There were many strange things in the world that bordered on the edge of fantasies. Some of them were found in the Domains corrupted by the Thralls, like the Chaos Trees of the Abyss or the Purgon Steel of the Purgon Mountains. But those things came into existence because of the corruption brought upon by the Thralls. There were other things, things native to the world, that did not need the help of the Thralls to conceive. Like the Fortune Springs. Or Eternal Flames.
Born in a manner similar to Fortune Springs, Eternal Flames came in all size and shapes, with no two Eternal Flames having the same colour or behaviour. There were even theories that these flames had a soul of their own. An eternal soul that could never be extinguished. At the very least, no had ever extinguished these flames, not even Supreme Wanderers.
Fortunately, Eternal Flames were relatively docile, preferring to stay in the place of their birth, rather than roaming around, wreaking havoc on the world. Not that they could have done much damage anyway. Though Wanderers did not have the means to extinguish these flames, they still had the ability to isolate and contain them. Some Wanderers even deliberately hunted these flames to make use of their eternal nature. A dangerous venture, that often resulted in the death of Wanderers.
To hunt or contain an Eternal Flame, one had to be at least at the Mystic Rank, or even the weakest of the Eternal Flames would be enough to burn them to ashes in a matter of moments. Still, over the years, repeated hunting of the flames, first by the Gods and Origin Beasts, then by other species, including the Wanderers, had caused these flames to go extinct a long time ago, getting lost in the endless history of the world.
The Origin Sea, however, seemed to have another plan for these flames. In an accident that no one could have predicted, a high Rank Wanderer handling his Glyphs made some mistakes, creating a flame that refused to be extinguished. At least not on their own. For some reasons, unlike the Eternal Flames born naturally, Wanderers a Rank above the artificial Eternal Flames could easily smother them out of existence. There were even cases of Wanderers of the same rank easily subduing these flames, wearing them out with time.
Regardless, Eternal Flames were still a rare and dangerous construct, that could easily kill hundreds if not thousands of False Wanderers in mere moments. Even their prototypes possessed terrifying powers, requiring Wanderers to reach the True Rank before they could try to contain their wisps. As for creating them, that was a domain exclusive to Wanderers of the Mystic Rank and above. If it was just simulating their effects though…
“You were saying something,” Cecilia said, with a smug smile on her face.
“…Thank you for your great idea, Lady Cecilia,” Alnea said, staring right back into Cecilia’s green eyes, with a wide smile on his face, before bowing in an exaggeration of Wanderer etiquettes. He was already embarrassed anyway. Might as well be a little more shameless, and drag her with himself to share the embarrassment. After all, that was what true friends did. Help each other in times of their need.
“It’s good that you know.”
Alnea blinked, and raised his head back up, finding Cecilia looking at him without much change in her expressions. Sure, there was a hint of red on her cheeks, and her smile was a little more restrained than before, but it was far from the embarrassed expression he had imagined. Maybe he had underestimated her shamelessness. Then again, she did have to bear with big sis Serena’s antics for years. It was no wonder that his words alone were not enough to embarrass her. Maybe, if he—
“That’s it,” Yuri said, nodding in agreement with Vestia, as they finalised what sort of materials he could use, before turning towards him, only to find him staring at a blushing Cecilia with a wide grin on his face.
“…Did you listen to what we discussed?”
Alnea paused, and turned back towards Yuri and Vestia, who were glaring at him with a pout on their faces.
“…I did. But—
“Then what are you still standing here for?” Vestia said, not giving him any chance to make excuses for himself. “Go and buy the materials you need so that we can go back to our mansion.”
“…I was just about to do that,” Alnea said, as he saw the corner of Yuri’s lips curving upwards ever so slightly, breaking his only hope for retreat. A playful Yuri was much worse than either Cecilia or Vestia. Not that he did not like her when she behaved like her age. On the contrary, he preferred a playful and mischievous Yuri over her serious and solemn self. After all, he was the only one for whom she could put down the restraints of her Heart. And he quite liked the idea of keeping a side of her only to himself. Then there was also that unrestrained smile on her face.
Stolen novel; please report.
There was just one problem. When in her mischievous mood, Yuri was often more interested in teasing him than helping him out of his predicament. Especially if it was a problem that he had created for himself. Not to mention that he had also ignored her for a few moments. He was already grateful that she had not taken the chance to embarrass him further. Helping him out…
Subduing his errant thoughts back into his Heart, Alnea walked towards the counter of Blood Coin Exchange and Redemption, while quickly going through all that Vestia and Yuri had discussed, filtering out the materials according to his need. A fuel that can be extracted from its source by flames, a secondary fuel, an insulating container and a corresponding filter, a retardant, a simple base, some ink, and something to inscribe the Glyph. Eight materials in total. Coupled with the restrictions of Eternal Flame—
Alnea paused in his thoughts, as the information about the Eternal Flames flashed through his mind. Flames that refused to be extinguished… What if they were extinguished? He was not really creating an Eternal Flame, after all. If he made it so that all the energy of the flames concentrated on a point, and burned out in an instant, the resultant outburst would not be less an all out blow of a Peak Stage False Wanderer. And that was with lower quality materials. If he used higher quality materials, like he had used the day before…
“What do you need?”
Alnea blinked, coming back to his senses, noticing that he was already standing in front of the counter, with the Wanderer waiting for his answer. Putting away his somewhat rather immature thoughts into the depths of his Heart for the moment, he quickly recited the materials he had decided upon earlier.
“…A ten year old White Star Tree’s bark, half a metre, a ten year old Black Star Tree’s sap, two vials, an inferior Purple Veined Fire Crystal…”
“…a hundred and twenty three Blood Coins in total.”
After putting away the materials into his storage pouch, Alnea thanked the Wanderer, and made his way back to the girls, before walking out of the Blood Hall, and back towards his mansion. Or at least three of them did. Since they were out in the city anyway, Vestia decided to scout the city, and look for places where they could rent a new mansion. One that could fit all their requirements.
“Be careful,” Alnea said, as Vestia left their group. “Try not to clash with the Lotus clan, and be on the lookout for any other potential enemies. Also, come back in time, or we will go to the Arena without you.”
“You are forcing me to be in a hurry, Captain,” Vestia said, with a smile that seemed like a mix of amusement, satisfaction, and pride. “Don’t worry though. Unlike a certain someone, I much more subtle when searching for clues, or gathering information.”
“…For the record, I was not being subtle on purpose to incite Tia into giving me the information I needed. And it worked exactly like I thought.”
“…No one is going to be fooled by your clumsy lies,” Vestia said, chuckling at his indignant face. “And even if you did incite her on purpose, your method does not seem to have worked exactly as you wished.”
“…That’s because she did not have all the information.”
“Do you really think so?”
“…Fine. You win,” Alnea said, but only because he did not wish to argue needlessly. And he did need her help. “You should already know what I want to check. But as you can guess from Wanderer Tia’s actions, this kind of information can be dangerous. And I do not need it urgently anyway. So, there is no need to deliberately search for it, or provoke any unnecessary troubles. Just help me keep an eye on the information, and inform me when you find something.”
“…Huh? Did you say something?”
“…Please.”
“Of course, I will help you. You are my Captain, after all. Besides, I am also very interested in the things you mentioned earlier.”
“…Be careful, Vestia.”
“I will,” Vestia said, returning his concern with a charmingly wide smile. “Do not worry. I am still waiting for you to fulfil your promise with me, so how can I let anything happen to myself?”
Saying so, Vestia turned around, and walked away, while the three of them watched her back in silence.
“…Vixen,” Cecilia said after a while.
“…Vixen indeed,” Yuri said, concurring with Cecilia, as she saw the dazed look on Alnea’s face.
“…I don’t think she is that bad,” Alnea said, tearing his eyes away from Vestia’s back, and glancing at Yuri and Cecilia. “At least she is sincere in her work.”
“…That I cannot argue with,” Yuri said, nodding in acknowledgement. “She may be a vixen, but she is good teammate.”
“…I still don’t like her.”
“…Maybe,” Alnea said, leaving Cecilia baffled. And though Yuri seemed to understand what he was implying, she had no intention of clearing the confusion. “Let’s stop wasting our time, and go back. We need to catch up with the training we missed last night, or it won’t be us waiting for Vestia in the Arena, but the other way around.”