Cecilia stayed still for a few moments, before giving up all her complicated thoughts, and hurriedly following along with Yuri. Alnea was not any different from her though. Being given respite from carrying his heavy bag for a while, he did not wish to waste his precious moments of rest on staring at the darkness. The only reason he had been so slow to react was because Yuri’s touch on his shoulders had reminded him of some thoughts.

Unnecessary thoughts, but thoughts that occupied his mind, nonetheless. Especially when his eyes—Alnea suppressed his unnecessary thoughts in the Serenity of his Heart, and rushed towards Yuri, who in turn, after making sure that he, and Cecilia were following behind her, gave them a nod, before turning around, and walking into the darkness of the canyon, her senses focussed completely on exploring its depths.

Not the unknown depths, which seemed to be calling out to them, extending its tendrils of desires, and temptations, trying to lure them into its endless traps, like the one with the Devouring Grass. No, not like the Devouring Grass. Those tendrils spoke of a much greater danger, hiding in the skin of an even greater temptation. The temptations of Springs of Fortune, and countless precious resources, hiding in the places touched by the Origin Sea. In the depths of the Night Canyons that lay just beyond their reach.

Unfortunately, they were not ready for such places. Not yet. Dealing with an intermediate phase Oren Beast was already their limit. And the dangers that awaited them in the inner reaches of the Night Canyons was far beyond their limit. Thus, for the moment, they had to be content with what they had found. A clue, which might, or might not lead them to a Fortune Spring.

In any case, as Cecilia had said, there was no use in brooding over such things. It would be best if they could find a Fortune Spring, and if not, then they will just have to keep searching. Regardless, they had to keep doing their best. Like at the moment, while Yuri was exploring their surroundings with the sense of her Spirit, leading the way for them, Alnea was not being idle. And neither did he just simply keep following behind her.

Resting his hand on the hilt of his dagger, he kept up his guard, ready for any sudden threats, or danger. His sword was too large. Drawing it would take time. And he could not throw it like his dagger either. His sword was not meant for flying. At least not until he engraved such Glyph Arrays on his sword, if he even did so.

Then there was the issue of walking too closely with Cecilia, and Yuri. Drawing his sword so near to them, if he missed even a beat, he might end up injuring them before he would even be able to defend himself. In any case, using his sword was not suitable for defending himself from abrupt, and surprise attacks. Thankfully, he still had his dagger, his ‘Golden Yearning’. A present that his master had given him.

Just until a few weeks ago, all his strategies in fighting Beasts, or at least most of them, used to rely on his dagger. That had changed after he had reached the False Rank, and diversified his attacking methods, but the dagger still remained as his most versatile tool in a fight. It could be used for both, offense, and defence. He could even use it to distract his enemies, or just to simply launch an attack from a distance. Using it to defend against some surprise attacks would not be too much of a problem, or so he presumed. He would not know until he actually experienced such an attack.

But that did not mean Alnea was hoping for such an attack to come. He did not thirst for testing his dagger against the surprise attacks of enemies. It would be best if he—they did not even encounter any attacks. Especially since they were searching in the territory of the Dark Wind Wolf that they had just slain. Dark Wind Wolves were not known to very friendly Oren Beasts, even to their own kind.

The only time that the Dark Wind Wolves were known to gather, and mingle with their kind in relative peace, was when it was time for them to mate. And clearly, the wolf they had slain had just been in the intermediate phase of its Adolescent Stage, far from reaching the standards to mate. So, if there really was another Oren Beast in their vicinity, Dark Wind Wolf or not, it would mean that whatever the reason behind the mutation of the wolf they had slain was, it was tempting enough for two Oren Beasts to ignore their differences, and share a territory.

Though that would probably confirm the existence of a Fortune Spring in their vicinity, it would also mean that they would have to fight another intermediate phase Oren Beast to enjoy that Fortune Spring. Something that he was not very keen on doing at the moment. Especially with the state that his Spirit Power was in. Still, whether they would have to fight another beast, or not, was not up to him. All he could do was keep his guard up, while Yuri searched for the Fortune Spring.

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That was probably for the best though. After all, all that he knew about Fortune Springs was that they formed due to the influence of the Origin Sea, and its Mysteries. And that they granted Good Fortune to all those who visited them, regardless of their race, gender, or age. What exactly was a Fortune Spring though… he still did not know. Neither did he know how they worked.

Granting Good Fortune… A place which would end up benefiting him. So, was the bed of the blood sucking grass a Fortune Spring for him? It did accelerate his progress in replacing sleep with meditation, but Alnea did not think that it was enough for it be termed as a Fortune Spring. Yet he could not accurately define what a Fortune Spring should be like. Maybe, Cecilia would not be able to do it either. No, her Roots were related to the lineage of Good Fortune, so she might be able to recognise it…

So, was a Fortune Spring related to the Mysteries of the lineage of Good Fortune? If so, then how was the wolf able to benefit from that Mystery? If it was really related to Mysteries, then should it not have been from the lineage of Creation, or Night for the Dark Wind Wolf to benefit from it? Maybe, even the Mysteries from the lineage of Life would have been able to help it advance. Mysteries from the lineage of Good Fortune however…

Watching his thoughts spiral out of his control, Alnea sighed, and closed his eyes for a moment to regain his Serenity. Why was he so worried about the Fortune Spring anyways? And why was he getting anxious the more he thought about it? Was it because he was worried for Cecilia? Was his anxiousness coming from his desire to help his friend? Or was it from the fear of watching her leave him, just because she could not keep up with him…

No, Alnea admitted to himself, as he looked through essence of his Heart. Though he had not achieved a Clarity of his Heart, upon questioning himself, he was still able to isolate his insecurities, his internal conflicts, and face them head on. His anxiousness… It came not just from worrying for Cecilia, but also from within himself. From the struggle of his progress on the path of Wanderers.

How many days had it been since he had become a False Wanderer? Twenty? Twenty five? He did not know. Days were hard to keep count of in the canyons. What count he did have were just some approximations he came up with based on the number of times he had trained his Spirit. And there in lay the root of his insecurities. He did not know how much time had passed… How much time was left for him before the Rising Wanderer Trials? How much time did he have before the Heterodox Wanderers came for him?

He could act tough, and confident in front of Cecilia, and Yuri, but when he was left with his thoughts, the doubts would not stop coming. Nearly twenty days, most probably more, had passed since he had become a Wanderer, yet his Spirit Power had only recently reached the Fourth Level, crossing three hundred units, or thirty units in the standards of the Seed Rank.

That, in normal circumstances, would have been a decent, or even a fast rate of progress. But circumstances were not normal for him. He did not have much time left before the Heterodox Wanderers would come for him. No, they had already come. It was just that his master had used some baits to distract them. But they would not stay distracted for long. Soon, in a few months, a year at most, they would be able to get rid of the distractions, and would come straight for him.

Of course, his master would not let all those Wanderers come at him. She had promised that he would have to deal with only False Wanderers, while she would deal with the rest, but that would not make things much easier for him. At the moment, he was just an Initial Stage False Wanderer. A few months later, he would, at most, be at the Intermediate Stage. Fighting against Peak Stage False Wanderers was not going to be easy, even if he was going to do it as team. Especially because he was going to fight as team.

Yuri, and Cecilia were two of the only five people closest to his Heart… They were his Heart. If they were to get hurt, and worse, if they were to… No, he could not let them get hurt. He refused to let them get hurt. However, he needed strength to achieve his goals. And so, when he had heard of Fortune Springs, he had wondered, if these paces had an easier, and faster way to increase his strength. Even if the way was not easy, as long as it was fast… As long as it would allow him to reach the Peak, or even the Advanced Stage of the False Rank…

But was that not exactly how the Heterodox Wanderers lived? Looking for easier, and shorter ways to gaining strength. Maybe there really were ways to rapidly increase his strength, like the one that the former retainers of the Lotus clan had used. However, every action of Wanderers, even their words, and thoughts, had its own price. Rapidly gaining strength naturally had its own price as well. A price, that he probably would not be able to, or wiling to bear. Fortune Springs…

Alnea shook his head, as he opened his eyes to stare back into the darkness once again. It did not matter what a Fortune Spring was like. It did not even matter if they could find a Fortune Spring. Strength… True strength, was something that one gained through the virtue of their efforts, and not because they got lucky, and stumbled upon a Fortune Spring. Maybe some people gained their strength in such a way, but that kind of strength would not be—

“This is it,” Yuri said, stopping in front of a cluster of boulders. “A Fortune Spring.”