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Chapter 4: Finding Serenity [Part 3]

Alnea finally understood why his Heart could never remain Serene without his master. And he did not feel anything odd about that reason. After all, he had met his master during the darkest time of his life, when he had nothing. Yet, even then, his master had shown complete trust in him… and most of all, she understood him. She provided him the love and care that he needed, that he had been craving for.

With her by his side, let alone the Lotus clan, even stronger clans would not be able to do anything to him. It was not just a blind confidence in his master, but a promise that she had made to him. A promise that she meant to keep. And had the capabilities to do so as well. After all, not even the Origin Sea was able to harm Yuri in front of her. She was, indeed, invincible. And she was his master, his mother… She was his safest haven.

Unfortunately, it was exactly that haven which had been restricting his Serenity. If he wished to attain true Serenity, then he needed to break free of it… break free of the idea that only with his master, would he remain safe… would he not be lonely…

It was going to be tough, especially considering what his master meant for him, but at least he knew how to proceed. He would no longer just be blindly searching for inner conflicts within himself, to temper his Heart in vain. On second thought, his tempering over the past month had not really been in vain. Had he not spent the last month, finding inner conflicts within himself, getting familiar with his Heart, with his thoughts, then he might never have gotten to the true cause of the instability in his Heart.

However, that he knew how to proceed in attaining true Serenity did not mean that he could achieve it any time he so wished it. He still needed to constantly temper his Heart, and make sure that he does not lose control of it, while trying to address the flaw of his Heart. That would probably take some time. So, for the moment, he kept his thoughts aside, and kept probing, tempering his Heart, until finally, the time for his meditation was over, and his master called for him.

“Alnea,” she said, and he opened his eyes, staring right back into hers. “What do you think about your encounter with the Eight Armed Blood Monkey today?”

“I was a little careless, master,” he said. “I let my impatience get the better of me. I wished to get rid of it as quickly as possible, and head back to complete my Oath.”

“And?”

“And if I hadn’t been so impatient, and dealt with it cautiously, then I wouldn’t have gotten hurt, and even with the delay caused by taking my time to deal with the monkey, I still would have made it back earlier than I did.”

“…And?”

“…And I let my enemy leave.”

“…You must never underestimate your enemies, Alnea,” his master said, unconsciously adding a touch of an inexplicable regret, covered up with determination, in her voice. “Your one mistake not only almost cost you your life, but it also forced you to just watch, as your enemy, your attacker, left right before your eyes. That is the gravest sin you can commit, letting your enemies leave, allowing for them to regroup, and come at you with much more preparation, and determination.”

“I… I got distracted a little by the thought of reaching you as soon as possible. I will not let it happen again, master.”

“You… Silly disciple, what would you have done if it had its pack nearby? What would you have done had I not been here to treat your wounds? This forest, even if it is just the outskirts, is still a part of a Forbidden Area. Treat it with the respect that it deserves, or you will not even know what killed you.”

“…I will keep that in my mind, master.”

“…Leave those things aside for the moment, and let us talk about how fought off the Eight Armed Blood Monkey. Do you think that you did your best, or could you have done anything better?”

“…I could have done better, master.”

“How?”

“…The Eight Armed Blood Monkey was in the intermediate phase of its Infant Stage, and had two Innate Abilities. Of them, I already knew that one of those abilities was a restrictive one when the monkey had first attacked me. And so, I should have prepared myself for the eventuality of the monkey using that ability on me once again, while thinking of ways to figure out its second Innate Ability.

“Or, I could also have just stunned the monkey with the Spirit Piercing Needle, before finishing it off. Instead, I just charged at it, thinking that it would not have the time to use those Abilities before I dealt with it… I was wrong. And overconfident. I should not have aimed to finish the monkey in my first blow. Even if I did not use the Spirit Piercing Needle, at the very least, I should have remained cautious in my moves, and should not have been so impatient…

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“… And I should not have lost my calm in the fight either. I should not have panicked when the monkey had hit me with its innate Ability, restricting my movements. Back then, if I had just remained clam, and waited for a bit longer, then I would have been able to use the Spirit Piercing Needle when the monkey would have come a little closer to me… Probably about the distance where it would not have been able to react in time.

“That way, it would not have been able to activate its second ability, and that would have allowed me to finish it off. But seeing the Oren Beast so close to my face, with all my movements restricted, made me panic a little. I was not able to judge things properly, and thought that I was about to be attacked… And so, in my futile attempts to avoid an injury, I suffered an even more grievous wound.”

“Do you want to add anything else?”

“…I should have also made use of the environment, just like the monkey did.”

“That is indeed one of your greater faults,” his master said, nodding not at his words, but at the acknowledgement of his faults. “You have been too reliant on your Oathkeeper Style lately. Though your Oathkeeper Style is indeed the Martial Style with the greatest prowess that you can use right now, it is not without its faults either. The concepts that your Oathkeeper Style is based on… It hardly pays any attention to your surroundings, focussing solely on your enemies.

“That may prove very effective in some situations, like in an open ground, but in complex terrains, like forests, you not only need to pay attention to your enemies, but also to your surroundings. At the same time, the concepts of your Oathkeeper Style… they are very target specific concepts… In certain situations, your Martial Style might be the best option to deal with your enemies, even in complex terrains.

“But in other situations, when your enemies are not in line with the concept of your Martial Style, like the Eight Armed Blood Monkey, the effectiveness of your Martial Style drops a lot. Maybe, this might change later on, when you start taming Aspects. However, even then, you will still need to make up for the lack of concepts within your Martial Style. Thus, whether it is for your current situation, or for your future, you should stop relying on your Oathkeeper Style so much, and start focusing on other Martial Styles.”

“…I will make sure to work on all my mistakes, master.”

“…Good. Then I will give you another opportunity.”

“Another opportunity… you mean—

“Later, you will face the same Oren Beast, but you are not to use the Oathkeeper Style. At the same time, you should make sure not to get injured, or to let your enemy run away once again.”

“I will not disappoint you, master!”

“We will see about that,” his master said, withdrawing the stern look for a few moments to smile at him, before turning towards Cecilia, and donning her stern look once again. “Were you trying to kill the Pink Eared Fox, or were you trying to make friends with it? Did you want to take a tour of the forest on its back? You had…”

Alnea tried his best not to laugh, as his master continued to berate Cecilia for a while. Her actions truly had been ridiculous. Riding on top of a Pink Eared Fox… Known for its abilities to cast seduction, illusions, and confusion on its enemies, the fox must have died with quite a lot of dissatisfaction, and indignation in its heart, after having met such a muscle brained girl as its opponent. Right in the next moment though, he felt something akin to a kindred pity for the poor fox.

After his master was done giving her advice to Cecilia, she just said a few words pointing out Yuri’s mistakes in dealing with the Four Eyed Fox, before moving away from the topic. However, that was to be expected. Yuri always dealt with enemies cleanly, barely making any mistakes in the process. And that was despite the fact that she was facing Adolescent Stage Oren Beasts, not those in their Infant Stage.

Though Yuri had yet to truly set path on any of the three paths of Wanderers, her Spirit Power had reached the False Rank more than a month ago. Even if she did not have any Aspects, or Mysteries at her command yet, at the very least, she could use some Arcanas, which she did, easily triumphing over her enemies. Sometimes, she did not even need to do that. Just her Martial Styles, even without Aspects, were enough for her defeat some of the weaker Adolescent Stage Oren Beasts. In contrast, Alnea was having trouble fighting against just some Infant Stage Oren Beasts…

At least he was much better than how he had started out, Alnea thought, as memories of how he had dealt with his first Oren Beast flashed across his mind. A Green Wind Wolf rushing straight at him, as he stood still in fear, completely blacked out… Let alone using a Martial Style, he had not even been able to move, and watched in horror, as the wolf had torn out his right arm, along with clawing his left eye…

Back then, he really had been too naive, often getting berated for his mistakes by his master. But it was also because of his master’s constant worry that he had been able to improve so much over the past month. At the very least, he had long stopped fearing the Oren Beasts. And lately, he had shifted from just fighting off the beasts, to winning against them. He was even on a five day streak of defeating all his enemies.

Of course, the credit of his rapid improvement did not go solely to his master’s ‘tough love’, but also to the intensity of his training. His day usually began with waking up early in the morning, even before Enn could rise, and going straight to the Bright Light Forest to Forge his Spirit. Next in the list was a sneak attack from an Oren Beast on his way back to his master. And of course, completing his Oath.

Back at the cabin, he would then meditate for a while, as would Cecilia and Yuri, tempering their Hearts, before his master would point out their faults in dealing with the Beasts. Then, while waiting for their Spirit Power to recover, his master would give him a lesson, filling up what his foundations were still lacking, with Cecilia and Yuri listening from the side.

Once their Spirit Power would recover though, all of them would head back out to their respective clearings, and repeat the whole process, until Enn would start sinking into the horizon, after which, his master would take them back to the mansion, where big sis Serena would welcome them with a big, and sumptuous meal. And so, after his master was done with pointing out their mistakes, it was time for his favourite part of the day. A lesson on Arcanas.