Free Web NovelChapter 1995: Chapter 1995: Chasing Butterflies
"The most important Chosen One? Are you referring to yourself?"
It was evident that the soul amalgamation twitched slightly at Shard’s question:
"Referring to the Chosen of Balance. Even among the thirteen Chosen Ones, she is a particularly unique one. As long as she exists, the world’s balance won’t be so easily disrupted.
But the Year Without Summer is merely the beginning of a series of other conditions. After that, the time I can leave Randall Valley will become even shorter. This unseasonal heavy snow won’t last long; except for a few places, the snow in other regions will quickly disappear, and then the temperature will rise. However, in the coming months, sudden and unexpected weather will happen more frequently."
In fact, Circle Sorcerers have means to change the weather and climate, but recklessly using Supernatural Power to influence large-scale climate could potentially cause greater trouble.
"I want to take a trip to the Heart of the Earth with you. I want to see the current condition of the Heart of the Earth."
Shard stood up holding Mia, and the Guardian nodded, causing a straight downward hole to appear on the church floor beside Shard, and he jumped in without hesitation.
Now that the Guardian has management access to the "Heart of the Earth," Shard doesn’t have to go through the "Butterfly Graveyard" each time, disturbing the resting friends and their wives.
The fall didn’t last long. Soon, with the use of the "Feather Fall Spell," Shard lightly descended to the edge of the Magma Lake underground, holding the cat.
It was clear that little Mia was quite interested in the environment, peeking around curiously. Worried that the cat might be more interested in the bubbling magma, Shard held it tightly, then followed the Guardian across the stone bridge over the Magma Lake, reaching the stone platform in the center of the lake.
They stayed there for the entire morning, with Shard feeling the Power of the Earth, eventually acknowledging that this weather transformation, equivalent to a natural phenomenon, was indeed part of the world’s own process. He talked a lot with the Guardian of the Earth, who also informed him how to restabilize the Earth Power here once there were changes. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
It seemed that the Guardian of the Earth intended to make Shard the backup plan if something went wrong, so at least there would be a second person understanding how to stabilize the Earth at the "Heart of the Earth."
As midday approached, their conversation paused, and Shard planned to leave. Yet, when he requested the Guardian to teleport him back to the Church of the Chosen—Space Teleportation with Crystal Shoes was forbidden at the Heart of the Earth—the cat in his arms struggled desperately to leap out.
"Oh no, do you even know how hot the ground beneath me is? Your little paws can’t handle it, they’ll get scorched."
Shard said to the cat, looking down. The Guardian glanced at the cat in Shard’s arms, paused for a few seconds, and then spoke:
"Does your cat have any Special Ability?"
"Yes, it has a very faint ’Son of the Sun’ bloodline and has now mastered the ability to set its tail on fire and spit out small flames from its mouth."
Shard nodded, and the Guardian fell silent again before suggesting:
"The Earth is keystones, the Sun is supreme. The Power of the Earth and the Sun’s Power complement and promote each other. That’s why the Chosen of Balance can comprehend her ’Earth Power.’ Let your cat touch the Heart of the Earth; it might be beneficial."
Pointing to the black stone pillar behind himself, which was the true core of the Heart of the Earth. Three months ago, by touching this pillar, Shard obtained that drop of divinity from the Earth.
"That makes sense."
Shard thought for a moment, walking over with the cat in his arms. In eager anticipation, he grabbed its little paw and slowly approached the surface of the stone pillar.
"Ha~"
With a sudden motion, he had the cat’s paw touch the stone pillar, then immediately pulled it back. The speed was so fast that Shard felt it wasn’t even a second.
"Meow?"
"Maybe you should let it touch for a bit longer."
The Chosen of the Earth reminded from behind. Although Shard was worried about little Mia’s paws getting injured, since the "host" here said so, this time he held the cat’s little paw against the stone pillar, maintaining that position for a while.
There were no special sound or light effects, only the bubbling sound of Magma Lake surrounded them. Shard simply felt that the temperature of little Mia in his arms had increased slightly. Concerned, he looked at the orange and white kitten, but didn’t find any unusual expressions.
The cat squinted its eyes, letting Shard hold its paw, and did not object when Shard finally moved its paw away from the Heart of the Earth.
"Mia, how does it feel?"
The cat obviously couldn’t speak; it simply rubbed its furry face against Shard’s chest, then curled up in his arms, unwilling to move.
Shard looked curiously at the Guardian of the Earth, who remained expressionless, evidently unwilling to offer any opinion.
Then, with the help of the Guardian of the Earth, Shard returned to the Church of the Forgotten, where he happened to meet the maidens who had come to clean and pray. Before leaving, the Golden Dawn Opera Group left a few maidens to maintain the church and support the Wilder Opera House’s operation. They all knew Shard and smiled as they asked about Miss Benanis and Ciris’s current situation.
When Shard emerged again from the basement of the Green Lake Hotel on Green Lake Island, he discovered Mia’s transformation.
Having come into contact with the "Heart of the Earth," a high-level entity from which Circle Sorcerers might gain Spirit Runes, the flames on the cat’s tail noticeably grew larger, and the sparks from its mouth showed signs of turning into small flames.
Overall, the cat indeed became somewhat stronger due to touching the Earth Power, as the Guardian had mentioned. But perhaps due to the cat’s originally weak base of power, even after transformation it remained a small and weak kitty.
With thoughts in mind, he’d already arrived on the hotel’s ground floor. Close to lunchtime, Shard intended to talk with Megan about visiting Edwards’ Old House together and meeting other family members to determine their respective whereabouts. freewebnøvel.coɱ
But as he looked up, he saw Megan, Miss Aphrola, and Granny Cassandra sitting around a table by the fire chatting, with Grace and Helen speaking softly nearby.
The sisters didn’t expect to see Shard so suddenly, and all three were momentarily stunned. Then the maidens in the white and black dresses broke apart into a large swarm of Red Butterflies and flew out through the window.
"Shard, good afternoon... oh!"
"Take care of this for me!"
Shard passed Mia to Miss Rita Swift, who greeted him. He then transformed into a large swarm of Red Butterflies and rushed out the window into the snowy woodland outside.
Though butterfly flight isn’t typically fast, the chase between Shard and the Red Butterfly Maidens in their butterfly forms couldn’t be measured by ordinary speed standards. The twin sisters flew ahead, with Shard in pursuit. Two streaming glimmers chased each other and disappeared into the woodland outside the window in seconds.
The Red Butterflies moved in large numbers, flying over bushes and startling squirrels atop the treetops. The butterfly swarm first crossed the stream that appeared in the woodland after the Green Lake battle, with the two sisters holding hands and appearing on the stream’s far side, smiling as they looked back.
Shard appeared on the shore, gazing across the stream at the sisters. More Red Butterflies danced overhead among the stream and woodlands. Grace and Helen smiled and said to him:
"Sir, over here! Come chase us!"
They laughed joyously, and the stream’s gentle cadence brought an eerie, almost ghostly feel to the laughter of the maidens in white and black dresses.
Holding hands, they ran deeper into the dark woods. Shard stepped over the water and followed closely into the woodland, vaguely realizing this mirrored Helen’s first meeting with him on Sicarl Mountain.
Red Butterflies danced ahead, but the sisters’ figures, bathed in red, grew increasingly indistinct until they transformed back into a butterfly swarm in the slightly dim woods, moving forward, prompting Shard to transform again into a butterfly swarm.
This time the butterflies didn’t fly fast. Above a patch of sparse treetops in the dark woods, on a sunlit snowy ground, the chasing butterfly swarm finally caught up to the larger butterfly swarm in front. Thousands of Red Butterflies from both swarms gradually converged.
Thus, the swarm ceased moving forward and instead freely danced over the grassland covered with snow.
The two groups of Red Butterflies represented the bodies of three people, so their convergence equaled the three people entangling together.
Soon, these Red Butterflies, casting red glimmers, created a red tornado and whirlpool above the sunny grassland; the red glow intensified until the butterflies themselves blurred, rendering only red traces that reflected enchanting light on the snowy surface below.
Suddenly, laughter emanated from within the swarm, followed by dispersing butterflies, leaving the three individuals to fall together in the snow.
To prevent Grace and Helen from falling, Shard deliberately positioned himself beneath them, holding both skirt-clad maidens. Helen giggled as she landed, sprawling onto Shard’s chest, pinning him in the snow so he couldn’t rise. Grace sat up, adjusting her hair with her raised hands while laughing at her sister, joyfully nestled against Shard.
Helen refused to let Shard rise, so he chose to remain lying down. Gazing upwards, facedown on the snowy ground, he watched dappled light traces filtering through branches and treetops overhead.
Though snow still fell, the flakes were small now. The weather remained clear; ever since the battle that night, the weather here seemed cyclically calm and pleasant.
Following the chase, Shard looked skyward, inclined to remain lying here leisurely all day.
Noticing Shard’s surrender, Helen also lay back, resting beside him, gazing at flickering tree shadows in the dense woodland. Grace, having tidied her hair, shared a smile, then lay down with her head resting on Shard’s other side, joining them in watching trees sway and filtered sunlight glint as snowflakes touched their bodies and faces.
No one spoke; vast swathes of Red Butterflies fluttered silently around them, illuminating the dark woods, adding vibrant decoration to an otherwise not mundane landscape.
