Chương 77: Inner Eye (V)
Zero's chest felt cold like ice, his breath quickened, and his heart sped up erratically. With quick heavy breaths he tried to calm his nerves. His chest felt like a cold fire, both burning and numbing. An icy breath escaped his mouth, and his stomach rumbled.
With a burp, a blue fire erupted out of his nose.
"Excuse me," Zero bashfully stated. He hadn't expected that to happen. His body returned to his normal temperature.
"I can't believe this," Garrett said, flabbergasted. "It's back on your chest. How could this be? For a Krustallos to reattach itself? Then does that mean that the second one can as well?"
Garrett paced back and forth, trying to figure out the answer to his question, making Zero a bit dizzy from watching. He stopped and turned towards Zero. In a fleeting footstep Garrett's face was literally in front of Zero's chest, and he tapped on the Krustallos. He had his broken monocle raised to his eye and stared.
"It seems the first one does not budge out of the chest. It's already conforming to your chest and is growing in a rapid rate." Garrett tapped the Krustallos with his fingers. "Then what about the second one?" He snatched it out of Zero's hand and placed it close to the first Krustallos.
The blue sapphire Krustallos moved like liquid towards the black and gold one. In one moment, the two crystals merged into one. The empty spaces that were present were filled up by the blue sapphire as it moved like liquid into a diamond shape. The blue faded away as the colors changed and shifted into the first original color, black and gold.
"What a fascinating find. The so-called living crystals are real."
Zero turned his long neck towards Garrett. His dragon face was now less cute and a bit more reptilian that looked like it had aged into teenage years. There was still soft feathery hair covering his face, but it being replaced by snakelike skin over time.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, since the last time we met, I have been researching this so-called Krustallos. Krustallos is its original name, but there have been documents calling it the crystal, the life-giving gem, or even the unholy gem. Throughout the legends there have been known documents about the living crystals, saying they are a power source that replenishes over time and more potent than regular crystals. Three famous crystals have been documented in history: the Jaded Emerald, the Blood Ruby, and the All-giving Rose. Each is famous for its beauty and power, but became stolen, lost, or possibly destroyed." He stopped for a moment to scratch his scraggly beard and think about what to say next.
"These crystals share with yours a special characteristic. They grew continuously without any natural reason. It's like they pull the energy from some other source to crystalize into a specific shape, a diamond. Look, even yours is steadily turning into one too." Garrett lifted up Zero's feathery hair on his chest. Just like what Garrett stated, the Krustallos was a diamond shape.
"The last thing about the Krustallos is that all of the three legendary Krustallos have some kind of unique power. For example, the All-giving Rose had the highest grade magic to heal. It had over a thousand different ancient healing spells that could be pulled out to be used. The Blood Ruby's specialty lies in blood magic. And finally the Jaded Emerald was known for its powerful earth magic. Now all it comes down to what power this one holds. Do you know?"
"I'm not sure. Nothing ever happened to it, and it was with you for quite a while. I thought you would know by now."
Garrett shook his head sadly, and his ears sagged even more. "Nothing. All that time studying it, there was no response till now." His voice sounded defeated. "But no matter! As the original holder, you have a better chance than I of finding the elusive answer. And when you do, you must find me and tell me. I'm dying to know."
"All right." Even though Garrett was irritating, he was also a treasure trove of knowledge. He wouldn't mind sharing his discoveries about the Krustallos if Garrett could possibly help decipher some mystery about his species. "You put your heart into your research history, don't you? I can see it in you when you are working. The amount of information that comes flowing out of your brain is truly extraordinary."
"Kuhuhuh. You've finally figured out that history is Important, now, have you." Garrett chuckled under his breath.
"Well, yes, in a way, but to see someone work diligently in the things they love to do is what's truly amazing to see. Your eyes seem to sparkle every time like a child enjoying their favorite toy. I don't think I have that dedication right this moment. I haven't found things I would say I'm truly passionate about. Just simple goals. How have you kept that passion going for so long?"
Garrett came over and patted him on the shoulder. "Well, things don't come as easily as you think. There will be many times when you fail to achieve your goals, and many times those failures will make you feel like you're losing your passion and your motivation to move forward. But when you are at your lowest time, you must remember those sparks you had that kept you going. The love and joy of having fun. The drive of putting it all into the thing you care about doing. When you finally finish, you sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. This doesn't mean you can slack off. It's a high that you keep going almost like a rollercoaster ride."
Zero thought for a moment about what Garrett said. He could remember times when he had given his all in the things he had done. Competing with his brother for the top spot in school bands, making model rockets, and making bets on who would arrive first at their house. Those were the days where he had fun. He pondered for a little longer before he answered.
"I think I might know what you mean. There was this one time when I was given an assignment during middle school. I had to write a short essay, and my brother drew the pictures for it. I wasn't any good at writing and I was even worse at drawing. I threw away draft after draft. It gave me a migraine. But my brother just kept drawing. He didn't get mad when he had to start over. They were just stick figures, but they were awesome. He made the whole classroom laugh." Zero chuckled for a bit and stopped. His face fell stone cold.
"What's wrong? It seems something has upset you."
Zero didn't know if he should tell Garrett, but it didn't matter if he did because he was an NPC. "My brother was a popular guy. He was steadfast, strong, inspiring, and happy-go-lucky to the point of it being contagious. But being angry at him is difficult. He had a fight with our father and then right after with me. I quarreled with him for hours, trying to convince him that what he was doing was abandoning the family at the wrong moment in time. His words pierced me to the point I could not breathe."
Zero's breath quickened and his voice became strained. "He is an inspiration and a rival."
Silence followed after. Zero's mind was running with the thoughts of Kyle's words. Have you forgotten who you are? You are like a dog that follows its master. Wake up! I don't need you anymore. You are worth nothing to me. Anger bubbled in his stomach. Everything that I had done for him, and he throws it in my face?
"Our mom was dying, and he just left us. We all knew she was close to death's door, and she passed away shortly after from cancer a week later. Her body was too weak to hang on any longer. He abandoned us. No, more like he abandoned me."
"Life is a very interesting topic. Have you ever thought that fate plays a different role? Sometimes life events happen for a reason. What you learn from those times are betrayal, loss, helplessness, and even anger. But in the long run, when you sit back, you will realize that there is a bigger picture that you would not have noticed at that moment in time. The path one travels due to the decision one makes at a certain point in time would be considered a turning point in one's life. The decision one makes during that time is not just because of one thing; the events that happened in the past led to that decision in that key moment." Garrett's voice was filled with kindness, and Zero didn't expect to hear such words. A tear fell down his cheek.
"Yeah." Zero choked up. "Now I understand a little bit more why he left, but not his complete distaste towards me. It took me this long for me to see it a different way. I was clouded by my own anger. Even I had something I wanted to do. I could not stay any longer under my father's wings, I had to leave and make my own footprints in the sand. Sometimes I notice a second pair of footprints in the sand already ahead of me. I always wonder where it's going and when it will disappear. I always wondered why though. Why couldn't he stay a bit longer? Was our mom dying not important at all? This is the question I wanted to ask him for leaving Mom when she needed him. She never got to see him one last time."
Remembering his mother still broke his heart. Remembering his lovely mother. She was a very positive influence with her warm tender words. He could still remember her smile. Her Italian blood ran thick in her even though she was also a quarter Korean.
Zero breathed in to calm his nerves. I promised myself I won't break down anymore, he thought to himself. He clenched his fist to bring himself back to reality.
"Don't think too deeply about it. Life is a fickle thing. It brings people together when the time is right." Garrett smiled warmly and pushed his monocle back from falling off.
"Well, I think it would be—" He was cut short as a large message appeared, catching his attention.
Special Announcement
World update
All players throughout the world will be forced to log out of the server shortly. The final stage of the Special Hidden Quest: Alpha Division will begin in the real world. Please check the quest update on your Alive gear for more information. Thank you for playing Growth.
The message screen turned fuzzy like static electricity. An eerie cackling resounded in the background. A phrase appeared on the static screen: "Are you ready?" Then the screen turned completely black. Zero was roughly pushed out of the world of Growth.
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