Standing in the hallway felt surreal, like I was a part of a larger scheme that I had no notion of.
I slowly openned my door, letting us slip into the room. The bright moon overhead lit the space but something else caught my attention.
'Dad, i'm hungry' Helio called out from the pot, but that wasn't it. The teal moss i brought back from the caverns had grown significantly, while green wisps of light hung high in the air.
"Helio! What happened?" I called out, confused as I walked towards it.
"Helio? What is this moss? The lights?" Tiana called out but the hologram spoke up.
"Young man, you have vital moss? Tiana, why didn't you say something?" An older and rustic voice called out, overwhelming me. I hurriedly tossed out the blood hunter corpse for it to drain as I looked back at the 2 of them.
"OK, what shall we start with?" I called out in a tired voice as the mental list of priorities kept shifting.
"Dad, the moon dancer path" Tiana called out, reminding him of why he was here.
"Ok, boy. What is your name?" The old man called out. I thought about why he asked but nothing came to mind.
"Felix sir" i answered sternly, making him smile.
"Aaah, manners. Ok felix. This moon path, you have. There is a certain skill that you can use now. You probably haven't unlocked it yet but I know how. Tiana, leading us outside. It should be night there" he explained before demanding to be led out.
She nodded quickly before bolting outside, while I followed quickly. He knows how to get a skill in my path?! This might be better than I thought.
As we made it out, the full glow of the moon caught my attention but I held off, paying attention to the man. He had a weird expression, a mix of amusement and anticipation.
"Felix, when you stare at the moon, what do you see?" He called out. I felt a little exposed by his question, staring at him intently. How does he know all of this??
"I see the moon, and it's koi" I answer softly as a clarity overcomes me once more.
"Good, now. What makes moon fallen so scary is there paths. However, they aren't always strong. They are their weakest when the sun is at its highest, while at their strongest when the moon is at it's highest" he started, making me nod. I feel smarter and faster whenever im under the moon.
I guess I always subconsciously knew that but never really pointed it out, like a truth I never knew but accepted.
"Over the years, the moon's fallen have found a way to overcome their weakness at day with a skill. The skill is the first one moon fallen usually get, as all the children have it first. Repeat after me" he finished as he cleared his throat. I subconsciously looked up at the moon.
"High moon's light is a blanket" he started. I repeated it slowly, feeling a shift in the air immediately. My koi started to move in a perfect circle in my chest.
"Falling over the land, sea and, sky" he continued, while I copied along. A slight silvery white color overtook the koi as it started to intensify. I felt a chill rising in my chest as the clarity hit a new peak.
"While the moon falls, the moon shall never leave my back" he finished as I did and all my koi left me at once.
Suddenly, a bright silvery white light surrounded me as a beam of light the thickness of my finger shot down on my, hitting my forehead.
I held up my hands and saw that faint glow hovering around my skin.
"Felix... behind you" Tiana breathed out, pointing up slightly behind me. Looking up behind me, I froze. There was a miniature moon floating there, emitting a soft light.
Suddenly, it disappeared but the glow never left my skin. Looking up, I saw the old man smiling ear to ear.
"Well young felix. Congradulations on becoming the first human to have a moon soul" he said before his face got serious. Damn, is he bipolar.
"Now, time to talk about 2 things. Tiana told my you are now her ally. Which means you fall under our jurisdiction. We will talk more after mid terms but know we are watching" he warned, making me pause. Looking between him and Tiana, I started to wonder what I got myself into.
"Then, don't think I didn't notice the vital moss growing in your dorm. That's a strategic resource. Don't let the school find out you can grow that because we are going to need that down the line" he finished before the line cut, leaving us in an awkward silence.
"We could go to your room" she said quietly while I nodded to her suggestion. Walking up, I felt a shift in my koi and finally found the time to check how far I've gone into converting it.
Staring at the percentages, I nodded before we made it back to my room. I pulled out the clear eye stone before looking at the changes.
<1/10 resistanceless waltz>
<2/10 moon soul>
Staring at it, I felt giddy all over until Tiana popped my bubble.
"You can never use that skill in here. While students won't recognise the skill, almost every instructor will. They will study you and you'll never leave. Maybe even die" she explained, making the already growing frown grow deeper.
"Ok, your turn. What's with the light maker path? You have an extraordinary path as a spark being. That doesn't make sense" I called her out, making her sigh.
"My family has records of this path from our ancestors" she gave a short, forward answer, making me think. Then, it clicked. I looked at her with a new light.
"Are your ancestors sun fallen?" I whispered, yet it didn't sound like a question, but a statement.
She shook her head slowly but didn't explain. Sighing, I saw the bird was bloodless and stored it away, while Helio had 8 more blood red flowers over it's body.
'Dad, who's the female human?' It called out in a teenish voice, spooking me. Are you close to adulthood? You're going to surpass my age soon. I need to go hunting for creatures soon to feed my son at this rate.
"I should go. Remember to start to shape your soul core tonight" she called out before leaving. My world kept turning, not giving me any room to breathe. Looking towards the pot, I saw a lot of patchy moss and held my hands out.
Slowly, the remaining koi I built up from the time between summoning the moon soul and now drained away as a green light coated the moss and Helio.
'Warm' helio breathed out as he swayed. The moss sprouted more of itself and coated half of the grown around my room. Feeling nothing left in me, I walked over to my bed and layed down.
Closing my eyes, I went into my soul space, staring at the clear blonde floating aimlessly. I had thought of the shape long ago, tying my origin into it. I slowly formed a really, really faint outline of a fist sized seed. The seed itself looked ordinary but it was anything but.
I started to envision a massive tree, bigger than this world or any could hold and pressed that image into the seed. I felt a small bit of the mass merge into the seed but it was less that 1/1000 so I repeated the process untill I passed out.
***
"Dad, what is vital moss?" Tiana called out as the projection of the old man appeared once more. He chuckled a bit before looking at her.
"Keep that boy close girl, vital moss is unique as very, very few places can keep it alive for long. Vital moss gathers pure vital energies in it and disperses them to their surroundings. It is a strategic resource for any family and the millitary, but we can't keep it alive" he explained slowly, making her ponder.
"His origin is plant based, and he has a second path, spirit farmer, so it kinda makes sense" she explained, making him nod.
"Spirit farmer huh? A rare path thats hard to master on their own. Doesn't he have a basic combat path?" He questioned slowly, making her shake her head. He hummed slowly before he spoke up.
"Go with him to hunt spirits this weekend. Find out his strengths, weaknesses, and specialties before calling me back" he called out before hanging up.
She layed back in bed, golden hair framing her body as it layed around her. Slowly, she closed her eyes and entered her soul space, which was filled with books, weapons, armors, while a clear mass floated around.
"Here we go" she breathed out as she started to form it into a shape. Slowly, a ring was forming, yet growing in size untill it was the perfect shape.
A halo
***
Sitting in her office, Melody started to move her koi in a specific pattern, and a pinkish blue glow emitted from her body. She slowly got up and walked through the long term hall, placing her hand on each patient. Some for a few seconds at most, some for minutes.
When she got to Kasteel's bed, she place her hand on his head. Suddenly, the world around her shifted. She was standing in a broken down house, decayed wooden ceiling tiles on the floor, holes all through the floor as a woman sat nearby.
"Mom! Eat!" A young man's voice rang out, breaking on both words. She saw a young boy holding out a bowl of soup to his mother before it fell to her feet. Then, a man walked in, reaking of alcohol.
"Damn it boy! Don't waste food on that parasite! Don't you see she's already fat?!" He yelled out at the child, who shuttered from fear. Then, the man swung, smacking the child into the wall, leaving a hand print against his cheek.
"Dad stop! She's dying! She's dying!" He yelled and I felt tears falling down from my cheeks. In my 20 years of doing this, I've never seen something so fucked up.
Suddenly, a loud screech rang out as a bat flew above the house. You could see it through the holes in the ceiling. A dark black with red markings on it.
"The blood hunter" I breathed out coldly.