To prove his thoughts—an excuse he used to hide his excitement— Alnea followed the new memories inside hi head, trying out the correct way of practising the First Stance of the Oathkeeper Arts, and complete it with perfection. That should have been enough to prove his thoughts, but once the fire inside his chest was lit, it was hard to stop midway. Discarding all other thoughts, he went on to perform the Second Stance, the Third Stance, and the Fourth Stance, all the way up to the Fifth Stance, after which, his body could no longer hold on to the movements of the Oathkeeper Arts.
But that did not dampen his mood. The first five stances were already more than enough. They had given him complete control of his body, something which he had confirmed while trying out the five Stances when he had felt the different muscle strands in all the different parts of his body, all moving according to his wishes.
The Thousand Arms Style was a Martial Style focussed on giving him full control over the strength of arms, while the basic requirement to practise the Oathkeeper Arts was gaining full control of his entire body. Did that mean that the Oathkeeper Arts was kind of a Martial Style as well? And if it was, then what Grade would it be? Intermediate Grade? High Grade?
Alnea’s heart raced as he thought of all the different possibilities. He could recall in one of the memories how the other Alnea had said that he needed to raise the capabilities of his body after he had given up focussing on them for years. Something which he had already confirmed. Just the broken movements of the Oathkeeper Arts were enough to help him steadily improve his body. If the Oathkeeper Art was regarded as a Martial Style, it would be a High Grade Martial Style at the very least. His very own High Grade Martial Style.
“I am going to call it the Oathkeeper Style,” Alnea said, as he twisted his body to release all his body’s strength with a punch, and not just that from his arms. “That kid needed half a month, while I did it in one day. Now who is the better one?”
Recalling his master, Alnea looked outside the window, and saw the sky getting darker and darker. “Optah’s boots,” he cursed. “I am going to be late.”
Dashing to the bathroom to get fresh, he even skipped a few of his personal chores, as he hurried out of his house, and ran towards the Academy. In his hurry, he even forgot taking his Oath, remembering it only when he got near the Academy. But it was already too late, so he just kept running. Only when he reached the Fourth Glyph repository, did he stop to catch his breath.
Looking at how the sky was still dark, and Enn had yet to rise, Alnea thought that he might have made it all the way from his home to his master in a personal record time. Chuckling to himself at that thought, he pushed on the doors of the hall, and walked towards his master with quiet, and subdued steps, all the while trying to even out his breathing.
Once he had taken his seat, Alnea closed his eyes, and tried to relax, meditating to temper his Heart, but all the thoughts about the Oathkeeper Style, and the possibilities that it opened for him made him unable to clear his mind. Though, on second thought, even if he did not have those thoughts, he still would not have been able to clear his head. So, after a brief internal struggle, he let the imaginative side of his mind win, allowing it to take him away on its fantasies.
What was the Grade of the Oathkeeper Style? It was at least much better than the Thousand Arms Style. And with how it focussed not only the control of his whole body, but also strengthening each of its aspects, it should at least be a High Grade Martial Style. Maybe even a Perfect Grade Martial Style. Martial Styles were much rarer than Arcanas.
Furthermore, it was not just a normal Perfect Grade Martial Style. It was a Martial Style that he could use even when he did not have access to Oren, or Aspects. Even among the Martial Styles of the Auxiliary type, these kinds of Martial Styles were quite rare. This kind of Martial Style, of such high Grade, should not exist in the whole of Rianra. Or at least not in the Ann Province.
But he had one. And he would keep on using it, making his foundation better than anyone, just like his master had said. And then, when he one day became a Warrior, he would be able to create his own Martial Style. Maybe, based on this Perfect Grade Oathkeeper Style, he could create his own Oathkeeper Style, and take it to Transcendent, or even Divine Grade. Maybe, he could–
“What happened?” his master asked, startling him, and shattering his fantasies, bringing him back to the gloomy hall.
“Nothing,” Alnea replied reflexively.
“Your Heart is saying otherwise.”
“...You can hear my heart?”
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“...I can hear both your Heart, and your heart. One is rambling like a Golden Feathered Horse, while the other is rampaging like a Lightning Horned Ox. And I could hear both of them even before you entered the hall. What is making you so anxious? Are you afraid that you will not be able to complete your Oath?”
“That’s not it, master.”
“There is no need to pretend to be brave,” his master said. “I know what laying strong Roots feels like. The self doubts, and the conflicts that you have with your conviction would only worsen if you end up violating your Roots, causing a backlash… I do not wish for you to go through the same pain. That is why I always keep on telling you to be a little more restrained with your Oaths.”
There was no need for his master to worry about such things, Alnea thought. If someday he really ended up violating his Oaths, his Roots, then the price that he would have to pay would be to get devoured by the Origin Sea. Of course, he could not tell that to her. It was not that he did not trust her. She was the one person who had the most of his trust. Even his own mother had never told him what her Roots were, but she had.
Yet that also showed how much she cared for him. With how worried she always was in regard to his Oaths, he was sure that if she knew that the price for being unable to keep even one of his Oaths, no matter how small, was being devoured by the Origin Sea, then she would not stop at just telling him to be more restrained with his Oaths. She would probably force him to never take Oaths again.
It did not matter if they were his only way of raising his Spirit Power. According to her, that was only because of the Spirit Inhibitor Ring. She would just have to take them off, and let him train his Spirit normally, like the others. She had said that she was capable of doing so, and if need be, she would really do it.
That was not a bad idea, except that Alnea could not train his Spirit like the others. At least not like the Seeds of the Orthodoxies. Using Arcanas created by others would be violating his first Oath, and he was still not capable enough to create Arcanas for himself. That would leave him training his Spirit by repeatedly exhausting his Spirit Power, which would mean that his Spirit Power would take more than ten years to reach the False Rank, and take even more time to rise after that. Maybe it never would.
So, it was for the better that his master did not know about the price of his Roots. Maybe, one day, when he could create his own Arcanas to train his Spirit, he would tell her about it. But till then, it had to be kept as a secret. Just as how he had kept his dreams a secret, along with the memories that came with it. Memories, that had imprinted itself on his mind, and had given him the Oathkeeper Style… Another secret to keep.
“What do you think about other worlds, master?” Alnea said after some hesitation. “Do you think that there are other worlds in the Origin Sea?”
“Other worlds in the Origin Sea,” his master said, repeating after him. “Of course, they exist. Where else do you think the Thralls come from?
“I am not talking about the Thralls, master. I am talking about a world similar like ours, but also slightly different. A world where people use the powers of the Origin Sea is slightly different from us. A world where no one has to lay Roots. A world with no Orthodoxies.”
“Did you have a nightmare?” his master said with a sigh, as she smiled, and ruffled his hair. “You should not worry too much. Not all Orthodoxies are as bad as the Lotus clan. Some of them even actively help the people living in their care. Like the Serpia clan. Later, if you wish, I can take you for a trip to Rian, where there is no differentiation between the inner, outer, and core cities. There is just one city, Rian, where everyone lives together.
“Even the Seed Academies are not separated like they are in the Ann Province. And although the Serpia Clan reserves the best of their knowledge to themselves, they allow everyone to have an equal chance of gaining good foundations. It is also one of the reasons why they are the strongest Orthodoxy of Rianra, and many of the surrounding countries.
“And it is not just Rian. Like I said, there are quite a few good Orthodoxies in the world, and even the Union is also a good opportunity for the Wanderers not from the Orthodoxies. You will learn things like this later, especially when you start roaming the world, and interacting with the different Orthodoxies, and the Union. So do not worry. The world is not as bad a place as you think it is.”
Listening to his master, and her misunderstanding, Alnea did not know how to reply to her. Should he tell her about his strange dreams, and the new memory that he had just gained from it? What if she thought that he was lying? Or worse, what if she believed him, and thought there was something wrong with him? What if after learning about his dreams, she started distancing herself from him, thinking that like how the memories of the other Alnea was coming to him, his memories, too, might be going to the other Alnea? Or maybe someone else from that other world? How could she possibly trust him after that?
“...You are right, master,” Alnea said, lowering his head to hide the shame in his eyes, while his heart started racing for an altogether different reason, bringing with it, a great pain that coursed from his heart, to his veins. All the joy of gaining his own Oathkeeper Style was gone just like that. In his attempt to keep his secret, he had lied to his master. He had broken her trust.
“You are right…”
While he was lamenting in his own self pity, Alnea felt his master’s hand on his head stiffen. She could hear both his heart, and his Heart from a distance. She would of course hear the sound of his muffled sobs when he was so close to her. Maybe she thought that she had been the one who made him cry. After all, he had only cried after she had spoken. No, he had already broken her trust. He could not let her blame herself for him. With that thought, Alnea wiped his eyes and nose, and looked at his master with a smile.
“I have got a big surprise for you, master.”