After their short talk, Shad Darc gave Fray's massive head a few pats and rubbed its scales absentmindedly before moving to the other side of the tree. He sat beneath its shade and leaned back against the trunk.
Above him, the night sky stretched endlessly across the darkness.
A gentle, warm breeze moved through the forest, carrying the faint scents of unfamiliar plants. Shad lifted his head and stared at the bizarre yet beautiful sky.
His attention soon settled on the crescent moon.
Among the nine enormous moons arranged across the sky, it was the last in the linear formation. Unlike the others, it hung much farther away, almost as though it had been deliberately separated from the rest.
Shad could not explain why he was drawn to it.
There was simply something about that moon.
A faint attraction tugged at something deep within him, accompanied by a strange sense of sadness and, strangely enough, kinship.
He frowned slightly.
Then, as he continued staring, he began noticing something else.
The nine moons were not identical.
The first appeared slightly darker than the others, its surface carrying a subtle dimness that made it seem almost incapable of reflecting the light around it.
The second possessed a golden hue. Light seemed to spread outward from its center, almost as though something within it was radiating through the surface.
The third was stranger.
There appeared to be a small hole at its center, though Shad could not determine whether it was truly an opening or merely an illusion caused by the distance. Something transparent—or perhaps something he simply could not identify—seemed to exist within it.
He narrowed his eyes.
He could not be certain.
The fourth moon contained traces of brown and green, colors that reminded him strangely of Earth—soil, forests, and the natural world he had once known.
The fifth also possessed a hole at its center, similar to the third.
But unlike the third, a faint green light seemed to linger deep within the opening.
It was barely visible.
Yet somehow, Shad could still see it.
The sixth was different again.
A pale color resembling natural lightning occupied its center. Strangely, Shad had the impression that the light was not spreading outward.
It was being pulled inward.
His gaze eventually moved to the seventh moon.
For several moments, he could not understand what he was seeing.
At first glance, its center appeared dark orange, and the strange color seemed to be pushing outward. Yet at the same time, something seemed to be drawing it inward.
The two impressions contradicted each other.
Shad blinked.
He looked again.
This time, the orange was gone.
Instead, it seemed as though the moon was expelling all of its natural colors while a gray light was being drawn toward its center.
His brows furrowed.
"What..."
He stared for a while longer.
Nothing changed.
Or perhaps everything changed depending on how he looked at it.
Eventually, Shad gave up trying to understand it.
He moved on to the eighth moon.
A beacon of red flame appeared to burn at its center.
Unlike the others, there was something almost lively about it.
Shad lingered on the eighth moon for a while, and despite everything he had seen since arriving in this strange world, a faint sense of amusement surfaced within him.
Then his gaze returned to the ninth.
The crescent moon.
It looked almost like the surface of a vast sea reflecting a blue sky. A light-blue color occupied its center, surrounded by a ring of snow-white light.
Shad stared at it silently.
Without realizing it, the corners of his lips slowly lifted.
He was smiling.
He did not know why.
He simply felt... happy.
For a moment, he remained like that, staring at the distant crescent.
Shad could not explain how he was able to perceive the strange details of the moons from such a distance. Under normal circumstances, it should have been impossible.
But rather than obsess over it, he let the mystery remain where it was.
There were already too many unanswered questions.
He would uncover the answers eventually—assuming he survived long enough to do so.
After a while, he finally looked away from the sky.
More questions had accumulated in his mind than ever before, yet there was no one around to answer them.
So he kept them buried deep within himself, quietly hoping that one day, if he was still alive, he would discover at least some of the answers.
But there was something else he had not done in a long time.
Something he had done countless times back on Earth.
He lowered his head.
Why am I here?
What am I here for?
What is my purpose for existing?
What am I supposed to do?
His head lowered further.
And finally, he asked himself the question that had always weighed the heaviest on his mind.
Who am I?
Shad did not remember when the habit had begun.
Nor did he know where it had come from.
But one thing he did know was that he could not—and must not—forget to ask himself those questions.
Whenever he did, something inside him became quieter.
He found peace.
Even if it lasted only for a moment, it was enough.
The truth was that Shad Darc had never considered himself a normal human being.
In fact, there were times when he did not even consider himself human.
He did not know why.
There were simply too many things about himself that made no sense.
And it was not because he thought himself special.
If anything, Shad saw himself as a nobody.
Someone ordinary.
Unassuming.
Unworthy.
Yet, by his own standards, he was still unique.
One of his personal beliefs was that nobody was truly special, regardless of who they believed themselves to be or how highly they regarded themselves.
At the same time, he believed everyone was truly unique.
Some people were more unique than others, but being more unique did not make someone more special.
To Shad, the two concepts were entirely different.
"Aargh."
He shook his head.
"My thoughts are wandering aimlessly again."
He exhaled and looked toward the dark forest.
"Now isn't the time for another sermon. I have more important things to think about."
With that, Shad shifted his attention to something more practical.
His training.
Specifically, his training in controlling Energy Flow.
The results had been fruitful, at the very least.
He was making progress.
Shad had decided to measure his improvement by magnitude, using a scale from one to one hundred. When all the different forms of Energy Flow training he had been practicing were considered together, he estimated his current level of control at roughly one.
It was still insignificant.
But it was progress.
And progress was enough.
After another short meditation beneath the tree, Shad eventually fell asleep.
---
Morning arrived cold and silent.
Shad opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was Fray staring directly at him.
The enormous creature was only a short distance away, watching him with an almost curious expression.
Shad remained completely unperturbed.
He stared back.
"Why the stare?"
Fray did not respond with a growl or gesture.
It simply continued looking at him.
Shad sighed.
"Alright. Enough with the staring. I don't like being watched for that long."
At last, Fray turned away and began looking around the forest with an expression that somehow conveyed boredom.
Shad shook his head lightly.
He then performed a few simple exercises, focusing mainly on his legs. Squats and other movements that did not require him to put too much strain on his injured right arm.
Afterward, he meditated briefly to calm his mind before approaching Fray.
He gestured for the creature to continue their journey.
Fray understood immediately.
Shad climbed onto its back.
"I'll close my eyes for a while. Alert me if you find a water source or notice anything important."
Fray gave a slight nod of its enormous head.
That was another thing Shad still did not fully understand.
He had an idea of how Fray was capable of understanding some of his words, but he had not yet figured out the exact reason.
As usual, he decided not to dwell on it.
They continued their journey.
The forest passed around them in silence while Shad focused on his Energy Flow training, becoming partially oblivious to his surroundings.
Then, without warning—
He fell.
Shad's eyes snapped open as his body hit the ground.
Pain shot through his injured right side.
"Ouch. What the hell was that for, you damned creat—"
He stopped.
His irritation vanished almost instantly.
Now he understood why Fray had dropped him.
A short distance away was a pool of water.
Fray was already approaching it.
"So that's why."
Shad immediately got to his feet and hurried toward the pool.
He dropped to one knee and reached out with his left hand, scooping up some of the water and bringing it to his mouth.
He drank.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Even though his body desperately wanted to consume the water as quickly as possible, Shad refused to let his instincts override his training.
His eyes continued scanning the surroundings while he drank.
The organization had drilled one rule into him deeply:
Never abandon your sense of security.
Not when wounded.
Not when exhausted.
Not even when completely relaxed.
Especially not then.
Once he had taken enough to satisfy his immediate thirst, Shad released a quiet, relieved breath.
He glanced toward Fray.
The creature was drinking as well, but even while doing so, it remained alert, its eyes constantly sweeping across the surroundings.
"Water at last."
For the first time in a while, Shad allowed himself to relax.
He moved roughly fifty or sixty meters away from the pool, found a large tree, and settled beneath its shade.
For now, they had water.
And that was enough.