The world was created… it did not know when the world was created. It did not even know when it was created. It just knew that at some point, it existed. Not as a rock. At first, it existed just as grains of sand, drifting upon the wind, until the wind died down, and it settled on the ground. However, it was not the only one to do so.
In time, it was joined by more of its brethren, creating a whole layer of sand, and dirt. And as even more time passed, all those layers came together to form rocks, while the rocks came together to form mountains, before even those mountains came together to form a whole chain of mountains, towering above the land.
Yet, as it stood, facing the winds that had once carried its grains, it noticed that the same winds were bashing against its walls. At the same time, the water, which it had gathered in its ranges, were all cutting through its rocks. And these were just a few examples of the forces working against it. Without it even knowing, the same forces of nature which were working in tandem to make it stand, began working against it, trying to bring it down. And just like that, the mountain range soon turned into just a range of hills, until even those hills started dwindling, returning back to the lands from which they had risen.
It was alright though. That was just how things were. Rise, and fall. Creation, and Destruction. The world itself was a cycle, meant to be repeated endlessly. Soon, it too would turn back into just grains of sand, drifting along the wind, beginning its cycle anew. Maybe, it had been through the cycle before. And it would certainly go through it again. It would—
The world itself shuddered, and cracked, caving in upon itself, devouring its own lands. Waves, upon waves of hills, and remnants of the mountain range just swallowed up by the lands, pushing them down to the depths of darkness. To the depths of the canyons that had formed just overnight.
Why did the land swallow them? It did not know. It did not even know what was happening anymore. It just knew that by being pulled into the depths of the canyons, it had been essentially cut off from the cycle of the world. No wind, or water would come to carry it away from the canyons. It would remain within the darkness for eternity. What did that matter to it though?
It was just a rock. Whether it was outside of the canyons, or in the darkness of the canyons, it would still remain as a rock. And it was not as if there were no winds within the canyons. Or other forces of nature. It would still remain as a part of the cycle of Creation, and Destruction. Just a smaller cycle that was confined within the reaches of the canyons. One that—
A strange force surrounded the rock, enveloping it in its strange powers, vastly different from the forces of nature. This strange force came completely unannounced, and seeped into its body, moulding it in its shape, changing something within its frame. The rock could not point out to exactly what it was that had changed, but it knew that something had changed. Something that set the rock, and its brethren around it, apart from the rest of the canyon.
The rock did not know what it was though, and did not care either. It may have changed, but in a way, it was still the same. A rock. And so, as a rock, it stood there, in the darkness of the canyon, waiting for the endless cycle to continue. Waiting for the day that it would begin its journey anew. It never did. No matter how much time passed, the rock stood still, unaffected by the dark winds.
It was only then that the rock knew what the strange power had changed within it. It had been cut off from the cycle of Creation, and Destruction. It would remain as it was for all the time to come. A rock, standing still within the darkness… Why had the strange powers changed it? What was their purpose? What was the rock’s purpose?
Once again, the rock had no answers. Because it was a rock. And it knew only one thing, how to be a rock. So, even when it learned of its fate, the rock did not react much. Not that it could have. It just stood there, in the silence, in the darkness, existing as a rock. And it would have continued doing so had it not felt a certain breath coming closer to it. One that matched its own breath.
Breath… that was a new concept to the rock. Maybe it came from the strange power that had made it transform. Or maybe, it always had its own breath. But that did not really matter. What mattered was the breath, the one that it was beating with, and the one that it was feeling, coming closer, and closer, until the breath was sitting directly atop the rock, before merging with it… with him… Him? Who… was him? Who was he?
…He was the rock, resting in the depths of the canyon, existing in an unperturbed state. He was the mountain that had once stood tall, reaching into the skies, only to be battered by the winds, and the water, by the forces of nature, and be reduced to mere remnants of what it once was. He was the grain of sand that had started it all. He was…
Alnea Oathkeeper. He was Alnea Oathkeeper, son, and disciple of Nyssa Thornbearer, and nothing could change that. Not even spending millions of years as a rock. Though, he had not actually spent millions of years as a boulder. It probably felt like a few hours… or maybe a few days. Still, he had come quite close to losing himself within the rock. If not for seeing glimpses of himself at the end, as well as feeling his own breath, he really might have just become a rock.
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It was almost as if he was within the Origin Sea, experiencing its temptations. Maybe, he should have expected that. Fortune Springs were formed from the powers of the Origin Sea after all… No, Fortune Springs were not supposed to work in such a way. Fortune Springs were supposed to beneficial for Wanderers, and not devour them. Even the Dark Wind Wolf had been able to enjoy the benefits of the Fortune Spring. So, naturally, he should have been able to enjoy its benefits too.
What could he do though? Complain to a dumb rock, that had fallen silent the moment his consciousness had returned to him? No, not just fallen silent, even the breath, and the familiarity he was feeling with it were gone. It had turned into just a normal rock. And not just the rock. As Alnea spread his senses from the rock to his surroundings, all kinds of sounds like the occasional howls, and cries of Oren Beasts, fighting with each other, or just the plain howling of the winds, flowing in the canyon, came back flooding his senses once again. Everything had returned to being normal.
Of course, that did not mean that the boulders were no longer special, or that they no longer hid any fortune. Through the experience of the rock, Alnea had learned that the Fortune Spring, and the Good Fortune that it hid, had formed along with the formation of the Night Canyons. There could even be a possibility of some kind of relationship between the two events. Maybe, the Night Canyon itself was a giant Fortune Spring. He had not found where its fortune was hidden though, so he could not comment on the viability of his thought.
Still, since the Night Canyon had been existing for over millions of years, it meant that the Fortune Springs hidden within its depths had existed for just as long. At least the Fortune Spring he had just experienced had existed since the birth of the Night Canyons. And in all that time, countless Wanderers, and Oren Beasts should have experienced the Good Fortune hidden within its breath.
If there was even a slight possibility of the Good Fortune hidden in the Fortune Spring to run out, and cease existing, then he would never have had the chance to experience being a rock. And neither would the Dark Wind Wolf had experienced an explosive growth. The Good Fortune still existed within the boulders, there was no doubt about that. It was just that their fate with him was over.
And so, Alnea stopped mulling over the Fortune Spring. He was not sure about what kind of Good Fortune he had gained, but whatever had happened, had already happened. There was no meaning in brooding over it. Besides, any strength that he had not gained through his own efforts would most probably be vain strength, bringing him nothing but troubles.
Alnea had seen from the perspective of the rock how the same forces which had transformed it into a large mountain, had taken everything away from it, turning it back into just a rock, almost negligible in comparison to what it had been at its peak. And not just the rock. The previous retainers of the Lotus clan were also a perfect example of how only the strength gained through his own efforts could be called as his true strength.
…Maybe, he really did gain something from the boulders, Alnea thought, as he felt the stability of his Heart. After all, even the thought of having gained nothing from the Fortune Spring was not enough to make him lose his Serenity. And just a few hours earlier, he was desperately searching for ways to quickly increase his strength. Maybe, experiencing the peace and stability of the rock had tempered his Heart to a higher level.
Since he did not have his master by his side to tell him exactly how much his Heart had improved, he would have to go to the Origin Sea to measure it in detail. Still, just from sensing the Serenity of his Heart, Alnea was able to tell that the progress was quite significant. Especially since even the thought of having his Heart tempered was not enough to disturb his Serenity. Even the fact that he had been in his Spirit State for far longer than he should have been in was not enough to break his Serenity.
…Most probably, his Spirit Power had also made some progress, but Alnea was not surprised by that result. Spirit, and thoughts were intricately linked with each other. Especially when it came to matters of consciousness. Experiencing millions of years as a mountain, a rock, and a grain of sand, silently bearing the might of the forces of nature, even if it was fake, should have been enough to increase his Spirit Power by a level, or two.
His indifference to the rise in his strength though, was a surprise even to himself. Especially since the first thought that came to his mind was that, just like the grandeur of the mountain, the increase in his Spirit Power was vain. Fortunately, that thought was not enough to disturb his Serenity either. After all, if there were no ways to deal with the vainness that came from experiencing Fortune Springs, then his master would have warned him long ago. Yet, not only had his master not warned him, but she had also encouraged him to find such Fortune Springs.
Besides, it was not just him who had gained Good Fortune from the boulders, Alnea thought, as he turned the senses of his Spirit towards his friends. It looked like they too were done with experience the Fortune Spring, and were starting to move around. Placing one hand on the boulder to take its support, Cecilia jumped off of the boulder with a wide grin on her face. And though Yuri just slid off of it in a normal way, the smile on her face was enough to tell him that she was just as happy as Cecilia was.
It looked like they too had ample gains from the Good Fortune. Unlike him though, they did not look worried about the hollowness of their gains. They must be also be aware of the vain nature of their gains, Alnea was sure about it. They were both from Orthodoxies, and knew much more about Fortune Springs than him. Especially Yuri. Yet she had still not warned him about its disadvantages, and had even encouraged him, just like his master, to grasp the Good Fortune in front of him.
Maybe, she already had some way to deal with the vainness of the growth in his Spirit Power. Or at least, she must know how to not let the vainness in his Spirit Power affect his future growth. In any case, whether she had a method to deal with his problems, or not, he just had to ask her. There was no need for him to just sit on the boulder, and wander off into his own thoughts.
So, with a grin on his face, that matched the grin of his friends, Alnea too jumped off the boulder. And even as he jumped, he noticed that though the thoughts of his friends brought out all sorts of emotions, and reactions in his Heart, it failed to disturb his Serenity. But that was also to be expected. After all, they were his Serenity. They were his Heart.