The Five Principles

How could it not? A mere hairless monkey knows something that even the Elder itself didn't know! If making a comparison, it was like a student knows more than a teacher!

Also, not only Kino talked with the Elder with a calm look, but she also dared to offer the Elder a help. You see, an ancient creature asking a human for a helo is the same thing as crushing its pride to rock bottom, the lowest point possible, even beyond deep sea floor.

So what would happen if a human offered help towards an ancient creature? No need to answer since it was very obvious! The creature's pride would fall lower beyond what stated above, even pierced through the earth's crust and coming out from the other side!

Kino's lips curved upward albeit slightly, the Elder noticed the girl's lips forming a smile that lasts for a brief wink. That smile is the smile that is carved deep in the Elder's mind, no doubt the Elder would remember it for a few thousand years.

The Elder itself didn't know why but its instinct told it so. Anyhow, Kino said this as she flick her right hand fingers, middle finger and thumb to be exact. However, nothing happens.

This makes the Elder ask itself, what is this girl trying to do? Though, its thought soon answered a few seconds later when a space vortex appeared behind the girl, it cuts apart the air and some stuff float out from the vortex and then, the vortex finally closed and the stuff that was a moment ago immune to the laws of gravity, had to fall.

About five space vortices appear behind the girl and the Elder is in awe of it. The Elder itself can't even summon a space vortex but the girl whose age is about in her twenties is able to! What a talented monster prodigy!

However, the Elder suddenly realized something. The vortex is certainly strange, the Elder don't know what part of it makes it strange, but, its millennium knowledge and sharp instincts told it.

Oblivious to the Elder's thought, Kino grabs the stuff laying in the ground. Also, the vortex is closing one after another before finally disappearing into the thin air.

At this time, the Elder was seemingly in deep thought and no one knows what it was thinking. After all the stuff from the ground picked up, she says.

"Elder, I'm sorry if I'm being blunt from this point on but this world is very different from many millenniums ago."

Kino's sudden words makes the Elder close its thoughts and avert its focus to Kino and ask, "the world is changed?" It paused for a few seconds before continued,

"it is normal for eras to start and end. Even without you telling me that, I knew that already"

Even before the Elder fell into a deep slumber, it even expected the era to change not stay. Because if an era stays the way it is, it would prove that humanity or others lost its will to evolve, whether evolve to protect something important or to become stronger, the only way for the inhabitants of this continent to survive is by evolving.

"Elder, this world isn't something you know like in the past. This world is now like a different world, no. This world is already a different one." Kino said as she put the stuff from her hands to the ground in front of the Elder in neat order, from left to right. As if a mercenary was selling antique items.

The Elder has thousands of questions when hearing Kino's words but it decides not to say anything and keeps observing the little girl.

Finally, after a long seconds of can't hold its curiosity, the Elder asked, "what are you trying to do?"

Even with its extensive and profound knowledge, the Elder cannot guess what the girl is trying to do, however, after a few breaths of looking intensely at the stuff on the ground. It realizes something.

There are five items and from right to left, there is an old clock, a half golden map, a compass whose needles are spinning, a symbol crest of a Celtic Knot made out of a metal and a skull.

"These are the Five Principles." The Elder said as he realized what the stuff was about. Each stuff represents the Five Principles.

Kino nodded as her reply. The Five Principles are the most basic rules in the world. Where everyone had to follow it and if one disobeyed it, something worse than death would occured to that person.

Though, it was very rare for someone to break these rules. Except some maniacs.

Averting its attention to Kino from these five items, the Elder asked.

"What are you planning?" It asked. The Elder is now confused but its curiosity is still on the very top, not decreasing even for a bit.

"The first principle is time, it is supposed to keep flowing. Those who break it will spend their life in a time loop for eternity." Kino didn't answer the Elder's question, instead, it explains the Elder about the first principle as if the latter was a child.

The Elder is frowned in displeasure, this kind of act is the same as underestimating its profound and extensive knowledge.

Kino can of course sense the displeasure but instead of stopping, she continued.

The Elder was enraged. Today, it has lowered its pride far to the bottom more than anything and now the girl is underestimating its knowledge? How brazen can she be?

Emotions filling its heart and the black mist behind its head began to grow in size, but the process is considerably slow. Either because the Elder's body had the ability to slow the effect or the black mist itself is slow.

When its emotions were about to blow up, the Elder suddenly remembered its race. The future of it and what would happen if the Elder was gone.

Its heart immediately calmed down. If thinking about which one is more important, its pride or the future of its race.

Then without a sign of hesitation, the Elder would sacrifice its pride to save its race.

A small price to save something much more important, some people may think, but pride itself is one thing that makes the Elder become who it is today.

Oblivious to what happened above, Kino continued.

"The second principle. Information about the world, one must know that some knowledge mustn't be known, a forbidden knowledge."

The Elder nodded silently as it listened to Kino's explanation.

"Elder, the reason I told you this is because I want to show you this."