Temporal Pearls

Pain was his mother's maiden uncle's name, but he did suffer as he sweats and groaned because he couldn't move his finger at all. But that didn't stop him. After 1:30 hours, the forced Aura remained between his wrist and elbow, the pain spread there too.

Seth bravely and painfully as he groaned, almost crying, manipulated the Aura in a certain region of his body for the whole day. Thankfully, he didn't have to do it in his torso.

When he tried to do that, his Aura went wild and exploded, emitting from every part of his body. And for the first time in 8 days, he slept with a snore.

All this time, his wife was there watching him torture himself. She winced in pain and felt the need to stop him. But she knew her husband hated her. So she kept her mouth shut and just wished for his success in whatever he was doing, as long as it was not about escaping, there was no escaping here.

She looked through the door and shook her head. Seth was the most valuable element their hidden town ever owned and so they will never let him go.

After a deep sleep, Seth woke up with heavy hunger. Thankfully his sweet wife was there with the food.

"So, where is Fratile?"

"I don't know!"

"Hmm" Seth nodded as he saw his development. He can now activate his Aura for minutes straight and he has 1hr as a cooldown.

Not only that, he began to realize the way he emitted his active Aura was actually wrong. It's like he was opening tap water to the extreme. So he tried to see if he could limit it, however, he failed.

An hour later.

An active Aura surged in his body, and it permeated the attire. Also, the staff was pulled toward him which was stopped by the red stream. Seth felt their connection had improved better than before and with a thought, the staff extended but the red stream stopped it and tainted it with red colour which in turn cut the connection with Seth.

"That was good!" Seth said out loud and he glanced at his small wife. She seemed to be smiling at his effort as if happy for him.

Noticing he was looking at her, she asked, "How did you do that?"

He didn't answer and just stared at her but then she looked down with a sigh. "You will be free soon. Nothing bad will happen to you!"

"Did you tell that to those that turned into skeletons!"

"They are immortals. They will revive even after death!"

"No. That was a lie!" Seth said.

"I saw Fratile die several times but he came back to life. And I saw others too and they all came back to life!"

"You are missed informed. Not all death is equal. Those that died on that tree, the ones that dried and became skeletons are dead through and through. They will never revive!"

The little girl was surprised to hear that but then she said, "There was someone who experienced that, he dried and turned to ash, and then the next morning he revived again. That happened five times until one day when he was revived, he gained a special ability that allowed him to control plants. Zezna experienced that too and  she resists dying on her own!"

"Immortality is overrated. Those people are dead. Well, I guess I will be too. Since there were tens of people together supporting a tree, but I'm the only one here." Seth said with a sigh, "congratulations. You will soon be a widow. Since I won't be able to revive.

Poor me!" Seth lamented as he closed his eyes to take a 1 hr nap.

Unbeknownst to him, he made her anxious, she watched his sleeping figure and then remembered all she had known. True, they view people in uniform as humans summoned by their world to help them, even if the people refused to. That was what Uncle Shaman taught them and that was what they believed.

Destiny forced her to be with this man but then he seemed so innocent. He seemed vulnerable but she knew that he was an inexhaustible source of energy that can help them achieve their goal.

She shouldn't have feelings for him, right? But biology was real. Whenever a girl with active hormones meets a boy with active hormones, the illusion of liking began to sprout.

The confusion will not end there, the fake infatuation will make the duo scrutinize each to understand each more. And then love and compassion will build up for one another.

Seth and his alike might have come to help them but can she handle being trapped in a place where her energy was used to fuel something that virtually has no limit to how much energy it requires?

She looked at the tree, it just began to flower, and fruits might come soon but this was its first flowering. The strange thing was that it was only 97 years old. And it can live for thousands of years.

In fact, it should have started flowering when it reached 100 years but now in 35 days, Seth provided it with energy worth 3 years.

What was more amazing was that the shaman said Seth could support it till it formed fruits. Perhaps in a few days to come.

For a moment, she felt her heart moved by that burden. She then made up her mind to help him. She will calm his mind and assure him. After the fruit's maturity, she will free him even if they refuse. Not only that, she will make him happy as his wife.

Suddenly, her cheeks became rosier than they were. She looked down as she tried to not think about anything else. Still, she liked him when he was asleep. His face was serene and those eyes that always questioned her were closed. And he will not taunt her with words.

'I don't want to be a widow!' She whispered to herself.

After waking up, Seth continued to train. It proved impossible to make his finger hold his whole body Aura. Understanding that then he pushed the whole Aura to his hand.

His hand became coated with pale sticky energy, the Aura. Seth pushed out the Aura above his, in hope of projecting it out.

He felt as if something fundamental was seeping out of his body. Something that was resisting. At the palm, pale energy coalesced and began to spill, though it stuck into a rough ball.

The more the Aura came out of his body the more the body resisted but he pushed forward. Seth's mental power was great but...

[Exertion Point: 00]

Seth felt sleepy and he was forced to lie down. Not only that, his eyes blurred as his Aura sight turned off. But he was still able to feel his palm holding something.

Right before he fell unconscious, Seth wished to affect his staff with the accumulated Aura. And he fell into a deep sleep.

Three days later, Seth woke up refreshed, and clear-headed. But there was a new feeling. He sensed his arm was distant away. He looked up and he felt the connection he had with his staff had exponentially increased. Which was great as with a thought, he made it elongate with ease.

But then he frowned, the more he made it move the more he felt the connection was thinning. He understood the Aura he made had made him have distant control but the moment the Aura was exhausted, the distant control would be gone.

He was glad to have that but he felt a pang of hunger and his wife was not around. He stood with the decision to call her but then he decided against that. He has his pride to protect.

He was a prisoner and also an energy source. Asking them for something will make them feel that he has broken and they can treat him however they want.

Not only that, he knew the energy he gave to the damn tree made him feel hungry fast. Because how come he had to eat food every three hours even if he didn't practice Aura?

He was having those thoughts when his wife and an old man came in. The man stood by the door and she came in a hurry. And placed the food before him.

"Are you alright?" She asked worriedly. Seth's eyes thought were on the newcomer. He was old and so was one of the elders he saw at the wedding.

Without answering he pushed down the food that always made his heart calm down. He drank the cold water that made him relax and feel sleepy all of a sudden.

"You like it, good. What is making you sleep for 3 days?"

"What is it in you? Were you not able to take energy from me?"