Alnea did not meet any bees on his way to the Blood Hall. Neither did he encounter them within the Blood Hall. Yet the girls refused to leave his side. There were too many bees, they said. That they could come at him anytime. Such clear lies… Even if they were using an excuse to stick to him, they could have used some better ones. Or they could have just asked him. It was not as if he would have refused their request.
On the contrary, given how fond he was of their company, he would have liked nothing more than for the girls to accompany him. If they could live in harmony, that is. And for some strange reason, though they were lying, they were oddly harmonious at the moment. So, even if he knew that they were lying, Alnea did not question the girls, and let them be. Their presence was not going to affect what he was about to do anyway.
“Good morning, Wanderer Tia,” Alnea said, greeting the cheerful Wanderer. A rather odd sight among the Wanderers working for the Lost City. “I hope you have been doing well.”
“A good morning, it is,” Tia said, returning his smile with her own. “It has been a while since you came to me. How have you been?”
“I am good. Thank you for the concern.”
“Concern? No. I was just curious.”
“…Still—
“Look at your solemn face,” Tia said, chuckling softly. “I was just joking with you. Of course, I was concerned about you. After all, you are one of the few people I am optimistic about.”
“…Playing jokes so early in the morning is not a good habit, Wanderer Tia.”
“Who told you to ignore me for so many days?” Tia said, feigning a pout.
“…I will come more often in the future.”
“Good,” Tia said, losing her pout for a smile, before donning a solemn face. “So, what is it? What troubles have you encountered?”
“…It is not exactly a trouble, and how do you know that I have come to ask something?”
“Is it that hard to guess?” Tia said, smiling once again. “How many times have you come to me? And how many of those times were just to greet me? Not that I am complaining. Like I said, you can come to me if you are bothered about anything. Even if I cannot help you directly, I can at least give you some advice.”
“…Maybe I should come a bit more often in the future.”
“I certainly would not mind.”
Maybe she did not. But there were others who did mind him coming too often to the Wanderer. Or getting too close to her. So, when Alnea felt a chill climb up his back, he did not dare to waste any more time with useless greetings.
“There is something that I would like to ask you, Wanderer Tia,” Alnea said. “It is about the path of Warriors.”
“Oh? Are you finally asking me about the path of Warriors? How rare…”
“Rare? Maybe. But not unexpected,” Alnea said. “You should have expected me to come to you. Especially after I told you that I had begun practising the Blood Crystal Martial Styles.”
“I did, but not so soon,” Wanderer Tia said. “I thought that you might try to solve your doubts on your own first, and would come to only after you had wasted a couple of months.”
“Since I know that I cannot solve my doubts on my own, why should I ponder over them in vain?”
“It would not exactly have been vain. The experience of trying to solve your problems on your own can help you in the future.”
“But that would have wasted my time. And time is one thing I cannot afford to waste.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“…You are getting more and more slick with your words,” Wanderer Tia said with a chuckle, before glancing at the queue behind him. “I have a hunch that this might take a while… You should move to the side a little, and stop blocking the queue, or I might get scolded later. Also, ask your friends to stop trying to eavesdrop from a distance. If they want to listen, they can just stand with you. I promise not to eat them. At least not until I have cleared all your doubts.”
“…Thank you,” Alnea said, using his Aspects to hide his embarrassment. In vain, of course. Even Vestia and Yuri could see through his disguise, let alone a True Wanderer. But that did not stop him from pretending. Especially with all the Wanderers around them… Moving to the side, he glanced at the girls pretending to be waiting for him, and beckoned them to come over, before turning back towards Wanderer Tia.
“…For the Aspect Trials, you can go to…”
Wanderer Tia guided the Wanderers coming up to her, waiting for the girls to come to him, before turning back towards him.
“So, what is it? What about the Blood Crystal Martial Styles have been bothering you?”
“…What exactly are the Blood Crystal Patterns?”
“…You want to know about Blood Crystal Patterns?”
“That’s right.”
“Unfortunately, I do not have the answer to your question,” Wanderer Tia said with an awkward smile. “Even I am confused by the Blood Crystal Patterns. As are other True Wanderers of the city. You may not know, but… In short, just know that no True Wanderer can answer your question. At least none that I know of. If you really have to know about the Blood Crystal Patterns, I suggest you look for a Mystic or Grand Wanderer of your clan. Only they can answer your question.”
“…I still want to know what you think of the Blood Crystal Patterns. I have my own conjecture about them, but I need to hear other people’s thoughts before I can confirm my guess.”
“…If you insist. But beware. What I am about to say is just my opinion about the Blood Crystal Patterns, and may not be correct,” Wanderer Tia said after hesitation.
“I know.”
Nodding to show her acknowledgement, Wanderer Tia quickly dealt with another Wanderer in the queue, before turning back towards him and the girls.
“According to my observations and experience, Blood Crystal Patterns are like a set of Glyph Arrays.”
“…As I thought,” Alnea mumbled to himself. “Are they still incomplete at the True Rank?”
“…Indeed.”
“Is there a Mystic Rank version of the Patterns?”
“…Not that I know of.”
“What do you think is the purpose of the Patterns?”
“…As far as I can tell, the Patterns can store energy. The higher the Rank and Stage of the Patterns, the greater the energy they can store.”
“Energy or Oren?”
“Are they not the same thing?”
“I need to know for sure.”
“…Oren then. But like I said, I am just guessing.”
“That’s enough,” Alnea said, nodding to the Wanderer, waiting for her to deal with another Wanderer, before asking his next question. “You said that the Blood Crystal Patterns are like a set of Glyph Arrays… Which lineages do you think they should belong to?”
“…Lineage of the Patterns?” Wanderer Tia said, and paused for a few moments, before shaking her head with a wry smile. “Where did you come up with these questions?”
“…Isn’t that the first question that should come to mind after assuming that the Blood Crystal Patterns are like a set of Glyph Arrays?”
“…If you say it like that, then it makes me look bad,” Wanderer Tia said, laughing at herself, pausing for a few moments to guide another Wanderer to her preferred Trial, before turning back to him. “To be honest, I never really put much thought into the Patterns, let alone ponder over their origin. To me, and to most of the other Wanderers coming to the Lost City, they are just another tool for us to gain greater strength. Still, having been in touch with them for over a decade, I can make a guess or two about their nature.
“Like I said before, the main function of the Blood Crystal Patterns is to store energy—Oren in our blood cells. But our body, in its natural state, is not capable of interacting with Oren, let alone store it. Only when we use our Aspects to visualise carving the Blood Crystal Patterns on our blood cells do they gain the ability to interact with Oren. And only the Mysteries of the Life can facilitate such drastic transformation.”
Wanderer Tia paused, performing her duties, before turning back towards him and the girls.
“In addition, as you progress to higher Stages and Ranks in the Blood Crystal Styles, you will understand that amount of Oren stored and the increase in the size of the Blood Crystals is not proportionate. Especially when the Blood Crystals jump from the False Rank to the True Rank. Just a simple increase in storage efficiency is not enough to explain such a drastic increase in the storage capacity of the Blood Crystals. The Blood Crystal Patterns must have elements of the Space Series from the lineage of Time.”
“The lineages of Life and Time?”
“As far as I can tell.”
“…I understand,” Alnea said after some thought. He did not immediately ask another question though. Instead, he waited for the queue to thin out a little, and Wanderer Tia to shift her focus back to him, before continuing.