From smells, pleasant to such a degree that it was practically impossible for them to exist, to smells so vile, and disgusting, that even Oronir’s Domain might not have them, Alnea felt all kinds of sensations attacking him, as he stepped into the Origin Sea. But it was fine. That was just the Origin Sea’s way of greeting. A rather rough, and violent way of greeting, but a greeting none the less, one that went beyond just his sense of smell, leaving none of his senses unattended.
The jarring sounds, like the screeches of Enthralled Wanderers, somehow matched up with the voices of people he loved, overlapping against them, trying to disgust him, and make him lower his guard. And when that did not work, the Origin Sea attempted to infiltrate his sense of taste, making him taste hope, and happiness, before tainting it with despair… Tasting emotions. If it was any place else, Alnea might have thought that he was turning crazy. But this was the Origin Sea. Let alone tasting emotions, he could even feel his memories brushing past his skin. Here, anything was possible.
But that did not mean that the Origin Sea could do as it wished. Just as it was unbiased, the Origin Sea, the source of all things, and concepts in existence, was also bound by its own rules. Though it could tempt, and lure the Wanderers into assimilating with itself, the strength, and intensity that it could attack them with was clearly defined by its depths. If some Wanderers overestimated themselves though, or became a bit too careless, then it was well within those rules for the Origin Sea to devour them.
Fortunately, Alnea had not overestimated himself. Neither was he being careless. The attacks of the Origin Sea… Though they were unpleasant, and irked him, they were not completely unbearable. The Serenity of his Heart helped him resist against those attacks, constantly reminding him of the people who were waiting for him. Of the people he loved. Besides, he had a few friends who would probably warn him if he were to ever be careless. Like the Aspects of the Origin Sea.
YOU ARE BACK.
OATHKEEPER IS BACK.
HE IS BACK.
“…I am back,” Alnea said, grinning at his friends, before rushing towards the group of lights nearest to him. They, in turn, laughed at him, and waited for him to come near them, before rushing away. But that was not enough to make him give up. So, he chased after them once again. And while he did so, the other Aspects joined in the chase, some chasing with him, some chasing him, and some taunting him to chase them.
COME, OATHKEEPER.
CHASE ME.
NO, ME. CHASE ME.
Some of them just kept urging him to chase after them. Others…
HE CANNOT CHASE YOU.
WHY?
BECAUSE HE IS WEAK.
TOO WEAK.
HE CANNOT EVEN RUN.
CANNOT SWIM.
WEAK OATHKEEPER.
SLOW OATHKEEPER.
They teased him, questioning his ability. To these Aspects, Alnea had only one response.
“You… wait for me! Do you think you can run forever? Just wait for my Spirit Power to grow enough from me to disregard these layers of Oren. Then I will show you who is weak.”
But his words incited the Aspects to tease him even more, as they circled around him, sometimes even coming right behind his head to whisper their teases, before rushing off to a safe distance. That only fed back to the cycle though, as he shouted even more at them, threatening them, while rushing to catch them. However, even when he cursed, or threatened them, his smile never left his face. Neither did the laughter leave his voice. Especially when he heard the Aspects all chanting together.
OATHKEEPER, OATHKEEPER.
WATCH HOW SLOW HE GOES.
ONE STEP AT A TIME, HE WALKS.
GRASPING FOR THE LIGHTS LONG GONE.
OATHKEEPER, OATHKEEPER.
WATCH HOW SLOW HE GOES.
WANDERING THE ORIGIN SEA.
WITH NO AIMS, AND GOALS.
OATHKEEPER, OATHKEEPEER.
WATCH—
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Now you have done it,” Alnea said, laughing at the absurd song. “Wait for me, you little runts!”
OATHKEEPER, OATHKEEPER.
TINY, AND LITTLE OATHKEEPER.
CALLING US AS RUNTS.
DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO WE ARE?
OR HAVE YOU NOT SEEN OUR TRUE FORMS?
OATHKEEPER, OATHKEEPER.
TINY, AND LITTLE OATHKEEPER.
ASKING US TO—
“You… stop right there you little pipsqueaks! How dare you call me tiny? I am large enough to…”
Amused, and angry at the same time, Alnea chased after the Aspects, laughing along with them. He did try making up a few of his own songs, but failed terribly at them, learning another thing about himself in the process. He was not good at making up songs. That did not stop him from playing with the Aspects though. And so, they played, taking the Origin Sea itself as their playground. After all, as long as he knew his limits, and was careful to not let his Serenity slip, the Origin Sea could not do anything to him… probably.
Still, all things that had a beginning, must come to an end. Such was the case with world itself, and such was the case with their chase, and merrymaking. It was, however, not time to end his Wandering. He still had about eighty units of Spirit Power left. So, stopping in place, Alnea dropped his smiling face, and looked at the Aspects with a solemn gaze, before saying, “It is time… I am ready for another Aspect.”
The Aspects stopped messing around as soon as they heard his words, and saw the look on his face. In fact, they stopped moving altogether, and faced towards him. Or at least it felt to him that they did. It was hard to tell. They did not have a face. But they did have a voice. And all of them spoke to him.
ANOTHER ASPECT…
IT IS INDEED TIME.
TIME FOR ANOTHER PARTNER.
FOR ANOTHER GUARDIAN.
FOR ANOTHER WEAPON.
IT IS TIME FOR ONE OF US TO GO WITH YOU.
AGAIN.
“So… is it going to be like last time?”
LAST TIME…
YES.
LIKE LAST TIME.
EXACTLY LIKE LAST TIME.
COMMUNICATE.
WE MUST COMMUNICATE.
AND YOU MUST CHOOSE, OATHKEEPER.
CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON.
YOUR GUARDIAN.
YOUR PARTNER.
YOUR ASPECT.
CHOOSE ONE OF US, OATHKEEPER.
AND TAKE US WITH YOU.
Before Alnea could say anything to the Aspects, they began moving once again, forming a whirlpool of lights around him, just like they had done a week ago. And just like a week ago, that whirlpool of lights soon turned into a curtain of lights, surrounding him from all sides. Then, once again, in a way reminiscent of what had happened a week ago, the Aspects began reaching out to him. Not physically, but on a deeper level. On a—
It was born to be free. It was born to roam. It was born to soar. It cared not for what others thought. It cared not for what others felt. It was—
Not the Aspect that Alnea was looking for. Though it pained him, he still chose to severe their connection, and look for another Aspect, one more in line with his vision. With his Heart. With—
An Aspect born to be the king. To be the greatest of all. That was what it was. It was still weak at the moment, but one day, it would reach the pinnacle of its kind. It would reach the centre of the Origin Sea. The centre of Origin. And then, it would—no, it could not reveal that. Not yet. But it would surely, one day, be the greatest of its kind. The greatest of all the Aspects. And that declaration came not from some boastful confidence, but a confidence that came from its core. It was—
As he felt the Aspect convey itself to him, Alnea felt a little torn on what he should do. The Aspect… it somehow aligned perfectly well with his conviction. And it would not clash with his first Aspect either. But the powers of the Aspect… It was an Aspect that aligned with the lineage of Tion, so he did not doubt whether it had the potential to reach top of its kind or not. Since it had said so, it definitely had that potential.
But that was going to take a long time to achieve. Especially since it was not on the verge of advancing, as his last Aspect had been. In such a case, if the Aspect could advance from False Rank to True Rank within his lifetime, then it would already be considered a miracle. And if he did not look at its potential, then the Aspect did not have anything special. It could not take the form of a sword, shield, armour, barriers, or any other such things. Instead, all it could do was to give him an air of authority, while augmenting his body’s strength a little.
Maybe, that augmentation effect would increase in the future, but at the moment, it was of no use. And neither was its air of authority. He was not from any Orthodoxy, and neither was he in an army. No matter how he saw it, logic dictated that he should choose some other Aspect. This was only the second Aspect that had tried communicating with him after al.
Out there, just within his reach, there were thousands, if not tens of thousands such Aspects, surrounding him from all sides possible. And he had enough Spirit Power to continue communicating with them for quite a long while. That was why he had stopped playing with the Aspects earlier than usual. If he looked long enough, he was bound to find more suitable, and powerful Aspects. Yet…
As he heard the desperate cries of the Aspect, seeking to become his protector, his guardian, and in turn, get rid of its loneliness, Alnea could not help recalling the times he had been alone. Back then, was he so desperate as well? Was he so… frustrated? Being alone… it was a truly terrifying feeling. One he wished to never experience again. And he could not let his Aspects experience that feeling either. So, even though he knew that it was probably not a good idea, he still reached to the Aspect connected to him, and made his decision.
Almost immediately, a ball of golden light, around a tenth of a metre wide, floated out from the curtain of lights, and drifted towards him, asking him once again, if he had made his decision, to which, Alnea responded with a nod. His Aspect… His partner for life. Even when he would become a Supreme, or an Origin Wanderer, the Aspect would still stay with him, until the day of his death. Until the Origin Sea claimed him for itself. Till then, it would—
It started with a small stain, that soon, within a few moments, spread all across the ball of light like ink spreads on paper, dyeing the golden light with a shade of black. Not the slightly could, and mysterious black of his other Aspect, or the black of death… but a murky black. A tricky black, which could morph into any shape, and colour. A black, which represented Optah, the God of Lies, and Trickeries.