Alnea quickly submerged himself into his Serenity, stopping himself from falling into the quagmire of doubts. Something that did not prove too difficult. After all, the doubts themselves were ridiculous in the first place. Pain was something that Alnea was least afraid of. Besides, if engraving Glyphs onto his Spirit could truly make him experience a new threshold of pain, then he would only be excited, and not worried.
Suppressing his thoughts at the bottom of his Heart, Alnea went back to devoting all of his attention to carving his first Glyph onto his Spirit, completing the first stroke of the Glyph in just a few moments. And the moment he completed the first stroke, the Origin Sea itself began rippling. Not in the realm of what he could perceive through his senses, but in the realm of its rules and Mysteries.
However, there were far too many Glyphs corresponding to the same first stroke. Some of them were False Mysteries, while some of them were of the True, Mystic, and even the Grand Rank. And of all those Mysteries, many of them were from opposing lineages. If all those Mysteries were to be summoned…
Fortunately, just one simple curved stroke was not enough to summon Mysteries. It urged them, and even made some of them a little restless, but they stayed put in their intangible realm, waiting for his next actions. And he did not disappoint them.
The moment that he completed carving the first stroke of the Glyph on his chest, Alnea did not hesitate to reverse the direction he was pushing the blade in, just as he tilted the blade a little, and began carving the second stroke of the Glyph, branching off from the first stroke a few inches away from its edge, curving a little towards his navel. Just before the blade could reach his navel though, he stopped its advance, and pulled it out of his Spirit, completing the second stroke of the Glyph.
Yet the Glyph itself was far from being complete. And he was not about to stop before completing what he had begun. It was just that… The two strokes may not have been enough to complete the Glyph, but they were enough to eliminate most of the Mysteries waiting for his call, sending them back to their slumber. At the same time, the two strokes were also enough to excite the Mysteries that stayed behind, further intensifying their reaction.
From displays of fire storms, hot enough to melt even mountains, to spatial storms, sharp enough to rend the void itself, all sorts of phenomena manifested in the realm of the Mysteries. Even within the plane where he was roaming, subtle vibrations spread in the endless layers of Oren around him, distracting him a little. Thankfully, his Serenity quickly pulled him back from his daze, and reminded him of what he had to do. It reminded him to complete what he had begun.
Tilting the blade to make it horizontal, as it had been for the first stroke, Alnea slipped it back inside his Spirit right below his navel, and forced it to slide across his left half, cutting a path up towards his chest in a curve. In a semi circular path, to be exact, which reached its crescendo of moving towards his left half a little above the level of his navel. The third stroke had yet to be completed though.
Following his instructions, the knife turned around, and began completing the second half of the stroke, moving towards his right half in the same curve. And in just a few moments, the knife crossed the second stroke of the Glyph on his stomach right at its centre, reaching the crescendo of its upwards rise above the navel, marking the end of the third stroke. At the same time, the end of the third stroke also marked the end of call to most of the Mysteries still lingering behind the intangible fabric of the Origin Sea.
Still, his was work was not done yet. Pushing the knife out of his chest, he moved it a little down, and a little towards his left, before pushing it back inside his Spirit right at the mid point of the semi circle, with the blade lying outside of the curve. It sent jolts of pain through his Spirit once again, but he kept ignoring them, and pushed the knife even further left, stopping only when the knife reached the point right below the edge of the first stroke.
The fourth stroke was done. So, he went ahead with the fifth stroke. A vertical line that just barely touching the horizontal line of the fourth stroke, so that the point where the two strokes met divided the fifth stroke in two equal halves. But the Glyph was still not done. There was still the sixth stroke, the seventh stroke, the eight stroke, the ninth stroke, the tenth stroke…
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Alnea did not know how much time had passed. Neither could he register how much pain he had to bear. It was not as much as the Art of Spirit Rebirth anyway, so he ignored it, and kept carving the Glyph onto his Spirit, just as the Mysteries kept retreating into their slumber, while those that remained awake kept intensifying their reactions. Soon, their reactions became so intense, that by the time there were only some seventy, or eighty Mysteries still responding to the calls of the half finished Glyph on his Spirit, their effects were beginning to pierce through the intangible walls of the Origin Sea, and manifest around his Spirit.
Alnea was not too surprised though. His master had warned him about what would happen when he would be carving a Glyph onto his Spirit. Even Yuri had shared her experience with him. That when he would be left with only the last stroke, the Mysteries would begin manifesting around his Spirit, trying to distract him, and force him into choosing them as his Glyph.
So, when the layers of Oren around him began to undulate with all sorts of waves, all at the same time, trying to lure him into their fantasies, and show him their prowess, he paid them no heed. It was difficult, but not impossible. Especially since instead of manifesting on their own, the Mysteries had been summoned by his actions.
Still, just in case, Alnea poured all of his attention on the knife, as he began carving the last stroke. A curve, that connected the end of the last stroke with the beginning of the first stroke. A curve, that set off a ripple within the Origin Sea from the moment he began carving it. And when he finished carving the curve, completing the Glyph, the rippled spread to the very core of the Origin Sea, settling all the restless Mysteries.
All, except one. The Mystery that corresponded to the Glyph he had carved on his Spirit. The Mystery from the lineage of Destruction, creating the scene of mayhem around him. Undulating with no particular patterns, the layers of Oren around him were giving off a sense of dread, and awe. A sense of destruction, and despair. And a sense of absolute confidence.
Most importantly, the waves were giving off all the sensations at the same time. And they were all submerging into his Spirit, subtly healing the wounds on his Spirit. At the very least, they were lessening his pain. But the Mystery never forgot its purpose. While healing his wounds, it seeped into his Spirit, and formed a connection with him. A connection with his Spirit, and the Glyph he had inscribed onto his Spirt.
Finally, Alnea thought, as he allowed himself to relax a little. Carving a Glyph was harder than he had thought it would be. Deliberately wounding his Spirit… It was not as if he had not mutilated his Spirit before. But to ensure the accuracy of the wounds… No matter how tough carving a Glyph on his Spirit was though, it could not outweigh the benefits he was getting. An Intermediate Stage Glyph of the False Rank… That too, of Perdia’s lineage…
Known for their destructive powers, and versatility of being able to combine well with most of the Mysteries of other lineages, not only would becoming Perdia’s Scholar help him make up for his lack of long range offensive abilities, but would also help him in developing more offensive Arcanas. Hopefully. In any case, it was either Perdia’s lineage, or Yul’s lineage. And though Yul’s lineage was much more practical, it was far too esoteric. Not to mention how all of its Series of Glyphs were so different from each other. Choosing one would mean giving up the others or face the risk of the Glyphs backlashing against him.
In contrast, there were no such risks in choosing Glyphs from the Perdia’s lineage. All of the different Series of the lineage of Destruction had the same essence, destruction. And most of them would have devastating effects on his enemies. All with minimal risks, even less than what he faced when Wandering the Origin Sea. The choice was obvious…
After the Mystery slowly dissipated back into his surroundings, Alnea did not stay in the Origin Sea to check on his Spirit. Although he was not exhausted, carving a Glyph onto his Spirit did drain nearly a third of his Spirit Power. And he did not trust his fate. It always struck when he least expected it. He could not risk staying in the Origin Sea any longer than he needed to.
Bidding farewell to the Aspects, promising them to return the next day, he quickly made his way back to his Domain before finally taking a look at his Spirit. The wound on his chest, the Glyph that he had carved, was glowing in the light of destruction—a mix of all colours imaginable— even as the Mystery did its best to close the wound, and make the Glyph sink into the depths of his Spirit. He still had to comprehend the corresponding Mystery, but…
“I have taken my first step on the path of Scholars.”