"Until?" Mizan pressed, feeling his anticipation build.
Ark exhaled slowly. "Until one day. It was just like any other. I ate my usual meager meal, went to sleep like I always did. Nothing was different about that night." He paused, his fingers lightly tracing the surface of the water.
"But when I woke up the next morning..." His voice turned quieter, more thoughtful. "I found myself in a completely unfamiliar place. A world entirely different from the one I had known."
Ark exhaled slowly, his gaze distant. "Different environments, different animals, different people… and so many bizarre things I had never imagined existed." He let out a sigh before continuing. "The only thought in my mind that day was—how could I go to sleep in one place and wake up in another? I started questioning everything. Had I really only slept for a night? Or had I unknowingly slumbered for hundreds—maybe even thousands—of years while the world around me changed beyond recognition?"
Mizan listened, his brow furrowed, lips slightly parted in disbelief. Ark's story was fantastical, almost absurd. He wasn't sure whether to believe this strange man or dismiss it all as nonsense.
"But I never found the answers," Ark admitted. "From that day forward, my life changed completely, and I had no choice but to adapt in order to survive." His voice took on a contemplative edge. "It was in that place that I first learned about natural energy… and I became aware of my core energies. Both were already awakened. When? How? I had no idea. But what I did know was that my cores were devouring the rich energy of that land—like starving beasts stumbling upon an oasis after years in a barren desert."
Mizan remained silent, captivated.
"I was already in my mid-twenties by then," Ark continued. "My body was fully developed, which allowed me to endure and suppress the surge of energy flooding into me. So I faced no real danger of being torn apart from within."
A smirk tugged at Ark's lips as he turned to Mizan, who was still gaping in awe. Suddenly, Ark's voice rang out, sharp and commanding. "Why are you slacking? Keep going with your exercises!"
Mizan flinched, yelping, "Argh! But I'm exhausted already!"
Ark stood up from the hot spring, steam rising from his body as the lingering water evaporated in an instant under the heat of his fire magic. Mizan couldn't help but marvel at Ark's precise control over his energy—he was drying himself effortlessly while casually walking over to retrieve his clothes.
As he dressed, Ark spoke again, his tone carrying the weight of experience. "What did my story teach you? If there's one thing you should take from it, it's that without a strong body, I wouldn't have survived."
Mizan eyed Ark's lean frame and inwardly mused, 'Your thin body doesn't look that strong, though…'
Ark continued, undeterred. "One day, you'll find yourself in a situation where the only thing keeping you alive is your body's resilience. And one more thing. Training the body isn't something exclusive to Vitalists. Everyone should strengthen their physique—no exceptions." He pulled on his cloak and added, "Don't you know the saying? 'A perfect mind in a healthy body.' If the academy you attended doesn't make its mages train their bodies, then they're fools."
After finishing dressing, Ark turned to Mizan and declared, "You stay here and keep training. I'll go hunt for food and be right back."
Mizan's eyes widened in alarm. "Wait—you're leaving me here alone?" He hesitated before blurting out, "But—"
Before he could finish his protest, Ark waved a hand dismissively. "Relax. I won't be gone for long, and my perception covers a far greater distance than you can imagine. If anything comes near, I'll know immediately. Just focus on your training."
Then, without another word, Ark vanished like a ghost.
Mizan stood there, momentarily stunned, before turning his gaze to the vast forest before him. Towering trees stretched high into the sky, their dense canopy casting shadows over the landscape. The distant cries of unseen creatures echoed through the woods, their sounds blending with the steady rush of the nearby waterfall and the bubbling hot spring. Though eerie, the rhythmic flow of water was at least somewhat soothing.
Mizan let out a deep breath. 'Being alone in a place like this… definitely isn't comforting.'
***
At the same time, deep within the Everdusk Forest, far from Ark's and Mizan's shelter, a lone crow soared through the sky.
Kraa! Kraa!
Its black wings beat against the wind as it circled above the dense canopy, weaving through the air as though searching for something. It would fly in one direction, then abruptly halt, shifting its course to spiral over a particular section of the forest. The bird's sharp eyes scanned below, its movements deliberate—too deliberate for a mere animal.
Then, it froze.
For the slightest instant, its wings faltered mid-flight as its sharp eyes fixated on a lone figure atop a towering tree. Perched there, motionless as if he were one with the branches, stood Ark. His dark cloak merged seamlessly with the shifting shadows of the leaves, his presence eerily still. A slow, chilling smile tugged at his lips as his piercing gaze locked onto the crow's—like a predator sizing up its prey.
Kraa!
The crow flinched, instantly twisting its wings to flee. But before it could escape—
A voice, cold and amused, resonated directly within its mind.
"You've been annoying me for a few days now. Did I seem like someone who enjoys being spied on?"
Ark raised a hand. A snap of his fingers echoed through the air.
A burst of purple fire erupted around the crow.
BOOM!
A shockwave rippled through the trees as the flames consumed the creature in an instant.
KRAAA!—ARGH! NO!
The shriek that followed was unnatural, twisting mid-cry from the rasp of a bird into something far more inhuman. Within the flames, its silhouette writhed and contorted, its bird form warping into something unrecognizable—something it was never meant to be. And then, within seconds, the purple fire incinerated it completely, reducing whatever it had become to nothingness.
Ark watched in silence, his eyes following the last remnants of embers before he vanished from sight.