Reverse of the Rain

“My lord, have I told you that my friend is in the forest and she is really ferocious?”

The boar swiftly turned left. It saw a beautiful white monkey with blue hair, dashed fast and bared its silver fang into the boar’s neck. The boar quickly ducked its head and tried to block the fang with its own tusk.

Aria beautifully changed the straight blade into the crescent swing, perfectly cut deep into Boar’s neck. No blood leak out of the wound, only neat and clean cut line of blade on the Boar’s neck. Only a single blade slash. She finished off the greater boar, the king of Mud Island.

The boar swayed and took a step back to regain its balance. It turned its head to look at Rain, and its eyes widened when it saw his face. He gave a sad smile in return.

“GRO—NK GRO—NK” Lord black fur said.

“Um, I know that. She removed my tusk too. see, she really is a bad girl,” he said, tilted head a little, looked at boar with a smile.

“GRO—NK, GRONK, GRO—N, Cough, Cough.” blood seeped out of its mouth, but its eyes remained calm. The corner of its mouth lifted slightly.

“Yes, I will take care of it,” he said.

“GRONK” The boar’s eyes slowly dimmed and finally closed. Its body fell to the ground.

“Um, Goodbye” Rain said, while touching the boar’s tusk. He then used a sharp rock to knock off the tip of the tusk. With just two knocks, the pointy red tusk fell off. He grabbed it and held it close to his chest, saying, ‘Farewell, my friend,’ before placing it in his sachet.

He then walked to the nearest rock, sat down, and looked at Aria, taking a deep breath. “What’s next?”

“What next?! That’s not important. Tell me first, how were you able to talk to that boar? Are you a Tamer?” Aria raised an eyebrow and looked at Rain with half-closed eyelids.

“HaHa, me a tamer? How can that be? I don’t have the communication skills, nor even the spirit energy to activate any skills,” Rain replied.

They both looked at each other, and Aria continued to look at him, searching for more answers.

“Hah... Okay, I will speak.” Rain said, taking a deep breath.

“I have no good at hearing or speaking things. I cannot use that wide speaking or communicate monster skill. I don’t have spiritual sense, or what you call a Mana. the best thing that I can do is try to read it facial, breath, eye or anything that I can read, then try to figure it out, what is it want, or let me know or hear, then I just try to send it back. Oh! I also use little knowledge that every friend told me. The scratch of tree over there, the crack of dirt around the area. Even the red tip of his tusk, the big muscle of his back legs. Think and think about how his should move and attack, next and next, predict how should I respond and try to avoid dead as mush as possible. Or speak in your language. I use the intuition. That all, Aria.” he said calmly.

“That... Impossible… So, how can you know where I am?” she asked, wanting to know.

He looked at her confused face and smiled inwardly. “I won’t tell you that. No more answers. We are angry at you.”

“We? Who is angry?” she asked.

He took out little friend, Rocky, out of his sachet. Rocky has cracked all around. Its eyes have tear shape, eyebrow angled to become a roof shape. Looked very sad. “You Throw my friend to the sky. His head bumped with a boar head, his head broken my heart broken too. So we angry at you very much.” He said.

Her hand shaken, the tip of her shoe pinch dirt floor. “Why, have you really been with this nonsense?”

“No, I’m not. I created him with love and care. He carried the meaning of my love. He can send love and care to someone. The one that carries the love will have to be respected.” moved Rocky close to his heart, looked at the sky, shed his crocodile tears.

Vein bulk popped on her hand. swigged her sword horizontal swiftly. “Rain!”

Rain bended body back, air cut of tip of his hair, sweat covered all his body, Dangerous! Lord Boar is right, she is far more dangerous than his. “Aria.. t—that d—dangerous”

Shadow covered her face, only a pair of her blue eye glows. “I’m also angry at you-too. Have you said ‘She is really ferocious, cruel and brutal’, right?” Aria said.

Color on his face drained out. “I—I only s—speak the ferocious word. No, No I don’t speak that, I speak you are beauty and strong. Oink, Oink, mean Beauty,” reached hands out rolled into circle shape, try to explain himself.

“Um.. that means Beauty, right?” Point blade to the sky. “Then What is Oinkyui Oinkyui mean?”

“It m-mean, It mean Smart and Elegance” I’m dead, if she continues asking, I’m run out of beautiful word. I’m dead. Aria’s killing intent is so dense. She really wants to kill me. Help me mother earth.

Her eyebrows knot closer. grabbed sword, her wrist bend a little. “Oh, then what Ugly—”

Spark! sparkle! light around the boar body shone out.

“Aria Aria! his essence already flew out. Have you not do the thing that you often do?” hand pointed to the boar.

She looked at the boar, then looked back at him. “Noted that. I will talk to you later. I’m really curious about that Boar Language.” Walked to boar. The corner of her lip lifted a little.

Phew! Lord boar really help me. I will pray for you. He looked at the lord boar. then activate ‘Verity Eyes’. Particle of light, many color particles slowly fly out of Lord Boar’s body. “Lord boar is really a king of this island, his essence truly rich.”

Aria took out her tomb, “Chain of your memory and soul will belong to us. Return to the tower of god.” A particle start flew to the book, some of it went into Aria. only tiny group ran into the cursed child far away. But cannot piece into his body, only coiled around his body.

Rain smiled at them. “Don’t worry about me. I’m okay with it. Just take care of her instead of me, okay? She needs your help more that me. Ah, can you do me a favor? She’s really, really love a warmth temperature.”

Particle connect tail to each other, then form a circle ring.

“Yes, that warmth,” he said.

Particle transforms into slanted line.

“How much warm she like, right? Um, I think, like a sun in the breeze summer. that should do.” Particle moved up and down to confirm his word. then coiled around his body again, keep it for a second. Then flew to Aria.

“Thank you,” he said.

While Aria collected the boar essence. she felt a sudden warmth on her back. Her vision changed like as pictured flashing. she stood barefoot on warm sand, hot wild breeze and the sound of sea wave caressed and touched her feet softly. Startled, “mother?” turned and looked back. Just saw a dusty-clothed boy who made a silly expression on his face while carefully polishing and scrubbing his precious rock.

“Day dream?... maybe I should take some rest,” she murmured.

Minute passed. finally absorb all the essence.

“Are you finished?” Rain come closed, looked at Aria. “How can we take back all of this big guy?”

Aria looked at Rain.

Rain pointed a finger at his face. “Me? How can I drag or carry this big guy? My bone will break into a thousand pieces,” he said.

Her eyebrow knot in anger. But returned normal in sec. “Huh, I will dismantle it into parts. We will bring only a small part of it. For the rest, Faye will take care of it.”

“Wow! Is Faye has a space item—”

Aria handed a tiny flask to Rain. “And you go washed yourself.”

“I’m I smelled bad?” rain grabbed it, sniffed his shirt.

“No, it is not from you, it form your friend Rocky, the fragrance of lure potion remains. Wash with that soap,” she said.

Rain looked at her with a puppy eye. water cornered out of his eye. hand grabbed together. knee sat on the floor. “Angle from far sky really existing, she appeared and preached the goodness to the world.” light sparkle, little tear dropped out of his eye.

Aria grabbed her sword. “Let’s go!”

Rain responded fast. Ran out while shout out loud “Thank You! Aria!”

“Huh~ finally alone.” Her mouth lifted, smiled warmly, finger tip tap on her own tights. Even her mouth started humming.

—§—

Splash! Splash! “Wow, the water is incredibly clear, and there are fish everywhere. Don’t worry, my friend, as the Fish King, I won’t harm you. Waaa ha ha ha!”

That man swam gracefully in the river, his face bright, resembling that of a smart teenager with a sharp jawline. His long hair floated along the water, its beauty resembling the silk of a northern dress, black but shimmering with a hint of blue. His eyes were the color of the sky, radiating with life and vitality.

Everything about him seemed perfect, like a marble statue, except for the scars that adorned his body, each one telling a story of cut, burn, acid, spikes, claws, weapons, and wounds. On his right hand, he had a round wrist tattoo featuring an angelic pictogram that symbolized his status as a prisoner on this continent.

“I think our cloth is already dry. If we late any further, Aria will get angry with us,” talked with his rock friend.

“I think our clothes are already dry. If we take any longer, Aria will be angry with us,” he said, talked with his friend made of rock. He emerged from the river, dressed himself, and grabbed his bag. He wrapped bandages around his arms and legs, wearing handmade sandals crafted from grass and twigs. Then, he closed his eyes slowly, activating his ‘Verity Eyes’, allowing mana to envelop the entire forest. The colors danced like waves, revealing the names of various plants and trees.

“Where are you?” he asked, glancing to the left and sweeping his gaze to the right. “Ah! There you are,” he exclaimed, spotting a tiny white dot shining brightly like a star. It was the essence of Aria.

He sprinted through the forest, but something caught his attention in the corner of his eye, a large, black ball. He stopped in his tracks. “Could it really be you, the black gem of the forest?” He moved closer, his hand trembling and the hair on his body standing on end. Joy surged from his gut and reached his eyes, causing his eyes to sparkle like stars. “It’s you!”

—§—

“Finally,” Aria exclaimed, clapping her hands together. The lord boar had already been transformed into neatly arranged meat, with no traces of blood or odor. Not a single stain of blood could be found on Aria’s hands or dress.

As she stepped out of the dense forest, a woman in a red dress approached her.

“You did an excellent job, as always,” Faye said, admiring the clean and well-prepared meat. “You even used mana to prevent it from rotting, saving me a lot of time. My magic box would have been ruined if it got dirty with blood.”

Aria looked at the red witch.

“We’re alone. Let’s not talk too much,” she said.

“Oh, I forgot. I’ve been with him for too long. By the way, where is he?” Faye asked.

Aria noticed the change in Faye’s eyes. “Your eyes have turned scarlet,” she stated.

“Yes, they have reached the gate,” Faye confirmed.

Aria took out a sacred book and began reciting an incantation. “Heart of mother earth, eye of greater sky and the way of free man. This land shall be your and all the other innocent will.” A magic circle slowly illuminated the area, with cryptic letters filling the space between the circles.

Faye nodded in gratitude.

Aria closed the book and returned it to her waist. “Suit yourself.” She said, taking a sachet of meat and heading towards the camp.

“Wait, what will you do tonight?” Faye asked.

Aria turned back briefly, glancing at the red witch. After a pause, she replied, “I will make a soup.” With that, she continued walking.

As Aria’s shadow disappeared into the forest, the red witch touched her earring and then her lips. Her scarlet eyes gleamed like a dark sun. Her shadow expanded, forming a ferocious creature that filled the entire magic circle area. “Ah, a soup... Leave some for me,” a cold voice echoed.