“…Is that even a question?” Alnea mumbled, as he walked up to Yuri, with Cecilia soon joining them with a laugh. “So, how are we doing this?”
“It’s pretty simple, actually,” Cecilia said, pointing to the boulders around them. “You just need to choose the boulder which you feel the most familiar with, and then mediate on it for a while.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Cecilia said, only to be lightly tapped on her forehead by Yuri in the next moment.
“Who is going to tell him about being in his Spirit State, and trying to connect with the boulder?”
“…I mean, isn’t that pretty obvious?” Cecilia said, rubbing her forehead. “How else would he find the boulder that would fit him the most?”
“You… forget it,” Yuri said, shaking her head, before turning towards him. “From meditating, to performing your Martial Styles, or even displaying Arcanas, there are many ways of experiencing the Good Fortune hidden in Fortune Springs. Which method works on a Fortune Spring though, depends on the form it is in, and the way that it hides its Good Fortune.
“For example, there are certain Fortune Springs which will reveal their Good Fortune to only those who actively interact with them, and some, which will reveal their Good Fortune to only those who have experienced certain events in their life. Like betrayal, or a near death experience. In any case, these things do not concern you at the moment. For this particular Fortune Spring, you just need to sit on top of the boulder you feel most familiar with, and meditate on it, while trying to maintain a connection with it. In your Spirit State, of course.”
“…I would not be able to do it for long then,” Alnea said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. “My Spirit has yet to recover.”
He was wondering if they would comfort him, or mention resting for a while before experiencing the Fortune Spring. To his embarrassment though, both Yuri and Cecilia responded with only giggles.
“You worry too much,” Cecilia, as she turned towards the boulders. “Just choose one of the boulders, and let it do its trick.”
“…I still am not completely sure about how this will work, but if you two are saying so, then fine. I guess there is no harm in trying.”
Grumbling a little, Alnea turned towards the boulders himself, as he entered his Spirit State. And without any hesitation, reached towards the boulders with the senses of his Spirit, observing them in detail. From their size, colour, and texture to their taste, smell, and even sounds. Especially the sounds. The soothing, and tempting sounds, digging into his robe, and climbing up his spine, up his Spirit, promising him endless strength. A future, where he would reign supreme. A future…
The whispers… they were much louder, and clearer than before. He was not too surprised by them though. Earlier, he had been able to hear the whispers of the boulders even when was not in his Spirit State, so it was only natural for them to be louder, and clearer in the enhanced senses of his Spirit. However, as he listened to the whispers, he noticed that they had somehow also multiplied in numbers. From just around a dozen or so whispers, they had increased to nearly a hundred.
Furthermore, the whispers were not the same as they had been earlier. While some of them still promised him a faster, and better way to gaining strength, some promised him an endless future, while the others just promised him a comfortable present. All kinds of temptations were making their way to his Heart. One of the boulders even promised him to let him talk to his father…
For a moment, Alnea thought of immediately agreeing to the whisper. The offer that he had been given was too good to refuse. It was only the Serenity of his Heart which helped him calm down, and observe the whisper once again, tracing it back to the boulder which was whispering the offer to him. Though he was not sure if it could even be called as a boulder. Barely large enough to reach his height, it looked more like a large rock, rather than a boulder.
That in itself would not have mattered much. As long as the rock would have felt compatible with him, it would have been fine. He could have considered taking the rock up on its offer. Whether the rock would have delivered on its offer was another thing. It most probably would have just shown him an illusion, or maybe not even that. Maybe, the offers were just temptations, a test, as Cecilia had said. Still, a chance to meet his father…
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The offer was too good to pass without any consideration. And so, Alnea decided that as long as the rock felt familiar to him, he might consider meditating on it. As long as the rock felt familiar to him… It did not. No, in a sense, it did feel familiar to him. In fact, it felt a little too familiar. It reeked of a memory embedded deep into his mind, one that he could never forget. And one, that he refused to revisit.
Alnea clenched his fist, and turned his attention away from the rock. Even if it could let him meet his father, he refused to go through that feeling of despair—no, he refused to even think about it. And so, he concentrated on the boulder that was in the complete opposite direction of the rock, listening to its whispers, to its temptations. To its offers, and promises…
Did he not just wish to escape? It would let him escape. As long he became one with it, he would be able to escape from anything in the world. Even the Origin Sea itself. All he needed to do was…
To turn his attention away from the swindling boulder. Escape from the Origin Sea? Who in their right mind would believe such stupid lies? Besides, he was going to become the greatest Wanderer. Why would he escape from the Origin Sea? In fact, he wished to Wander the Origin Sea even more often. To glean all its Mysteries, to tame all its Aspects, and to reach the Origin Rank as soon as possible.
And that was what the boulder he was concentrating on promising him. A future. The greatest future. To become an Origin Wanderer, all he needed to do was become one with it, to become one with the Origin Sea…
…Alnea changed his focus once again, and turned towards another boulder calling for him. The one that was promising him what he needed the most at the moment. A rapid rise in strength. Becoming an Intermediate Stage Wanderer… As long as he chose the boulder, and became one with it, it would make sure that he would reach Peak Stage of the False Rank in a year, and the True Rank in two years. That was its confidence. And for a moment, he almost got ensnared in it. Almost.
Reaching the Peak Stage in a year, and the True Rank in two years did sound good to hear, but Alnea had seen what happened to people who used shortcuts in gaining strength. He could not just increase his Spirit Power, and expect to advance in Stages, or Rank. Every time he advanced as a Wanderer, he had to do it in a complete, and wholesome manner, or risk facing its consequence.
Reaching True Rank in two years… he did not think his Heart could reach the state of Clarity by then. No, even before that, he probably would fail in completing his advancement to the Peak Stage in a year’s time, and if he forced his advancement, then he would probably end up like the former retainers of the Lotus clan. Enthralled, and dead. The offer of the boulder, even if it was true, he did not want it.
Besides, the feeling of vain overconfidence that the boulder was giving him was not the right fit for him. And so, Alnea shifted his focus to another boulder. But that did not fit him either, so he had to change his target again, and again, and again. Yet no matter how he searched, all the boulders had something about them that put him off. Either their offers were too far beyond belief, or the feeling that they gave him was not quite to his liking. Some of the boulders even fell into both categories, further frustrating him.
“…For this particular Fortune Spring, you just need to sit on top of the boulder you feel most familiar with, and meditate on it, while trying to maintain a connection with it…”
Only when he recalled what Yuri had told him, did Alnea finally came to notice the mistake he had been making. Maybe, he had been searching through the boulders in the wrong way all along. He had assumed that he had to sift through the whispers of the boulders to find the one that he would be most suited to him, but maybe, that was not that case.
“…Good Fortunes always come with a risk… prove themselves worthy of facing its risk… even if one can find Fortune Springs, if they cannot pass its tests, then they will never be able to enjoy its Good Fortune… temptation… a test of the Fortune Spring…”
That was Yuri had said. A test. The temptations, the whispers of the boulders were a test. If so, then everything would make sense. All the temptations, all the offers, they were all just a ruse. The true fortune, the one that was meant for him, was within the boulder hiding behind all the whispers. The only boulder which was not whispering anything to him.
Standing a little larger than twice his height, surrounded by around half a dozen boulders of the same size, the boulder he had walked up to was not making him any offers, nor did it tempt him. It just stood there, waiting for him, as if it knew that he would find it. That he would walk up to, and trace all its edges, and curves, before pulling himself atop it. And the moment he did so, all the other boulders around him stopped whispering.
It was as if their only purpose was to test him, and since he had passed their test, they had turned back to being just ordinary pieces of large rocks. No, not all of the boulders were like that. Three of the boulders were still a little special. The boulders that Alnea, Cecilia, and Yuri were sitting on. Just like him, they too had passed their tests, and had proven themselves worthy of the Good Fortune hidden in the boulders.