Staring at the waves in confusion, Alnea wondered when they had returned to original selves. He was almost sure that there were no waves just moments ago. Maybe they had come from the giant waves that had spread all around him. Or maybe they had always been there, it was just that he had not been able to see them. And for some reason, he believed for the latter to be true.
Even though he had seen the waves get destroyed right at the beginning, he still could not shake off the feeling that they had always been there. Even when the big wave had always been around him. That would also explain where all the waves had gone after the explosion. Nowhere. Because they were always there, around him, rotating about their own axes. But that made him a little curious. Could these things be even called as waves?
Alnea did not know. And so, he reached out to the waves with his hands. Observing the waves may have been enough to cause changes in them, allowing him to interpret the manifestation of the Mystery according to his wishes, but it was not enough to comprehend the Mystery. For that, he needed to interact with it, to let himself feel the fluctuations of the Mystery itself, and to understand its essence. He needed to tear through the veil that lay between him, and the rules that the Mystery represented, and peek at those rules, drawing his own conclusion from them. He needed to—
With his fingers brushing over the circles, Alnea felt his senses shift all around him, making him feel as if he was rotating along with the circles. But he was not. He could see that, observe that, and so, his Spirit stayed where it was. Only his senses rotated along with the circles, as if they had latched on to the senses of his Spirit, refusing to let go. And as they quaked, so did his senses. No, not just his senses, but his entire Spirit was quaking along with them.
Thankfully, his Spirit did not break along with the circle, neither did it turn into waves. On the contrary, the moment that the circles broke apart, his senses returned to their normal self. They still had phantom feelings from time to time, but otherwise, everything was alright. Except for the fact that he had failed to glean anything meaningful from his interaction. This Mystery… it was much more difficult to comprehend than the previous Mystery.
Shaking his head to rid himself of the useless thoughts, Alnea reached out to the thread like waves just as they were starting to come together. No, Alnea thought. Not come together but brought together. Pulled together. He could not understand how he knew that. He just knew. Or maybe that was what he wished to see, to observe. And so, the Mystery was—
The waves changed once again before Alnea could complete his thoughts, forcing him to give up on his observations, shelving them to the side for the moment. Not before making a mental note about them though. Then, without wasting any time, he focussed his attention on the thread like waves coming together to form a giant spherical wave that was at the centre of all spheres, at the centre of all that was rational, and logical.
A sphere… it was the most natural shape of all. If all the forces were to balance out each other, they would form a sphere. If all the waves were to come together, they would form a sphere. But why was that so? Why were the waves coming together? What was pulling them together? And why was sphere the most natural shape? And was it even the most natural shape?
Alnea did not know the answer to those questions. It was why he was trying to comprehend the Mystery in the first place. And it was also the reason why he reached out to the giant sphere, and brushed his hands over it. Over the giant sphere that stood… as tall as his palms. What was happening? Why was he perceiving things that were large as small once again? Why was he—
A strange, and an unnatural pressure came bearing down on Alnea, making him feel as if his Spirit was collapsing in on itself. The pressure was similar to what he normally felt when the chains of his Oaths usually wrapped around his Domain, making him feel that his Spirit was being constricted by chains, but this was much more intense. It was as if… as if the sphere existed within him, and was pulling his Spirit towards itself.
Such a strange, and unusual feeling… The sphere existed in front of him, within him, and in his thoughts… It existed everywhere. Yet, at the same time, it did not exist anywhere either. Only its effect was present. The pressure that was binding his Spirit… the pressure of a mountain… the pressure of his Spirit. That was it. This pressure… this force…
Since the sphere existed in all planes of existence, it existed in the plane of his Spirit too. His Spirit, however, could only sense the pressure in the plane it existed. But that did not mean that the pressure existed only in the plane of his Spirit. It existed in all the planes. Even the physical one. So, did that mean that he could exert the same pressure that his Spirit was experiencing onto other people’s bodies? If that was really the case, then…
Before Alnea could think further down that train of thought, the waves changed once again. The sphere… it collapsed from all the other planes of existence, not giving him the chance to confirm his thoughts. And even in the plane that it did exist, it did not exist for long. Shaking, and quaking for a bit, it just simply exploded into countless tiny spheres before he could glean much from it.
The explosion itself though, was another matter. Just moments ago, he had been interacting with the sphere, trying to understand its Mysteries, and intricacies, when he felt the sphere explode. He felt his senses explode. His sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch, everything just exploded, and stopped existing for a moment. And in that moment of nonexistence, he felt the origin of the world. He felt—
His senses returned to him just as abruptly as they had gone. And along with them, his ability to feel the existence of the sphere returned as well. Even though the sphere had already exploded, he could still feel its existence. He could still the pressure that it had brought him, the strange pressure that came from within himself. The pressure which… the smaller spheres revolving around in bigger circle were also feeling.
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Unfortunately, it felt like something was missing from those spheres. Or rather, from those circles. Something that should have existed at the centre of those circles… something like the giant sphere that had just exploded. The circles were missing their centre, while the spheres were missing their focus. And so, soon after they had formed the circles, both the circles, and the spheres collapsed towards their missing centre, forming something eerie, and strange. Before he could figure out what the strange thing was though, everything exploded in a bright, loud, and jarring explosion. An explosion, which shook the Origin Sea itself. Or at least he thought it did.
Alnea did not know much of what was happening to the Origin Sea. After all, all his senses had been robbed of him, once again. However, unlike his previous sense of nonexistence, this time, he felt as if he was in a bright, and colourful world with endless possibilities. As if he was seeing the moment that the world… the Origin itself was born. That moment was very short, and transient though, and once again, Alnea was left comprehending nothing.
And just like that, the Origin Sea was back to its original appearance. Or at least, the Mystery was back to its original appearance. Back to the point where only the circular waves existed, rotating in their place. It was just that this time, his Spirit Power was almost completely depleted. Sighing with regret, Alnea shook his head, and stepped out from the area of the Origin Sea under the influence of the Mystery. Though the Mystery had yet to dissipate, he could not afford to try comprehending it anymore.
Bidding his farewells to the Aspects, Alnea used the last bits of Spirit Power he was left with to barely make it back to his Domain in time. Glancing around its empty darkness, filled with just one small cloud of dark blue Oren, he lamented for the missed opportunity. He was not too worried though. As Yuri had said, he would have another chance in the future. Besides, he had not even expected to encounter a Mystery, let alone one related to his Roots.
This time, his main purpose of Wandering was to confirm something about his Heart. And though he had not completely confirmed it, he had gained a rough idea of what it was. At the same time, on the front of the Mystery, though he had not comprehended it completely, he had gained quite a few insights about it. The next time he would encounter the Mystery, he would miss his opportunity.
And just like that, his Heart was already back to its Serenity. The fact that his Heart had recently evolved helped a little with his quick recovery. As did the fact that both Yuri, and Cecilia were waiting for him. Not willing to let them wait for long, once his Heart had calmed down, Alnea immediately reached towards his Roots, and travelled back to his Spirit World. A dark world, and desolate world.
Except, it was not as desolate, or dark as it used to be before. His three Aspect Wells, spread across his Spirit World, glowing in the light of his Aspects, were fighting against inherent darkness of his Spirit World. It did not matter if his Aspects were glowing with a dark light. At the very least, his Spirit World was not as desolate as it used to be. It was still far from being as vibrant, and bright as the Origin Sea, but it would not be long before he would fill it with life, and glory.
Greeting his bubbly Aspects, promising to bring them out after a while, Alnea left his Spirit State, and opened his eyes to the darkness of the cave. It was so dark, that for a moment, the thought that he was still in his Spirit World. Fortunately, he was not alone in the cave. And it was not completely dark in the cave either. Just across from him, a golden glow was surrounding the green robed girl, illuminating her solemn face, and her dark black hair. It looked like Cecilia was still not done with her training. So, it was time for him keep his promise.
Picking up his sword, Alnea walked out of the cave, and into the slightly less dark world of the canyon. It was still dark, but at least it was not as dark as the cave was. And he did not have to rely on the light from Mysteries, or Aspects, to see the world around himself. To find Yuri, standing just a few metres away, with her white hair flowing behind her back, attracting all the light around itself, while she looked at him with her most mesmerising smile.
“Why are you smiling like that?” Yuri said, breaking him out of his daze, and at the same time, making him notice his smile. “Did you comprehend the Mystery?”
“…No, I did not,” Alnea said, scratching the back of his head, with an awkward smile on his face. Thankfully, Yuri did not make fun of him. Instead, she walked up to him, and took his hand in hers, gripping them tightly to reassure him of her presence.
“It is alright, Alnea,” Yuri said. “No one can comprehend all the Mysteries in just one try. Or have you forgotten about the first Mysteries I encountered?”
“How can I forget that? I still remember that time how you were trying to fool me—
“If we are going down lane of memories, then why don’t you also try recalling how you let yourself deliberately be assimilated into the Origin Sea, just to find an Aspect for me? That is a good memory, is it not?”
“…I think it would be better if we just focus on our present.”
“That’s what I thought,” Yuri said, letting out soft giggles, which soon turned into a laugh as Alnea joined her in her amusement. In the end, they had to cover their mouth, just to keep themselves from drawing any unwanted attention from the Beasts. And as they did so, he felt all of his awkwardness, and the frustration from failing to comprehend a Mystery fade away into the Serenity of his Heart. Comprehending the Mystery… it was not worth more than Yuri’s smile.
“You can head back now,” Alnea said, after he had regained his composure, and calmed himself. “Let me take over the watch.”
“It’s alright. I will wait for Cecilia to come first.”
“…If you wish,” Alnea said, as he unsheathed his sword, and walked towards the side. His Heart may have returned to Serenity, and he may be happy, but that was no reason to stop his training. When he was at the Seed Rank, he used to be able to face any Oren Beasts of the same Rank, even those like the Lightning Armoured Rabbits, or the Razorback Black Water Turtles, head on. And though he had to rely on traps to kill the latter, that was only because he was not allowed to use all of his Spirit Power.
After reaching the False Rank though, it was as if he had been returned to the early days of his Seed Rank, when even the Seeds from the Lotus clan were able to beat him up. Even when he had all his Spirit Power, he still had to rely on his Nightmare Arrow to fight the Oren Beasts. And even then, he had to ambush them first. Let alone fighting the Heterodox Wanderers, as he was, he was not even strong enough to fight Oren Beasts. And so, he had to train. He had to become strong. And, he had to learn how to kill.