Tempest | Alchemy Of Souls [Seo Yul]

Chapter 5: Conundrum

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White smoke like clouds leaves his mouth. His hands were heavy and tired, but he drew out his sword one last time. The sunlight hits the steel, and the bright light in turn hits his little sister's wide-eyed gaze. She blinks away but soon returns her curious eyes to him. The boy takes a deep breath and brings his left hand to his shaking sword, gliding it just above as blue whisps run through it. The girl bites her lip to suppress her awe.

Finally, he takes a step back before making a turn, his sister lets go of the rope he was holding and it swings in his direction.

The heavy sandbag attached at the end of the rope looks angry as it lunges toward the boy at a fast pace. He looked focused as he turns around and cuts through it. It slices in half and specks of dirt fly with the wind. For a second he felt proud of himself. Then he remembered the girl watching. Worried that the dirt might have struck her, he turns towards the girl only to see her staring back with her mouth agape.

At the moment, it did not matter if dirt covered her face or if she could taste some. To her, what mattered more was the accomplishment of her brother.

He had indeed mastered Ryusu.

She jumped up and clapped her hands in excitement.

"My brother!" She exclaimed finally spitting the dirt and running up to him with arms wide open.

Her brother laughed before wiping some of the dirt off her face. "Look for father, he is tending the tree with mo- her."

She nods her head before running up to her parents exclaiming to them what her brother had accomplished. Her voice was so loud, it startled both of them. Her father stopped looking at the tree before turning to face her, embracing the girl in his arms as the mother laughed.

"Let us see then, what my Na Moo had mastered." The mother said.

She looks back at her brother, she could remember seeing her brother grimace for a split second but replaces it with a bright smile after he shakes his head. The one that did not reach his ears, she was sure something was wrong.

But, as she grew older, the more she thought of it, she began to bargain that it was more likely a false memory.

Why would her brother make such a face?

She could not answer her question now as the only person who could do so was her brother, but he is stubborn. Not wanting to show himself to her.

They were living as peacefully as one can be. It never made sense to her how all of a sudden, she would lose them in one night. She had hoped it was all a dream, a nightmare that she would wake up to, but seeing the aftermath the morning after, she knew they were all gone.

The Seo family has the light of lantern that shows whose life has expired, the Soo Family had their respective plants.

The girl walks around the fortress aimlessly. When her brother had fallen to the ground, fire erupted out of nowhere, the woods catching on and burning his whole garden. She looks up at the tall tree that her father grew, its leaves turning dry and falling. To the side, the hibiscus flower that her mother once breathed began to dry up.