Destroyer of Ice and Fire

Early in the morning, five days later, still around sunrise.

Ayrin stood at the top of a huge tree, facing a thin branch. He continuously reminded himself, “Control my breathing. This branch can bear almost my exact weight. I might break it by merely breathing too deeply and making my body shake too much.”

Then he adjusted his breathing, and slowly walked on it.

The branch swayed lightly in the breeze. It distinctively curved down after he stepped on it, as if it would immediately break. Ayrin's body tilted forward with the bend of the branch.

Yet, Ayrin's body readjusted itself in a very minute, extremely harmonious-looking shift, to the point this branch didn't sway any stronger even after he stood inclined on it.

An excited expression emerged on Ayrin's face. He continued his lithe walk forward, stepping on another branch nearby with about the same thickness.

When he switched to this other branch, he looked to be standing steady, and the branch at his feet didn't break either.

“Ah!” He suddenly opened his mouth in happiness, about to shout out loud. But just at this instant, the branch at his feet suddenly broke with a crack at the fork. “Crack, crack.” He dropped down, and again broke two branches...