic Space blinked for the first time after Eito arrived. It wasn't an unusual occasion where the younger-looking male would break down into an emotionless mess.

The male Ichijou knew of it.

He knew of the other male's state, and yet, he did nothing to soothe. No, it's not that Eito didn't want to soothe the Space owner's sorrow–– he just didn't know how to do so.

He's not the type to comfort someone, after all.

Returning the male's smile with a ghostly one, Eito parted his lips and nodded once, greeting the 'boy' after a long while of not meeting each other.

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"Long time no see, Seimei no Seigyo-ki."

|| CHAPTER 9 | A Den of Minerals - To be continued... ||

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