There were not many things that Alnea was born with. And patience was definitely not one of them. Over the past year though, training under his master, he had been slowly, but steadily, building up his patience. So much so, that even after his Spirit Power had recovered to its peak, he still kept meditating, trying to achieve complete Serenity within his Heart. That, unfortunately, proved a little difficult to achieve. Especially when thoughts of what he was about to do next flashed past his mind. So, after a while, when he had made sure that his Heart would not disturb him with what he was about to do, Alnea let out a heavy breath and opened his eyes.
“Are you ready?” his master asked, as if she had been watching him all the time, waiting for the moment that he would leave his meditation. His master… she worried too much. But that only made his Heart feel warm, and Serene.
“I am,” Alnea said. “At least as ready as I could be today.”
“…Do you remember the things that you have to do?”
“Yes, master.”
“And what you should not do?
“…I will not be reckless, master.”
“…Hearing you say that makes me worry about you even more than before,” his master said. “Just make sure that you do not hurt yourself.”
“Yes, master.”
“Alright, you can go now.”
Getting the nod from his master, Alnea did not waste time, and closed his eyes, diving straight into his Spirit World, the dark, and desolate world. No, it was not so desolate, or dark anymore. In its barren land, stretching endlessly in all directions, there were two wells, shining in shades of golden, and black, not that far apart from each other, which kept fighting off the darkness of his Spirit World.
Compared to the golden Aspect Well, the black one was roughly three to four times, smaller in size, and did not contribute as much to the fight against darkness, but it did make his Spirit World feel a little less lonely. Especially since the black Aspect was a lot more active than his golden one, which always had only one thing in mind, to guard, and protect.
Smiling with affection, and a little pride, Alnea sent soothing message to both of his Aspects, before reaching for the golden black thread connecting his Spirit to the Origin Sea, and tugging on it, travelling to his Domain. Another dark world, with the desolate feeling being replaced by a feeling of emptiness. But just like his Spirit World, his Domain was not completely empty either. There, in a corner of his Domain, a cloud of Oren, carrying a dark blue hue, with streaks of silver flashing across its length, was fighting off the darkness trying to swallow it. His first Mystery.
A strange sense of accomplishment, and pride began filling his chest, as Alnea looked upon his first Mystery, trying to uplift the ban he had put on most of his excitement. He could not let that happen though. He had to be very careful with what he was about to do next. Or maybe, just like his father, he too, would…
“Are you back from your Wandering?” Alnea said through the rings, trying to distract himself with Yuri. He often did that. And the trick worked wonders for him. So, when his Heart felt like it would undo all the work he had done over the last day, he had no choice but to turn back to his white haired friend.
“Just,” Yuri replied. “Fortunately, I did not encounter any Mysteries today. Looks like Goddess Ilea is smiling upon you today.”
“…I hope she is.”
“Are you ready?”
“…Why do you and master ask me almost the same question every time? It is like you two are really sisters, or something.”
“Good that you know,” Yuri added with a chuckle. “Before becoming your master, or mother, bis sis Nyssa has always been my big sis. So, in a way, I am your elder. Treat me with respect.”
“…Yes, grandma.”
“Who is your grandma?” Yuri said with a snort. “Call me Lady. Lady Yuri.”
“…As you wish, Lady Yuri.”
“…On second thought, just Yuri would do fine,” Yuri said. “Hearing you call me Lady sends shiver down my spine.”
“Hey, I am not that bad,” Alnea said, laughing at Yuri’s reaction, and was soon joined in by her giggles. After a while, when they had both quietened down, he added, “I am ready.”
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
“Do not try to overreach… and be careful.”
“I will.”
“…May Goddess Ilea’s blessing be with you, and may Goddess Faein guide you, Alnea.”
“Thank you, Yuri,” Alnea said, before reaching out to the depths of his Domain, and pulling the door to the Origin Sea into the material plane. A radiant golden light, that soon transformed into a golden ring, before turning into a golden disc, almost twice his height, with the darkness around it ensuring that all of the light of the disc was concentrated within itself. But that was not enough to hide the glory of the golden disc. Especially since it was surrounded by darkness from all side, the contrast made it look even more astonishing.
Alnea had not come to the Origin Sea to marvel at the disc though. So, once the final transformation of the disc was done, he drifted towards the golden curtain of light, and pushed on it lightly, causing the disc to collapse on itself, revealing the world that lay beyond. A world of dangers, and opportunities. Of wonder, and mystery. A world, that was the beginning, and end of everything. The Origin Sea.
Taking a brief glance of the colourful, and vibrant world beyond the giant, circular door, Alnea braced his senses, and his Heart. There was no need to hesitate. Hesitation would only breed more hesitation. Only action could curb his hesitation. Of course, he was not hesitating about entering the Origin Sea. He had been to the Origin Sea enough times to become familiar with its attacks. They were not a threat to him. At least not in the shallow regions that he was in.
So, even though he was still fighting off his hesitation, he chose to take a step into the wild reaches of the Origin Sea, and face all of its attacks head on. From all kinds of sensations flooding his senses, to the sensation of being trapped by the endless layers of Oren from all sides, none of them could stop him. Only his thoughts could. And of course, the countless Aspects within the Origin Sea, who cheered in excitement as soon as they sensed him.
HE IS BACK.
OATHKEEPER IS BACK.
BACK TO KEEP HIS OATH.
BACK TO PLAY WITH US.
PLAY!
WE ARE GOING TO PLAY ONCE AGAIN!
WE ARE…
To the incessant chattering of the Aspects, Alnea replied with a smile, and said, “I am indeed back… but this time, I am going to do something dangerous, so I might not have time to play with you.”
DANGEROUS?
YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING DANGEROUS?
BUT WANDERING ITSELF IS DANGEROUS.
YES, DANGEROUS.
VERY DANGEROUS.
YOU ARE ALWAYS DOING SOMETHING DANGEROUS.
“Not that kind of danger,” Alnea said. “But something much more dangerous… I am going to try creating my own Arcana.”
YOUR OWN ARCANA…
YES, YOU MUST CREATE ARCANAS.
IT IS YOUR OATH.
FIRST OATH.
YOU MUST FULFIL YOUR OATH.
YOU ARE OATHKEEPER.
“Right, so I might not have time to play with you guys today…”
PLAY… IT DOES NOT MATTER.
WE CAN PLAY ANYTIME.
ARCANA IS A MUST.
WANDERING IS A MUST.
THE GREATEST WANDERER.
THE GREATEST ARCANIST.
“You still remember that,” Alnea mumbled, letting out an awkward laugh, only to be met with a serious response from the Aspects.
WE REMEMBER EVERYTHING.
EVERYTHING.
The solemnness of the Aspects only made him feel more awkward, and fidgety. But they were Aspects, after all. And in a way, they were also his friends. There was no need to be awkward with them. So, supressing the awkwardness within himself, Alnea glanced at the Aspects, and said, “Anyways, I have to create an Arcana today… so we will play tomorrow, alright?”
PLAY… TOMORROW.
WE WILL PLAY TOMORROW.
TODAY, YOU CREATE ARCANA.
TODAY, YOU BECOME AN ARCANIST.
TODAY, YOU CREATE…
The Aspects trailed off with their words, but Alnea could guess what they were trying to say. Letting out a light laugh, Alnea shook his head, before concentrating on what he was about to do. Arcanas had three stages, connection, interpretation, and execution, or casting. It was only natural then, that creating Arcanas also had three stages, comprehension, experimentation, and interpretation.
Comprehension, as the name suggested, was the part where he had to actually comprehend the Mysteries first. Only after he had comprehended a Mystery, could he create Arcanas. Of course, there were certain steps to follow in the process of creation, like experimenting with the Mysteries. Experimentation… that was the most difficult, and dangerous part of creating Arcanas. His father…
In any case, the experimentation phase was also the most tedious phase. If he succeeded in his experiments, then he could proceed to the next step, interpretation. If his experiments failed though, he would have to go back, and start the experiments from the beginning. Even during interpretation, if some of the interpretations failed to achieve his desired goals, then he would have to back to the experimentation phase, and start all over again.
On the chance that his experiments were to succeed though, he could move on to the interpretation phase, deciding what the effect of his Arcana would be. Needless to say, interpreting Mysteries was also quite dangerous. Not as dangerous as the experimentation phase, but still dangerous enough to prove fatal if he dared to be careless.
Of course, interpreting the Mysteries would have to wait for a while. For the moment, he had to focus on experimenting with the Mystery, understanding how its different effects could be manifested, and how to manipulate the intensity of those effects. After all, that was what Arcanists did. Manipulate Mysteries according to their will.