Yuri’s words rang out inside of his head like claps of thunders, shaking both his Heart, and his Spirit World. Even his Aspects, floating around him, flickered, and almost went out of his control. Just the mere act of stopping that from happening, while also making sure that his body did not tremble in shock, and rage, took all of his will. And so, he was left clenching his fist, while staring at his feet in silence, while both Cecilia, and Yuri looked at him, one in worry, and one in confusion.
“What happened, Alnea? Are you alright?”
“…It’s nothing. I just thought of something.”
“Are you worried about Yuri?”
“…Maybe.”
“It’s fine. You know how responsible she is. And don’t you trust her? Since she is saying that is nothing much, then it probably really is nothing much. There is no need for us to worry about her.”
“…I hope so,” Alnea said, taking a deep breath to calm the storm in his Heart, before reached to Yuri through their connection once again. “How many times have you used it till now?”
“…Just a couple of times,” Yuri said, with worry evident in her voice. “Once to test out the Arcana. And once to find the burrows of the Fire Clawed Moles.”
“How many days did you have to pay for that?”
“…Around three days for the first time, and thirty days for the second time. But that is not too big of a price. As Wanderers, our lifespans are much longer than normal people. As long as my progress—
“Never use it again,” Alnea said, not bothering to hear the rest of her explanation. He also knew that Wanderers had longer lifespan. But that did not mean that they could just squander it away. Thankfully, she had lost only a month or so of her lifespan. If he had not persisted on asking her about the Arcana’s price, then she might even have lost years of her life before he would have eventually found out about it. Or maybe, she never would have told him about it until her life ran out. Until…
“…You don’t understand. Being able to see the consequences of our actions, we will be able to make the most optimal decisions. This is the perfect—
“Promise me to never use it again.”
“…I know that it does not seem like a good idea, but the benefits outweigh the loss in this case. Besides, I—
“I don’t care,” Alnea said. A world without Yuri… He did not wish to see such a world. He could not bear to see such a world. “Promise me to never use your ‘Eyes of Destiny’, or any similar Arcanas.”
“Alnea…”
“Don’t you believe in me?”
“…This is not about whether I believe in you, or not. ‘Eyes of Destiny’ is—
“You created the Arcana because you want to spy on the fate of your clan, right?”
“…I admit that the thought of using the Arcana for that purpose did come to my mind, but it came only after I had created the Arcana, and learned of its effects. It has nothing to do with whether I believe in you or not.”
“If you believe that I can help you in changing the fate of your clan, then why do you need to spy on it?”
“…Even if I do not use ‘Eyes of Destiny’ to spy on the fate of my clan, I can still use it at other times. It is a really useful Arcana that—
“No,” Alnea said, remaining adamant about his decision. “Promise me to never use any such Arcanas which cost you your lifespan.”
“It is just a few days—
“How can you say that it is just a few days? Those are the days of your life! Days which you could have spent with me!”
“You… what…” Yuri said, fumbling with her words, too shocked by his outburst to come up with a coherent response. It was even starting to show on her face. Fortunately, Cecilia was not paying attention to her. Still, Alnea was not done with Yuri yet. Not until he could get his promise.
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“You have already lost nearly a month of your life. I do not want you losing any more of it. If you think that you have too many days to live… then I am reserving those days for myself. All the days of your life… They are mine. You cannot spend them without my permission. Promise me that you will never use those days as a cost for any Arcanas, Glyphs, or Martial Styles. Even for Divine Treasures. No matter what the benefits are, you cannot use your lifespan as a price.”
“…You are such a fool,” Yuri said after a while, with a hint of discontent in her voice, but she failed to hide the slight curve of her lips, lifting upwards in a smile. Even the frustration that had been overflowing from her as she had kept trying to persuade him about her ‘Eyes of Destiny’ was gone, replaced by a tinge of agitation, and embarrassment, hidden behind the veil of her calm exterior.
However, what Alnea focussed on were her words. She had not admitted it directly, but her words implied that she agreed with him, allowing him to relax a little. He had yet to hear the words the wished to hear the most though. So, reached out to her once again, and said, “…Are you promising me?”
“…Can you not tell?”
“I want to hear it from you.”
“…Fine, you promise fanatic, I promise you that I will never use my life as a price for anything without your permission. Happy?”
“Very happy,” Alnea said, as his Heart finally settled down, bringing a smile onto his face. He could not tell Cecilia about the conversation they just had though, so he looked towards Yuri, and said, “I will believe what you have said for now. Let us continue from where had left off. You have already told us about your Arcanas, so next would be your Aspects, and Martial Styles.”
“…I am glad that you can trust me,” Yuri said, looking at him with her usual smile. Through their rings though, she was practically threatening him, saying, “You better remember what you have said to me. I am going to hold you accountable for each of your words.”
Before Alnea could even understand what she was saying, Yuri turned just enough to also include Cecilia in her vision, and continued with what he had asked her to do, explaining her abilities.
“Like the two of you, I have been a little more successful in taming Aspects than I have been in creating Arcanas,” Yuri said, lifting her hand, before releasing her Aspects one by one, making them revolve around her fingers, just like the way he had played with them. However, unlike him, her control over her Aspects was much more precise, and firm, confining all of them to the tips of her fingers, while limiting their glow to be just enough to light up the cave, and not escape from it.
“I tamed around eleven Aspects at the Initial Stage, and have tamed fourteen Aspects at the Intermediate Stage till now, for a total of twenty five Aspects. Of these twenty five Aspects, around ten of them can transform into weapons, and three of them can transform into armours, while ten of the remaining twelve can help me augment my body. I also have corresponding Martial Styles to make the best use of these twenty three Aspects, with some of them being of the High Grade.
“And though I do not have corresponding Martial Styles for the remaining two Aspects, I can still make considerable use of them. Mainly because these Aspects augment my other Aspects, and my mental fortitude. Furthermore, they can also help me in casting Arcanas, and they do not even require much Oren, so they are not too much of a burden to me either. With the help of these two Aspects, I am even confident of taking on Oren Beasts of the peak phase.”
“Peak phase Oren Beasts?”
“There is no need to be so shocked. I am sure that given time, both of will also be able to do it. Fighting Oren Beasts who have yet to reach their Adult Stage is not that difficult. Especially the common Oren Beasts. After all, it is only when they reach their Adult Stage that their Innate Abilities will start showing its true prowess.
“However, there are differences between Oren Beasts and Wanderers. Especially Heterodox Wanderers, who have all sorts of weird means. And the aim of our training is becoming strong enough to fight Peak Stage Heterodox Wanderers. If we had enough time, then I am sure that either of you could have singled them out on your own. But time is one thing we are lacking in the most.
“At most, we just have a few months, before we will have to face those Heterodox Wanderers. But there is no need to worry too much about them. After all, we will be fighting them as a team. A true team. And we will do that step by step, beginning with the advanced phase Oren Beasts. And when we will be confident enough to take on peak phase Oren Beasts, we will be ready to face the Heterodox Wanderers.”
“Fight peak phase Oren Beasts…” Alnea mumbled, glancing towards Cecilia, only to find her glancing back at him with a grin.
“What? Are you scared?”
“Scared?” Alnea said with a scoff. “That is something only a support type Arcanist like you would know. Warriors like me always fight at the front. I don’t even know what being scared means.”
“What do you know about being a Warrior?” Cecilia said, sticking out her tongue at him. “I am a Serpian. And Serpians are born as Warriors.”
“…How many Aspects have you tamed?”
“…Being a Warrior is not about how many Aspects you have tamed, but how well you can use them.”
“…How many Martial Styles have you learned?”
“…Can I beat him?” Cecilia grumbled, turning towards Yuri for her question, to which, Yuri responded with giggles.
“I want to beat him too,” Yuri said, looking at him with an amused smile, before shaking her head. “Maybe later. Right now, let us come back to what I was saying. And in a way, it is also related to what you two were arguing about.”
“…Who amongst the two of us is a better Warrior?”
“…Not exactly what you were arguing about, but related to it. If we are going to act as a true team, then we also need to decide the roles we are going to fulfil, and the conditions in which we will be switching our roles. But before that, we need to talk about something else.”
Yuri paused for a moment, giving the time to think, and digest what she had said, before continuing with what she had to say.
“It is time for you two to think about your lineages, and specialisations as Scholars.”