Chapter Fifteen

"Where is Celius? He's been gone for over an hour." Ennie was pacing back and forth with deep worry clouding her mind.

Aunt Vena was also frowning. "He has been gone for a while. Do you think something happened?" She wasn't annoyed with him being late, instead she was extremely worried, just like Ennie. Celius was wounded badly, so she didn't feel comfortable with him roaming around alone.

"I should have gone with him, or even you, Mom. Maybe the people at the marketplace are making trouble for him. Last time, Uncle Faelor was also bugging Celius. What if something like that is happening again?" When she thought about that, Ennie got even more worried.

CREEK

The door suddenly opened and both Ennie and Aunt Vena hurriedly looked over. Unfortunately, the person who walked in wasn't Celius; it was Grandpa Amlenor. "Ennie? Vena?" Amlenor was confused when he saw the two sitting in the kitchen. "What are you two doing here at such an hour? Did something happen?"

"Grandpa Amlenor," Ennie quickly walked up to him with a painful and worried look.

When he saw this, Grandpa Amlenor couldn't help but feel something amiss. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" He then looked around and saw that the two room doors were shut. "Is Celius sleeping?"

"He isn't sleeping, only the kids are." Aunt Vena sighed and answered.

"Then where is Celius?" Grandpa Amlenor got a bad feeling and felt his heart begin to beat rapidly.

"I'm right here, Grandpa." Suddenly, another voice came from outside. Grandpa Amlenor and the rest looked and saw a pale faced Celius walk in. He was much paler than before, almost ghostly. His body was visibly trembling, while his lips were bleeding with somewhat fresh blood.

"Celius!" Grandpa Amlenor quickly ran to his side and began to inspect him. "What happened to you? How did you get like this? Who did it?!" Anger boiled as his face became ferocious, but he didn't forget to walk Celius into the house.

"Nothing happened, Grandpa. I just got a little hurt." He shot his grandfather a smile, but it was visibly forced and painful. Even Grandpa Amlenor felt his heart beat faster.

"What do you mean nothing? If nothing happened, you wouldn't look like this. Tell me what happened. I'm still strong enough to take care of you, so tell me." His grandpa was filled with anger and pain. He was busy for only one day, and this was what Celius looked like. He couldn't help but regret his decision. Seeing his grandson like this tore his old heart apart.

"Grandpa, I just lost a bit of blood, that's all. I don't have much else of a problem, haha." Celius continued to smile it off. He knew his grandfather was already really hurt after his two sons and daughter-in-law died. Plus, he was guilty of not being there when they needed him the most, so Celius couldn't bear telling him the full truth.

"Grandpa Amlenor, I know…" Just as Ennie was about to speak, Celius shot her a glare. His face this time showed none of his previous warmth. His deep eyes contained a message, which Ennie was able to understand.

'Don't say a word!' Ennie was a little frightened so she quickly swallowed her words.

"What? What do you know?" Grandpa Amlenor looked at Ennie and asked.

"Grandpa calm down. I'm fine. I just got a small injury, that's all." He pointed at the scratches on his face, but his grandpa wasn't a dumb man. He had seen much more than Celius had.

"Celius, do you think of me as a child? Those little things would never result in you looking like that. Tell me what happened, or I will find out myself. Don't forget, I can just peer into your body and see your state anytime I'd like." This time, his grandpa showed subtle anger as he spoke with Celius. The latter sighed a little before looking at Aunt Vena and Ennie.

"Alright, come outside with me. Ennie and Aunt Vena, would you guys mind sticking around for a while longer?" He didn't want them seeing the true condition of his body, so he asked politely.

"We can stay, but Celius, you have to tell me what's going on. I'm really worried about you too." Aunt Vena replied.

"I know, Aunty, but I told you everything already. I just into a tussle with a bear. I was able to clean the wound and it isn't too bad, so there's nothing to worry about. I just left it unbandaged for so long that I bled more than I should have, that's all." Celius explained patiently. Of course, he still wouldn't tell them the truth and worry them unnecessarily. Even his grandpa wouldn't learn the full truth, or else things might get messy. The only thing he could do for his grandpa was show him the wound since whether he wanted him to or not, his grandpa would see it eventually. Plus, if he showed the physical wound, it would better than letting his grandpa inspect the wound with his essence since the poison would be detected. If his grandpa inspected him, then he would be able to see the full picture and figure out what happened. "Grandpa, come outside with me for a second." He then walked out with his grandpa following from behind. Ennie was about to follow, but Celius waved his hand. "Ennie, I would prefer it if you didn't see this."

Ennie stopped walking but she bit her lip, debating whether she should follow them out or not. "Dear, just stay here. He doesn't want us to see, so let's respect his wishes." Aunt Vena then sat down in the seat and sighed heavily. Ennie also sat down, but she couldn't help but tap her fingers and dart her eyes around the room. She wanted to see what Celius was showing his grandpa, but she couldn't.

Outside, Celius moved a little further away from the house so that no one would see. His grandpa patiently waited for Celius to show him. "Grandpa, when I show you the wound, don't freak out. It's not as bad as it looks." When he said this, it didn't make his grandpa feel any better, rather it made him even more anxious.

Slowly, Celius took off his tunic. He knit his brows and grit his teeth as he uncomfortably took his shirt off. It was painful moving his arms in a way that would move his chest. The shirt came off, but the only things present were two long bandages. One on his shoulder, and one his chest. Celius first took off the bandage around his shoulder. This was a pretty bad wound as well, one that could have actually killed him if it were in any other place. When Grandpa Amlenor saw the somewhat large hole which was more than bone-deep, his eyes couldn't help but become wet, but he didn't say anything yet. There was still the bandage on Celius' chest, which worried him the most.

He could tell that the shoulder wound was very bad, but still, it was in such a place that Celius survived. The one on the chest, however, seemed very close to the heart. It was at an angle which started from his right clavicle and ended slightly over his left nipple.

Gritting his teeth and taking a deep breath, Celius began to remove the bandage that was on his chest wound. Surprisingly, it was wrapped around three times. The third layer had only a bit of blood, while the second had much more. The first layer, which was directly against the wound, was soaking. When the bandage was completely removed, Grandpa Amlenor felt as though his whole body had been electrocuted.

The wound was much uglier than he thought, and it also looked very deep. Red threads were all over the wound, messily closing it, but not completely. Blood still seeped out, and he could even see a bit of the clavicle. There was a piece of flesh dangling and the thread looked as if it would snap at any moment.

His whole body trembled as he took slow steps towards Celius. "H-how did this happen?" His voice was quivering as tears fell from his eyes. He couldn't help but stroke his grandson's pale face with guilt and pain. He lost two sons, a daughter-in-law, and his wife. He only had a few people left, so seeing Celius' current appearance only brought more intense anguish to his heart. "Celius, tell me! How did this happen?!" He raised his voice, but his eyes were dripping with tears.

Celius sighed internally as he didn't know how to explain himself. He couldn't mention the Blood Bear since that would give his grandpa even more reason to fear.

"Grandpa, I was a little careless in the forest. When I was bathing in a pond, I didn't notice a bear nearby. I had a few fish in my hands so it came rushing at me. Since I was a little surprised, I couldn't react in time, so its claw was able to cut me. Then I woke up and quickly ran away. Luckily, my eye abilities came into hand and helped me escape. Haha." He weakly laughed, trying to lighten the mood a little. Suddenly his grandpa pulled Celius into an embrace.

"Do you think I'm stupid? A normal bear? I know that you could escape from a normal bear easily, plus this injury isn't from that. I lived for a while; I know this wound is from a Blood Bear. Why would it bleed so much if it wasn't?" His grandpa's whole body was shaking as he spoke. His experience was nothing to laugh at.

Celius sighed when he heard this. He hoped his grandpa wouldn't be able to think it through like that, but that was asking too much. His grandpa was old but had traveled lots. He had seen things that Celius had never heard of. "Alright, Grandpa, I'm sorry." He didn't hug him back since he would be in too much pain if he were to do so. In front of others, he was able to hold back pain and make no expression. Only when he was alone could he finally let out what he felt. "Grandpa, this should scar in a few weeks, even I know that much, so don't worry too much. I survived as well, so all is good, right?"

"Yeah, luckily you survived." His grandpa slowly let him go, but his red eyes were still tear-filled. "Here, come inside and let me properly close up this wound. My essence is not here for nothing, you know." Then Grandpa Amlenor picked up Celius' tunic and helped him put it on. Of course, without the bandage, the white shirt began to turn red, at least around the wounds.

Both of them entered the house. Ennie and Aunt Vena quickly got up from their seats. They noticed the bloodstain that was slowly getting larger, and the fact that Grandpa Amlenor's whole face was pale and his eyes red.

"Is everything alright? How was it?" Ennie couldn't help but ask. She knew that it wasn't alright, but it would make her feel better if they told her otherwise.

"It's manageable." That was all Grandpa Amlenor said. He then smiled weakly at the two. "Thank you both again for looking after the three. It helped a lot. Who knows what would have happened if you weren't around. Thank you." Surprisingly, Grandpa Amlenor slightly bowed to them. Grandpa Amlenor was frightened by the thought of something happening to Celius, but he was more worried about the thought of what could have happened if Rislia and the twins went to the forest with Celius. Would they have been injured, or worse yet, killed? Just the thought frightened him to the very bones.

"Uncle Amlenor, please don't say such things." Aunt Vena quickly helped Amlenor stand straight. She was shocked to see him act in such a way. "We're all family, so don't act this way, please."

Amlenor stood up straight and smiled at them. "Let me drop both of you home for…"

Knock Knock

Celius opened the door and found Uncle Lorron standing there. "Celius, are Ennie and Vena still…" He spoke with a smile, but then his face fell when he saw Celius' appearance. "Hey, what happened to you?"

Hearing that question again, Celius smiled bitterly. 'Here we go again.'

"Lorron, you came? That's good. I was just about to take these two home, but since you're here, that's much better." Grandpa Amlenor sighed in relief when he saw Lorron. Although he didn't mind dropping them off, he needed to tend to Celius' wounds. Now that Lorron was here, he could quickly look after Celius.

"Of course, but what happened to Celius? Why is he so pale, and where did this blood come from?" Lorron was shocked to see him but he was much more composed than the rest. It wasn't because he didn't like Celius, rather he was just used to seeing injuries at the mine, so his mind didn't panic.

"Just an animal fight, nothing serious. Haha." Celius quickly replied with a laugh.

Lorron was still doubtful, but when he saw Amlenor smiling and nodding at him, he didn't say anything more. He was able to take the hint. "Alright then. I'll take them home for now. Celius, make sure to tell me when you get better, alright?" Aunt Vena went into Celius' room and picked up the sleeping Luna.

The family left soon after. Ennie was, of course, reluctant but had no other choice but to leave.

When everyone finally left, Celius sighed in relief. "Alright, let's get this closed up quickly." He went into his room and brought his thread and needle. He usually kept thread in case his siblings ripped their clothes, but he didn't come to his house before to grab them because he was worried his siblings might see his condition and begin to freak out.

Grandpa Amlenor nodded his head and took the needle and thread. He had Celius lay on the grass outside for the procedure. Using his essence to manipulate the old thread that was already inside of Celius, he pulled it out gently. Celius gritted his teeth and his eyes tightly shut. Luckily, it wasn't as painful as before, mostly because of his grandpa using his essence to protect his wounds.

Wrapping the new thread in essence as well, Grandpa Amlenor began stitching. Unlike Celius, he had essence, so he didn't need to heat up the needle beforehand.

While the needle kept piercing him, Celius' teeth tightly clenched together, and his hands were closed into fists. He squeezed so hard that his nails dug into his skin and caused him to bleed.

An hour went by and the stitching was finally done. The wound was completely closed, unlike before when Celius did it. Using fresh new bandages, Grandpa Amlenor wrapped it around Celius somewhat tightly, but not too much. Finally, the wound was treated properly, or much better than before, at least. "Done. Now don't move it around too much. Try to get some rest and eat lots to quickly replenish the lost blood. The poison should be gone soon since I tried to destroy some of its effects with my essence. By tomorrow it should be completely gone." Wiping his blood-filled hands, Grandpa Amlenor couldn't help but ask Celius. "I know that you try to save money, but I also know you're not stupid, so why didn't you get medication for this? You should have had enough money, right? If I remember, the medication for your wound should be two silver at most. You have that much, right?"

"Two silver?" Celius was shocked. "I went to buy some, but the stall owner said it was ten silver. I couldn't afford it and he wasn't willing to lower the price either. Just my luck." Grandpa Amlenor sighed but rage silently filled his heart.

"Don't worry, I'll get medicine for you. I still have a few friends here." Grandpa Amlenor smiled with a sinister expression. "Also, would you mind telling me who the stall owner was that raised the medicine price so high?"

"Umm, I think it was Mister Kroell. Yea, the one with a married son and all." Celius knew most of the people in the clan, at least the ones related to him as distant and close relatives. He knew almost everyone. "Why?" He put on a confused expression.

"No reason. I just need to know who mistreats my grandson so that I don't give them any face either." He smiled as he stroked Celius' head. "Alright, go and sleep for now. The more rest you get, the better. As for the field…"

"I still have to go. The plants are being hunted by animals, so I need to protect them. To make sure I'm safe, I'll set traps and other things. I wasn't ready before, but this time, I won't make the same mistake, I promise." Celius couldn't skip a day, especially since the animals were a lot more violent than he thought, plus they were quite attracted to the dense essence, which wasn't something he thought would happen so quickly.

Sighing a little, Grandpa Amlenor nodded his head. "Fine, but the next time you get hurt like this, no more fieldwork. What comes will come. If anything, I can just leave early with you and skip the coming of age ceremony by paying the leader a certain price. If he still demands you stay and the town doesn't accept your age, I'll just renounce as an elder and start working with you."

Celius panicked a little when he heard this. Although his grandpa was at the Self Realization realm, his body was very old so too much extraneous work was harmful to him, especially with his old injury still being present, waiting to explode at any moment. 'I can't let Grandpa start doing work, I just can't. He'll die.' He vowed to never get hurt as he did, or at least to hide it properly from his grandpa next time.

After speaking with his grandpa for a while longer, Celius quickly ate some of the fruits and other food he had. There was some food that Aunt Vena left behind so he ate that as well. His appetite grew quite a bit after the injury, so he ate lots. After walking around the house for a few minutes he went to sleep with Rislia. Grandpa Amlenor also left a while later.

This time, Celius didn't have a dream, rather his body was very comfortable throughout the night, especially around his chest, where the orb was being formed. It was so comfortable, that the pain was nonexistent throughout the night, rather he felt as if his body was dipped into a cool spring under the burning hot sun. A smile unconsciously formed on his face as he slept soundly.

The next day came by quickly and Celius woke up late once again, but this time his siblings didn't wake him up, rather they weren't even present in the house. He looked around for a while and he couldn't find them. Panic filled his mind, so he quickly stepped outside. Fortunately, he found Rislia playing with someone; it was Ennie. She was silently stroking the little girl's hair as they both laid on the grass.

"Rislia, Ennie." Celius quickly walked to them and his beating heart calmed down. 'Why am I always running into these situations? Why can't I just have one day where I don't worry about these three? Maybe only when Aunty Esadora comes will I finally have some relief.' Even when his grandpa looked after the three, he worried, and many times came home to them crying. Only his aunt was able to handle them with proper care and make them forget about him for a while.

"Brother!" Rislia got up from on top of Ennie and ran towards Celius. She hugged his leg and laughed at him. "Sleepy again?" Celius smiled bitterly as he nodded his head.

"Brother loves sleeping." He patted her head as she ran off towards Ennie while laughing. Celius walked over to Ennie with a raised eyebrow. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Grandpa Amlenor came over in the morning and asked if I could look after the three again since he was busy with some work." She explained with a sweet smile, before glancing as Celius' chest and left shoulder. "How are your injuries?"

"They're much better. Just one night's sleep helps a person so much, haha." This time he was honest. His injuries were much better. He found it surprising as well since he could still feel the wound's presence and it hadn't even scarred over yet. It was weird, but since the pain was minimal, he didn't complain.

"That's good to hear. I assume you plan on staying home for today, right?" She asked with some anticipation.

"No… didn't grandpa call you to help since I was not going to be here?" He couldn't help but question this.

"What?! You were injured just yesterday. How could you still go and work, at least so soon? Shouldn't you take a few days to rest?" Worry filled her eyes again as she quickly stood up and walked towards Celius. "Your shoulder injury is probably not even scarred, let alone the one on your chest. Plus, you need to make sure you recover the blood you lost, so why are you still going?" In her mind, she was here to help so that Celius could peacefully get some rest, which was why she got the twins ready and dropped them off without disturbing Celius. She also took Rislia outside so Celius wouldn't get disturbed. It seemed like she was the only one who thought this.

"Ennie, I still have to work, I can't miss a day. If my field is destroyed then how will I provide for my family? I can't just forget about it after a small injury." Celius could see that Ennie was worried, but he couldn't just skip because of that. Work was important. He needed to raise three kids.

"But you're still hurt…" Celius smiled at her and patted her head. Ennie was a little stunned, but Celius didn't think much of it since he always did it to his siblings.

"Relax, I can handle myself. I've been doing okay for the past three years, haha." He then walked past her as he grabbed Rislia from the ground and tossed her into the air. The little girl couldn't help but giggle as she fell back into his arms. "Rislia, brother is going to work now, alright? Don't be a bad girl and bug big sister, alright? Kiss me before I leave."

Rislia gave Celius a wet kiss on his cheek and then Celius gave one to her. He then put her down and waved goodbye. Rislia waved back before running to Ennie. "Big sister, brother gone." She tugged on Ennie's green skirt, finally pulling Ennie out of her stupor. A blush appeared on Ennie's face as she glanced in the direction Celius walked to.

"Alright Rislia, let's go and play something, alright? Then we will go pick up your big sister and brother. After that, we'll go to eat, then we'll play in the water. We'll go for a walk and look at animals as well. You want to?" Ennie grabbed her little hand and walked into the house with her.

"Wooh! I want to!" Rislia jumped in the air and laughed. Ennie smiled at the sight as well.

Celius reached his field and found that a small number of animals were gathered around the borders, but they were too small in size to cross over. The place was perfectly fine, which was all his good luck. Anything could have happened during the night, but luckily nothing did. The first thing he did was stretch, and then he began to chop some trees. He didn't have many materials to use for traps, but there were a lot of trees.

He quickly cut down dozens of trees and began to make large stakes to place outside the fence. He also used his shovel to make holes at random places. He placed a stake in each hole and then covered it with leaves. To make sure that he knew where they were, he circled the hole with his ax, make a line on the ground, telling him it was there. Although it was still a little hard to tell, he was sure he could manage.

Doing this took him over five hours. His body was still weak, plus his chest and shoulder would begin to hurt after working for too long, so he had to take many breaks. A few small animals did attack him throughout the day, but they were easily handled. Plus, some of them fell into holes he already made. The sun was still high up in the sky, so Celius decided to make a small moat outside the fence, for further protection. This was a much harder task than just making a fence. He had to dig a large ditch that circled his whole property, and this was the easiest part. The most difficult task was finding a way to transfer the water from the many ponds into the moat. "This should take me a few days at least. Plus, animals might attack mid-work, so I have to be careful." He picked up his shovel and began to dig. He decided to start from the place the boar broke through a day prior. Since it was the weakest location it would be better to increase protection there. He began to dig. Of course, he took his shirt off since the heat was killing him. His bandage was still tightly wrapped around him, which bugged him, but he didn't do anything to them yet. He was going to wait until he got home to change them. Plus, the scent of his blood might attract some unwanted guests as well, possibly another Blood Bear.

He worked for another five hours and was able to dig a little less than half of the perimeter. He had lots to do still, but it was time to go back since night had already arrived. He wasn't too worried about Ennie and the rest as she had some experience now and Aunt Vena probably visited a few times.

Animals would frequent him while he was digging, and even a small boar came for the hills at one point, but most of them fell into the traps or ran into the stakes. The boar was injured because it fell into a hole and Celius killed it. To make sure the smell of blood didn't spread too far, he picked up the larger animals and threw them further away from the field, while taking the smaller animals and skinning them for his family. The smaller animals were sometimes squirrels, bunnies, and even birds. Of course, he killed the birds himself. They wanted to snatch the food from the air, and one of them was even successful when he wasn't looking. They dug into the boulder and ate the growing flower, which drove Celius crazy. He wanted nothing more than to kill all the birds in sight, so he killed any that he saw, even some who flew in the air, minding their own business. He would throw rocks at them, sometimes hitting them, sometimes not.

Taking all the food he gathered, he began to walk in the direction of his home. His mind was exhausted, but also somewhat down at the loss of a single flower. Although he was growing many at once, it was still a risk to lose even one flower. Who knew how the final product would turn out? What if they were so terrible, that no one would buy them? In that situation, having more at hand would allow him to gain some profit.

He reached home quickly and found the four outside, gazing at stars. "Sister Ennie, what's that? It looks like a person." Alura pointed at one of the constellations and asked.

"You dummy, that's a demon. A demon. I will destroy it." Elrith replied before Ennie and pointed his sword at the constellation. "People don't live in the sky, only demons do."

"Be quiet, Elrith, or I'm gonna tell brother." Alura snapped at her brother. Just then, her vision caught sight of Celius. She jumped up and ran towards him. "Brother!"

"Alura," Celius couldn't help but kiss Alura all over her face. He hadn't seen her all day, which was very rare for him. Seeing her after such a long time made him extremely happy.

"Brother!" Elrith also ran over, dropping his stick on the ground. He gave Celius a big hug, while the latter also kissed him all over his face. The two couldn't help but giggle as they felt their brother's warm lips. "Stop." Elrith struggled a little before getting out of Celius' embrace. He pouted a little before walking away with a smile. He grabbed his stick and hugged it before walking back to Celius' side.

Celius couldn't help but smack his butt before smiling wryly. "Do you like your stick more than me?"

"No, but I need it to kill demons. I can't leave it around, Rislia could get hurt." He spoke with a serious expression as he sat down onto the ground.

Rislia got up from the ground and ran to Celius as well. Celius didn't leave her out and began to kiss her all over her face as well. She giggled cutely but didn't struggle like Elrith. "Did you have fun with your sister Ennie?" He asked both Alura and Rislia with a smile, one sitting on each of his legs.

"Yea, we went swimming." Alura answered first as she laughed. "Brother, I will marry you, right?" Alura suddenly asked as she sat on his leg.

Celius was a little taken back but smiled back at her. "I can't, Alura." He smiled as he saw her eyes become wet.

"Why?" She crossed her arms and looked away. "Do you want to marry someone else? Is it Sister Ennie?"

Ennie was a little stunned when she heard this and blushed a little. She looked at Celius with some expectation building up in her heart, but it was completely torn apart by his next words. "I can't marry her, she's my big sister too. Just like how you're Rislia's big sister, right?" Alura nodded her head when she heard this, but a pout was still on her face. Ennie was, however, feeling very disappointed by his words and her face became somewhat ashen.

'So, he only thinks of me as an older sister? Haha, what was I expecting? Would he have said yes and then married me? That's just wishful thinking.' Celius didn't know that his words had destroyed a girl's fantasies, and he would have been shocked if he found out about Ennie's little crush, to say the least.

"Then why can't you marry me?" Alura couldn't help but ask. Although it was just a little girl's words, Celius didn't want her to think about such things. She would grow out of it as she matured, but he still wanted her to understand it early.

"Well, you, Rislia, and Elrith are the best kids in the world, right?" Alura nodded her head a little. "Then you have to marry the best people in the world too. Your brother is too old for you, plus I'm not as good as Alura. You are much better. Plus, you're pretty and nice. Brother is a sleepyhead, right?"

Alura laughed a little before getting up. "Ok, I will find the best to marry me, but brother you're the best too." She hugged him before running towards Ennie. Celius got up as well, but Elrith latched on his neck while Rislia stayed in his arms. Using one hand to carry Rislia and the other to prevent Elrith from falling, he walked towards Ennie as well.

"Thanks again for the help. As you can see, I didn't get hurt this time, right…Bleurgh" As he was speaking, he suddenly began to vomit. He quickly got on his knees and placed Rislia down. Elrith slid from his back as he worriedly looked at his brother. Ennie quickly got behind Celius and patted his back. After a few more cycles, Celius calmed down.

"Are you alright?" Ennie asked worriedly. Celius turned his head and glanced at her, but his face was filled with smiles. "What?" She raised her eyebrows and Celius began to laugh.

"Impurities! Haha, I just cleared my Kidneys. Haha!" Ennie was shocked and couldn't help but glance at the ground where Celius vomited. There, she saw a pile of black liquid. She was shocked once again.

"H-how? You just got hurt, so how?" She was shocked at the turn of events. At first, she thought that Celius' injuries came back or something, but now she was suddenly faced with an organ purging. Not only that, but Celius had technically caught up with her. She also had only just purged her kidneys.

"I have no clue, maybe the battle yesterday made me push my body to limits, causing it easier to clear my impurities. Possibly after getting better, they cleared? I have no clue, but I cleared my kidneys. Woohoo!" Celius got so excited that he got up and began to throw Rislia into the air, then Alura, and even Elrith. His face was filled with smiles.

Ennie got up slowly and laughed a little. Seeing Celius like that was new, but she didn't hate it. Suddenly, she felt two hands under her arms, and she began to twirl in the air. Her head got a little dizzy with the sudden spin and when she stopped spinning, she slowly shook her head and looked at Celius in shook.

"C'mon Ennie, let me make some food. Yes! I just have two more vital organs left, and then Essence Engulfing! Yes!" Celius was oblivious to the shock he had just given Ennie. He was distracted by his happy thoughts. If he cleared his kidneys around the time he thought he would, he wouldn't have been nearly as happy, but the sudden early purging made him extremely excited. He was one step closer to Essence Engulfing. If he broke through into Essence Engulfing before turning eighteen, then he would be able to see what his uncle left for him, plus moving to a town would be much easier.

Celius ran into the house with his three laughing siblings. At first, they were scared when they saw Celius vomit so suddenly but seeing him so excited made them forget all about it.

Ennie stood still for a few seconds, her face blushing. "Umm, y-yea, coming." She walked slowly, still remembering the feeling of Celius lifting her. Her heart couldn't help but flutter a little.

Getting into the house, the first thing Celius grabbed was the boar meat in the icebox. He took out three large pieces and a dozen smaller ones. He placed them on a single plate and quickly ran outside. He started a fire and then began to cook them. The three kids danced around happily, waiting for the meat. Celius was also filled with expectations. He turned his head and glanced at Ennie, only to find her staring at the fire in a daze.

"Ennie?" He called out to her, but there was no reply. Raising an eyebrow, he walked to her side and tapped her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?"

Ennie snapped out of her daze and looked at Celius' dark eyes, but she felt that his eyes seemed a little weird. Almost hazy, like mist that could be blown away by the smallest wind. Puckering her pink lips, she couldn't help but blow into his eyes unconsciously. When she did that, her face suddenly turned a deep red and she cursed herself for being so stupid.

"Hey, what was that for?" Celius shut his eyes and rubbed his eyes with a little bit of annoyance.

"S-sorry, I thought I saw something in your eyes…" As she was apologizing in embarrassment, Celius opened his eyes and stared at her, but this time his eyes weren't dark like before. They were golden, with a small white ring within the golden. "H-hey, your eyes."

Celius looked at her weirdly but figuring out what she meant. "Shoot." He quickly placed his hands in front of his eyes, but before he could, Ennie stopped him by grabbing his arm and pulling them away.

"Why are your eyes like this? Is this your natural color?" She asked with confusion, but she couldn't look away from his beautiful golden eyes. They had a very attractive charm, almost devilish in ways. They weren't a light brown which resembled gold. No, they were a very bright golden color.

Celius laughed bitterly before nodding his head. "Yup, these are my natural eyes." He didn't want to hide them, but it was safer to keep them a secret until he left the town. His life was on the line.

"Wow, I've never seen golden eyes. Your family has all the things, right? Rislia has green eyes and you golden." Ennie smiled a little before asking in confusion. "Why did you hide them? They're so pretty, so wouldn't it be better if you kept them out in the open?"

"If only, these are a danger to my life as well." He explained sourly, but that only made Ennie more confused.

"How could the color of your eyes put you in danger? They're just eyes." Celius shook his head.

"They're more than just a color." He didn't go into detail since he didn't want to expose the skills of his eyes to too many people.

"What are they then?" Ennie didn't take the hint and asked away. She didn't know what Celius was thinking so she became curious.

Celius smiled forcefully, but seeing that Ennie still wasn't getting it, he sighed before standing up. "Alright, but if I show you, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone else about this, ok? If people find out, then the next time you see me, I'll probably be a corpse." Ennie nodded her head seriously as some expectations filled her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Celius closed his eyes for a second before opening them once again. His golden eyes became somewhat brighter and a black fog started to form around his body. He lifted his hand and the fog began to gather in his palm, turning into a small black cloud. He closed his hand and reopened it, only to find the cloud gone. "This is my power, how is it?"

"Wow! That's so cool." Ennie's eyes brightened as she couldn't believe what she saw. At first, when the fog appeared she was bit creeped out, but when a small black cloud appeared on Celius' hand, she couldn't help but be surprised. "I promise that not another soul will know about this, not even my parents."

"Haha, your dad already knows." Scratching his head, Celius walked over to the fire and began to inspect the food. Seeing that it was still being cooked, he sat back down beside Ennie. "Yea, I told him a while ago. There's a chance that your mother probably knows too. My grandpa is also in the know."

"Celius, how could you not tell me before my dad? Didn't you and I meet first?" Ennie pouted a little which made Celius speechless.

"Well, your dad and I hit it off very well when he came to help me in the field, so I showed him. If it makes you feel any better, other than my grandpa, you're the only other person who knows the abilities of my eyes." He smiled at her. His words weren't a hundred percent true though. His mom and dad also knew of the powers his eyes contained. They were the first to know. Ennie smiled when she heard this.

"At least you care that much, hmph." Celius laughed a little. Ennie also laughed.

After waiting around for a while, the food was finally ready. He gave the kids the small pieces which contained no bones while passing a large piece to Ennie and keeping one for himself. All of them began to eat under the night sky. Rislia sat beside Celius and tried to eat her piece herself, just like Alura and Elrith.

Celius and Elrith ate their pieces like ferocious beasts. The meat was all over their mouths, while Alura and Ennie ate properly. The latter two couldn't help but laugh at the two boys. Even Rislia laughed at the two, although her face was no better. Alura walked over to Celius and used a towel to clean his mouth. Ennie went and cleaned Elrith's, but that was an unnecessary task since the two were still eating and their faces got dirty again.

"Brother, you and Elrith eat so dirty. You should eat like me and sister Ennie." Alura spoke while chewing on her piece.

"Oh?" Celius smirked as he tapped Rislia's cheek who looked at him while ripping into her piece. "What about Rislia? Isn't her face dirty too?"

"She doesn't count. Rislia is still a baby." Alura spoke while shaking her head.

"So, you think I'm a messy eater?" Alura nodded her head, but suddenly Celius grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. She shrieked, but Celius ignored her. Grabbing the piece she was holding, Celius rubbed it all over her mouth. "Alura, I think someone else's mouth is dirty too."

Alura got off of Celius and glared at him. "That's cheating. You did that, not me."

"Really? Elrith, did I do that?" Elrith shook his head with a smirk, but he didn't stop devouring his meat. Celius looked at Ennie next. "Did I do that?"

Just as Ennie was about to answer, she saw Alura looking at her with watery eyes. "Yea, you did that Celius. Come here, Alura. Let me clean that for you." Alura smiled brightly before running towards Ennie.

"See, you and Elrith are just bullying me." Celius smiled as he watched his cute sister pout.

"Haha, alright. Here, you want some more?" Grabbing another piece, he pushed it towards Alura, but the latter shook her head.

"I don't want any. I want to eat some peaches, they're tasty." Alura got up and ran into the house. Elrith then suddenly snatched the piece from Celius' hands.

"I'll take it. It's tasty." Rislia also put her dirty hands in the air and screamed.

"Me too, me too." Celius saw that Rislia was only half done her piece, so he grabbed a smaller one and passed it to Rislia while taking the one in her plate away for her.

"Here, you take a new piece while I'll eat your old one, ok?" Rislia didn't answer him and began to devour the new piece. Celius smiled before tossing Rislia's old piece into his mouth. It was somewhat large, so his cheeks puffed as he ate.

"Celius, you should eat slowly, and you too, Elrith." Ennie pointed this out when she saw both boys eating the meat with fully puffed cheeks. She couldn't help but laugh.

Giving her a childish smile, Elrith continued to eat in his beastly way. Meat flew everywhere as even his nose and forehead had bits. Celius was a bit better off, but there were still pieces on his nose. Rislia saw this and raised her hand to take them off, but her hands were so dirty that rather than removing it, she made his face worse. She began to pout when she saw that, so she ignored him and continued eating her meat.

Celius was a little speechless but couldn't help but laugh. He was about to do it himself, but his hands weren't any better. He reached for the cloth that Alura left but saw a slender hand reach for it instead. He traced the hand and saw Ennie smiling at him. "Let me get that." She grabbed the cloth and wiped the tip of his nose for him. Celius smiled awkwardly before getting back to his food.

'I know mother said to stay away and not fall too deeply, but I can't help it. Celius is just too great a guy to miss. If he doesn't see me like that now, then I'll make him see me that way.' She made this internal proclamation and suddenly felt her heart become relieved. The whole day that she spent with the three kids, she was thinking about her feelings towards Celius. She knew that they were technically cousins, even if their blood relations were extremely thin, to the point it was difficult to trace back as to how they were related, but she had many friends who married people who they were related to, and those couples were much closer in blood. Celius and her weren't closely related, so much so that being called cousins might even be a stretch. Her father and Celius' dad were cousins, but similar to Celius and Ennie, their relation was difficult to trace. 'Is it so bad to like him? He may be younger than me, but age is the only thing he has against me. He is responsible, mature, kind, smart, plus he makes me feel happy.' She kept thinking about this, which was why she decided to wipe his nose. It was her taking the initiative, hoping to make him see her differently. 'I will make him like me, I have to before he leaves the village, or else it's all over.'