Yellowish, full of cream in one bite, the taste of crispy and sweet cake, soft and glutinous—even the memory was clearly engraved with the satisfaction sugar brought.
The endlessly swirling and falling Black Ash seemed to possess a hypnotic magic, leaving Su'er, who was guarding the entrance, in a daze. Threads of memory involuntarily stretched back to the past, to that dreamlike world...
'I really want to eat puffs...'
Su'er shivered as if electrocuted. When he suddenly realized such a thought had drifted into his mind, Su'er subconsciously twisted his thigh hard. This was already a conditioned reflex.
Recalling the past was forbidden.
There was nothing. Everything outside the cave remained dark, whether it was the sky or the earth.
"...It's been almost three years..."
As if echoing his whisper, Su'er felt his shoulder being gently patted.
Facing Su'er's gaze, Lenny shrugged and drew a finger across his lips, promising he would never talk nonsense again.
Without the intention of continuing this conversation with Lenny, Su'er simply handed over the night watch post to him, then went deeper into the cave, curled up, and lay down.
Yes, Su'er, who had adapted to this world's life, was an outsider to it—a world as beautiful as heaven compared to this purgatory-like existence.
He never lit a bonfire, instead lying on the stone that continued to emit coldness even with a robe. Su'er gradually fell asleep.
---
Only in books and through the mouths of those still alive was it said that in the most distant past, something called "sun" seemed to exist in this world.
White flames emitting a blazing light, washing the sky blue and transparent, bringing continuous light and heat to all life on earth, awakening endless vitality.
This was the only thing Su'er had searched for like crazy and could find that matched his past memories.
A legend like a fairy tale.
Before this still-moving body, there was only the red moon occasionally visible in the sky, and the red sky itself—the earth burned to ashes by the war between the gods and their creations, and the star power flowing in the sky, meaning the light emitted by the conflict caused by the Spirit Circuits, coloring everything under the sky red, like blood.
In addition to this horrifying scene, for the remaining humans, what was more important and more deadly was the Black Ash, emitting a green light, falling from the red sky.
It fell like snowflakes, but it was far crueler than snowflakes.
The emerald light was the light of the "Spirits" scattered on this planet when they died after clashing with the ashes stirred up by this war. Their dead spirits were extremely poisonous to most creatures, including humans—just touching it would burn the skin; if it accidentally entered the eyes, it would definitely cause blindness; and if it was swallowed, even the internal organs would dissolve.
It was precisely because of this cruelty that the beautiful emerald light was called the symbol of death... Black Ash.
This was information collected from the ruins of the forest Elves. For humans, they couldn't even see the appearance and color of the so-called elves themselves.
It sounded useful, but it was actually completely useless information—after all, who would roll in such Black Ash that would bring death?
Whether they knew this information or not, there was only one choice for humans on expeditions: to avoid such a death storm.
"It should be over soon, drink some water first, Su'er."
Lenny handed his water bottle to Su'er, who had been frowning and looking outside since yesterday. He didn't look worried at all.
The bonfire next to them made a crackling sound, continuously bringing warmth to the group and heating up the food they carried.
Su'er thought about reminding them to save water, but after opening his mouth, he still said nothing, simply raising his water bottle as a silent answer.
The blue light vortex outside the cave had indeed become smaller. Although it looked very beautiful, behind this scenery was the mutual reaction between the Black Ash after the increase in ashfall. Unlike ordinary Black Ash, if one encountered this, no matter what kind of protective measures were taken, the spirit bones contained in the Black Ash would penetrate the protective clothing and contaminate the human body. So it could only be solved by finding a place to hide—the storm of death, this was the name of this unique astronomical phenomenon.
It was very common, not surprising at all, and it didn't last too long, sometimes a few hours, and no longer than a day.
"Isn't it some terrible guys fighting again?"
"Who knows? I hope the aftermath won't hit us."
"That's right..."
Su'er heard his team members whispering around the campfire. If there was any benefit to such a celestial phenomenon, then they could take advantage of this time to light a fire and warm their cold and stiff hands and feet, right?
After all, even the most violent and reckless Werebeasts would not have the courage to go out in such weather, and for a while, they were strangely safe.
"Speaking of which, Su'er and Riku are really amazing. They're so smart at such a young age."
"Yeah, Riku is beyond mentioning. When I first saw him in the village, he was only thirteen, right? He could already speak such profound words at that time. He's also been a very powerful leader these past few years. Only a few people died in such a long time. It was simply unimaginable in the past."
"Su'er is not bad either. He even found a way to grow mushrooms. It's truly unimaginable that food can be grown without soil. If it weren't for Su'er, I'm afraid many people would have starved to death last year? Hey! Su'er! Thank you!"
Perhaps he was too excited; the second person even turned his head and shouted at Su'er.
"Haha, it's okay, it's just what I should do. After all, I can't survive alone," Su'er smiled at the person who believed in him and made a small joke.
To be honest, after escaping from there with Lenny and Credo and joining this settlement, and establishing his own prestige with the bits and pieces of knowledge he vaguely remembered from that world, Su'er truly realized what knowledge is the greatest wealth.
But after this death storm, they should be close to that place, right?
Thinking of this, the smile on Su'er's face gradually faded.