Not everyone liked peace, but Serenity… There was an inexplicable charm in the calm and peace that came with Serenity… The silence that filled his Heart… Unlike the silence of his Domain and Spirit World, the silence of his Serenity did not make him feel empty or insignificant. On the contrary, it made him feel at peace with himself. It made him feel satisfied… It made him feel addicted…
Alnea reluctantly let go of his Serenity, pulling himself out of the addictive silence. Opening his eyes, he glanced out of the window. The sky was still dark, but the city, as usual, kept shinning in a blood red light, overwhelming the soft rays of Oren trying to make their way to his room. Reading time by just looking out the window was not as easy as it used to be back in Anneve. Not that he needed to know the time accurately.
Judging by how much the soft rays of Orn were bouncing off the walls of buildings, Alnea guessed that there was around three hours to dawn. Maybe three and a half, if he was favoured by Goddess Ilea. Even if he was lucky though, he still should have spent nearly an hour indulging in his Serenity. An hour, which he could have spent Wandering, or Forging his Spirit. Even playing with his Aspects would have been better than just sitting in silence…
Alnea let out a sigh, as he recognised another one of his weaknesses. He would have never made such a mistake back in the Night Canyons. He had indeed become a little too indulgent in luxury and peace. Even though the Wanderers of the Lotus clan could be just a few hundred metres away from him, keeping an eye on him and his teammates, devising another one of their nefarious schemes, he felt no sense of urgency creeping up on him…
Was it because of the false sense of safety promised by the city? Or the lack of enemies prowling around him at all times, ready to tear into him? Regardless, he could not let himself be indulgent anymore. He could not let the false sense of security deceive him, and eat away at his Heart. More importantly, he could not waste time.
Coming to a decision, Alnea did not hesitate to unfurl his Spirit, and focus within himself, within the Spirit World connected to his forehead. And with just a little effort, he quickly found the thread connecting his Spirit to his Domain. Wandering the Origin Sea though, took quite a bit of his effort. The assault on his senses aside, coaxing the Aspects to let him Wanderer more than usual was a bit more challenging than he had expected. Thankfully, playful as they were, the Aspects were very understanding of his circumstances, and promised to cut down on the time they played with him by one tenth…
Maybe they were not as understanding. Still, it was a start. Besides, it was not about how much time he spent on his training, but about his attitude towards managing his time. And that, he had already begun changing. With a firm Heart, that was slowly beginning to change without him even knowing about it, Alnea finally returned from the Origin Sea, and began to meditate on his gains.
Since he did not gain much on his Wandering though, there was not much to meditate about. And he did not intend to waste him time by indulging in his Serenity. So, once Alnea was done sorting his gains, and readjusting his Heart, he began practicing his strokes. Both, with a Carving Knife, and a brush. They were the only things he could practice while waiting for his Spirit Power to recover, after all. Waiting for his Spirit Power to recover…
Alnea paused in his actions, wondering when had he become so dumb? Why did he have to wait for his Spirit Power to recover? Could he not just complete a couple of Oaths to actively recover them? And if a couple of Oaths would not work, he could just take a few more. As long as he was careful enough to not take any dangerous Oaths… That was how he had always recovered his Spirit, had he not? So, why had he not thought about it?
…Alright, maybe he knew why he had not used his Oaths to recover his Spirit for a while. But it had already been nearly a month since that incident. He should have passed the most dangerous phase. As long as he was not stupid enough to resonate with his Roots once again, he should be fine. At the very least, the few times he did take his Oaths in the past month did not seem to have any lasting effects on him. Taking a few more simple Oaths to recover his Spirit should not be any different…
After some hesitation, Alnea decided to start with the simplest kind of Oaths. Setting a time for himself to practise his strokes. Nothing too difficult. And as he had expected, his Roots were working perfectly fine. So, he began to increase the difficulty of his Oaths, practising multiple Glyphs at a time, all from the lineage of Destruction that he had reserved to learn after completely mastering his first Glyph, while reducing the time he had to complete his Oaths.
Once again, except for the increasing number of broken fragments of their chains submerging into his Spirit, nothing seemed to change about his Oaths. It looked like his Roots had indeed recovered from the resonance it had suffered. Still, just to be safe, Alnea decided not to increase the difficulty of his Oaths any further. At least not yet. Maybe, after his Spirit Power improved a little more…
After he recovered his Spirit Power, Alnea put away his practising tools, and began a round of Forging his Spirit, only to take his tools out again after his Spirit Power was depleted. Though it was monotonous, the failure he had suffered gave him all the sustenance he needed to keep practising. And before he knew it, the warm rays of Enn were already beginning to shine through the window of his room, bringing him the grace of the God of Action.
Putting his tools away, Alnea got up from the ground, and stretched out his limbs, shaking away their numbness. His Spirit Power had not recovered completely, but he was not going to use his Spirit right away, so what he had recovered was enough. He could let the rest recover on its own. Not that there was much left to recover anyway. More importantly, since Enn had begun climbing the sky, it was time to meet up with the rest of his teammates—or at least half of them.
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Picking up his sword and dagger from the rack, and strapping them back to his waist, Alnea walked out of his room into an empty hall. The time they had decided to meet was almost upon them, yet none of his other teammates had left their rooms. Not even Yuri and Vestia. Usually, they were always the first ones to come, but…
Then again, after what had happened the night before, he could understand why everyone was late. Had he not been the cause behind everyone’s tardiness, even he might have thought of meditating for a bit longer. Of them all, he was the least qualified to question why they were late. Even if he was their Captain, it did not change the fact that he…
Alnea reigned in his thoughts, subduing them within his Heart, as he walked to the cushions in the centre of the hall, and took his seat. Not to indulge in the luxury, of course. He had already decided to not indulge in any kinds of luxury. At least not for his personal pleasure and convenience.
It was just that ever since they had begun living in the mansion, sitting on cushions during team meetings had become a habit. If he suddenly chose to sit on the ground, there was a chance that everyone would think he was doing it out of a guilty conscience. And in a way, he did feel guilty about almost blowing up the mansion. But as their Captain, he could not appear to be weak.
The world of Wanderers… It was a cruel world, where the strong devoured the weak. He did doubt Cecilia and Yuri, but Vestia and Karl… Unlike the former, the latter had come to him only further their interests. Even if they were his teammates, he could let them think that he was weak. Though it was already a bit too late, he still had time to rectify his mistakes. As long as—
“What are you thinking?” Yuri said, as she took her seat next to him.
“…Nothing,” Alnea said, tearing himself away from his thoughts, before subduing them back to the depths of his Heart. “What took you so long?”
“You did not even notice me until I called out to you, and you say that you were not thinking about anything?” Yuri said, rolling her eyes at him. “I got a little delayed in the Origin Sea.”
“Did you encounter a Mystery?”
“I did, but it was not the Mystery that delayed me. Somehow, I also attracted an Aspect.”
“The one you have been trying to communicate with it for the past week?”
“…That’s the one.”
“It looks like your idea finally worked out.”
“…Not exactly,” Yuri said, shaking her head. “Had my idea worked, I would have gained its recognition long ago.”
“Then the Aspect—
“That’s the strange part. No matter what I did, the Aspect had always been hesitant to communicate with me. This time though, I did not even try to reach out towards it. After encountering the Mystery, I was just about head back towards my Domain, when it suddenly contacted me on its own.”
“This just proves that your effort in the past week was not in vain.”
“Maybe,” Yuri said, shrugging her shoulders. “With how unpredictable the Origin Sea is, nothing can be said for certain.”
“Everything in the world has an element of uncertainty,” Alnea said, with the corner of his lips rising up in a smirk. “It is exactly because we dare to walk on the line between certainty and uncertainty that we can become Wanderers.”
“…We will talk about this later,” Yuri said, as the rest of the Star Seekers entered the main hall one by one. “You are all late.”
“…You were not exactly on time either.”
“Oh? Are you finally going to pick up your responsibility as the Captain, and punish me?”
“…Don’t be late next time.”
“Maybe, if you punish me—
“It’s alright,” Alnea said before Yuri could tempt him any further with her words, or Cecilia and Vestia could get into another argument. “Given what happened last night, everyone’s unpunctuality can be excused. But only this time. Everyone’s time is precious. There is so much that we have to do, and so little time… Unless there is a valid reason, everyone should be on time.”
“…Understood,” Karl said, nodding seriously as he took his seat, only for the solemn air to be broken by Vestia’s playful voice.
“Your words are my command, Captain,” Vestia said, with the edge of her lips curving upwards ever so slightly. “That is what I promised, after all. To listen to all your orders. If you ask me to be on time, then I can only follow your orders. And if you wish, I can even come a bit early. Maybe even—
“Shut up, vixen,” Cecilia said, just as she and the girl she was grumbling at both took their seats. “No one wants to listen to your nonsense first thing in the morning.”
“…That’s right. Words like these should be reserved for night, when there are only the two of us. Isn’t that right, Captain?”
“…Stop messing around, Vestia,” Alnea said, trying his best to ignore Cecilia’s glare. Why did he always have to be blamed for the things he did not even do or said?
“We are already late as it is. Let us not waste any more time, and get straight to what we have gathered for.”
“…As you command, Captain,” Vestia said, withdrawing her smile from her face, but not from her eyes. Rather than the playful smile she had earlier though, the light in her eyes felt more like the usual prideful smile Yuri had for him… As he had thought, all girls were crazy. Except for his master, of course. She was omnipotent and omniscient. Everything she did was always right.
Other than his master, all the girls he knew had some crazy streak within their Hearts. Even his mother. Not that he was complaining about them. Their craziness was what made them who they were. It was also why he liked them so much. Maybe, in a certain sense, he was just as crazy as them, if not more. Vestia though… She was a different kind of crazy altogether. The kind that he least wanted to get in touch with. At least in front of Yuri and Cecilia. Unfortunately, it was too late…