Alnea had recently understood the advantages of being shameless. But he was not yet shameless enough to pull Cecilia into a hug once again. Thanking her with an abashed face, he asked her to get ready to leave. But just like Yuri, she had a storage pouch, matching the color and overtones of her robe, hanging by her waist, that held all of her personal belongings. And her precious ‘Blackie’ had already run off into the darkness of the canyon. There was no need for her to prepare anything.
With just a thought, his master wrapped them in her Spirit Power, and began moving through the darkness. She, of course, did not say where they were going. But from the width of the canyons increasing from a couple of kilometres to nearly five kilometres, or the oppressive pressure in the air that reminded him of the Bright Light Forest, Alnea was sure that they were moving deeper into the Night Canyons.
And if that was not evidence enough, then the nearly four metres large Dark Wind Wolf, the Three Tailed Dark Tiger, and many other Oren Beasts, all in their Adult Stage, he saw staring at them, as they moved through the air, was proof enough of the depth of the Night Canyons they were in. If not for the presence of his master, even Yuri would not have made it to such depths of the canyons by herself.
While Alnea was contemplating about the dangers of the canyon that they were in, his master slowed down as she passed through another junction of the canyons, entering a new canyon, and finally came to a halt as she reached its centre, before drifting down towards the ground. Towards the place where, surrounded by darkness from all four sides, she had arranged a table full of delicacies, illuminated by some tens of floating Glyph lamps around the table. Could they even be called Glyph lamps though? They were floating, after all, and definitely had some extra Glyphs engraved at their core. Maybe they were their own category of Glyphs Devices…
In any case, food was more important for the moment. In the past month, other than increasing his Spirit Power, and honing his fighting skills, Alnea had learned another thing. He was not a good cook. The Oren Beasts that he had grilled were barely edible. No, they were not even something that normal people would dare to eat. It was only because he had nothing else to eat, that he had to continue hunting Oren Beasts every day, and grill them by himself. But that was all in the past. At the moment, he would finally be able to enjoy some proper food. Even if it was just for one day…
“Are you seeing food for the first time in your life?” Cecilia said, as she noticed the look on his face.
“…You should wipe the drool from your face before speaking.”
“What? Drool?” Cecilia said, hastily turning around to check her face. Only after making sure that there was no drool, did she turn back towards him, letting out a snort in annoyance. “Do you think that I am like you?”
“At least you thought that you were.”
“You have been apart for a month, and the first thing you two do after meeting is quarrelling like kids,” Yuri said, shaking her head helplessly.
“I am not a kid!” both Alnea, and Cecilia said at the same time, before bursting out in a laugh, and turning towards Yuri.
“You talk as if you are all grown up… Don’t forget that you nearly one month younger than me.”
“It is just one month.”
“One month younger is still younger.”
“…I am taller than you.”
“You are younger than me.”
“…Forget it, I will forgive you since it is your day today.”
Laughing along with each other, they walked up to the table, and took their seats; Yuri, and Cecilia on either side of him, with his master sitting at the opposite of the table. On cushioned seats, of course. Even though she advocated sitting on the cold hard ground for better concentration when meditation, or training, she did not mind letting him enjoy the comfort of luxury when it was time for relaxing. Or when it was time for a feast.
From various dishes of Oren Beasts, cooked in precious herbs, meant for enhancing his bodily functions, and providing energy for the growth of his Spirit, to some delicacies which were meant for just enjoyment of their taste, like the Dark Ring Berries, all of them were placed on table in front of him. Unfortunately, there was no Fersun fruit in the assortment of the food on the table. It was a specialty of the Ann province, after all. And at the moment, they were on the borders of the Ost, Rian, and the Eun province.
Though, on second thought, after his last experience with the infamous specialty of the Ann province, he probably would have refrained from eating the fruit anyways. So, it was for the best that there was no Fersun fruit. In its stead, he got to enjoy so many other delicacies. Blood bone soup of Dark Earth Bear, the paws of the Dark Earth bear, prepared in their own blood, heart of a Three Horned Purple Horse, liver of a Three Tailed Dark Cat, and so on. All from the Oren Beasts of Adolescent Stage.
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Having reached the False Rank, the flesh, and bones of the Infant Stage Oren Beasts were not as effective for him as they were before. Even before reaching the False Rank, at the Tenth Level of Spirit Power, only a few Oren Beasts in their Infant Stage had enough essence to provide energy for the growth of his Spirit Power. After reaching the False Rank, only the flesh, and bones of Adolescent Stage Oren Beasts would do for him. Until he learned to draw his sustenance from the Origin Sea, of course.
But those were all things that he would have to consider later. At the moment, all he had on his mind was the food in front of him. So, after his master gave her nod, Alnea, and Cecilia came down upon the delicacies in front of them as if they were starving Oren Beasts themselves. Only Yuri maintained her decorum, and ate like she normally did, while laughing, and making fun of Cecilia, and Alnea. Neither of them paid attention to her though.
Having suffered terribly from the taste of their own cooking for the past month, all that they had on their mind was food. It was only when the table had been cleaned up, that Alnea finally began feeling a little bashful of his earlier actions. The bulging sensation in his stomach, and his burps did not help him there either. Thankfully, he was not alone in his embarrassment. Burping once more, with his hands covering his mouth of course, he turned towards his master with curiosity teeming from his eyes.
“I have not eaten so much in over a month,” Alnea said, burping once again. “It was so delicious… I bet you were the one who made it. But… how come the feat was already laid out on the table before we arrived, master? Did you prepare all the food earlier? Did you already know that I was going to break through to the False Rank today?”
“…Sometimes, you should just enjoy the moment as it is, and not try to pry into every tiny little detail.”
“But as a Wanderer, I should try to find the Mysteries behind any, and all things.”
“Not any, and all things,” his master said. “Only those things which can benefit you. Or else, you will never be able to progress much as a Wanderer.”
Knowing that no matter what he said, he would not be able to get his answer, Alnea just sighed, and gave up, changing the topic to something else. Something more relevant.
“…So, when should I begin my Wandering, master?”
“In a while,” his master said. “Although it has been a while, you have completely rid yourself of the effects of the Rotting Blood Essence. You should first meditate, and bring your Heart to its peak state before going to the Origin Sea. Besides, do you not wish to talk with your two friends before going to the Origin Sea?”
“It is just the Origin Sea, master. With the Serenity of my Heart, as long as I am careful, nothing will happen.”
“You should never be overconfident,” his master said, shaking her head. “Have you forgotten Yuri’s first Wandering?”
Yuri’s first Wandering… Alnea turned towards Yuri, and saw her looking back at him with a worried gaze. She was still smiling on the surface, but her eyes betrayed her. Just like it always did. No matter what expressions she made, her eyes could not lie. At least not to the people she loved. Not to him.
“It’s alright, Yuri,” Alnea said. “I will be fine. Nothing will happen.”
“I know…” Yuri said. “But I still cannot shake this uneasy feeling in my Heart. Especially because of your fate... and the curse…”
“The curse cannot do anything to me,” Alnea said. “Besides, I have the Rings of Fate with me. If anything happens, I will contact you, and then you can master to save me.”
“…Fine, but you still need to be careful.”
“I will, don’t worry.”
Nodding with a smile, Alnea turned towards Cecilia, half expecting her to be glaring at him, or looking at him with worry. Instead, she just smiled at him, and gave him a reassuring nod, leaning over to pat on his shoulder.
“Well said,” Cecilia said. “With your Heart being even more Serene, and firm than mine, you really should not have any problems within the Origin Sea. Especially if you stick to what you should do, and don’t try anything crazy. So, if something does really happen to you, then it would mean that you have done something crazy once again. And you promised me to not do anything crazy. You are not going to break your promise, right?”
“…Are you trying to boost my confidence, or threatening me?”
“Huh? When did you hear me threatening you?” Cecilia said, sticking out her tongue at him, as giggles escaped from her lips. She soon controlled her laugh though, before looking at him with a solemn gaze. “Be careful, and don’t do anything crazy, alright?”
“…It is not like I have a habit of doing crazy things. Things just happen because of circumstances.”
“You can fool the others, but you cannot fool me, freak,” Cecilia said with a snort, before laughing to herself, and shaking her head. Looking at him with a smile, she said, “All the best for your first Wandering, Alnea.”
“…Thank you,” Alnea said. “And I will be careful.”
“Only the result of your Wandering will show how careful you were in your Wandering,” Yuri said from the side. “If you somehow end up in trouble… Then I would not mind informing Cecilia about some of your… rather embarrassing stories.”
“Oh? You still have his embarrassing stories?”
“Many. You don’t know, once, when he—
“At least wait for me to come back from the Origin Sea to share all these things!”
“Are you saying that you are going to get into trouble?”
“…I will be careful. I will really be careful, alright?”
“Fine, I guess we will leave it at that for now,” Yuri said, chuckling at his helpless, and frantic face. “Go, meditate, and calm your Heart. And don’t keep us waiting for long.”
“I won’t,” Alnea said, before turning towards his master. “Master…”
“You can rest easy,” his master said. “Even though I am not proficient at divining fate, and your fate has already been covered up by the Rings of Fate… I am still able to sense one thing. Today is the day that a new legend will begin. So, go ahead, and prepare for your first Wandering.”