Nicholas opens his eyes, and he finds himself lying on the ground. He stands up, and he becomes confused. He touches his abdomen. "There's no wound, only a scar."
Feeling a presence beside him, he turns his eyes to look at it but only sees the passerby, standing firmly with his eyes fixed on the houses.
"What did you do to me?"
"I did what I could to save you, Nicholas."
Nicholas runs back to the village, and the passerby lets his eyes linger on the young man before saying, "Where is he going? Doesn't he know that he isn't a human anymore?"
The passerby disappears into a cloud of dust while Nicholas is making his way back into the village. His eyes dart at the wooden monster coming towards him. The monster lashes its claws at Nicholas but he kicks the head of the humanoid, and his eyes grow wide.
"The heck? I'm not even wearing the boots!" Nicholas watched the humanoid crash into a tree.
The passerby appears in front of him, and he pats the hands of Nicholas. He looks at the passerby, and he disappears only for Nicholas to see two monsters heading towards him.
Nicholas immediately punches the humanoids right on their heads. "What is happening to me?!"
The air carries the whisper of the humanoid, saying, "Watch out for those monsters."
"Okay!" Nicholas began his sprint back to the village.
The sight of fallen humans and fallen monsters greets Nicholas. He stops running and looks everywhere for signs of alive villagers. Luckily, he sees most of them still fighting against the monsters.
Nicholas closes his fingers on his palms, and then, he hears a whisper from Gale. "You need to explore your abilities."
"Hey! Who are you?!" Nicholas unexpectedly yelled.
The monsters fighting against the villagers turn their heads at Nicholas. He raises his hand and waves it at the monsters. "WAIT! I JUST WOKE UP! DON'T ATTACK ME!"
The monsters sharpen their wooden fingernails, and they rush at Nicholas. He swallows the lump in his throat and sprints toward them.
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Nicholas yelled.
"You yelled, your majesty," Gale replied through the breeze of air.
"Majesty my ass!" Nicholas began punching the nearest humanoids. Every jab delivers the humanoids toward the nearest houses, and Nicholas didn't let his focus slip, he looked around him.
He looks down and witnesses a humanoid sprouting from the ground while its hands are already reaching out to him.
Nicholas stomps on the head of the monster with a look of disgust. "STOP APPEARING FROM THE GROUND!"
One of the humanoids manages to hold his shoulders, and Nicholas glances at him. He strikes the humanoid with his elbow while turning around to face the humanoid, and Nicholas holds the neck of the monster.
"You mess with the wrong person!" Nicholas lifted the humanoid, slamming him down at the humanoid on the ground.
"I forgot! I need to help Aya!" Nicholas turned around, his chest beating strongly causing him to hold his chest.
"What was that feeling? I thought my heart was going to explode!" Nicholas gulped, breathing faster.
"It's the crystal asking for help."
Nicholas heard the passerby's words, and he blinked. "Why me?"
"Because you're the only present special guardian that it can communicate with." The passerby materialised from the cloud of dust beside Nicholas.
"I need to reach that temple!" Nicholas pointed his finger at the temple.
A wind pressure hits his back, pushing him forward but he remains standing. "It doesn't hurt but what was that?!"
Nicholas looks around him and sees a pair of wings made from wind. His eyes widen, and he screams. "DID I DIE?! NO! I STILL HAVE MY DREAM TO FULFILL!"
"Idiot!" The passerby shouted at him, "That's your new power. You can now access your air abilities."
"Oh? Wow!" Nicholas flapped his wings.
He returns his focus to us the tall stone temple whose height reaches the sky. He folds his legs and flies toward the temple.
"I feel like a bird!" Nicholas smiled.
Something enters his mouth, and he coughs. He wipes his hands against his tongue and sees many feathers on his palm. "WHAT IS THIS?! I DON'T WANT TO BECOME A BIRD! I TAKE IT BACK!"
Following the unfortunate event, Nicholas hits the temple. He groans and falls on the ground. He stands up and rubs his ass cheeks. "Why am I unfortunate?!"
"I think you should've devoured the wings, your majesty."
"Oh, no way!" Nicholas shook his head but he blinked, "Wait, who the heck are you?! Are you a mind parasite?"
"I am your humble right-hand elemental titan," Gale spoke with such grace in his voice.
"Wait, why am I feeling that I'm surrounded by bells?!" Nicholas rubbed his hair furiously.
Nicholas looks at the doors of the temple, which are made of stone, and tall. Nicholas inhales deeply and runs inward the doors of the temple.
"I'M COMING!" Nicholas roared.
As he runs through the dark vast hallway of the temple, he slowly hears the sound of grunts, and explosions. Nicholas narrows his eyes and proceeds to jump, releasing a strong wind pressure that sends him flying until he enters a massive room.
He falls on the ground, and looks up, seeing Aya firing many energy projectiles at Coseria but she only blocks them with wooden walls.
Aya flies down at Coseria but Coseria jumps away before she gets crushed by Aya's sandals. Coseria looks at Aya but an energy beam strikes her, Coseria was able to dodge but the beam disintegrates her right arm.
"You fool!" Coseria yelled at Aya.
Aya swings her spear against the emerging wooden blades beneath her. She aims her hands at Coseria, and the ceiling fires a wide green energy beam at her.
"I am awakened!" Coseria flew behind Aya, "You can't kill me anymore!"
Aya turns around as Nicholas begins to run towards them. Coseria extends her hands into long blades, piercing Aya's chest. Blood gushes from Aya's mouth, and Nicholas feels a surge of anger.
"YOU MONSTER!" Nicholas yelled and jumped straight at Coseria.
Coseria turns her hands from being sharp to their normal wooden form. Nicholas clenches his right hand and punches Coseria but she throws Aya at him. He wraps his arms around her, his glare never leaving Coseria.
Nicholas lands on the ground with Aya in his arms. "Aya! Wake up!"
He grabs her chin and shakes her face but she remains unresponsive. He sees her head turning to the other side, and he grits his teeth before tapping her cheek. "Hey! Your sister still needs you! She needs you!"
Tears fall from his eyes as the frustration pent up in his mind. As he continues to wake her, Coseria is walking closer to the crystal.
A hand holds the hand of Nicholas, his yelling stops as he turns to look at Aya's pale face. She squeezes his hand. "Please, stop her. You need to stop her before she can touch the crystal."
"But I need to save you!" Nicholas shook, "I can't go on without saving my friend."
Aya shakes her head. "You... you need to leave me and choose to save the world."
Coseria's eyes twinkle while her hands are closer to the crystal. She stops moving her hands, and a breeze of dust flows in her direction. Lowering her hands, she turns around only to face a man surrounded by air.