Alnea may have been reluctant in his words, trying to find excuses to stay longer with his master, but there was no reluctance in his actions. Rather, his actions were so hurried, that they even incited a smile from his master. But he was so lost in his own thoughts, that he failed to notice that smile. Ensuring that his dagger was still tied to his waist, he picked up his bag, and his sword, before standing in front of his master.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Then let us not tarry any longer,” his master said, nodding with a smile, before getting up from the ground as elegantly as ever. “The girls are already waiting for you.”

Not waiting for his response, his master released her dense, tangible Spirit Power, and enveloped him within its reaches, isolating him from the world without. The world where one had to kill in order to live. The world of darkness, and despair… But it was alright. Because he was within the curtains of master’s Spirit Power, a place where only love existed. Love, and warmth. And just like that, all the strange, and uncomfortable feeling he had accumulated within his Heart was gone. Banished into the depths of his master’s Infinity.

In its stead, was a Serenity, that had gone past its previous limits, expanding to cover a much a greater part of his thoughts… Parts that he did not even know existed. Parts, that became known to him only after his Heart had evolved. Even if his Heart was still just at the state of Serenity, it was, at the very least, comparable to the Hearts of Intermediate Stage False Wanderers…

At least he had made some progress, Alnea thought, as he chuckled to himself, while his master brought him away from the canyon, from the accursed bed of Blood Sucking Grass. Finally, his nights of torment were over. He could not deny the help that the Blood Sucking Grass had given him, but that did not mean that he had to like them. Or use them willingly in the future.

After all, he was not going to be training with his master anymore. He would be training with Yuri, and Cecilia. In that case, using the Blood Sucking Grasses to train his ability to replace with meditation was not ideal. What if he got hurt? Who would heal him? And even if they could heal him, purposefully getting injured in a Forbidden Area was not a wise decision. What if the smell of blood attracted the Oren Beasts?

Besides, he was not even sure if the place where he would be training next would have the grasses or not. So, it was not like Alnea did not wish to train with the Blood Sucking Grass anymore. It was just that he could not. At best, he would promise his master to do his best to replace his sleep with meditation. That should be able to keep her happy, right?

No, probably not. It would be better if he did not make any promises, and just assured her. That way, she would think that he was listening to her advice, and…

Lost in his thoughts, it was not until his master slowed down, that Alnea finally noticed that they had already reached their destination. A junction of canyons, where five smaller canyons opened up into a larger canyon, all at the same place. Coincidentally, it was also the place where his master had dropped off Cecilia, and Yuri. And the place where the girls were waiting for him.

“It took you long enough.”

“…I am already faster by almost two weeks.”

“Ten days since you comprehended your first Mystery.”

“…Do you think creating Arcanas is easy?”

“It is easy enough for me.”

“…Are you trying to make me jealous?”

“Maybe.”

Alnea ignored the laughter ringing inside his head, and looked at his friends once again. The two were standing right at the junction between the canyons, almost with their backs against each other. And though they looked harmless, the Glyph Disc in Yuri’s hands, glowing in a greyish black light, and the green glow around Cecilia’s hands were enough to deter all the Oren Beasts in the area. Not that there were many Beasts there in the first place.

Oren Beasts, rarely, if even, roamed around the junction of canyons. That was unless they were trying to move to a different canyon. Either for survival, or to find better food. Both of those cases were rare though, so there were barely around five to ten Oren Beasts in the area that Alnea could see. Even then, with the junction being much narrower than the canyons, no Oren Beasts would be able to make a jump on them.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

And yet, the girls never let their guard down. Not even when they saw his master. They smiled at her, and nodded in respect, but they never stopped using the senses of their Spirit to maintain a constant vigil around themselves. In the end, Alnea had to rush towards them himself, only to be held back by his master.

“You can have your reunion later,” his master said, before releasing her hold on his collar. “I assume you two know why I asked you to gather here.”

“…We do, Lady Nyssa,” Cecilia said, looking at his master with a solemn face, while Yuri turned her attention towards him.

“Is he ready, big sis Nyssa?”

“…As ready as he can be,” his master said. “Some things, he will have to learn while training with you.”

“…We will try our best.”

“What do you mean you will try your best?” Alnea said, pouting at both, his master, and his friends. “Do you still take me as a kid? I am a proper Wanderer now, and I have already set foot on two of the three paths. It won’t be long before I surpass all of you.”

“…We will see about that.”

“…Since all of you are ready, let me bring you to your new training location. One befitting for you to train as a team.”

“…Is it still in the Night Canyons, master?”

“It is,” his master said. “A canyon which has Oren Beasts from the initial phase to the peak phase of Adolescent Stage. And not just a few of them. Those Beasts should be enough to practise your teamwork for a while. Besides, the canyon also has many precious resources, even some Fortune Springs. If used properly, these resources will not only speed up your training, but will also help you in the Origin Sea. Of course, you will have to find those resources first, and fight for them yourself.

“Still, whether you get those resources or not, I want both you, and Cecilia to break through the Intermediate Stage in four months. And you, Yuri, I want you to reach the advanced phase of the Intermediate Stage. If you three cannot even do that, then you can forget about fighting those Heterodox Wanderers, or about going to the Origin Battlefields. I will just take you to some other, safer—

“We can do it!” Alnea said, and was soon followed in by the girls, chiming in their own confirmations. “You can trust us, master. We will not disappoint you.”

“…You will never disappoint me, silly disciple,” his master said, revealing a faint hint of smile on her solemn face. “I will not appear unless your life is in danger, so you three will have to depend on yourselves, and each other to handle all situations. That means no fighting amongst yourselves, and no blaming each other. Blame game is the fastest way to destroy a team. Do you understand?”

“Yes, master!”

“…I understand, Lady Nyssa.”

“…You worry too much, big sis Nyssa. We will not fight with each other... At best, we will just tease Alnea a little.”

“…As long as it is kept within teasing,” his master said, shaking her head with a smile, before turning to him. Opening her ‘Dimensional Pocket’, she took out a small pouch, one similar to her own white pouch, just black in colour, and handed it to him. “Shift all of your things into this bag when you have time.”

“This is…”

“The girls have their own spatial storage devices, so it is time for you to get yours,” his master said, ruffling through his hair. “I have kept some spare changes of your robes, and sandals within it. They should be able to last you for a while. There are also the Second, Third, and Fourth Cycles of the Art of the Spirit Rebirth. And of course, I have not forgotten to store all the Martial Styles that you need to learn, including the ones for your other Aspect. By the time we meet again, I want you to not only master all of them, but also get proficient in their usage.”

“I will, master! Don’t worry.”

Nodding at his confident words with a smile, his master turned towards Cecilia, and retrieved a scroll from her ‘Dimensional Storage’, before handing it to her.

“Since you reached the False Rank a month earlier than Alnea, I also expect you to reach the Intermediate Stage earlier than him. This scroll is the higher Stage version of the Arcana that I gave you earlier…”

“I will not disappoint your expectations, Lady Nyssa.”

“I hope so,” his master said, before turning towards Yuri. “You are currently the strongest, so you will be acting as the leader of the team. Their safety, and training will be your responsibility.”

“I would have done that even if you had not told me so…”

After giving them a few more brief instructions about their training, his master wrapped them in her Spirit Power, and flew into the darkness of the Night Canyons. And though there was some time before they reached their new destination, no one spoke a word. Alnea did not know about the girls, but he just did not like the idea of separating from his master. That too, for months. Being with the girls, and training as a team was nice, but if only he could have also had his master…

Before he knew it, they were back on the ground. And for some reason, the already dark canyons turned a little blurry, making it even more hard for him to see his surroundings. But nothing could stop him from seeing his master. Or her fading back…

“…Remember to take care of yourself, silly child.”