XIV - The Story of Faith: The Mystery

"So... mind sharing what you know about this place?"

The moment Paolo and Cirxen made the pact, the two entered a dense jungle.

At first, there was nothing but coconut trees – not much of a forest.

But, when thicker trunks began to appear, the entire scenario changed from an outing near the beach to a simulation of a deep jungle exploration.

"Not much, really."

This was surprising for the Magic Knight. "What do you mean?"

"My family and I moved to our current home only recently," clarified Paolo as he manoeuvred around thick tree roots and low branches. "What I heard so far are only passed down from other fishermen."

"Which are?"

"From time to time, some of them would feel as if someone is looking at them from the direction of this place. Stares were so chilling and unnerving, that even the fishes would swim away for safety."

That ain't helpful one bit, Cirxen thought to himself. Shouldn't have expected something.

"Anything else," the male asked as he passed right through a thick tree trunk.

"Nothing else... Except..."

The First Ace was eager to hear the rest of the sentence when his curiosity switched into suffering.

He has been using his magic since they got deeper into the area. Branches, large boulders, and even trees simply had no issue with him. If it wasn't enough, he wasn't looking to where he was going. He had his eye on the guy behind him.

That's when he slammed himself into something. Somehow, his magic failed him.

After picking himself up, he glanced above from his crouching position and glared at what was capable of blocking him.

A giant stone slab.

He would stand on himself, but still not reach the top edge of the stone. The width was just as big. He and Paolo would not be enough to cover the thing, even with arms extended. On its surface, weird carvings lined up, as if they were letters and trying to say a message.

Cirxen ran some fingers on the obstacle. "Thi...This is..."

Behind him, a cry was heard when a pack of rats rushed from behind Paolo. This got Cirxen to turn around and quickly make himself transparent for the rodents to easily pass through him.

With the critters now out of sight, two pairs of eyes returned on the mysterious monument in the middle of the dense, green abyss.

"W-Whoa." Paolo stared in awe as he came closer to the enormous figure. "This is amazing."

"Can you read what's on this thing?"

"Hell, no." Strike two. "I only imagined that since there's this weird thing in the middle of nowhere, this sign must be proof that someone did live here in the past."

In his mind, Cirxen was quite impressed. Well, perhaps, I won't be going back to the benches anytime soon.

"Now, I can try looking for any antique on this island and sell them. Oh, the tubs of fish I can buy with the money I'd get."

Perhaps not.

Cirxen got himself up as Paolo's tanned appendages felt the rough texture of the slab.

"Cirxen-san," Paolo spoke without leaving the monument. "What would you do to whatever you'd find on this island?"

"Well, that depends. If there is something in this island or not. But..." He closed the gap between them. "What you said made sense. If this thing is here, someone must have lived in these parts. Come on let's do some more searching."

Two hours later, they found three more identical slabs in the condensed domain. Although they had varied heights and widths, all had engraved messages.

The sun was already meeting the horizon when Cirxen and Paolo decided to call it a day.

"Guess I better send you to the mainland now. You've helped me a lot already, Paolo."

"Are you kidding me," jested the other. "I love what we're doing. We're looking for a lost part of our world. A great wonder, this could be. I'm willing to stay with you 'till we get this settled, Cirxen-san."

"You ain't staying here any longer," Cirxen stood up to face Paolo, his face contorted with an unmoved demeanour. "As a Magic Knight, I can't possibly sacrifice your safety for companionship. Much so that it's almost nightfall and your family is waiting for you."

"You're here to protect me, isn't that right, Cirxen-san?" Paolo raised himself, his eyes sparking against the First Ace's.

While the eyes that paired the hue of the dimming sun shined with steadfast conviction to protect, the other pair, splashed with the colour of recently burnt firewood remains, was just as adamant.

"I am not leaving this island until we see the end of all of this, man. If something comes, I can also fight, not as well as you, but you can count on me to watch your back and you watch mine."

Both were burning to their core, neither willing to stand aside.

And the sun preparing its curtain call wasn't easing the tension either.

A heavy sigh was heaved. With hands on his waist, Cirxen gave up. "Well... You got me, bro. I'll let you stay. But, if something very dangerous comes, I will instantly send you back to the beach on the mainland whether you like it or not. Got that."

And the two males later buried the hatchet before any wood can be cut with a manly side-hug.

Evening.

The moon was now the witness to whatever occurred that night on that island.

And Cirxen and Paolo decided to rest in a cottage almost swallowed by vines that they found near one of the four giant stone slabs.

It wasn't a comfortable accommodation, but, that's what all they could have within an uninhabited piece of floating land in the outskirts of Clover Kingdom waters. With luck on their side at that time, they got to find blankets inside the broken closet of the dilapidated building. After removing the accumulated dust, they were contented. The First Ace even found several boxes and torn nets in the establishment, but paid them no heed.

Somehow, they decided it would be fun to try camping before hitting the sheets, so they cleared a small open space near the wooden establishment. For food, they found for themselves wild fruits. Some were even considered hard to come by in markets. And Cirxen wasted not a second.

"Wow," said the clearly impressed Paolo as he sat beside the campfire he started outside the cottage. "Aren't you too hungry for a hungry Magic Knight?"

"These fruits are rare even in the capital." Lying over his laid-out blanket, Cirxen responded as he finished one piece of the uncommon fruit. "Like hell I'd let this opportunity slip."

Paolo just let out a boisterous laugh, exalted.

The two continued enjoying themselves under the starry night in complete and comfortable silence.

Before they could consider it a day, nearby grasses rustled.

This alerted the ears of the two, but neither Paolo nor Cirxen moved from their position. The tanned male kept his instincts on guard while beside the fire. Meanwhile, Cirxen was completely lying down, his head over his arm. Nevertheless, he was just as cautious.

Suddenly, out of the darkness, several dark tentacle-like objects rushed and completely surrounded Paolo. From his limbs to his mouth, he was entirely restrained.

Cirxen instantly sprang up, feeling something odd and foreign nearby. But, the event happened so fast.

Before he could do anything, before he could raise a hand to rescue Paolo, the other male was pulled into the unlit jungle, vanishing into where the fire couldn't reach.

Cirxen was left alone in the campsite. However, that wasn't what was bothering him.

Ho... How come I wasn't able to detect that sooner?