(LeoN/NEO) The World of Us

[Chapter XXXV] No Longer...

Finally, Hakyeon has obtained the other half of the Moon in which his mother had left him as her final gift. The Chapel activated in response to Hakyeon's tears and sincerity as the Goddess of the Moon's descendent and revealed the Moon to him.

Hakyeon has never thought that his mother had such an unpredictable past. He wished he had cared more about her when she was still alive. He could feel his mother's warmth while holding onto the piece of the Moon in his palms. As its warmth spread throughout his body, and tears streamed down again. It was as if he was holding onto his mother one last time.

The three of them returned back to the cottage to show Ravi their findings and to Ravi's surprise, this other half of the Moon gave off a different feeling compared to the one that Taekwoon has. This piece of the moon was rather warm as if it was alive and welcomes anyone who approaches it. Taekwoon's piece, on the other hand, was cold despite being stored in a hot bathhouse for many centuries. That piece rejected all except Taekwoon after its wielder became stronger.

The piece of Moon lays dormant in Hakyeon's palms. It was warm but nothing more.

"So, um... how does this work?" Hakyeon asked.

"Hmm... I'll see if any of my powers can activate it," Jaehwan suggested.

"Wait," Ravi halted him, "what if it hurts you?"

"You worry too much about it. I'm the only one who's a God here in this room, so I'm the only one who can try anyways until Hakyeon gets his powers."

Ravi stared at Jaehwan silently but was obviously concerned for him.

Jaehwan took the piece of the Moon from Hakyeon and started to channel his own powers to activate the hidden mechanisms inside the Moon. Jaehwan's powers of lightning started to wrap around the piece and the Moon began to glow intensely. But then...

"Ow!" Jaehwan yelled.

The Moon rejected his powers. It gave Jaehwan a shock and stunned him for a second, then went back to its dormant state. Laying warm and unmoving in Jaehwan's hands. It seems that the Moon did not like Jaehwan's powers.

"Are you okay?" Hakyeon was worried.

"Yeah. It just stings... a lot!" Jaehwan whined. "I guess I got rejected. Oh well. But I think you need to give it a try after all. The Moon was revealed to you because you're the son of its keeper and it seems to take a liking to you while you were carrying it all the way from the Chapel to here."

Jaehwan handed the Moon back to Hakyeon but nothing different happened. Hakyeon didn't know how to channel his powers as a Demigod like Jaehwan did and so, the Moon remained the same in his palms.

The four of them were stumped on how to activate the Moon and decided it was best to just continue on with their training until Hakyeon was able to awaken his hidden powers. It was only safe that they took it slow and not rush in activating its powers. Patience was a virtue. Ravi and Hongbin also went back on their studies while Jaehwan started to help Hakyeon train through their battle simulations.

"Just because you're my friend, it doesn't mean I'll go easy on you!" Jaehwan taunted jokingly.

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Hakyeon laughed.

The two battled one another time after time as part of Hakyeon's training. Jaehwan would use some of his powers against Hakyeon so that the latter would be used to it. The feeling of fighting a God was different from fighting against another human. Hakyeon's agility improved tremendously thanks to Jaehwan's help and dodging God's lightning each day. It was tiring at first but Hakyeon's stamina improved as time went by. The two continued their hard training throughout the days, but neither of them truly knew what it was like to feel tired. They were having too much fun.