“…I am not sure,” Alnea said, scratching his head, while glancing at the boulders. “All I know is that Fortune Springs are formed in place where the influence of the Origin Sea spills into our world. Other than that… Are they like manifestations of Mysteries? Or are they places with the blessings of Goddess Ilea? Places where we can receive Good Fortune…”

“That is a good guess,” Yuri said, as she walked up to the boulder nearest to them. “Unfortunately, you are slightly off. The answer is a mix of all those three things, and in a slightly different form that you perceive them to be in.”

“…That does not make sense.”

“It will, in a while. Before that, first tell me, do you remember what Thrall Domains are?”

“Of course,” Alnea said. “Thrall Domains are the parts of our world, which the Thralls have corrupted, and turned inhabitable for all but themselves.”

“Yet some of the most precious resources of our world are found in the Thrall Domains,” Yuri said, tracing her hands on the large boulder, a little larger than herself, before turning to face him, and Cecilia. “Why do you two think that is the case?”

“Are you asking me too?” Cecilia said, staring at Yuri in confusion, only for Yuri to ask her a question in return.

“Do you know exactly what Fortune Springs are? Or how they work?”

“…I know that they are supposed to bring me Good Fortune.”

“Then isn’t this the perfect opportunity to learn more about Springs of Fortune, and how they work?”

“…I guess so,” Cecilia said, and after some thought, added, “The answer to your question is obvious, isn’t it? It is because of the ‘corruption’ that the Thralls bring. It is still unknown how they are able to do it, but somehow, Thralls are able to let the Mysteries of the Origin Sea, those which they are aligned with, manifest permanently in our world. And they do this on such a large scale, and in so short a time, that if not for the fact that they are contained at the borders, it would not take long for them to carve another Thrall Domain.

“In any case, since these manifestations of Mysteries are enough to corrupt our world to the point that the world itself provides assistance to the Thralls, while suppressing all those who do not specialise in those said Mysteries, it is not a surprise that those manifestations can give birth to a few resources. Or else, why would the Orthodoxies all vie for taking the responsibility of defending against the Thralls? Isn’t it because of the resources they can harvest in the Thrall Domains?”

“What about you Alnea?” Yuri said, after nodding at Cecilia to acknowledge her answer. “Do you have anything else to add?”

“…The most precious resources are found in the Thrall Domains because it is the graveyard of Wanderers. The place where most of the Wanderers die. And I am not talking about normal death. Thrall Domains… they have a tendency to make Wanderers lose control over themselves. And we all know what happens when Wanderers lose control over themselves. They get devoured by the Origin Sea.

“One may then say that there is nothing new with Wanderers getting devoured by the Origin Sea. It happens almost every day, and all over the world. Even Anneve. My father… In any case, no resources are generated from the Wanderers getting devoured by the Origin Sea. Something that we personally confirmed just over a month ago. What is so special about the Thrall Domains then?

“Once again, the answer lies in the question itself. The Thrall Domains… they are the graveyard of Wanderers. It would not matter if only a few Wanderers were to get devoured. But with thousands, and even tens of thousands of Wanderers getting devoured in the span of just over a few months, and the feedback of the Origin Sea into the world, as it devours Wanderers one after another, all concentrated in a small area, it would be a surprise if no resources were formed from the influence of the Origin Sea.”

“Is that all?”

“I guess,” Alnea said, shrugging his shoulders. “Cecilia has already said the thing about the ‘corruption’, so there is not much else left for me to add.”

“Fine, let us take just those two explanations for consideration,” Yuri said, nodding at them with a smile. “Whichever of the two explanations we take, both are reasonable, and perfectly logical. However, don’t you think that there is something missing in those explanations?”

To Yuri’s question, both Alnea, and Cecilia could only shake their head with a wry smile.

“If we would have known what you are talking about, then we would have already said so,” Alnea said, and was soon complemented by Cecilia.

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“Just get straight to the point.”

Yuri, of course, did not get straight to the point. Instead, she smiled at them, and said, “Alright, let us try this another way. Tell me, did either of you notice the common points between your explanations?”

“Common point?” Alnea mumbled, thinking back on his words, before comparing it with what Cecilia had said. As he was doing that though, his eyes instinctively darted over to Cecilia, and found her looking back at him. Then, once again, as if in a silent tacit agreement, they turned towards Yuri, and said unison, “The Origin Sea.”

“That’s right,” Yuri said. “Whether it is the ‘corruption’, or the feedback that you two talked about, in both cases, it is the powers of the Origin Sea, which spilled into our world, that caused the creation of all those precious resources. Without the powers of the Origin Sea, none of those things would have been possible.

“However, we, as Wanderers, call upon the powers of the Origin Sea all the time. Even normal humans cannot live without the powers of the Origin Sea. Then why is it that when we manifest the Origin Sea, nothing happens, but when the Thralls call upon it, it leaves precious resources behind? Don’t you two find it odd?”

“Now that you mention it, it does seem odd,” Alnea said, with a hint of hesitation in his voice. “Is it because the Thralls can Mystery lash? Or because the concentration of the Mysteries is too much? No that should not be it either… But what does it have to do with Fortune Springs?”

Alnea had always liked learning about the Origin Sea, and all its little secrets. However, they were not in the position to just stand around, and talk so nonchalantly. What if some Oren Beast would come attacking their way? Worrying about all the things that could happen, he urged Yuri to stop wasting time. And with him not hiding his emotions, it was only natural for Yuri to notice the anxiousness on his face. But her reaction was completely outside his expectation. With a smile on her face, she stopped tracing the rock with her finger, and looked at him with confidence shining in her eyes.

“To answer that question, let us go back to the question that you had asked before. What exactly is a Fortune Spring. Or rather, why is there a ‘Fortune’ in its name. You are curious about that, right?”

“…I am.”

“…It mattered not to the Origin what the reason was; maybe a Chance happenstance, or Good Luck for all, for it soon brought in Time, the Good Fortune of all…”

“The lore of creation… What does that have to do with Fortune Springs?”

“The lore of creation… It may just be a lore, but if you read into it deep enough, then it can be connected with everything in the world. Even the Origin Sea. And that naturally includes the Fortune Springs. Besides, you seem to have a misconception about Fortune Springs. More precisely, the word Fortune in that term. Here, Fortune does not mean literal Fortune of the Mysteries from the lineage of Fortune, but just mere chance happenstance. Or in other words, luck.”

“…Luck?”

“Luck,” Yuri repeated. “There are times, and places, where, and when, the boundaries between our world and the Origin Sea becomes thin for some reason. So thin, in fact, that often times some of the powers of the Origin Sea manages to slip through those barriers, and manifest in our world. Unlike the Thrall Domains though, these areas do not have the Thralls forcefully manifesting the Mysteries. The powers of the Origin Sea manifest in these areas naturally, and in a much more balanced way. This, in turn, creates what we know as Springs of Fortune. Or Fortune Springs. Places formed through sheer luck and chance.

“Of course, since Fortune Springs are generally formed in areas where the boundaries between our world, and the Origin Sea is weak, we can still roughly predict which areas have a higher probability of giving birth to Fortune Springs, like the Night Canyons. Or rather, any Forbidden areas in general. Since the Oren Beasts are more inherently linked to the Origin Sea than us, they have a tendency of settling in places where the boundaries between our world, and the Origin Sea is weak. Still, whether a Fortune Spring would form in an area or not, is all up to chances, and luck.

“As for Fortune Springs themselves, they are places where the Origin Sea’s power has spilled over, creating special areas, which can bring all sorts of good fortune for us, and even Oren Beasts. For example, the wolf we just killed, it was much stronger than what a Dark Wind Wolf of its age should be. It should be because the wolf found this place, and used it grow stronger much faster than its natural growth rate. And this is just one kind of good fortune. There can be all sorts of good fortune, like getting enlightenment about Mysteries, or Arcanas, even Martial Styles. In any case, you two can understand the gist of what Fortune Springs are, right?”

“…I still have a few doubts, but I guess I can understand what you are trying to say.”

“I already knew most of it, so it is enough for me.”

“Then you have the answer for the question that I asked you earlier, right?”

“…Because the powers of the Origin Sea that we manifest is our interpretation of the powers of the Origin Sea,” Alnea said after some thought, to which, Cecilia nodded along, and added a few words of her own.

“And even in cases where we can manifest the true powers of the Origin Sea, like when we are using Glyphs, those are generally focussed, and isolated powers, rather than the more balanced, and homogenous powers of the Origin Sea that spills into our world naturally. Most probably, that is also the reason why the Thralls can ‘contaminate’ our world. Because the powers of the Origin Sea that they manifest forcibly are heavily skewed towards a particular type of Mysteries.”

“…There are a few things missing in those explanations, but that should be enough to satiate your curiosity, right?”

“…I still don’t know how we are going to accept the good fortune of this Fortune Spring.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cecilia said, waving her hands to brush off his fears. “We can show that to you. Even though I know little about Fortune Springs, at the very least I know how to use them. And I am sure that Yuri knows it too.”

“That settles it then,” Yuri said, with her most pleasant smile, that even the darkness of the canyon was not able to hide. “How about it? Do you want to experience the Good Fortune hidden in this Fortune Spring?”