Death… And Me

\'However,\' Jakar continued, \'If the feather dies, our race will instantly lose our high affinity. It\'s not like we would be bad at using Wind Element, but you wouldn\'t be able to call us one of the top races when that happens.\'

Rean found it strange. \'That feather of yours has the power to influence your entire race? How come?\'

\'I wish I knew,\' Jakar answered. \'However, it has always been like that. You can already imagine why I decided to flee, right? They kept treating me like some treasure. I\'ve never had a single second without a thousand Divine Senses watching me. I had to go through quite an arduous process to obtain my freedom.\'

\'Well, you\'re not free anymore,\' Rean answered. \'After all, here you are. I don\'t think they\'ll let you leave again. Of course, I\'ll continue to follow your story as you wish. However, you must give me something in exchange.\'

Jakar could only nod in response. \'Sure, what is it?\'

\'I need two Iridescent Tears. I was surprised to hear that you were part of the Winged Provis Race, but it is also convenient that you have it.\' Rean immediately made his request.

\'This...\' Yet, it seemed like things weren\'t that easy. \'Can\'t you ask something different? The Iridescent Tears are a little...\'

Rean shook his head in response. The Starlight Body Cultivation Technique made by the system was very specific with its requirements. \'No can do. It has to be the tears.\'

Jakar then explained, \'That\'s gonna be complicated. It seems like you don\'t even know what an Iridescent Tear is and how difficult it is to be obtained.\'

Rean shrugged his shoulders. \'I think I have a lot of time now that you dragged me into this shit. How about you tell me why these tears are hard to get?\'

Jakar continued, \'Alright. Iridescent Tears are a type of liquid that only appear in the very center of our sanctuary. No more than a single drop comes out every hundred years. As you can imagine, they are marvelous for our cultivation. Some of us might never have a breakthrough if we don\'t use one drop of those. Of course, we would only give it to very high-level members stuck in their cultivation.\'

Rean felt things were becoming quite difficult. \'That complicated?!\'

Rean pondered over it for a bit before asking, \'However, you still can get them, right? I just need two drops, and your race has existed for who knows how many years? I\'m sure you guys have saved quite a few of those tears for other purposes. I know that I definitely would have done that.\'

Jakar nodded. \'That goes without saying. Still, getting two drops of the Iridescent Tear without a good reason is not easy. You can probably imagine how many of us are in the queue to receive a drop. There is simply not enough for everyone.

Rean insisted. \'But you can get them, right?\'

Yet, Jakar answered with a question. \'That depends. Can you help me get out again?\'

Rean didn\'t like it. \'I\'m already following this story of yours, though? And here you want more? No, first of all, how the hell do you even expect me to help you leave this place? I\'m not sure if even I can leave.\'

\'Oh! I\'m counting on you to find a way,\' Jakar answered.

Rean ran through hundreds of curses in his mind before he returned his attention to the spirits in front of them. "Ahem... My friend Jakar here must gain experience, don\'t you think? If you keep him locked because of the Golden Feather, will he be able to defend himself if something goes wrong in the future? Experience is also important."

The male Winged Provis looked at Rean with a dark expression. "He\'ll get his freedom once he reaches a cultivation high enough to guarantee his life. You have no need to express your opinion."

Jakar obviously agreed with Rean. "Dad, Mom, Uncle Fran, our race does go without the Golden Feather many times. Even if I die, the race just needs to wait until a new Golden Feather holder is born. You\'re just too intoxicated by the extra power the existence of the Golden Feather is giving you."

Rean tried to help. "He\'s probably correct. It\'s obvious that Jakar hasn\'t lived that long. That means you guys didn\'t have a Golden Feather holder before him, right? Is that really such a big deal? Can\'t you allow your kid to pursue his dreams? It looks a lot more that you\'re trying to help yourselves rather than help him."

Ligra really didn\'t like Rean. "That\'s why he ran away! Because idiots like you put such ideas in his head! I don\'t even know we\'re still listening to you talk. Fran, if you want to do something with this guy, just do it already."

"If you hurt Tian, I\'ll never forgive any of you!" Jakar immediately tried to save Rean.

Fran pondered over it for a bit before saying, "How about this? I can see that you two are quite close as one tries to protect the other. We can let your friend go without any repercussions. However, you have to stay here and cultivate diligently. Don\'t forget that the Golden Feather makes you the next leader of our race. It\'s something you can\'t run away from."

Fran then looked at Jakar\'s father. "What do you think, Luio?"

Luio narrowed his eyes in response. It was obvious he didn\'t like Rean very much either.

However, it wasn\'t enough for Rean. It was then he had an idea and used Divine Sense to ask Jakar. \'How much freedom can you have in this place at least?\'