THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

I grab the raizen that glows even more. I can feel it sucking in my Angas. Then the shining golden hue that was emanating from it starts turning red. 

"Huh…" 

"What are you doing?" 

"Hm...I don't really know myself. It just started sucking up my power." 

"Ah? You are compatible? So, you are a half-god now. Congrats!!" Maria comes to me and starts patting my head gently. "You did great.. I am proud of you." That voice…That gentle and supportive voice…It feels comforting to hear it. 

"T-thank you." 

"Then you can use it. I am sure my sisters have their own anyway." 

"Okay, I will." I pull it out of the ground and the raizen starts shining. Then the shining weapon change forms and starts implanting itself into my arm. "What is that?" 

"The safety measure. Now, all you have to do is to think of it and it will appear." 

"I see. But what is that divine gear anyway?" 

"It is…What did he say it was? Ah yes, mine was a bit different from the others. Since I am the first hero, that weapon is the direct manifestation of my soul. This means that when my soul will disappear, it will as well. But for my sisters, the divine gear should be the souls of our previous sisters that died." 

"Huh…I thought you guys couldn…" Well, the Longinus can kill them so they can die.

"Exactly." 

"But what about the hero who came after you, Genesis." 

"I…" Maria's face saddens instantly after she hears that name. "I don't know. When we sealed this place away, she was expulsed as well…" 

"I see." Well, I guess she found another solution then.

"Let's go then. We can't waste too much time here." 

"Okay." I carry Rebecca's body and advance to the doors of the tower. When I push them. They don't move once again.

"Hey, I thought I became stronger. Why isn't it opening?"

"Don't know. This thing almost never opened so I don't know how strong needed to be. But he made based on his own potential so don't be discouraged if you can't open it. There are only a handful of people who would have his level. And you would need that to be able to handle the goddess." 

"Right." I release my dragon aura and push again. The hinges of the doors start making cracking sounds but the doors still won't open. "Tch." 

I put Rebecca on the floor then I release my aura to the fullest and push with both hands. You don't really expect me to use the dragon's form on this door, do you?

"Come on!! Open up already!" The hinges cracks and cracks until finally, the door moves. But then, the sound of the hinges completely breaking resounds and the door falls with a loud sound. 

"Well, that's another way of doing it. Though it seems your power is above his and mine now. Are all dragons that strong, Cissa?" 

"Eh?" Where and why does Maria know that…I keep forgetting that she can read minds. She even read my memories earlier so of course, she knows about my dragon's soul. "I don't think she will answer you, though." 

"No, they are not. Most of us are around you heroes' level." 

"Wait, what?" Cissa answered. But…

"I see. Well, your Angas is different and seems more powerful." 

"Can't you guys not act as if I am not here." It's weird to have someone inside your head talk with someone else outside of it even though you are in the middle. 

"Anyway, let's go. The first floor isn't too complicated so we should reach the second one quickly." 

"How many floors are there on this tower, Maria?" 

"Hundred and two. Though the last one was just an observatory. He liked looking at the stars a lot." 

Maybe I can just destroy it with a dragon's roar and fly to the last floor.

"Don't even think about it. This is a memento of the man I loved." 

"I-I wasn't going to do it." You don't need to look at me like that, you know.

We advance inside and everything is dark. There are no lights. There is no noise. There is no smell. 

"The first floor is a maze used to sharpen since you need it on the other floors. There are no enemies here so you can speed up." 

"By the way, Maria. Those beasts outside; where do they come from? How come they managed to stay alive all this time?"

"Hm…Those pets were created using Angas if I remember correctly. They are supposed to attack everything that enters the forest except us heroes." 

"N'donkeu was that proficient in using Angas?" How come I didn't hear or see anything of the sort then? With everything he created, a lot of things should have been easier to deal with.

"That's because everything we did was most probably erased afterward by mother. She couldn't accept it, I am sure." 

"Yeah, it's true that the first hero is officially Genesis and not you. I wonder what happened to her. The books only say that she went to fight the Longinus deep inside Ioll after it became their territory." 

"Ioll became the Longinus territory?!" Maria turns around to look at me and her eyes show surprise.

"Y-yes. Why?"

"Well, it was the most advanced kingdom at the time. I am surprised they fell to the Longinus." 

"Well, they blew themselves up so…"

"I see. That's unfortunate. And what about Yris. I always loved to go there and eat their seafood. They had the best seasonings ever." 

"No, Yris is still standing. Though I never went there so I can't speak about their seafood." 

"You should definitively go there. No, in fact, you must. Make it one of your objectives. Once you taste their grilled garlic-filled grilled octopus, you won't be able to live without it." 

And just like that, we advance in the maze, in complete darkness. Maria is surprisingly easy to talk to. She really is Farner from another time. It makes me wonder...

If I was born at their time, if I had that power back then…Would I have been able to help them. Would they have lived happily and realized the things they wanted? Could I have been their hero as well?

"Why are you thinking about something so stupid?" 

"Please, stop reading my mind." 

"No, you are a pervert so I must make sure you aren't thinking about naughty things at all times. I can't let my sister in the hands of a pervert." 

"Sigh…" I am not a pervert.

"Yes, you are. And stop dreaming about stupid things. If you were born during our time, you would have been second best at most. N'donkeu would have wiped the floor with your face easily, with or without your draconic power."

"I am sorry to deject. We dragons would never be inferior to Schamerians." 

"Oh, please, Cissa. Why did you guys do that is so extraordinary anyway?" 

"Please, girls. No discussion that doesn't involve me." 

"For one, we have defeated the Longinus and eradicated them from our world." Cissa…Sigh, just continue then. It's not like I am the only real person here. 

"Well, anybody could do that given time. If mother didn't interfere, I would surely suppress them completely as well." 

"Ah, that's right. Maria, did you know a Longinus that looked like a horse?" Now that I think about it, that Longinus leader said we could call her Lucia; I wonder how she had been around.

"A Longinus that looks like a horse? What kind of Longinus is that?" So she wasn't there during Maria's time. She must have appeared later on.

"It's okay. I don't think she had appeared yet." 

"When I came to Schamerin, Longinus weren't too numerous. They were just popping out from small portals here and there so we were traveling a lot. In fact, that's why N'donkeu created that teleportation script." 

"I see." 

Suddenly, I feel a gust of wind hitting my face, refreshing it. It seems we are reaching the end of the first floor. 

"Yeah, indeed. It was faster than I remember. Or maybe we went to the wrong area?" 

"What?" We have circled around for more than an hour now. Please, don't say things like that. 

"Hm…Wait a minute. This » She touches the wall and there is a scratch on it. 

"Yeah, we took the wrong path. Let's go back to the beginning." 

"What?!!!!" 

She can't be serious, right? She must be joking, right?

"Nope, I am not. I told you. This thing is a maze. Even I don't remember every single path to reach the second floor." 

"Aren't you a ghost? Can't you go through walls and see if it is the right path? No, in fact, let me go through the walls and find the right path." 

"Just because I am not physical doesn't I can just waltz through every single thing here. But That's a good idea. Though, we still have to go back to the beginning first." 

"Could it be that you are actually…" 

"Don't you dare say it." 

"I won't say anything but I will think about it." 

"I am not an idiot!!!" 

Yup, I have found Farner's twin for sure.