Removing his sword from his waist, Alnea placed it on the ground, as he took his seat on the cushion. But he was in no hurry to enter his Spirit State. There was still something he had left to do. Closing his eyes, he began reflecting on himself. After all, whether it was to Forge his Spirit, or to Wander the Origin Sea, he had to first immerse himself in his Serenity. And at the moment, his Heart was anything but Serene.
Separating from his master just a week after reuniting with her… He had been holding it back well, but his Heart was suffering from a profound sense of melancholy. And not just because he could not be with his master. It had been more than half a year since he last saw his mother and big sis Serena. And while one was tempering herself in the Thrall Domains, the other did not even know if he was alive…
At first, his days in the Night Canyons were spent trying to become a False Wanderer as soon as possible, so he did not truly feel the loneliness, or the pain of separation. Maybe, the novelty of exploring a new world might have also helped him divert his attention. By the time the things became a routine, he had already become a Wanderer. And after he became a Wanderer, he did not really have much time to spare any thoughts on remembrance.
From Wandering the Origin Sea to taming Aspects, comprehending Mysteries, Forging his Spirit, practising Martial Styles, creating Arcanas, tempering his Heart, and most important of all, fighting Oren Beasts, there were so many things that he had to do. So many things to focus his attention on. Even coaxing Yuri and Cecilia often took a large part of his attention. Not to mention how the Curse of his Fate had also flared up in the canyons.
There was just no time for him to think about the people who were not with him. Or maybe, he just did not wish to think about them. Whatever the reason may be, he could not deny the fact that he had not thought about his mother and big sis Serena for a long time. But that was before, when he was still exploring the Night Canyons.
After dealing with the Heterodox Wanderers, and meeting up with his master, the sense of urgency that had filled his life for the past half year had slowly dwindled away, taking with it whatever it was that had been blocking the gates guarding the memories of his mother and big sis Serena. And since his master had left barely a week after they had reunited, he could not help thinking about her either…
It was only the smile of pride in his master’s eyes that kept him going against all odds. And the thought that once he became strong enough, nothing would be able to keep him away from the people he loved. Not even the Thralls. For the moment though, he had to focus on his training. He had to focus on his Wandering.
Entering his Spirit State, Alnea reached towards the thread connecting his Spirit to the Origin Sea, and tugged on it, climbing along its length. The thread, of course, did not have any physical presence. It was just a manifestation of his Roots in his Spirit World. However, it was also the only thread connecting him to the Origin Sea. And as such, was his only way to the Origin Sea, for the moment.
After a short journey that seemed to last for an eternity—or was it a long journey that was completed in an instant— Alnea stepped into a dark, empty world… Not exactly empty, or dark per se. It still had a dozen or so clouds of Oren, flashing in shades of white, golden, silvery blue, and dark blue colours, floating in his domain. When looked at from the perspective of his entire Domain though, the world surely did look dark and empty. But not for long.
“I am going to the Origin Sea.”
“…Be careful. And don’t think too much.”
“The only one thinking too much is you,” Alnea said with chuckles, before pulling on the strange, and yet familiar feeling existing just beyond his reach. Moments later, the world itself rippled, as a golden light materialised in front of him, before forming a giant ring, roughly twice his height. The transformation of the world did not end there though, and continued with the ring bleeding its light towards its centre, forming a disc within just a few moments.
Familiar with the giant disc, Alnea drifted towards it, and pressed his hand against its surface. And the moment he touched the disc, it collapsed in on itself, leaving just the ring, and a giant gaping hole that opened up to a world full of countless tiny lights, with endless variations of brightness, colour, shape, and size. To the world of Origin Sea.
With a smile on his face, Alnea prepared his Heart, and stepped into the Origin Sea, into the endless layers of Oren trying to hinder his movements. However, compared to the other attacks of the Origin Sea, the suffocating sensation of being trapped in Oren could almost be neglected. At the very least, he did not need to guard his Heart against the Oren. The attacks of the Origin Sea though…
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From the smell of rotten corpse to the taste of the sweetest honey of Rainbow Bees, all sorts of sensations, generally those alternating between extremes, flooded all his senses. Most of those sensations were not too hard to guard against. Especially since the Serenity of his Heart was already comparable to those of average Advanced Stage False Wanderers.
The overlap of those sensations though, especially when the Origin Sea was flooding his senses with the sensations of other senses, did give him some troubles. At the very least, the Origin Sea succeeded in disgusting him, comparing the smell of Yuri’s hair with the taste of Dust Eater Rat’s faeces…
No matter how many times he came to the Origin Sea, it never stopped surprising him. Thankfully, the Serenity of his Heart was deep enough to defend against the ridiculous attacks of the Origin Sea. Confirming the Serenity of his Heart, Alnea opened his eyes, and greeted his friends with a smile.
“I am back!”
OATHKEEPER IS BACK.
HE IS BACK.
Laughing along with his friends, Alnea rushed towards them, only for them to taunt him, and scamper away before he could get to them. Of course, they made sure to not run too far. Deliberately slowing down to match his speed, they dared him to catch them if he could. And as if they pitied him for being alone, some of them offered to chase their brethren with him. Yet, they never really helped, only laughing at his helplessness.
In fake anger, Alnea cursed at his teammates, preferring to chase them instead. But that only forced those Aspects to run away from him, only for his prior targets to join his team instead. And so, the chase continued—
Or not. As if bored of playing catch and chase for too long, the Aspects turned to a new game instead. From swords and spears to cats and tigers, the Aspects all began taking their turn in displaying their true form, and prowess. And as they did so, they did not forget to urge him to judge which of them was the strongest. Some of the quirky ones even asked him to judge which of them was the prettiest, or the fiercest of them all. And from how they were all jumping around excitedly, it was obvious that none of them would except any answers except for themselves.
Fortunately, Alnea knew how naughty the Aspects could be. And he did not wish to be bombarded with their complaints. So, the moment that the Aspects turned their expectant gazes towards him, he summoned an Initial Stage Mystery, forcing the Aspects away from him.
His tricks, of course, could not escape the scrutiny of Aspects for long. After all, they were part of the Origin Sea itself. However, his trick did the job, distracting the Aspects from their competitive nature. When he allowed the Mysteries to disperse, the focus of the Aspects was not on which of them was the strongest, but to give him his due punishment… by tickling him.
Recently, in the past few months, Alnea had found his Spirit growing more and more tangible. An expected consequence of the transformation of his Spirit with his increasing Spirit Power. His Spirit was still not solid enough to stop the Aspects from passing through him, but after reaching the Intermediate Stage, it had become solid enough for him to experience tickling sensations every time the Aspects passed through him. And the Aspects knew it.
Bullying him with their numbers, they did not stop until he was on the verge of tears, begging them to stop. And once they stopped bullying him, Alnea quickly used the excuse of Wandering the Origin Sea to get away from them. If the little menaces were to force him to play with them once again… He probably would not be able to resist another round of tickling.
Suppressing his errant thoughts back at the bottom of his Heart, Alnea began to truly Wander the depths of Origin Sea, resisting against the increasingly intense attacks of the Origin Sea. He did not encounter any Mysteries, but he had already expected as such. After all, it was only two days ago that he had encountered a Mystery. And on average, False Wanderers encountered a Mystery only once every seven Wanderings or so.
Still, Alnea was not overconfident. He remembered how Yuri had encountered two Mysteries one after another on just her first Wandering. Just to be on the safer side, he began his return journey when he had about two thousand units of Spirit Power left. Even then, by the time he reached the gate to his Domain, he was left with only a hundred units of Spirit Power.
Technically, he could stay for a bit longer, but there was nothing left for him to do in the Origin Sea. He had completed his Wandering, and was not in a shape to comprehend a Mystery even if he encountered one. As for taming an Aspect… he had tamed one just five days ago. Even if the Aspects agreed to return with him, he was in no shape to dig their Aspect wells.
Of course, he could still tame Aspects. But without their Aspect wells to contain them, the influence of the Aspects would be too much for his Heart to bear. Especially since he was within a Forbidden Area. He still did not know much about the Lost city. Rather than risking himself, and the girls, waiting for a couple of days was better. And though he could have played with the Aspects, there was no need to completely exhaust his Spirit Power.
Bidding his farewell to the Aspects, Alnea returned to his Domain. To the dark, and quiet peace… His Domain may be desolate, but it had its own benefits. From resisting against countless attacks against his senses, his Heart went to just enjoying the quiet peace, allowing him to think much more clearly. Problems, which were bothering him just a little while ago, were solved in an instant. And his Heart, despite still being Serene, was tempered once again, taking another step towards its Clarity.
He, Alnea Oathkeeper, was going to become the strongest, and the greatest Wanderer. And there was nothing that could stop him.