The sound of gla.s.s shattering echoed out of the void. Natalie, Grace and Dan collapsed onto their b.u.t.ts as exhaustion overcame their bodies. Even so, when they saw the collapsing world around them, all three lifted same smiles of excitement and accomplishment.
Even though they had to use Potential Combusting Pills, it didn"t matter for as long as they acquired their rightful rewards and also, that world wasn"t really real. In fact, it was just a virtual world that Grace and Dan exaggerated in their discussions.
All three felt strange when they realized that they had arrived in a world that had nothing but darkness. Though they could still see each other, their eyes couldn"t seem to penetrate beyond the void around them.
"Look, there"s a flame floating there!"
Grace pointed out and the two followed her line of sight. Indeed, at the distance floated a flame that radiated a soft and dreamy orange light. Although wind didn"t exist within this s.p.a.ce, it continuously flickered and looked unstable as it floated.
"I"ll approach it first, that looks quite strange that I don"t want you guys near it..."
Dan warned at the two and they nodded their heads without objections. Standing up, Dan crouched and silently circulated his cultivation base. His nerves stretched taut, ready for any unexpected situation.
When he reached ten meters before the flame, a scorching heatwave pa.s.sed through Dan"s body. Prompting him to activate his Spiritual Energy and cover himself with it. Dan gulped a mouthful of saliva, the heatwave that pa.s.sed through his body resembled the sun"s heat. Completely overbearing and dominant.
Dan used his Divine Sense to examine the flame. The flame element inside was extremely dense and concentrated, yet unstable like a celestial star. It looked like it would explode in any moment if it continued flickering there in the air.
"Grace, Natalie... I think this should be our reward..."
Dan said with uncertainty and both women knitted their eyebrows, After all those troubles that we experienced, we are only given a single flame to share among the three of us? What the h.e.l.l? They thought in their minds.
"This flame contains something that even I cannot subdue on my own, we need to work together on sealing this flame.
He declared as Natalie and Grace turned incomparably solemn. Stretching his hand towards the flame, Dan wrapped it slowly with his Divine Sense, inducing short bursts of his Spiritual Energy towards the flame.
Per Dan"s deductions, a flame of this level should contain a juvenile spirituality that recognizes hostility and affection. If he instantly moved to capture this flame, it would most likely rebel against his control and explode resulting in a failure of submission.
The spirit contained within the flame looked like a docile toddler that found that scent of another. Intrigued by Dan, the flame spirit inspected his Divine Sense and understood that Dan brought no harm towards it. Nevertheless, it still hurriedly retreated behind a wall of fire and didn"t dare to stick its head out, afraid that Dan may discover it.
The flame spirit"s life-like actions astonished and amused Dan, sending several bursts of his Spiritual Energy, but when he neared the flame spirit, a strong sense of rejection suddenly overwhelmed his Divine Sense and he was forcefully ejected from the world within the flame.
"Guah!"
Dan"s throat tasted sweet and his chest expanded until he violently coughed a mouthful of blood. The backlash that he received from the ejection injured his Soul and weakened his Divine Sense. Most probably if he sent another stream of Spiritual Energy within the flame, his Divine Sense would be instantly eradicated.
But the question was, just why did the flame spirit who acted so amiably and docile towards him suddenly acted violent and threw him out from the world within the flame? Knitting his eyebrows, Dan thought hard until he finally reached a conclusion.
"Flames are naturally Yang, and this flame shouldn"t be an exception. Since this flame is still at its infancy stage, it may have instinctively disliked those with extreme Yang, thinking that I am a predator that would absorb it... In that case, I should really enlist the help of Natalie and Grace..."
Dan whispered amidst his bated breath, little did he knew that as soon as he fell on his b.u.t.t and coughed a mouthful of blood. Natalie and Grace rushed beside him and checked his injuries. So they clearly heard what he said.
"Yeah, we will try and subdue the flame spirit, you sit here and rest..." Grace patted his shoulders and smiled at Natalie who turned to look at Dan and said, "Dear, you"ve been working so hard from the start. It"s time for you to rest and leave everything to us, your wives..."
Seeing the actions and hearing the words of the two, a warm and sour sensation surged within Dan"s heart as he tried his best in suppressing his emotions. Biting his lower lip, he said with his eyes glistening, "No, I"ll accompany you two, unless we make the flame spirit understand that I am not an enemy through your vouching, it wouldn"t heed my words."
Dan sat cross-legged and entered a meditative state. Popping a soul restoring medicinal pill into his mouth. He focused and guide the energy through his soul. Healing and reinforcing its defenses. Opening his eyes, he walked along with his wives towards the flame spirit.
"Remember, do not be forceful... If the flame spirit doesn"t want our presence then we should stop for a moment and return at a later time. Being forceful will definitely make us fail..." Dan reminded and both women solemnly nodded.
Focusing, all three sent surges of Spiritual Energy towards the direction of the flame spirit. Entering the world within the flame, the flame spirit jolted when it sensed the presence of three intruders. Sticking its head out of the pillar of fire, it frowned when it saw Dan but its expression softened when it saw the energies of Natalie and Grace.
"G.o.dd.a.m.ned it so this flame spirit is a womanizer?" Dan thought in his mind, the flame spirit didn"t even spare another glance at him as it stared at Natalie and Grace who beckoned,
"Come here, little man... We your sisters are here to play with you..."
When it comes to knowledge and wisdom, Grace was a notch stronger than Natalie but when it comes to child-care and playing with children. Natalie took the cake. Not only her expression looked warm as the sun in the summer, her eyes sparkled with nothing but concern and motherly love.
The flame spirit whose intelligence could only be compared to a three years old child hesitated for a moment, the instincts that it had in its soul longed for the warmth that Natalie radiated, but the beastly instincts that it also had said that it shouldn"t anyone that appeared before it.
Natalie, Grace and Dan could see the confusion within its eyes, and Grace who never liked indecisive people became annoyed, what was the flame spirit waiting for? Does it want to stay inside this dark s.p.a.ce and never go out to experience the world?
The flame spirit was a spirituality created from the maturity of the flame"s consciousness. Technically, it couldn"t be compared to true intelligence. However, it was still extremely sensitive to emotions, particularly negative ones as it darted its gaze at Grace and frowned, detecting her impatience.
The flame spirit revealed a wronged expression and proceeded to ignore all three of them. Grace"s mouth widened in shock and Natalie"s figure stiffened. Dan shook his head in disappointment and said.
"We should come back at a later time, the flame spirit has decided that it won"t see us for today. I don"t know the reason but it must"ve detected that we"re becoming impatient and desperate in making friends with it, making it suspicious about our true intentions."
Grace revealed a guilty expression. She knew that her impatience was detected by the flame spirit and it was the reason why it backed out in making friends with them. Natalie stretched her hand out and patted Grace"s head as if consoling a little sister.
Dan also stretched his hand out and patted her shoulder. Grace lightly smiled, whenever she felt down, these two were there to console and motivate her up, so she never wanted to give up. Clenching her fists, she stared at the fire pillar with renewed resolve and retreated along with Dan and Natalie.
Meditating within the darkness, the three sought to recover from the expenditure that they spent when sending their Spiritual Energy towards the world within the flame. Several hours later, the three completed their meditation and returned at the world within the flame. Staring at the flame spirit, Dan"s expression turned indescribable.
According to the books that he read in his previous and current life, the flame that they had encountered today far differed from those Earth and Beast flames. Earth flames had a solid core and frequently formed within volcanoes and other places deep within the earth.
Beast flames, on the other hand, possessed violence and berserk energy that would wantonly attack anyone within itrs range, possessing little to nor sentience than its Earth flame counterpart.
Using those factors, Dan concluded that the flame right before their eyes belonged to a tier higher than what he knew. As for what tier did the flame spirit belong, Dan didn"t know yet.
Beckoning for the flame spirit, it took longer to stick its head out from the fire pillar since it still remembered the events several hours ago. When it stuck its head, it didn"t radiate with the neutral aura that it previously did. Instead, it looked somewhat wary and cautious towards the three.
Dan bitterly smiled, in fact. According to the books that he had read, flames like these could be forcefully subdued but in this case. it meant that they would be fighting against something whose battle prowess were unknown to them. Dan didn"t have the leeway to take such risks.
Natalie continuously coaxed the flame spirit, while making small steps towards its direction. Of course, she did all of these without impatience and each time she realized that the flame spirit felt suspicious at her actions. She would stop and smother it for a long time before taking another step.
Even after several hours, Natalie only managed to close the gap for twenty-meters for the first day. But since they didn"t give up. Eventually, the flame spirit grew fond of Natalie as the two of them joyfully frolicked like mother and son.
Natalie also grew fond of the flame spirit that looked extremely amiable and adorable. No words were exchanged between the two but their bond linked their souls together. Even without using the System, Dan realized and understood this fact.
Bitterly smiling, Dan glanced at Grace and found that the latter looked the same. With the impatience that she displayed several days ago, the flame spirit wouldn"t easily forgive her. Continuously sending her Spiritual Energy in an effort to make friends with the flame spirit, Grace never gave up until the flame spirit eventually accepted her presence.
Dan had it worse, since the flame spirit naturally disliked his extreme Yang and thought of him as a predator, it never walked up to his side even with Natalie and Grace"s coaxing. Still, like Grace, he never gave up and even overdrafted his Spiritual Energy for the sake of making friends with the flame spirit.
Seeing his collapsed figure, the flame spirit took pity and finally understood that Dan wasn"t there to consume it. Lightly smiling, the exhausted Dan stood up and made friends with the flame spirit, forming a link that resonated with their souls.
At the end, all three of them took the flame away and named it as the Chimera Flame. Born from the destruction of the strongest creature within Dan"s heart. It was a completely appropriate name.