In the middle of the Scarlet Forest, a young man lay on the soft ground, surrounded by greenery. His gray-white hair brushed against the grass as he opened his eyes.
His reddish-brown gaze stared at the clear blue sky, fragmented by the blood-red leaves of the towering scarlet trees.
His mind was empty, as if he were still asleep, and his body numb.
After a few moments, as his mind cleared, he muttered, "Sarina!" and pushed himself off the ground.
Looking around, he saw a beautiful woman lying a short distance away. Her violet-black hair was scattered across the earth.
She, too, opened her crystal-like lavender eyes.
"Sarina! Are you okay?" Darius asked, crawling toward her.
"I'm fine! What about you, Darry?" she replied, sitting up beside him.
"I'm completely fine," Darius said with a smile.
Sarina returned the smile and spoke softly, calmly, "What do we do next?"
"I don't know. Maybe find some humans before a beast finds us," Darius said, scratching the back of his head.
"Okay, but first, you should prepare some fuel for your ability. So, even if we meet any beasts, we'll be able to handle it," Sarina said as she stood.
Darius followed suit and nodded.
They looked around. They were surrounded by giant scarlet trees and lush green bushes. Darius took a deep breath of the fresh air as the scent of wet soil filled his nose.
"This is beautiful... and the air is so fresh," Darius said.
"Yeah, but don't you think it's too quiet here?" Sarina murmured.
"Yeah. No birds, no insects, no sounds—nothing. That's kinda creepy," Darius replied.
"Yes. Let's gather some fuel for your ability and get out of here," Sarina said, pointing toward a nearby tree.
"Touch anything that isn't alive and think about sending it to your soul space," Darius recalled the exact words of that incredibly lazy man as he placed his hand on the tree.
He focused on his soul space, and the tree vanished, leaving a hole in the ground.
"That was easy," Darius muttered, repeating the process several times.
Then—
"That's enough, Darry! Just disintegrate it until you get enough fuel," Sarina said.
Darius sat on the ground and closed his eyes. His consciousness drifted into his soul space.
In the endless darkness of his soul space, there were dozens of water bottles and packets of instant meals.
After the lazy man's explanation, Sarina had asked for food and water for emergencies. That's how Darius ended up with water bottles and instant meals.
Alongside them were the scarlet trees Darius had just stored moments ago.
"Then use your puny brain to disintegrate the thing you want. Just focus on it," the lazy man had said after a long yawn.
Darius centered his focus on one of the scarlet trees. Soon, it began to disintegrate into ethereal white dust.
After an unknown amount of time, all the blood-red leaves, roots, and branches were gone. Only the large trunk remained.
But Darius had developed a minor headache.
"Darry! You should stop!" Sarina's voice rang in his ears as he opened his eyes.
"Did you gather enough fuel?" she asked.
"Yeah. Maybe more than enough," Darius said, looking at his ring.
[Fire Essence: 212]
Convincing the lazy man hadn't been easy, but Darius had been determined to get a system interface.
He didn't get the system interface, but he did get a fuel-tracking ring. Sarina got the ring too, though it didn't have any use for her—yet.
"Did it take too long?" Darius asked.
"I don't know. Maybe ten to fifteen minutes," she replied.
"Anyway, it's Fire Essence, not fuel. 'Fuel' sounds too generic. So from now on, it's Fire Essence," Darius said with a wide smile.
"Fire Essence sounds cool! Did you name your ability too?" Sarina asked with amusement.
"Yeah. I named everything as soon as he explained them. I named my ability Genesis Flames—because, you know, I can't control normal fire. In a way, I'm the genesis of my flames. Plus, it sounds kinda cool."
"That's beautiful, Darry!" she said with a small smile. "Did you name my powers too?"
"Yeah! It's Shadow Dominion—because you command the shadows of beings you've killed. Also, it sounds cool."
"Nice!" Sarina grinned.
"Let's move," Darius said as he stood up.
They began walking, Darius taking the lead.
After a few moments of silence, Sarina asked, "Are you scared?"
"Yeah," Darius replied, then paused before looking back and asking, "Aren't you scared?"
"More than you, Darry," she said with a soft smile.
"Then why are you so calm?" Darius asked, curiosity in his voice.
Sarina was calm and collected, but not emotionless or cold. Darius had expected her to show some kind of panic—something.
"Because... I don't know what to do," Sarina said as she looked into Darius's reddish-brown eyes.
Darius stopped and turned around, gazing into her crystal-like lavender eyes.
Her eyes were as beautiful as always—filled with tenderness, uncertainty, and fear.
"Wanna see something?" Darius asked, showing his right fist to Sarina.
"Hm?"
Darius took a deep breath and focused on the ethereal white dust floating in the endless darkness of his soul space.
The white dust stirred as Darius opened his eyes. White embers burst from his palm as he opened his fist.
They danced around his hand before forming a beautiful white butterfly of flame.
"That's harder than I thought," Darius muttered as he maintained control over the butterfly.
The white butterfly moved and danced around Sarina as she stared at it in awe.
"Darry! That's beautiful!" she said with a wide smile.
Then, the butterfly gently landed on her nose. No burn, no pain—just a soothing warmth.
My flames follow only my will… Then I want to protect her. Keep her safe and happy, Darius thought.
After a few moments of admiration, Sarina touched the butterfly.
"You can release it, Darry. Don't waste your essence like that," she said.
Darius released his control, and the butterfly burst into ethereal white dust.
"I didn't waste anything. If I had to, I'd empty my entire Fire Essence just to make you smile," he thought—but he didn't say it out loud. Instead:
"I… I didn't waste much essence. Probably three to five percent," Darius said quickly.
Sarina chuckled and embraced him tightly.
"Thank you, Darry," she whispered.
Darius smiled softly as he returned the embrace while looking at the ring.
[Fire Essence: 180]
The fear wasn't gone, nor had they gained any new superpowers. It's just that their desire to protect each other had grown stronger than their fear of the unknown and uncertainty.