11

The barrier in front of them was one of the most basic forms or barriers. It was able to keep intruders out but not able to let anyone in or out and was usually used as a last resort for many people when they were cornered and awaiting rescue.

Ruo Chen's brow twitched in indignation as he stared at it. Am I really that weak in your eyes that you only set up a basic barrier?!

But it was understandable for Ye Ran to act this way as they did not learn how to form barriers during the year together and in normal circumstances it was correct to use this type of barrier. However, Ye Ran does not know that Ruo Chen created all these moves and thus would of course know how to counter it.

He hopped off of Xiao Pang before placing a hand on the barrier. Ruo Chen tested it by trying to push his hand in but was stopped by the translucent wall. He then gathered his energy from his core before slowly injecting it into the surface he was in contact with. 

A dark vein of energy could then be seen travelling upwards to the centre of the barrier. The trick to destroying these were to attack the centre which was its core with your energy. The dark line then slipped into the small red dot at the top and in a few seconds, the reddish translucent wall shattered into pieces like glass.

Just that it was just more of an illusion and one would pass through the fragments if they were to try to catch it. Ruo Chen's control of his energy was superb as if would usually take a few years to perfect your control of your energy to control its shape and power. This was apart of him that even he was quite proud of. 

This was almost like a test for him to prove himself. However, there was no time to celebrate and he quickly climbed back onto Xiao Pang before heading deeper into the forest.

The moment the barrier broke, Ye Ran would've been notified by the break in connection between him and it and he might be speeding up the process now. Sweat rolled down Ruo Chen's brows as he chewed his cheeks.

Not good. What if to speed up the changing, Ye Ran agrees to something absurd?

Ruo Chen groaned at the thought but could only prepare himself for the worst. He soon saw a gentle glow of light not too far off in the distance and told Xiao Pang to faster up. 

That must be from the spirit of the fruit.

***

"Oh young one, what makes you want to change your resonated energy?" An elderly voice belonging to a deer asked.

"Cut the chit chat and just tell me what you want." Ye Ran replied coldly and he gathered energy in his palms. He had an inkling that things would not go smoothly for him tonight and thus wanted this done as quick as possible. 

"Don't be impatient young man, it's bad for your health." The spirt said with a low rumble.

Ye Ran only stared at it blankly, he wasn't having any of its jokes. The spirit as if chilled by how cold Ye Ran was towards it, realized that something was different about this kid and quickly changed his tone from frivolous to serious.

"I can sense that you want to resonate with the dark...and that you are dead set on it...but fire is the most suited for you. No matter, I want oranges for my request." 

Ye Ran was a bit taken back by the simple request as he had read about cases of the absurd request like asking for an arm and an leg but his face remained clam. The spirit sensed the change in his emotions and let out a deep chuckle.

"Kid, there is something different about you and I can feel the deep pain you feel. This is not normal for a kid your age."

"Hmph." Ye Ran scoffed before running into the forest to search for oranges.

He was back in a jiffy as he carried ten oranges with a bad made from his energy. He then threw the bag in front of the spirits feet before saying, "Do your magic now."

"No rush." The spirit said as it used its legs to check the oranges for damage. 

Ye Ran was about blast a ball of energy at its face when he sensed that his barrier broke. He quickly whipped his head to the direction of the dark energy he felt and smiled.

So that was what his senses were warning him about. This Ruo Chen has changed through and through. From being a stupid clumsy bully to...to a smart and...

Ye Ran found that he couldn't finish the thought and he gritted his teeth, he mentally cursed something in his mind before turning back to the deer spirit.

"I picked the good ones, do your work now!" His tone now contained a hint of threat as the ball of energy in his hand grew bigger.

But the spirit was not threatened by this as even thought it seemed weak, it was still a spirit. They were powerful in their own way and not to be underestimated.

Unfortunately for the spirit, this kid was not of ordinary calibre and this blast could very likely blow off a part of its body.

Just before Ye Ran could fire off the shot, a small thread of dark energy flashed around his hands and scattered the ball of fire energy. 

Ye Ran's eyes widened in surprise. How did Ruo Chen reach here so fast?

"Ye Ran!" Ruo Chen shouted in anger as he arrived before him on Xiao Pang.

"Why did you leave in the middle of the night? Do you know how worried I was?" Ruo Chen scolded while taking mental note to not say his true thoughts which were, 'why the hell would you make this big decision without even talking about it with me!'

But he could not say those words out loud as they would reveal the fact that he would know the fruit which was typically not known by children as they were only taught in school which starts when they are 15.

Ye Ran opened his mouth to respond but he found himself hesitating. In the end, he only seemed like an idiot, closing and opening his mouth for nothing.

The spirit, now amused by the scene, decided it was now time for it to fulfil his part of the agreement and soon a warm glow enveloped Ye Ran's body.

Ruo Chen immediately ordered Xiao Pang to attack the spirit while he himself tried to talk Ye Ran out of doing it.

"What are you doing Ye Ran? I don't know what it is but please stop it!" The desperation in his voice was real as he was both worried and annoyed at the fact that he had to change his words to conceal his true identity as the author.

Ye Ran only stared at Ruo Chen with an indecipherable look on his face. He had a lot that he wanted to say and to explain but he just couldn't bring himself to speak. He grew frustrated at his own inability and waved a hand at the spirit.

The spirit was met with an attack that caused it to stumble back and the warm glow stopped enveloping his body. 

Ruo Chen felt his shoulders relax at this sight, at least the changing was stopped.

Xiao Pang who was wrestling with the spirit also let out a sigh of relief, he wasn't the spirit's match and he would not have held on for much longer. Said spirit only smiled at the attack before dissipating into dust.

Something was terribly wrong here.

The spirit would on disappear if its job was done...

Ruo Chen felt the world slow down for a second as he turned his head to face Ye Ran. Blood seemed to drain from his face as he stared at the shorter boy, he felt lightheaded and the world seemed to spin. The weight of the world seemed to rest on his shoulders as he felt himself hunch.

It's over.

You only get to use the fruit once.

The foundation you built up over a lifetime...is gone. 

Just like that.

His face contorted in a mixture of grief, despair and anger as reality hit him. Using the fruit was akin to being reborn, all your foundations are gone and you start from scratch. The moves you created before will never be as powerful as it used to be and you're most vulnerable for the next two years as your body adapts to the change.

The taste of copper filled Ruo Chen's mouth as he bit his cheek. No one spoke and he dazed into the dark forest, the whispers of the wind seemed to mock him of his own incompetence to stop Ye Ran.

He knew that this would not affect Ye Ran's strength in the future, yet it just felt so wrong to see something throw their hard work away for... someone like him. Especially since he knew of all the tragedies Ye Ran went through to get to his peak. The amount of blood spilled in the journey was enough to drown the whole world.

"I changed my resonance." Ye Ran said plainly like it was just the most trivial thing in the world. He could not understand what Ruo Chen was feeling at the moment.

Firstly, he doesn't know that Ruo Chen was already aware of the situation.

Secondly, he doesn't know that Ruo Chen is the author.

Lastly, he was always bad with emotions. He could never understand his own so how could he know of others?