The silence that followed was absolute. Even the forest sounds seed to stop.
Liu was the first to speak, his voice carefully controlled.
"Are you telling we have to... roll around in that giant beast’s s...?"
"Or you could say ’bathe ourselves,’ whichever option you prefer," Ren decided to clarify, though he knew the other option wouldn’t sound much better. "Just... apply it generously to our clothes."
Taro made a grimace of disgust that seed physically painful.
"Please tell there’s an alternative..."
"There isn’t," Ren shook his head. "Golden Noses can detect slls from kiloters away because they sll for their only prey underground, which are root sprouts and larvae. If we enter a cluster without the protection of the scent, they’ll attack us en masse. And believe , we don’t want to face hundreds of furious Golden Noses when we’re trying to rest."
Min raised a trembling hand.
"Exactly how... ’aromatic’... is the sll of a Giant Cat Bear?"
"Imagine the strongest sll you’ve ever slled in your lives," Ren responded honestly. "Multiply it by 2. That’s approximately half as intense as the sll of a Giant Cat Bear."
The three boys looked at each other, clearly searching for so way to escape this responsibility.
"Couldn’t we just... camp outside the clusters?" Taro asked with desperate hope.
"In Gold territory?" Ren looked at him incredulously. "Taro, here the other diurnal and nocturnal Gold Rank beasts could attack us outside the clusters while we sleep. The clusters are literally the only ’perfect’ protection available."
Liu sighed deeply, resigning himself to the inevitable.
"Fine. But after this, you’re going to owe huge favors to each of us."
"Enormous favors," Min added with a worried face. "The kind that involves expensive food and costly gifts."
"And we’re never, ever going to ntion this," Taro concluded firmly. "To anyone. Ever."
♢♢♢♢
When they finally entered the Gold 1 ring completely, the landscape changed dramatically. The dense, continuous fire forest gave way to a flat, open zone, dotted with clusters of what Ren had described as "small forests" scattered here and there.
The Golden Noses rose like natural cathedrals, their multiple slender, golden trunks shining with an internal light that made the air itself seem precious. Each cluster created small sanctuaries for those who knew the secret.
"It’s beautiful," Liu murmured, montarily forgetting his anticipated misery.
"And deadly," Ren added pragmatically. "Those ’trees’ can coordinate attacks that..."
His words were interrupted when he felt a small manaprint, a bit later two figures erged literally from the earth in front of them.
Mako and Shizu materialized from the ground as if they had been waiting for them, their forms appearing so suddenly that Min stepped back several paces with a choked cry.
A small bird with ethereal blue plumage imdiately flew from Mako’s shoulder, heading toward the sky with an evident purpose.
"What the hell?" Ren imdiately got into guard position, feeling betrayed and furious. "This isn’t what we had agreed on!"
The two guards exchanged uncomfortable glances. Mako was the first to speak, her voice loaded with genuine apology.
"We’re sorry, Ren. We really are. But we have direct orders from above."
Shizu nodded, clearly feeling as uncomfortable as her companion.
"Zhao is going to co down soon. The bird we sent is to confirm your location."
Ren felt his anger increase. They had co so far, had been so close, and now they would have to fight against...
"Very well," he murmured, turning toward his friends with a grim expression. "Guys, prepare to face Zhao and these two with everything you have."
Min, Taro, and Liu imdiately adopted defensive positions, though it was obvious they were terrified. Zhao was legendary even among students, and Ren’s personal guards had formidable reputations as Gold rank tars.
But Mako and Shizu sighed in unison, exchanging another aningful look.
"Ren," Shizu spoke softly, but there was sothing in her tone that made Ren’s stomach sink even further. "Zhao and we aren’t the only ones coming to make you return."
Zhao materialized near the ground, erging from his silent flight and landing with grace, his wings folding as he touched the earth without making the slightest sound. His expression was convoluted... frustration, concern, and so reluctant understanding.
Imdiately, Min, Taro, and Liu fused with their beasts, their bodies transforming as they prepared to invoke their double fusions if necessary. Min’s amphibian created camouflage patterns on his skin, Taro’s beetle generated protective plates, and Liu’s bat sharpened his hearing to supernatural levels.
"Please," Zhao raised a hand in a pacifying gesture, "don’t force yourselves to use the double fusion. Carrying you back is going to be much more complicated if you’re unconscious from exhaustion."
His tone was tired but not hostile. Like an adult who had dealt with obstinate children many tis before.
"We’re not going back," Ren declared firmly, though he could feel the difficulty of his situation being so exhausted. "Please, Professor Zhao. Let us go. I have to do sothing important."
Zhao sighed deeply, completely terrifying Min with the sound.
"I found Lin... Selphira deduced most of the situation thanks to so things Liora and Mayo told her." His gaze softened slightly. "Those monsters did not wake up because of you, Ren. And it’s not your fault that things ended up this way. We already know those beasts were already preparing from much earlier."
"No!" Ren shouted, feeling frustration accumulate in his chest like pressurized steam. "You don’t know the full story! But surely sothing happened near my old house that made these creatures beco different and evade Dragarion’s crystallization punishnt. So yes, it is my fault!"
The words poured out of him like a confession he’d been holding back too long.
"You don’t know that for certain," Zhao responded with the patience of soone who had had this kind of conversation before. "Besides, you don’t have to worry about sothing like that because you’re still very young. You need to grow more. That’s the most important thing and the best you can do now."
The condescension in his voice, however well-intentioned, hit Ren like a slap.
"I don’t want to grow up in a cage!" he exploded, gesticulating toward the city. "That way I’ll only ’fatten up’ like the trapped pigs! Without doing anything real, without helping those who matter to !"
Zhao saw the black lines on Ren’s skin growing. He was about to ntion them, but shook his head, maintaining his patient expression. They seed to grow more because he was getting agitated.
"Calm down a little, this is not like you, you’re exaggerating. I promise I’d love to make this trip with you... though I’m not thrilled about the idea of covering myself with that horrible sll again." A small smile appeared on his lips. "But it’s not your ti yet. You need more developnt, more preparation. I really want what’s best for you."
The lines began to recede a little.
But then they stopped...
"Then who’s going to defend what’s best for her? What matters to Luna?" Ren asked, feeling like he was drowning without hope but searching for a small light in what could be Zhao’s response. "Who can take Sirius’s place?"
Zhao’s expression beca genuinely sad.
"There will always be sacrifices, Ren. There’s no one else in the Starweaver line who can carry the artifact they’re looking for... Still, that’s part of an adult’s decision. I don’t know how you managed to find out but... It’s up to Sirius to decide whether to leave the seal’s territory or not."
The word ’sacrifices’ resonated in Ren’s mind like a funeral bell. Larissa. His fungus. And now Luna...
"If you don’t care what she wants," Ren replied, his voice becoming dangerously low, "I do care."
The black tattoos began growing on his skin again, radiating from his chest like ink spilling in water. Energy accumulated around him, visible like heat waves distorting the air.
The transformation was both cool and terrifying to witness to his friends. Min, Taro, and Liu sighed almost in unison.
They all got into fighting positions to face Zhao.
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