In the blink of an eye, the inky tendrils of Vylkr energy that had engulfed him vanished, retracting smoothly into their respective containers.
"HAAA!! HAAA!!!" Orion gasped, his breaths ragged and vision still blurred. His weary eyes scanned the lifeless vegetation and the soil, tainted by his dripping blood, forming a macabre tableau before him.
With one final calming breath to still both his mind and body, he collapsed abruptly, his form sinking onto the blood-soaked earth, unconsciousness claiming him.
Meanwhile, the Princess of the Garden and her vigilant guardians continued to observe Orion with cautious eyes, deliberating whether it was finally safe to approach him or not.
"By Naka..." The Princess of the Garden muttered, regaining her composure and signalling for the pixies to clear a path for her.
Though hesitant, the pixies reluctantly obliged, parting as she advanced. She reached the boundary that separated the barren ground from Orion's unconscious, blood-soaked form.
"Orion," she called out softly as she carefully crossed the threshold. Observing that nothing adverse happened to her, she continued, "What manner of human are you?" She stood before Orion, baffled by this extraordinary sight, as she couldn't recall any record or tale of such a phenomenon in her knowledge of the world.
The notion of a human wielding control over such an immense and dangerous energy source, and not only surviving but remaining breathing, utterly confounded her.
With her fear of the overwhelming energy source gradually dissipating, the Princess of the Garden knelt beside Orion.
Gently, she turned his body to the side and laid him comfortably on the lifeless earth beneath.
"How can this even be possible?" she wondered aloud.
Her hand tenderly brushed through his blood-matted hair, as if attempting to provide solace for the unimaginable torment she had heard in his cries.
Her curiosity raged within her as she silently waited for him to regain consciousness, eager to learn more about this mysterious man.
…....
Fluttering his eyes open, after a few futile attempts to keep them that way, Orion found himself gazing up at the Princess of the Garden.
Surrounding him were hundreds, if not thousands, of pixies perched everywhere, their eyes locked onto him with unfaltering intensity.
Surveying the desolate patch of dead grass and soil around him, Orion let out a heavy sigh, realizing the aftermath of his recent ordeal as the memories flooded back.
He then shifted his attention back to the scrutinizing gaze of the Princess of the Garden. In an attempt to make amends, he said, "I apologize for the mess. If I had known this would happen, I would have chosen a less disruptive location."
However, instead of addressing his words, the Princess of the Garden posed a question that held a tone as emotionless as her expression. "Who are you?"
"Orio--"
"Not your name," the Princess of the Garden interjected sharply, her eyes bearing down on him with a serious expression. "I want to know who you are, are you human or not?" she demanded.
Realizing she sought an explanation for his recent display, Orion nodded in response. "I'm human," he replied, even though at times he doubted his humanity due to the extraordinary experiences he'd witnessed in this world since arriving in the village.
"Then how… How are you still alive? By all reasoning, you should be dead, or at most, a dried-up husk," she asked, her curiosity overtaking her initial apprehension.
Orion's eyes twitched slightly at her words, as they served as a painful reminder of his recent brush with death.
Nevertheless, he replied, "I'm still alive because I can control it."
"Y.." The Princess of the Garden began to respond to Orion's words, but then, after fully comprehending what he had just said, her words got stuck in her throat. She looked down at him with shock evident in her eyes, swallowing hard to clear her dry mouth.
"You can control it…" She finally managed to say, her voice tinged with disbelief. "You can control that deadly chaotic energy."
Orion nodded in confirmation. "Yes," he affirmed, "And it's called Vylkr energy." He took a deep breath and exhaled, observing as the Princess of the Garden continued to swallow nervously.
"H… How?" She asked, her voice tinged with hesitation.
"I suppressed it with my strange energ….." Orion began, but he was instantly interrupted once more.
"You mean your magical energy. Your magical energy is potent enough to suppress the chaotic energy of the Vylkr vines."
"Yes," Orion responded, nodding his head.
He couldn't help but observe the heavily conflicted expression on the mysterious woman's face. She seemed to be in the midst of an internal struggle.
Orion attempted to sit up straight so that he could remove his head from her thighs and talk to her properly, but to his surprise, he found himself unable to move even an inch.
'This is worse than I had thought,' Orion pondered, imagining what would have transpired if he had attempted to form his first container by himself after feeling the sudden uncomfortable influx of Vyllkr energy within him without the help of the lake.
"Do you even understand what you've just said?" she asked, staring at him in disbelief. "The vines… the Vylkr vines consume everything in their path, and that doesn't just include everything that possesses life but magical energy too. Once they're done, whatever they've consumed is turned into that chaotic energy, which also destroys anything it touches."
"And you're telling me that you can control that… that chaotic energy inside your body, and even suppress and control it with your magical energy." Her eyes narrowed at him for a moment before she released a deep sigh, calming her mind as she asked the question that had been bothering her from the start, "And how did you end up with such a huge amount of the Vylkr vines' chaotic energy inside you?"
Faced with this question and considering her various reactions to his answers, Orion was uncertain about whether he should respond or not. After all, there was no other way to explain how he had obtained the Vylkr energy inside his body except by consuming the Vylkr vines themselves.
