Afterglow

When Duru woke up, everyone else had already left. Only the Tree Spirit Lord remained nearby, lazily basking in the sun.

For a moment, he had yet to fully come to his senses, as though he were still immersed in that boundless ocean world.

Drip, drip—

Only when the water mist around him began to condense into droplets and fall upon his brow, their cool, damp touch slowly recalled his mind.

He rose uncertainly and looked around uneasily. Why had everyone else disappeared?

"You're awake?" The slightly frivolous voice came from the Tree Spirit, who was sunbathing.

After arriving here, Duru had learned of the Tree Spirit's identity from the staff outside. This was an old monster who had lived for who knew how many years, one of the three great ancestral spirits of the Mirror World.

Thus, when Duru heard the Tree Spirit's question and saw that there was no one else here, he answered respectfully.

"Tree Spirit Lord... I, I, I didn't know what happened to me before, I just..." Duru wanted to explain his earlier state, but after stammering for half the day, he did not know where to begin.

The Tree Spirit waved a hand and explained for Duru. "That was the effect of Ocean Rhythm. It allowed you to enter the enlightenment of the ocean lineage. So, did you gain anything?"

Enlightenment? Duru recalled what had happened earlier. He had only felt himself sink into the ocean's embrace, his entire body relaxing. There had been no fear, no worries, as though everything in the world were but a trifling matter.

He drifted with the graceful, gentle waves, resting his head upon rings of foam as he slowly sank toward the seabed. The fish around him did not fear him either, as though he were simply