Meanwhile on Cale's side..
Its basically chapter 1 in Cales pov, only way more half-assed written. Ure welcome.
Choi Han
"Will you need help getting dressed?"
"No," Cale answered flatly, and Choi Han's wide innocent smile didn't even get a dent when he turned away.
Cale shuddered in his mind. That smile reminded him of the last time he had seen it and it had been against that White Thing. Suffice to say, the bastard didn't get away scot-free. Under his expressionless face, Cale hurried away from the hand that had ringed the reincarnator dry.
-
"Our human almost fell down!" Raon tattled. Cale suppressed the deep sigh that wanted to escape his lungs. Who taught the six-year-old to tattle so shamelessly? Was it Eruhaben? No, it was surely the prince. No one else was this shameless except him. As if to give evidence about the influence of Alberu, the Dragon cheerfully continued, "It was so funny!"
There was nothing funny about the pain of falling down because you overestimated your suddenly shrunken limbs. Before another word could be said, Cale sternly shut Raon's mouth. The influence of the prince had to be purged out of this six-year-old before it was too late.
At the thought of Raon becoming like Alberu, his eyes grew icy and met Choi Han's delighted orbs. "Get out, Choi Han," Cale ordered. This should be a fast-one-on-one session. Choi Han could be needlessly in the way.
"Yes, Sir!"
-
Eruhaben
"Stop staring and change me back, Eruhaben-nim," he demanded.
Hong, who was in his arms, shivered when cool wind blew through the leaves. Cale's hold on the cat tightened. His face and ears felt chilly. Even though it was reasonably warm under the sun, the air currents of the north would occasionally pass by.
More importantly than the cold, why was Eruhaben staring so strangely? It was scary. Cale felt like the Dragon was contemplating him as his next meal.
"Eruhaben-nim, change me back."
Eruhaben's expression heavily distorted. Cale felt his heart jump in fear. Raon was right here to protect him if something happened, but he couldn't quite manage to not let his face twist in trepidation.
-
Raon whined as if it was a pity. "Why, human?"
"Because I'm your guardian." And Sheritt would undoubtably bash his head in with her shield if she heard him calling her son 'hyung'. There was a reason he had apologized to Choi Han for his rude behavior after discovering his status as a relative of Choi Jung Soo. If he called Raon 'hyung', it would be seen as highly mocking*. Shaking the frightening thought away, he added to cement his position as trash, "Because I don't want to."
-
"Don't you think so, Cale?"
No, he didn't. The reason was clear; he had never created flower crowns before and thus, wouldn't know the perfect time for creating them. There was no reason to. As Kim Rok Soo, he didn't have anyone to relax with and try to make them. In addition, the world had been rebuilt by humans, but the remaining flora were heavily populated by monsters. It would be practically suicide.
Eruhaben gestured to his lap. "Come here."
Lap? Oh, the children were meant. That explained a lot, actually. It was true Cale was currently in form of a nine-year-old child, but the flower crown lesson was obviously exclusively for the children averaging nine-years-old.
"On, Hong, Raon. Join Eruhaben-nim."
It was time to slack off.
-
"What do you wish to say? Mm, Cale?" the Gold Dragon prompted with a distracted gaze.
Compared to Eruhaben who was busy cleaning his ruffled hair, Cale felt a lot more refreshed. He managed to wiggle a nap through the grabby hands of the children and then woke up to the smell of flowers instead of lemons. Seeing the sky instead of Ron's scary face after a nap really was the best.
And all was thanks to Eruhaben.
"Eruhaben-nim. Thank you."
-
Alberu
"Shameless bastard," Alberu bit out. What a funny person. Pot, kettle.
The Super Rock choose this moment to chime in, 'Cale, we have a problem.'
What? Why was the person who was the most responsible suddenly speaking up in such a sorry voice? Cale had a sudden ominous premonition. His neck felt cold. The quarter Dark Elf was right here and still talking, but the words fell through one ear to another.
'It's the Cheapskate!' the Thief informed urgently. 'I think the transformation made him fuzzy, because he's been quiet all this time.'
'We should XXX him up and XXX until his XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX.'
Cale suppressed his instinctive blanch. The Crazy Kid, the Sky Eating Water, sounded even crazier than normal whereas the Thief suddenly sounded quite rational.
'Let's wreck destruction,' another voice exclaimed calmly. It was the Cheapskate who spoke up in a gentle voice that was contrary to the vicious words he sprouted. In addition, no round of maniacal laughter followed which was highly unusual. 'Right here. Right now.'
'Stop this crazy bastard!' the Super Rock cried.
The Glutton warned idly, 'Hunger will consume you. Food is the only thing to trust.'
Right at her warning, the Fire of Destruction tried to rise up. It was only half the power, so he stopped it. The Cheapskate's attempts that followed failed, too. Cale gritted his teeth in concentration. Alberu was talking. He sounded worried. Cale made an excuse with his superb acting skills, but as a matter of fact, he didn't even know what he was saying because the matter of holding back the crazy Cheapskate took all his attention.
Time passed. His own heartbeat resonated in his ears. It was loud and fast. The Vitality of the Heart was working as fast as possible to reduce the crippling hunger that wracked him. Cale didn't even have enough energy to lift his head where it was squished between the prince's neck and shoulder.
Alberu's arms were comfy.
'Don't fall asleep,' the Super Rock said. 'I don't think he'll do it again, but only start to doze. Don't faint and don't fall asleep.'
Ugh. How annoying.
-
"Are you impersonating Raon, Your Highness?"
Rosalyn had it in the wrong order. It should be, was Raon impersonating Alberu? Because that was obviously not the fault of Raon if he had the wrong role model.
"Yes, I'm impersonating Raon Miru."
Fuck! This liar!
-
Rosalyn
Cale shrugged. "I don't mind."
'I do!' the Glutton complained. 'She knows, doesn't she? She definitely knows!' He had no idea what she was talking about, so he ignored her and choose not to know. Unfortunately, the Glutton wanted him to know and continued, 'I didn't want to say this after the Cheapskate went crazy, but my shield is smaller now!'
'I'm the same as XXX always,' the Crazy Kid bragged, needlessly smug.
'Nobody cares!' the Thief grumbled, even more needlessly in a bad mood.
Why were they so talkative today. Cale only wanted to slack if he was allowed to do it once! The day before yesterday was a touchy-feely Choi Han whose White Thing stained hands wouldn't stay away and then yesterday the weirdly scary Eruhaben. Now today the worried lying Alberu and the talkative ancient powers! Leave me alone, he wanted to cry out. I just want to have my slacker life!
'I'm also the same,' the Crybaby timidly chimed in, a rarity nowadays. 'Do you think the others are the same, Cale?' He didn't care, because the child form was temporary. Even if the ancient powers were weaker than before, it probably wouldn't matter anyway. At his silence, the Crybaby weakly added, 'I'm worried.. I don't want you to die.'
Cale felt stuffy at the Crybaby's words, so he ignored him too. Locking eyes with Rosalyn and ignoring the background chatter in his mind, he asked her, "Miss Rosalyn, do you believe my current ancient powers retain the same strength as in my normal form?" The Archmade froze at his question, so he prompted her to reply, "Miss Rosalyn."
"I think that is the case, young master Cale," Rosalyn replied with a chaotic gaze. Her red eyes were shaking, and she seemed to intently stare at his face for some reason.
The Crazy Kid guffawed. 'I told you I'm as strong as ever! I'll protect Cale the best!'
"I see," Cale replied and ignored the hurled insults of the Thief and the Crazy Kid. "I also believe that."
And suddenly, the ancient powers went silent at the same time**.
Crazy Kid's censored cussing, the Thief's barbed insults, the Crybaby's quiet mumbling, the Super Rock's stern warnings, the Cheapskate's maniacal laughter and the heavy presence of the Dominating Aura; they all quieted down simultaneously.
But before Cale could inquire about their silence, Rosalyn spoke up and diverted his attention away.
-
"My shield is smaller. It's annoying." Because the Glutton had complained about it.
Rosalyn smiled brilliantly, her red eyes filled with a burning, fierce flame. "You don't have to worry."
But he wasn't worried at all? Cale wondered why Rosalyn started to say strange things after he told her that the Glutton's shield became smaller. And the ancient powers were strange, too, suddenly. Their endless chatter had been abruptly broken.
"Your form is only temporary, after all," the Archmade said, her gaze as warm as her hair color, the silent promise in her words enough to shake mountains. "And we'll protect you, young master Cale."
"That's.." Cale uttered unwillingly, sighing. He wasn't worried for his safety. That's not what I meant, he wanted to confess. That wasn't what I meant at all.
'We'll protect you too, Cale,' the Super Rock assured in the same intonation as Rosalyn. A warm timbre followed his next words, something Cale had never heard as Kim Rok Soo or as Cale Henituse, 'We'll stay with you.'
Cale wanted to ask why the Super Rock was misunderstanding his words, too, suddenly, seeing as he always warned him not to sacrifice himself, but someone else was quicker. 'I'll destroy everything,' the Cheapskate announced solemnly, a perfect imitation of Raon's tearful and scary threats.
Then, the Crybaby hesitantly spoke up, 'He agrees, I think. Me too.'
As if a ball started rolling, the next ancient powers also started to add their own sentiments, 'I'll XXX them up.'
'Loot them dry,' the Thief cackled in her husky voice. 'All the gold will be mine!'
'I'm hungry for more,' the Glutton added and then made sounds as if she was swallowing her salvia.
Thankfully, the Dominating Aura didn't choose to chime in in this strange situation, but Cale could feel how the place where the Dominating Aura resided shifted a little bit before settling down.
The situation was weird. Rosalyn was weird and the ancient powers were the weirdest right now. Cale wasn't a good person but asking what they meant or brushing off their sudden declarations of his protection and destruction would be a mistake for his wellbeing and the worlds'. They would get angry. The World Tree and the Cheapskate were the best examples of this.
Thus, he did the most obvious thing to appease them all without risking their wrath.
"I'd appreciate that," he said and smiled.
*ofc i made that up.
**they fell silent cuz water AP said she will protect cale the best. cale exclusively replied to rosalyn that he also believed that his APs are the same as always. but the APs misunderstood and thought that cale said to them that he believed that the water ap would protect cale the best and they—kinda went competitive.