Chapter 559 - 553. The Shy One
Slowly, Zein moved closer to the shard, who was flinching for a bit. But it didn’t run away, and Zein successfully held it, caressing the clear surface gently.
"Good job," he praised the shy child. "You’re very good at hiding."
Gradually, the caressed shard shed off its wariness and came closer to Zein, getting out of the water it used to hide before. The translucent body got more opaque, just like the other shards, and it hesitatingly hovered in front of the guide’s chest.
With a smile, Zein held the shard and gave it a firm hug. "It’s okay, you’re safe now. We’ll make sure to protect you. I’ll bring you to the others, so...you’ll come with me won’t you?"
The shard, which was hesitant before, pressed itself to Zein and trembled slightly, as if it had been waiting for a long time for a safe place. The familiar warmth of its origin, which had gradually been forgotten after hundreds of years, was coming back.
"Good child," Zein patted the clever shard. "For now, can you ease the barrier? My friends would like to come here."
Moving up, the shard peeked at the espers behind Zein’s shoulder, cautiously checking them out. The Han brothers waved their hands to the shy child, and the energy field shielding the lake finally subsided.
"Thank you," Zein patted the shard and gave the espers an okay sign.
The four espers approached the lake then, and the shard lowered itself, as if trying to hide behind Zein’s arms. It flinched when the espers entered the cavern, shifting away while pulling Zein. Chuckling, he humored the overly cautious shard by moving toward a jutting rock.
"Reminds me of the one we found in the mountain," Cohen muttered.
"Nah, this is different," Han Shin waved his hand. "That one is more ruthless, kinda like--get out of here, leave me alone!--type?" he laughed, tilting his body to peek at the flinching shard and grinned. "This one is more timid."