Chapter 103 - THE FIRST SCENE

FOUR sets of footsteps could be heard entering a cave filled with beautiful crystals.  They all looked worn out, as if they had just experienced a lot of ordeal in order to come to this place.  But despite that, there was a glint of anticipation in their eyes.  Not only that, but also hope.

Hope that at the end of this cave, a light would shine through them.

Soon, a lake appeared in front of them.  In the center of that lake was a rectangular crystal slab.  It was surrounded by crystal flowers.  And on top of it lay a teenager.

He had black hair as dark as ebony and skin as translucent as pearl.  The teenager's otherworldly beauty was already a sign that he was not a being the same as them.  The hope in the eyes of the four weary travelers became even brighter.

"It's Lord Aether!  He's really here.  We finally found him!" said the big man wearing a knight's armor.

"All our hardship, it was not in vain," said the only woman in the party, her baby blue eyes filling up with tears.

"This is not the time to celebrate.  We should wake the lord first," said the man wearing all black.

Unlike the other three, the light of hope in his eyes was not as strong.  The expression on his face was more grave than happy.  He was also hoping for the best.  But he couldn't rule out the possibility that they might also fail.

"Let's do it.  Let's wake the lord from his slumber," said the man wearing a magician's garb.

The four walked and stood at four different directions surrounding the lake.  They then each took out a crystal of varying colors.  Each one represented the four elements of nature.  The magician started to chant and each of them poured their Mana into the crystal they were holding.

Rays of light appeared and poured towards the direction of the figure lying on the crystal slab.  Once the lights disappeared, the figure on the crystal slab slowly opened his eyes.  They were the darkest of obsidian.  They were first filled with innocence but once he recognized what was happening at that moment, they completely changed.  Hundreds of emotions flashed in that second – anger, hopelessness, frustration, acceptance, and finally, indifference.

The beautiful god slowly sat up.  His whole body was filled with indifference.  He looked slowly at the four people surrounding the lake.  The four quickly knelt down.  They were just filled with awe.  It's like a bright being was standing before them.  A being that's above them in every way.

This was the god of their continent.  The god they had been searching for so desperately.  He was the only hope left for their ravaged continent.

"Lord Aether!" the princess wearing a saint's robe shouted.  Tears visible in her blue eyes.  "Please, help us save the continent!"

"And so, you woke me up from my slumber," the god said with no emotion.  It's like he didn't even hear the desperation in the woman's voice.

He slowly glanced towards the princess who was in her knees, almost looking like she was begging.  And maybe she was.  But the god didn't care.  He still appeared apathetic.

But when his gaze landed on the princess, he suddenly smiled.  Smiling as if he was looking at a child who didn't know anything.  It was a very beautiful smile, as if flowers suddenly bloomed around them.  But somehow, the hope they first felt when they saw the slumbering god slowly dwindled.  They felt at some level that things wouldn't go the way they wanted.

"But my child, I couldn't do anything to save this continent."  The god looked at each and every person kneeling around the lake.  And then he raised his head, as if waiting for something, or rather someone, to come.  "Yes, only you can do this."

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"And, cut!" Director Trevane shouted.  "Perfect!  All of you are just brilliant!"

"Does that mean we don't have to take this scene again?" the third male lead asked, already out of the character he just played.

He asked because this was the already the 5th take since they started filming this morning.  It was already half past noon and he really hoped this take could pass so he could finally eat his lunch.

These repeated takes were not because the five people in the scene acted badly.  Well, except for that first take.  The four people who was acting with Astrid made a gaffe the moment the teenager first utter his line.  This gaffe couldn't be hidden from the small cameras floating everywhere.  Thus, it also couldn't be hidden from the director.

But truly, this gaffe couldn't be blamed to the four.  They knew that the teenager was a newcomer.  So, their expectation of his acting was quite low.  Who would have thought that they would be given a surprise by this newcomer?

The moment he uttered those first words, it felt like they were really standing in front of a holy being.  Someone who was out of their reach.  Someone whom they should revere.  That's why that gaffe occurred.  They tried to quickly hide it, but the cameras still managed to catch their reaction.

After that, the director naturally considered this take as NG.  The next take was much better, all the five people in the scene didn't make a mistake but it was still not enough for Director Trevane.

And thus, several more takes followed.

"Don't worry, I'm very satisfied with this take," Daniel said.

He was worried at first that Astrid wouldn't be able to adapt to acting with others.  After all, acting with others and acting by yourself were completely two different things.  But to his relief, none of his worries happened.  The teenager was still as good as his audition.

With how things were going, they might be able to finish filming in less than five days.

Astrid was also thinking the same thing.  The overall duration of his scenes didn't even last 10 minutes after all.  The next scene would involve the villain of the movie.  But he hadn't yet seen the person playing that role.  Maybe the other wasn't scheduled to film today.

He was about to walk to where Reas was when someone stopped in front of him.  It was the female lead, Sienna Rose.

"Astrid, let's go eat lunch together!" she said, smiling brightly at him.