A bright golden light illuminated the space, and Malakai's eyes landed on the place his only friend called home.
A small wooden house, no more than two meters tall.
Large buckets filled with water were stacked in one corner. Wet clothes hung on makeshift lines, a worn wooden chair was propped up with a stone, and a crude oven sat near the edge, its surface blackened and scarred with burn marks.
Malakai instinctively guessed that this was where Renlo's infamous bread came from.
"Well! What do you think, Ninth Vein?" Renlo's excited voice rang out.
But Malakai just stared. He was speechless, truly speechless. He began to walk slowly around the space, observing everything in silence.
Seeing Malakai's lack of response, the smile on Renlo's face gradually faded.
'Does he not like it?' he wondered. He had been so eager to show Malakai his treehouse, it hadn't even crossed his mind how the latter might take it.
'I basically just told him I'm homeless!' Renlo inwardly cried.
