“No!” his mother said, yelled, vehemently shaking her head. “I—I don’t believe it! Why are you lying to me?”
“We are not lying. We—
“Then what do you mean that it is too late? Has Raun already started testing the Arcana? Both of you are Arcanists as well. Don’t you know how dangerous it will be for him to test an Arcana that is three stages higher than himself? Hurry up, and take me to him. If we don’t stop him now—
“We know that…” uncle Trepis said, with his shoulders trembling out of his control. “Inkah’s breath, both of know that better than you do!”
“...Control yourself, Trepis,” uncle Yuren said with a sigh, lightly tapping uncle Trepis’ shoulder, before turning to face his mother. “The dangers of trying out an Arcana beyond our level… How can we not know such a thing? How can Raun not know such a thing? Other than his slightly higher Spirit Power, he is still an Initial Stage False Wanderer in essence. Besides, the fact that the Redbud family even asked him to do such a thing was suspicious in of itself. There are other Advanced Stage Arcanist under their service, but they still asked Raun to do such a thing…”
“...Then why are you saying that there is no need for me to stop him anymore?”
“...Because it is already too late,” uncle Yuren said, sighing heavily, while shaking his head. “That idiot… he told us that he would not take the Arcana, and then went ahead and took it by himself.”
“No… why…”
“Because he was an idiot, that’s why!” uncle Trepis said. “Both of us warned him, and yet he still went ahead and did it… All for what? An illusory promise that the Redbud family has no intention of fulfilling?”
“...He also knew how dangerous the task they were giving him was. And then there were the conditions that they offered to him as well… Allowing someone who is not from the Lotus clan to train at the Central Academy, that’s unprecedented. There have been many people who have contributed much more to the Lotus clan, but none of them have ever been offered such conditions. Not even True Wanderers. But they offered it to him…”
“We kept telling him that something was wrong. Either they never intended to fulfil their part of the deal, or there was something wrong with the Arcana they were asking him to test. Maybe even both. But he refused to listen to us. The condition they offered him was not something that he could refuse…”
“...What are you trying to say?” his mother said, with her voice shaking just as much as her hands were, allowing her pouch to tumble down to the ground.
“...We are trying to say that there is no need for you to look for Raun anymore, Ciena.”
“Raun… he…”
“What happened to Raun?” his mother said in a shrill, ear piercingly loud voice, as she pulled on the shirt of uncle Trepis. Her actions, and her loud voice, coupled up with the look on her face were starting to scare Ernith. But it paled in comparison to the fear he was feeling from what they were talking about.
“...He is dead, Ciena. Raun is dead.”
“Even his body… it was consumed by the Arcana… devoured by the Origin Sea…”
“No…” his mother mumbled, as her legs gave out beneath her. Only the collar of uncle Trepis’ shirt that she was holding was keeping her up. However, the trembling of her hands soon made her let go of that too. “…You are lying.”
“Ciena…”
“You are lying!” his mother said, shrieking at the top of her lungs, just as she plopped down to the cobbled floor of the central plaza. “Tell me you are lying!”
The shrieks, and the shouts of his mother fell on deaf ears, as both the uncles maintained their silence, looking at his mother with guilt, and remorse. However, that silence itself was louder than even the loudest of the thunders that Ernith had ever heard. It rocked his ears, and his senses, making him feely dizzy, and nauseous. That he was able to keep himself standing, and not fall on the ground like his mother, was already the best he could manage.
For his mother though, the silence was a bit too heavy, taking its toll on her within moments. The woman, who was once the most beautiful women that Ernith had ever seen, soon lost the charm, and the glow from her face, ageing more than ten years in just a few moments. Even the tears rolling down her cheeks, and the shrill shrieks escaping her lips, did nothing to lessen the fiery agony roiling inside of her, and instead, only seemed to weigh her down even more, forcing her to crumble on the ground. And along with it, Ernith fell his heart crumble as well. His father…
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Trembling, and swaying with the winds, Ernith felt a dizzy spell assaulting him once again. But he held on and did not fall. He could not fall. Biting his lips, and clenching his fist, he looked at his mother’s broken figure for a few more moments, before turning towards the Origin Altar. There, standing on the raised platform, the Scholar was beckoning for him to come. And so, he moved, taking one heavy, and uncertain step, at a time.
“Liar,” Ernith mumbled to himself, as he tried to push his tears back into his eyes. “You made a promise.”
Promises should not be broken. That was what Ernith had always thought, and believed. That was the principle that the man in his dreams had always lived by. It did not matter if doing so would put him in a disadvantageous position, or end up landing him in trouble. Even when there was no one to see, till the day he died, he always kept his promises. Because promises were meant to be kept. Then why was it that his father always broke his promises?
“The Redbud family offered to allow Ernith… to train at the Central Academy… couldn’t refuse…”
For him? His father broke his promise for him? Who asked for him to do that? Train with Seeds from the Lotus clan… When did he ask for that? Training at the Western Academy would have been fine. And had he had felt that it was not enough, he could have joined the Union. So what was the need for his father to take that task… to break his promise?
For his better future, a voice inside of him told Ernith. To make the path of a Wanderer easier for him. To let him become a better Wanderer than him… Was his father afraid that he would become like him? Too afraid to Wander the Origin Sea after creating his first Arcana… He was not even planning on becoming an Arcanist in the first place.
Ernith clenched his trembling hands into a fist, ignoring the nails digging into his palms. Rather, the pain from that served as a sort of distraction, as he reached the Origin Altar, and focussed on the Scholar before him. Just as he had seen before, the Scholar was dressed in black and golden robes, which matched perfectly with his clean shaved face, and well kept hair. As for the rest, Ernith did not have the heart to notice. His chest was burning too fiercely for that.
“What is your name, young man?” the Scholar asked.
“Ernith…”
“Ernith, are you ready for your journey into the Origin Sea?”
“I am.”
“Do you know what laying your Roots mean?”
Instead of immediately answering the Scholar, Ernith glanced towards his mother. She was lying crumpled on the ground. The two uncles moved to support her, but were turned away by her. In the end, they too left the plaza, leaving her all alone by herself. In the entire plaza, which could fit thousands of people at a time, only he, his mother, and the Scholar were left.
In fact, the plaza was so empty that despite her being near the end of plaza, and him being at its centre, he could still hear her faint sobs, and wails. All because his father had broken the promises that he had made. And in doing so, he had also broken the connection that he had with them. A connection. A promise. Only the promises made with the Origin Sea were trustworthy. Only they could never be broken.
“It means having the Origin Sea approve of my conviction,” Ernith said, turning his gaze back towards the Scholar. “For that, I will have to set appropriate Roots for myself, and determine their price. After the Origin Sea approves of those three things, I will be able to leave my mark in the Origin Sea, establishing a unique connection with it. One that will belong only to me and let me use its power… let me become a Wanderer.”
“It looks like you are quite the intelligent kid,” the Scholar said, giving an appreciative smile towards Ernith. “I am assuming that you already know of the Ritual as well. Still, it is my duty to inform you of Ritual.” The Scholar paused for a moment, pointing to the Origin Altar, before continuing. “You see the Altar behind me? It has many Glyphs engraved on it. In a few moments, I will activate a few of them to awaken your Spirit, and send it into the Origin Sea.
“Since this is the first awakening of your Spirit, you will feel a few strange sensations, but do not panic. The sensations will pass in a while, after which, you will find yourself within the Origin Sea, surrounded by all sorts of the Aspects of the Origin Sea, and will be greeted by their voice. You just need to follow their instructions and lay your Roots. After you are done with that, the Aspects of the Origin Sea will send your Spirit back to your body. As for how to use your Spirit, how to borrow the power of the Origin Sea, and how to train your Spirit Power, the Academy will tell you about it later. So do not go around experimenting with your Spirit by yourself, and wait for your training at the Academy to start. Do you understand?”
“I do.”
“Before we begin, let me give you some advice. You may have heard that stronger Roots will allow you to explore the Origin Sea at a greater depth, and will also help you in walking farther than the others on your path as a Wanderer. While that may be true, the rumours do not tell you that you will also have to pay a correspondingly higher price for it. Many times, that price would not be worth the gain. Still, the choice is yours, as will be your Roots. I can only give you some advice. The rest will be up to you.”
“I understand.”
“Are you ready?”
“I am.”
“Then let us begin,” the Scholar said, before tapping on Ernith’s forehead, right in the middle of his brows.