A few months had passed.
Not much changes had occured on the valley, at least on the surface.
The morning mist still flowed like silk between the trees. The birds still sung in the valley, and the waterfall still dropped it's seemingly endless current. But if one felt closely, if one listened closely, they would know, they would feel it. The energy under all that had changed.
Ren didn't see the change, he felt it clearly.
The energy around him had drastically changed, it used to move in rhythm, not caring about the beings around much, but now, it was around him all the time, following him even, like a child following it's parent.
He sat in his usual spot, near the edge of the nearby stream under the waterfall. His eyes closed, breathing measured, so faint it barely stirred the air, but around him, the energy, the threads, they moved along with him and his breathing, closely and rhythmically.
Once just a just a whisper around him, now it was like a living thing, dancing around him happily. Every breath he took, every step, it moved around with him cheerfully.
His training had changed, evolving, what started as simple stone balancing and leaf chasing, not became something more complex and a bit...strange.
Once walking tightropes blindfolded, now walking through fog blindfolded and having to navigate his way using the thread traces around him before they vanished.
His father never questioned his ability aloud, never even showed any visible doubt. But Ren could sense the miniscule changes, the longer silences. The way his father's fingers sometimes flexed subtly or the surprise barely evident in his eyes. or how he seemed always on edge as if ready for something unseen.
But the oddest part?
The threads had begun being more active with him, it started showing him things differently, different rocks echoed differently, the wind seemed to be whispering something to him, barely audible. When meditating, it wasn't pure silence anymore, but layers of soft sounds.
Every time, a question had always throbbed in the back of Ren's mind.
Why is it following me?
In contrast to that, Mei's presence diminished, visiting him rarely, saying she too had to train as him attendant.
Ren didn't know what Mei's training consisted of, after all at the time of her training, he too was training, so he never questioned her if she didn't tell him, but he could feel the changes in her, especially after his thread sensory became better.
He could clearly see the energy around her had changed, becoming firmer and denser, almost as if clinging to her.
Of course, she still teased, dropping water on his head while he's meditating, flicking berries at him if he messed up too much.
Ren didn't know what to make of all that, but he still liked to train and get stronger, therefore closer to his goal. So he never really cared much about the intensity of the training he had.
But at night, he started having strange dreams.
Of a vast sky that didn't have any stars.
Of woven threads connecting moons together.
Of a silhouette with no visible features, neither looking kind nor cruel, watching him from afar silently.
When dreaming, he always felt that the threads around him were being woven into something great, something he couldn't comprehend.
Meanwhile, atop a hidden cliff, stood two familiar figures.
Mu Qinglan's eyes were sharp, with her hands besides her.
"This world is showing him too much favor, this shouldn't be possible, not this early and certainly not in this desolate place. Not without a significant price...." Her husband's voice echoed in her ears.
"It seems someone, or something else is watching too, causing all these irregularities." She replied.
"We're sorry for what will happen to you, but we couldn't have risked it, I hope you'll one day forgive us when you come to find out." Mu Qinglan muttered in a low barely audible, cracked voice.
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Back in the valley, Ren sat lazily beneath a tree, staring at the stars once more, his heart still heavy with his strange dreams.
His breathing was slow, his senses were calm, but his his mind wasn't peaceful or empty anymore.
Only for that silence to be broken by distant screams from beyond the forest...