Many years later, a young boy aged no more than six runs and giggles through a field of golden wheat. His arms extended like a bird as he zoomed past, the wheat swaying in his wake. He had a tooth missing from his front row of teeth, the new one already starting to come in.
The boy played in the field blissfully. His smile was wide despite his thin frame. He had been a sickly child for much of his life so far, but that didn't stop him from running and playing. Not until he had run out of energy and collapsed to the ground while catching his breath. He had an illness that his adoptive father believed was mana deficiency, meaning his body produced less than half the mana of the average boy his age.
Along with weakened energy levels, he was very frail. His body didn't gather enough energy to gain muscle or grow so his growth was stunted. This was what the village doctor had said to his adoptive father when he turned five.
After he turned ten, it started to become apparent. But at his current age, he enjoyed his time. He also came across something interesting around the end of his sixth year.
Up until now, his adoptive father kept him away from the forest and away from death. He didn't even let him go out to play in the fields when the sun went down. But one day, while wandering through the fields, he heard a sound.
Being a curious child, he disobeyed his adoptive father and entered the forest. Stepping cautiously through the woods, he followed the sound.
"Don't enter the forest, under any circumstances. Got it, Jin?" His adoptive father always said. He always nodded and gave him a smile, but here he was, ducking under a massive tree root and hopping across stones in a small stream.
The little boy looked on with awe and laughter at the magical forest he had entered. The sound got louder as he moved.
Chitter-Chitter. Chitter-Chitter
Once the boy rounded another large tree, he spotted the massive pitch-black hole in the cliff side. The cave opened before him in a front larger than a dragon.
The sound the boy heard came from inside, so he hopped onto the first rock and then the second until he had left the daylight behind. The cave floor leveled out into a dry dusty ground with stalactites protruding from the ceiling.
The sound he had heard suddenly stopped as he approached the open expanse of cave. The room was massive with a small path that led down from his hole a few meters up. In the center of the cavern was a single ray of light that snuck through the ceiling. It shot down and bounced off the crystal-clear water in the center, forming a small puddle.
The boy looked on in awe, he giggled and started down the path. Quickly, he approached the puddle, stepping into it and splashing around in his boots. He kicked up water until it hit one of the darker spots and an angry bug sounded off.
Where the water had landed, a wave of blue lights turned on. They all fluttered around hastily as if to shake the water off them. The boy looked at the moving blue lights and laughed.
The boy kicked more water around, making more bugs flash their blue bulbs and flutter off. Soon the entire swarm was buzzing around the cave, all of them sparking blue lights like stars in the night sky. The boy stood in the middle with a look of awe.
"Woah! Blueflies!" He said, remembering what his adoptive father said about them.
"If you ever see blue glowing bugs, don't touch them, okay? They're called blueflies and they eat dead things."
He always ruffled his hair and gave him the biggest grin. He always took care of any dead animals before blueflies got to them, fearing for the child's connection with them.
Jin had only read about them in books or from his father. But now that his little eyes had saw them in person, he could see their beauty. The way they move, the color of their light, it all captivated him.
The boy heard a calling in his mind. It told him to reach out to them. It told the boy to accept the blueflies. Slowly, the boy reaches his little finger out and waits. Standing atop the tips of his feet, he waits with a shaky hand until one of the blue lights flutters down and perches on his finger.
The bug chitters then turns to look at him, it's bulb glowing blue every moment or so. And after a moment of the boy staring at the fascinating bug, it flutters off again.
The boy waves his hand around, the swarm shifting and molding to his touch. The bugs all circled him, none of them getting close to the light ray in the center.
After a moment, the bugs all turn their lights off and land back on the walls and ceilings. The boy smiles and suddenly another voice enters his mind.
"Hello, my liege," The voice calls out echoing in his head.
The boy looked around to who spoke but finds nobody. Turning back to the spots where the bugs had all landed, he spots one singular glowing blue light.
"D-Did you just talk to me?" Jin asks to the blue light curiously.
"Yes," The voice said simply.
"Who are you? Can bugs speak?" Jin asks again, his young voice wondering. He tilts his head to the side.
"I speak my own tongue. It's you, who can understand it now." The light dimmed and brightened with the cadence of the voice.
"Woah! I can speak bug?" The boy smiled broadly as he looked at the darkness around him.
As if to his command, the million other lights all come to life. At the same time, a million different voices all enter his head.
"Hello, my liege."
"Hello, my liege."
They all spoke out in his head, echoing off. After they all spoke, their light died again, leaving only the original single blue light in the center of it all.
"This is so cool!" The boy yelled out as he jumped happily.