As the line of Light linking the two of them crumbled away, Lan felt a tingle run through his body. He still hurt, but for a moment, he felt lighter, like he could almost fly before returning to normal. Aside from a new page in his tome marked Radiance Bonds, the only thing on it being Tierrnadora Raga.

Lan looked to the Wisp, which, even without a face, seemed somewhat thrown off as if still trying to understand the changes in itself.

Tierrnadora Raga. Lan wasn’t sure what he had expected a Wisp to be called… truthfully he didn’t think they had names at all, but hers seemed fitting for a royal, even if it was a mouthfull.

‘Maybe a nickname then?’ Lan thought out loud, getting the Wisp’s attention as he felt her focus on him. Why not? He used his nickname more than his real one, Lan thought.

‘What do you think, Dora?’ as if aghast at the audacity of the suggestion, she literally stopped flapping her wings and froze in the air.

‘Let’s take that as a no, shall we?’

In his opinion, Raga was the most impressive sounding part of her name, but Lan didn’t know if it was a part of it or if it was her last name. Lan thought before thinking back to his own. All it was was the first three letters of his name.

‘Hmm, how about Tyr?’ Lan didn’t know if he was overthinking it, but as the Wisp beat its wings hard once before taking off, he couldn’t help but see it as a huff before it flew over and landed on his shoulder.

‘I’m taking that as a yes.’ Lan laughed before immediately regretting it as his ribs reminded him that a few had to be broken. Opening his Tome, Lan found they weren’t broken, but three were fractured. As Lan grabbed his side, Tyr shot off him and came to hover in front of him before sending the feeling of urgency.

‘I’m fine.’ Lan lied, even though the unsuspected attribute boost had strengthened his body and, more importantly, his Health Points. He was running on sheer optimism alone, but even that was starting to run out. Tyr seemed to know as much as she floated before him for a long moment.

‘Okay, I think I’m about ready for a drink and a week-long sleep.’ Lan smiled, even though it stung to admit it. At that moment, wanting to do something and needing to do it were worlds apart.

He knew he wanted to find a way to Help the Tear of Creation where ever it was… But he didn’t even know where to start looking. Although leaving the forest made him feel like he was abandoning them. He needed to get word to the city, and he needed to get healed up. He wouldn’t be able to do much if he just keeled over.

But the fact that he had given his all and now needed to run hurt more than it should. He hadn’t planned on facing an army of Goblins and a shadow that was trying to eat everything, including a Tear of Creation. The fact that he was still standing was him catapulting over his station, and yet it still stung. Before Lan could allow himself to sink into a slump, Tyr flew into his chest.

Once again, it wasn’t hard enough to hurt him but just enough to bring on the feeling that he could fly.

‘Right, Standing here is the worst of my three choices.’ Lan smiled. ‘Let’s start by finding our way back.’

As if waiting for this, Tyr perked up before taking off the way they had come, stopping and flying back to him when Lan didn’t move and sent the feeling of urgency, only it was shorter, and Lan had the sense that she had asked.

‘Well?’

‘Coming.’

As he walked, Lan allowed his tome to fill his sight as he tried to take in all the new information.

[New Quest acquired: A Pact bound in Light. – Find the source of the corruption in the forest and set things right to save the Lost Tear.]

That wasn’t a lot to go off, a timeline would have helped him feel better about this, but he wasn’t stopping anything now anyway, so he just had to hope that the Tear could last long enough for him to get back.

‘Is there anything that you can tell me about the darkness that attacked the Goblins?’ Lan asked the Voice as he started to hear sounds in the distance.

[The Aure of Darkness was created by an unnatural form of magic, no doubt formed through the tampering of the Tear of Creation.]

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

‘Do you know of anything that could do that?’

[The Number of beings in the world that can harness the power of a Tear of Creation is next to none. The power to cut off a Tear of Creation from the mother is something entirely different.]

‘In other words, I am way in over my head..’ Lan sighed, ‘What being could do something like this.’

[One or more of the Lords of Light, a progenitor God or perhaps a group of powerful Celestials.]

‘All beings that would have no reason to do something like this.’ Lan said with a little more assurance than he should; it was a presumption that bordered on blasphemy. ‘The Other World God?’ Lan asked, getting nothing from the Voice.

‘Thought as much.’ He sighed. At least he had more information to give the guild master.

‘With an odd power like this, how long can the Tear of Creation hold it off?’ Lan tried, not getting an answer.

Not sure where else to go with it, Lan moved on to the next thing.

[Light Marked Human – A human born with the favour of the Lords of Light. As with all other Light Marked, your base attributes are higher than the average human. The Skills you acquire improve faster, and you gain more points upon levelling up.]

That seemed great, if not a little too good. If he earned more points, it would help him close the gap in the short term while making him better than those of the same level as he became stronger.

‘How many?’

[For each level, you will gain 12 points.]

That wasn’t bad, Lan thought. It would start to add up in time.

After a few more questions about the Light Marked that didn’t go anywhere, Lan looked to the Last thing on his tome.

[Radiance bonds: Royal Wisp Tierrnadora Raga – More than just a title, other Wisps are drawn to the light of a Royal Wisp, allowing the Royal Wisp to control them. Having a Royal Wisp entrust itself to one is said to bring about good luck. However, doing so prevents the Royal Wisp from controlling others of its kind.]

Looking at his portrait, Lan saw that he had a permanent status effect which was the same as the one Tyr had given him before, of luck tilting in his favour.

Lan closed his tome, wondering how much that had helped him reach as far as he had. The fact that the fight with the Goblin rogue hadn’t started a moment earlier came to mind, but what happened after couldn’t be called good luck. Lan reasoned luck turning in his favour, and good luck wasn't always one and the same.

As if the thought had conjured the goblin in question, Lan felt eyes on him, and his body reacted as if he had been stabbed, but when he managed to turn, he was greeted by nothing.

However, the adrenaline rush was enough to turn him around before the cost of doing so shot through his body, making Lan grab his side as he stifled a curse. Suddenly Tyr stopped and flew back to him, flying around him before she decided he was fine and flew back the way she was leading him.

After a moment more, Lan started after her. He knew the feeling that had just come over him. It was the same feeling as when the rogue had been following him, but had he just imagined it. The chance of it being the rogue that had been following him seemed slim, and if it was a different one, then he didn’t see why it would be playing the same game.

Returning to his tome, Lan looked at his new ability.

[Wisp Walk – Slip through the Veil with your Wisp as your guide.]

‘Well, that’s vague,’ Lan frowned. ‘What’s the Veil’ he tried, getting nothing from the Voice. Rolling his eyes, Lan tried to activate the ability and got nothing. Pinching his eyes closed, he thought it through.

He knew plenty of abilities with some kind of requirement, but most had someone who already knew what that was. Lan didn’t want to think about where he would have to go to find someone who knew this ability.

As he followed the Wisp, Lan tried to work it out. The only thing that came to mind was the way that a wisp could be somewhere one moment and then gone the next. If that was the case, then he had found something incredible, only he didn’t know where they disappeared to, which could be the problem.

Tyr was supposed to be his guide; maybe she could open a way for him.

‘Well, you think you can magic me a door back to the city?’ he asked, not even getting an acknowledgement from the little light. ‘Hmm.’ Maybe he had to follow her when she entered that place. If that was the case, then was there a way for him to ask her to open it.

If there was a way to communicate with her, Lan learned it wouldn't be easy to find. At times, she seemed to understand what he asked her, while on other occasions, she wouldn’t even acknowledge him when he called her.

However, anytime he felt pain from his wounds, she would immediately stop and check on him. and she still spotted things that could be dangerous and would send the pin drop feeling. With her help, it only took a few hours of walking before he could hear rushing water.

The sound of which was like the sweetest music to Lan's ears, and as he reached it, he had to stop himself from jumping in. Instead, Lan found a part where the wall of earth was low enough for him to plunge his head into the water allowing the cold to pump life back into his body before pulling his head out and trying to drink the whole river.

After a few moments and more than a few mouthfuls of water, Lan allowed himself a breath.

Not only was the water reward enough for everything he had gone through, but now he knew that Tyr was leading him back to the glade at the least, and he could find his way back from there.

Tyr flew to hover next to his face, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was examining him.

‘I’m okay… well, good enough.’ he smiled, which seemed enough for the Wisp to beat her wings once and take off, leaving Lan to wonder if she had been worried about him.

Taking a moment to rest, Lan looked for a way across and, not finding one, just walked into the water. Not fighting the current, Lan allowed it to push him downstream as he focused on reaching the other side until both actions allowed him to grab ahold of the opposite bank.

Once Lan climbed over to the other side, he lay on the bank for a while. Both to catch his breath, and it was one of the few places that afforded him a look at the sky. The sun was high in the sky already, and at his pace, he no doubt would reach the city by the time it started to set.

Armed with that knowledge, Lan forced himself off the dirt.