“A Fortune Spring?” Alnea mumbled, staring at Yuri with wide eyes. Even Cecilia had lost the grin from her face, turning stiff at the mention of a Fortune Springs. Rather, her reaction was even more exaggerated, as she stared at Yuri, half in elation, and half in disbelief. After all, a Fortune Spring meant much more for her than it did for him.
Search for Fortune Springs may only be just one of the reasons why they were exploring the canyon, but for Cecilia, it was like a light of hope that would allow her to keep pace with him, and Yuri. Still, no matter how excited she was, she did not let her emotions cloud her judgement. Forcing herself to take deep breaths, she looked at Yuri with a solemn face.
“There truly is Fortune Spring here?”
“Most probably,” Yuri said, pointing to the body of the wolf in front of them. “Can you not see what is wrong with this Dark Wind Wolf?”
…The wolf looked pretty normal to Alnea. But he could not say that out loud without embarrassing himself. So, there was only one thing he could do. Instead of answering Yuri, he turned towards the wolf’s body, and began observing it in detail. He still could not see anything different about it though. And so, he leaned in even closer to the wolf, going so far as to crouch down beside it.
Yet the result was still the same. He still could not find what Yuri was talking about. In the end, he could only shake his head in resignation. However, he was not the only one observing the wolf. Just on a whim, Alnea turned towards Cecilia, wondering if she had found what Yuri was talking about, only to find her staring at him, with the same confusion in her eyes. And for some reason that he liked to keep secret, he felt a strange sense of relief course through his veins. Still, the problem that Yuri had given them had not been solved. Something wrong with the Dark Wind Wolf…
“What is it?” Alnea said, with Cecilia matching him in both words, and timing, as if they had already agreed to do so beforehand. Of course, they had done nothing of the sort. He did not have any telepathic connection with Cecilia, after all. But he did have one with Yuri. So, it was not a surprise that their tacit understanding, and timing made Yuri raise her brows in amusement. And if it had happened at any other time, she might even have teased him about it. However, they had more important things to discuss.
“Its body,” Yuri said, pointing to wolf. “Its body is a little smaller than what the body of a typical Dark Wind Wolf in the intermediate phase of its Adolescent Stage should be.”
Smaller body…
“Are you sure about it?” Alnea said, glancing at the wolf once again. “It doesn’t look any different from a normal Dark Wind Wolf to me.”
“That’s because you are looking at the wrong place,” Yuri said, squatting down beside the wolf once again, tracing her hand on the length of the wolf’s legs. More precisely, its claws. “If look at its overall appearance, then it really does not look any different from normal Dark Wind Wolves. But if you look at its paws, you will notice that it far is too small for a body of its size. It should have been at least a couple of inches larger. And here, look at how small its claws are… It is as if they have yet to grow to match the size of its paws.”
“…I don’t see too much of a difference,” Cecilia said, still trying to hold back her nervous excitement behind her mask of rationality. “Besides, even if there are some minor differences, they can be attributed to some mutation, or lack of food.”
“Lack of food? Here? In the Night Canyons? Do you really believe that?”
“…What about mutation?”
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“Mutation… Indeed, you can think of it as a form of mutation. But the main question is, where did that mutation come from?”
“…Mutations are called as mutations because they can happen because of anything. Maybe even the wolf’s own perception. Anything can happen when the Origin Sea is involved.”
“Anything can indeed happen when the Origin Sea is involved, but the Origin Sea is not random. It has its own rules, regulations. We are just not able to see them. Still, anything that happens must have its own cause, and reasons. The same is with the mutation of the wolf. My guess is that something allowed the wolf to rapidly increase its strength, allowing it to advance in its phase earlier than it should have. It is just that its body had not caught up with the growth of its powers yet. As for where the sudden gain of its strength came from…”
“…A Fortune Spring?”
“That is the most probable answer,” Yuri said, finally causing the mask of rationality on Cecilia’s face to break apart. Before she could jump in excitement though, Yuri reached out to place her hand on Cecilia’s shoulders, adding, “Do not get too excited. That is just my guess. And even if my guess is true, we still need to find the Fortune Spring in order to experience its Good Fortune. Who knows, maybe the wolf experienced the Fortune Spring in some other region, before being driven here by other Oren Beasts.”
“It does not matter,” Cecilia said, shaking her head. “We were not expecting to come across a Fortune Spring in the first place. If we can find the Fortune Spring, then well and good. If not, then we will just have to keep looking. Besides, if we have Goddess Ilea’s favour, then nothing will be able to stop us from finding a Fortune Spring. And if we do not have her favour, then no matter what we do, we will be met with failure. Rather than brooding what might, or might not happen, I would prefer taking actions instead.”
“Just the fact that you can say those words shows how much you have grown,” Yuri said, nodding at Cecilia with a smile. “You do not have to worry. Whether we find a Fortune Spring or not, I will make sure that are left behind.”
“No need,” Cecilia said, shaking her head, defying their expectations once again. “If I cannot keep pace with you two on my own, then fighting by your side will not make any sense. Like I said, I would rather not be with you two, than be a burden. Besides, what good will worrying do for me? It would be better if I use my time, and energy on other more productive things.”
Once again, Alnea was left staring at Cecilia speechlessly. After shaking his head to make sure that he was not hearing things, he leaned towards his green robed friend, and said, “Are you really Cecilia?”
“Stop joking around,” Cecilia said with a laugh, using the first two fingers of her hand to push his head away from her face, before turning towards Yuri. “Come on, let’s stop wasting time. We should not stay in place for too long.”
This time, instead of asking Cecilia, Alnea turned towards Yuri, and said, “Is she really Cecilia?”
“…Stop fooling around,” Yuri said, in almost a mimicry of Cecilia, just with a wider, and more radiant smile on her face. Then again, her smile had always been radiant. Nonetheless, she was right. They did not have the time to fool around.
“…My Spirit Power is too low at the moment,” Alnea said to Yuri. “I should conserve some it for cases of emergency. It would be better if you would take over from me now.”
“It’s alright,” Yuri said, nodding back at him. “It is almost time for the switch anyway. And I barely used up any Spirit Power in the previous fight.”
“Good, then let’s go.”
Just as they were about to leave though, Cecilia pointed to the wolf’s body, and said, “What about it? Are we going to abandon it?”
“…Its too heavy, and cumbersome.”
“…That reminds me, I need to pick up my bag,” Alnea said, and turned back towards the place where he had dropped his bag. However, before he could take even one step towards it, Yuri stretched out her hands, and put it on his shoulders, stopping him in his tracks.
“Forget it. Like I was saying, the wolf’s body is too heavy, and same goes for you bag. They will get in the way of our search. We do not know what we will be encountering if we find a Fortune Spring, so it would be for the best if we leave them here for now, and pick them up on our way back.”
Saying so, Yuri did not even wait for his confirmation. She just turned around, and started walking off into the darkness of the canyon. It was only when she had walked a few steps, and noticed that neither Alnea, nor Cecilia were following her, that she stopped, and turned towards them, before adding, “What are you two waiting for? Let’s go, find that Fortune Spring.”