OATHKEEPER!
HE DID IT!
WE KNEW HE WOULD IT.
WE KNEW NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN TO HIM.
HE IS OATHKEEPER.
HE IS OUR FRIEND.
AND HE HAS STRONG ROOTS.
WE HELPED HIM WITH THAT.
HE IS OUR FRIEND.
AND A GREAT WANDERER.
GREATEST WANDERER.
NOT YET.
BUT HE WILL BECOME ONE.
SOON.
VERY SOON.
Hearing the exuberant voices of the Aspects, Alnea sighed, and let go of the heavy feeling in his Heart. What had happened, had happened. Though he failed in understanding what the Mystery was trying to convey to him, at the very least, he had already comprehended the Mystery. Or parts of it. Next, all that was left to do was to interpret the Mystery, and create his very own Arcana. His Arcana…
And just like that, all the heaviness within him drained away, as a smile slowly made its way on to his face. Creating an Arcana… It would just be his first step towards fulfilling his Oath, towards fulfilling his conviction, but that step… He had waited for more than a year to take that step. And finally, he was going to take it. He was about to become an Arcanist.
Bursting into laughter, Alnea joined the Aspects in their celebration, as he made his way towards the golden ring in the distance. He may have comprehended a Mystery, but he had also paid his due price. Especially for the last action he took. Illusion, and Reality… Truth, and Lies…
Alnea did not know what those things meant, but just last action alone had cost him around twenty units of Spirit Power. Coupled with the other drains of the Mystery, and the Origin Sea, he barely had over twenty units of Spirit Power left. Enough to make it back to his Domain, but not enough to do anything else. Or to tarry in the Origin Sea for long. So, after bidding his farewell to the Aspects, promising to come back the next day, Alnea stepped into the giant hole leading into the blank emptiness of his Domain.
And just as always, the moment he stepped through, as if it knew that it had fulfilled its use, the door to the Origin Sea closed on its own, transforming back into a giant disc of golden light, which soon turned into a ring, before even that ring slowly faded away into the darkness of his Domain, returning back into the realm of thoughts, and will, waiting for his call to reveal itself once again. For the time when he would Wander the Origin Sea once again.
And encounter its Mysteries… And experience his memories being twisted so deviously that even death would seem a relief… The Origin Sea, it was truly heartless… showing no mercy. It was just his first Mystery, yet he had to encounter such difficulties in comprehending it… what would he have to do for higher Ranked Mysteries? How much would he have to pay? Was comprehending the Mysteries worth experiencing such… twisted memories?
Recalling the slight hint of pride, and satisfaction on his master’s face, as he had told her how he had tamed his first Aspect, made Alnea feel that maybe it was. After all, in the end, it was just an illusion. And a very poor one at that. His master would never treat him like that. Neither would she abandon him. And the same was true for big sis Serena. The Mystery… it was not enough to make his Heart waver.
On the contrary, as he imagined himself creating Arcanas, Alnea felt his conviction, and will becoming stronger. He was going to become the greatest Arcanist, the greatest Wanderer. He was going to create the path to the Rank of Origin Wanderer. How could he be afraid of mere Mysteries? That too of the False Rank?
Shaking his head, as his Heart reattained his Serenity, Alnea stopped delving in needless thoughts. Even if he wished to temper his Heart… forcefully creating a conflict within himself was not the right choice. Instead, it was better to let things develop naturally. As long as he stayed alive, he would naturally face inner conflicts. And when that happened, he would get his chance to temper his Heart. Till then, he could only slowly grind it toward Clarity.
In the meantime, he could do a few other things. Like transforming his Domain. He did not have much Spirit Power left, but what he was going to do next did not require much Spirit Power anyway. Reaching into the depths of his Domain, to the boundless Oren that lay just beyond his reach, Alnea called for it, making way for it in his Domain. And the Oren responded, flooding his Domain. But that was not enough to transform his Domain. It was still as dark, and empty as ever.
However, the Oren, which once used to exist just beyond his reach, had silently slipped within it, awaiting his command. He could not see it, neither could he feel its layers trapping his Spirit, but he instinctively knew that if he so wished, he could reach out to the Oren around him, and make them do his bidding. And so, he did exactly that. Reaching out to the Oren, he moulded them, transforming them into the form of waves, into the form of a ripple, a rotating square, and an oscillating circle.
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But just the form of the waves was not enough. He also had to add their unique rhythm to the waves. And their variations. Most important of all though, he had to add his comprehension. He had to add what he understood of the Mysteries, what each of those waves were supposed to do, what their rhythm was for, and what their beats meant. He had to practically pour all of his understanding, and comprehension of the Mystery into the Oren, before the waves were finally completed. Before the prototype of the manifestation of the Mystery was completed.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Alnea finally let himself relax. The most difficult part was done. Next, it was time to test if the Origin Sea would recognise what he had comprehended of the Mystery. To see whether the Mystery would accept his prototype. A step, that could be both, easy, and difficult. Depending on what method he used to complete the step, it could even prove fatal. Most of those methods though, like demonstrating his prototype within the Origin Sea, or opening his Domain, and letting the Mysteries, would cost him more Spirit Power than he was left with.
Thus, Alnea was left with no choice but to use one of the tricks that he had learned recently. Reaching out to the thread connecting his Spirit to the Origin Sea, he passed all of his comprehension of the Mystery to the Roots, in the form of waves, of course. Making his Roots beat with the rhythm of the Mysteries, he sent his summons into the Origin Sea, calling for the Mystery to come to his Domain. And it came much faster than he had expected. Probably because it must have resonated with his Roots. Or because he had already comprehended parts of the Mystery.
In any case, the moment his summons went into the Origin Sea, the Mystery that he had called for came knocking on his Domain, on the chains isolating him from the rest of the Origin Sea, to which, the chains responded by making way for them. They had come with invitation, after all. And thus, Alnea was faced with the same Mystery once again. A sensation of silence, drowning out even the emptiness of his Domain. In front of the Mysteries of the Origin Sea, it did not matter if things existed or not. As long as they made their presence known, everything had to defer to them.
Except if the people had comprehended the Mysteries, gaining command over them. Whether Alnea had that command, or not, he was not sure yet. But that did not stop him trying to control the Mystery. Or at least, direct it away from him. He did not even have to do anything special. All the preparations were done before he had even summoned the Mystery. Next, it was all up to the Mystery itself. And its protype that he had built.
And so, just as the Mystery manifested around him, ready to pounce upon him, it got attracted by the rhythms of the Oren around him. Losing all interest in him, for the moment, the Mystery turned towards the prototype, and swarmed to it, as if looking at it with curiosity. Then, ever so hesitantly, it stretched out one of its tendrils towards the prototype. Not physically, of course. But more on the level of understanding, and comprehension. On the level of memories, and illusion. On the level of the Mysteries.
Still mesmerised by the sight he was watching, not completely understanding what was happening, Alnea did not even notice the change in the mass of the Oren that he himself had summoned. With the tendrils of the Mystery, the real Mystery, approaching the prototype of the Mystery he had created, the latter somehow became agitated, and began acting violently, intensifying the rhythm with which the waves were beating.
And the moment that the tendrils of the real Mystery touched its prototype, the fluctuation of the mass of Oren increased even more in intensity, releasing a kaleidoscopic breath of light that varied along with the rhythm of Mystery in both colour, and brightness. And though those lights were not bright enough to drown out the darkness of his Domain, they were bright enough to drive away all the darkness from the small area around the mass of Oren.
However, the lights, no matter how bright, were just a side effect of the two Mysteries contacting with each other. The true test of his comprehension of the Mystery came when the prototype he had created pulled in the Mystery he had summoned into the mass of Oren, trying to devour it, and complete itself. An intention that was shared by the Mystery that it was trying to devour.
What followed next was a tug of war between his own understanding of the Mystery, and the Mystery that he had summoned. A war that would determine whether the Origin Sea had recognised his comprehension or not. A war that would determine whether his Domain would transform or not.
Fortunately, Alnea had learned what would happen at this point, so he had made sure to get away from the mass of Oren before summoning the Mystery. Or else, he might have had to suffer through the aftermath of the war. Nothing much would have happened to him since he was not in the Origin Sea. Still, getting caught in those illusions, and suffering through them once again… He did not wish to experience such twisted memories once again. He did not even wish to think about it.
And so, he switched his attention back to the rather colourful, and boisterous war that was happening. Red, black, blue, green, yellow, pink, and all other sorts of colours kept flashing in the mass of Oren, while the Mysteries kept duking it out with each other. At times, there were even bursts of thunderous sounds, followed by explosions of weird smells. And when he drifted a little closer to the fight, he even felt sensations of a clash between fire and ice, between wind and lightning, between earth and water, between…
Alnea hurriedly backed away from the fight, preferring to watch from the side. His Aspect, the mask on his face, went a step further, and even asked him to quickly leave his Domain. The fight was too violent, and destructive, it said. What if it reached him? Or what if the real Mystery won, and came for him?
After all, what he had created was just a prototype based on his understanding, and comprehension, while what it was facing was the Mystery that it had been based upon. In a clash between the two of them, it was obvious which of the two would come out top in their prowess, and profoundness. But this war was not based on just the profoundness, and prowess of the Mysteries. This was not even a war in the first place. This was just a test of the Origin Sea.
A test to see if he had comprehended enough of the Mystery. A test to see if he was worthy of wielding the powers of the Mystery. Thus, as the fight went on, and the real Mystery failed to gain a complete advantage over his comprehension of it, its attacks slowly began to peter out, as its defences began to dwindle. And soon, it was left all, but defenceless, as his own Mystery swallowed it whole, gaining the recognition of the Origin Sea.
The war of the Mysteries was finally over. And with his prototype coming out on top, the flashing lights in the mass of Oren finally faded away, as the prototype of the Mystery finally transformed into a Mystery of the Origin Sea, one that he had comprehended. And in the process, it spread its presence in his Domain, transforming it along with itself. Beginning with the mass of Oren where it had been fighting just moments ago.
The phantom lights of the fight had not even faded yet, when the newly established Mystery spread its dominance, marking the mass of Oren as its permanent home, changing it into a dark bluish colour, with flashes of silver in between, fighting against the emptiness of his Domain. No, not emptiness. After the Origin Sea had recognised his comprehension of the Mystery, he had finally transformed his Domain. It was still mostly dark, but it was no longer empty.