Leaving

This was a vast terrestrial planet, nearly ten times the size of Earth.

The planet was green on the surface, with green grass and flowers covering the ground and enormous trees towering into the sky.

Although the planet was covered in trees, flowers, and other greenery, there wasn't a single bird or beast to be seen—let alone any humans.

Yet at that moment, there was a figure on a plateau on the planet.

He was a handsome young man of about sixteen. His black hair stood half upright, framing a refined, handsome face, with his bangs parted on either side of his forehead.

The young man wore a red robe over a black, form-fitting suit. A brown tail could be seen wrapped around his waist beneath the robe.

At that moment, his eyes were closed, his back straight, and his legs crossed. His hands rested on his thighs as he floated in midair, yellow energy occasionally flickering around him.

Suddenly, the young man's eyes snapped open, and the energy around him slowly faded.

He landed on the ground, then slowly turned toward the empty space ahead.

"You're here."

Strangely, there was nothing but empty space in front of him, yet the young man seemed to be speaking to someone.

But soon, a clear voice rang out, and something stirred in the space ahead.

"Aw, you still found me. Guess I can't hide from you anymore."

As the clear voice rang out, the empty space ahead suddenly began to warp. Soon, a figure appeared where there had been nothing.

She was a girl of about fifteen, with silver hair and a delicate face. A pair of pointed ears peeked out from her hair, with red earrings hanging beneath them.

The girl wore a disgruntled expression as she gazed at the young man before her, looking somewhat resentful.

"..."

The young man silently looked at her and shook his head before speaking indifferently.

"Laila, you came at just the right time. I'm leaving."

The girl—no, Laila—stared at the young man in shock. She hurried to his side, then looked up at the young man, who was a head taller than her, and asked in astonishment,

"What's wrong, Kast? Did something happen?"

The young man, Kast, looked into the distance, then turned his gaze back to the girl in front of him.

"Laila, my training has reached the next stage. I need to go out and seek a breakthrough. This place can no longer meet my training needs, so I have to leave."

As he spoke, Kast took a small, transparent bottle from inside his clothes. It contained a few drops of bright red blood.

"This is my blood. I promised it to you before, and now I'm giving it to you."

With that, Kast tossed the bottle to Laila.

Laila caught the bottle filled with blood that Kast had given her and hurriedly said,

"W-wait."

"Hmm?"

"Y-you can't leave yet!"

Seeing Kast's puzzled expression, Laila continued,

"Y-your strength hasn't reached its limit yet. Right, you're not at your strongest yet! You just said you could still break through, so I don't need your blood yet. You have to stay until you break through and reach your peak. Then you can give me your blood."

As she spoke, Laila threw the bottle in her hand to the ground, smashing it to pieces.

Kast, standing nearby, didn't react to what Laila had done. He merely watched her in silence before speaking.

"You do have a point. But for me, this blood is from the peak of my current strength. Since I've already given it to you, I've fulfilled our agreement. It doesn't matter that you just smashed it. I've kept my promise, and now I'm leaving. You have no excuse to keep stopping me."

As he spoke, Kast turned toward the place he had been looking at earlier and slowly began to float upward.

Seeing Kast turn away without the slightest change in his expression, Laila panicked.

"No!"

Laila hurried in front of Kast to block his way.

"I said no! You have to stay here until you break through. You can leave after that!"

As she spoke, Laila assumed a fighting stance, preparing to force Kast to stay.

But Kast wasn't the least bit fazed by her stance. He continued in the same calm tone,

"Laila, have you forgotten? You're no longer my match! I had enough strength to rival yours a year ago. I'm even stronger now, and you can't handle me."

Kast folded his arms and continued,

"I didn't leave before for two reasons. First, I hadn't yet reached my own limit. Second, we hadn't fulfilled our agreement. Otherwise, I would have left a year ago. Move aside, and I can still give you another drop of my blood. If you don't, you might get hurt."