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Kim Hajun exhaled as he watched mountaintop after mountaintop lose their green and gradually turn brown as Vur’s elementals stripped away their trees. He turned his head towards Tafel and Vur, who were sitting on the ground next to each other. Tafel was leaning on Vur, and Vur’s arm was wrapped around the demon’s shoulder. A bitter look appeared on Kim Hajun’s face before he shook his head and corrected his expression. “What other preparations do you have to deal with the Oebu Sin?”
Tafel sat up straight and turned her head towards Kim Hajun. “Well,” the demon said, “what preparations do you suggest we should have?”
Kim Hajun stared at Vur and Tafel with a blank face. Why did it feel like they hadn’t done anything at all to ready themselves? “Do you have enough recovery items? Are you going to place down any traps?” He frowned upon seeing the couple stare at him as if he were speaking an unknown language. “Have you alerted the lords? There will be people assisting you in defeating the Oebu Sin, correct?”
“Other dragons and phoenixes,” Vur said and nodded.
“They’re going to fight together?” Kim Hajun asked. “Really?”
“Yes,” Vur said. “I’ll make them.”
“Okay,” Kim Hajun said and furrowed his brow. “Just to be sure, are you positive you’re strong enough to make that happen? Like, have you gone to the fiftieth floor and obtained your innate ability orbs? If you think you can defeat the dragons and phoenixes here without them, you’re sorely mistaken. They all have unique innate abilities granted to them by the tower.”
Vur and Tafel exchanged glances with each other. They blinked once before turning their heads back towards Kim Hajun. Tafel said, “Take us there.”
Kim Hajun crossed his arms over his chest. “I can take you there,” he said, “but I can’t help you clear it. The trials are individual ones, and if you fail, you die.”
“Wait,” Vur said, causing Kim Hajun’s mouth to clamp shut. “Let me try something.” Vur glanced down at his wrist before realizing he had given his root bracelet to Diamant. His gaze shifted onto Tafel’s wrist, and he poked her root bracelet. An amber light flashed, and Vur asked, “Can you give us our innate ability orbs?”
Kim Hajun’s face scrunched up as two orbs popped out of the root bracelet, Vur snatching them up before they hit the ground. “Great,” Vur said and held an orb out to Tafel. He spoke towards the root bracelet. “Make sure the rest of my friends get one.”
Tafel held out her hand, and Vur let the orb drop into her palm. The innate ability orb was sparkling like a cut gemstone, and as the demon stared at it, the myriad of colors within the stone all turned orange at once, showing a reflection of herself within its depths. She made eye contact with herself, and she couldn’t help but stare. Like a bubble, the innate ability orb burst, causing Tafel to let out a gasp and retract her hand. A burning sensation engulfed the back of her hands, and she winced as she pressed her palms against the ground, getting a good look at the red marks that had been carved into her skin by an invisible force. Not even a second later, the bloody etchings faded as if nothing had happened. She gasped and turned her head to the side to look at Vur, who was holding his innate ability orb up above his head to get a better look at it with the light.
Vur blinked and turned his head towards Tafel, bringing the orb back down to his chest. “What happened to your orb?” he asked. “Did you eat it already?”
Tafel furrowed her brow before nodding. “You could say that,” she said. “I looked into it and saw myself. Then, it exploded and some markings appeared on my hand before disappearing.”
“If you use your root bracelet, you can see the innate talent you obtained,” Kim Hajun said, cutting into the conversation. He froze upon seeing both Vur and Tafel turn to look at him. When she realized he wasn’t going to say anything else, the demon looked down at her root bracelet.
Tafel blinked a few times as she read before flipping her wrist over. She made eye contact with Vur, and he scooted backwards by a few steps, still remaining seated on the ground. An imprint appeared on Tafel’s forehead as a blood-red phoenix flame appeared above her palm. She squinted at it, and the flame gradually lightened as portions of it began to burn white. Then, the flame disappeared but Tafel’s concentrated look didn’t.
“Is it invisible fire?” Vur asked. “It looks strong.”
“There’s nothing to test on right now,” Tafel said and glanced at Kim Hajun, causing the cloaked man to nervously take a few steps to the side. The demon turned her head back towards Vur. “But there’s a lot more to it than invisibility. Let me practice first, and I’ll show you when we fight the Oebu Sin.” She glanced down at the orb Vur was holding by his chest. “Are you going to use it?”
Vur held the innate ability orb out in front of himself. He looked into it, but he didn’t see himself like Tafel said she had; all the orb did was sparkle.
“Try eating it,” Stella said, her head poking out of Vur’s chest. “Also, where’s my orb? I’m one of your friends too, right, Vur?”
The root bracelet on Tafel’s wrist flashed, and an orb flew towards Stella. She caught it and stuffed it inside Vur’s chest. “Thanks, tree,” she said and retreated back inside of her human fortress.
Vur shrugged his shoulders before polymorphing his head into that of a dragon’s before throwing the innate ability orb into his mouth. With a gulp, he swallowed it whole. He touched his stomach, and a little puff of black smoke seeped out of his skin before dissolving in the air.
“Was that it?” Tafel asked. “First silver mist, and now black smoke?”