“…A world of Attuners?” Cecilia mumbled, staring at Alnea with all kinds of emotions flashing through her face. Of them all though, confusion, and shock were the most prominent of all. But only for a few moments. Soon, relief, and excitement made their way to her face, and dominated her Heart as well. “Is there really such a world like that out there? Attuning with Aspects, and gaining their powers… Can we also walk on the path of Attuners, Lady Nyssa?”

“…I told you my deepest secret, and the first thing that you want to know is whether you can walk on the path of Attuners?” Alnea said, not knowing how he should react to Cecilia’s nonchalant behaviour. “Don’t you have anything else to ask me?”

“What should I ask?”

“…I don’t know. But how can you accept such a ridiculous story so easily?”

“At least you know that your story is ridiculous,” Cecilia said with giggles. “It is not as ridiculous as you think it is though. Especially since I saw how those memories took over your body…”

“…I am sorry. I—

“Why are you apologising? It was not your fault. And you did not say anything mean to me anyway. You were just… a little odd. And cold. As if you were here, but someplace far away, both at the same time. I can’t explain it. Regardless, there is no reason for me to doubt what you are saying.”

“…Thank you.”

“…Stop being so cheesy,” Cecilia said with flushed cheeks. She was too tired to bother about controlling her emotions though. His master may have healed her wounds, but she would have to recover her Spirit Power on her own. Just talking was draining her of her energy. Not as much as before, but still enough to cause her a headache. Wasting what energy she had left just to ease her embarrassment… It seemed like a good idea. But there was an even better idea. Turning around towards his master, she repeated the question she had asked before.

“Can we also walk on the path of Attuners, Lady Nyssa?”

Walking on the path of Attuners. Cecilia truly was unique. Even the way she thought was so different. However, the question she asked was one that Alnea also wanted to know the answer of. The answer that his master gave though…

“I am afraid not,” his master said. “Although the path of Attuners may sound similar to the path of Warriors, but there is an essential difference between them. Warriors open up their Aspect Oceans within their Spirit World, while Attuners open up their Aspect Oceans within their bodies. And this is where the difficulty of the path of Attuners lie.

“Through my experiments, I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for the people in our world to store Aspects within their bodies. It is as if there is fundamental rule of the Origin Sea which prevents us to become Attuners. That is not too much of a surprise though. Or else, in the millions of years since the rise of Wanderers, there surely would have been people who would have been able to explore the path of Attuners.”

“…It’s such a pity,” Cecilia said with a disappointed look on her face. “I thought that I might be able to leave my name as one of the first Attuners in the world.”

“Don’t worry,” Alnea said. “Your name will still go down in history as the friend of the strongest Wanderer.”

“…Or as someone who used to beat up the strongest Wanderer.”

“…Crazy girl,” Alnea mumbled, only for Yuri to chuckle at his words.

“Not as crazy as you though.”

“I thought that was obvious,” Cecilia added, giggling along with Yuri. “No one can be as crazy as him.”

“…Forget it. I won’t argue with crazy girls,” Alnea mumbled, before turning towards his master with a grin. “Everything else aside… We defeated all the Heterodox Wanderers, master! Even when all three of them were of the Peak Stage, we still defeated them. Like we said we would.”

“You did,” his master said, nodding at him with a smile. “I let the Heterodox Wanderer find you, because I wanted you to gain experience of their strange means, and how they fight. But I never thought that you would be able to defeat them. You—All of you performed better than I thought. Especially you, Cecilia. Using the advantages of your Roots, having enough presence of mind to flip your fortune before launching Arcanas, and the will to never give up even when you had no hope… Your improvements have been remarkable to say the least.”

“…Thank you, Lady Nyssa,” Cecilia said, as her face turned red from embarrassment, and pride. “I will do my best to keep on improving.”

“I know you will,” his master nodded at Cecilia, before turning towards Yuri. “You may have made some mistakes when it came to saving Alnea, but you always kept your cool during the fight. And that is the most important quality of leaders. However, you should communicate more with your teammates. Having enough trust, and understanding with each other to cooperate without saying so much as a word to each other is well and nice, but if you do not communicate, then you will be underutilising your resources.”

“…I will keep it in mind, big sis Nyssa.”

“…The second mistake you made was taking the decision to fight the Heterodox Wanderers to the end. When you learnt that the Heterodox Wanderers were stronger than you, your first thought should have been to create opportunities to run, and not to finish them all. If not for the help of the Fortune Devouring Cat, and Alnea’s outburst, then your ending might have been different. Remember Yuri, for Wanderers, most of the time it is not their lack of ability, but their arrogance that gets them killed.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“…I will try to be more careful.”

“…As I said though, your performance as a Wanderer, and a team, did exceed my expectations. Even if it was due to circumstances, and external help, defeating a team of Wanderers much stronger than you is not an easy task. At the very least, you have done well in guiding your team in the past few months. Your father would have been proud of you, if he were to see you right now.”

“…It was my duty,” Yuri said in solemn tone. The curve at the end of her lips though, and the light in her eyes, told a completely different story. Fortunately for her, his master did not dismantle her facade, and turned towards him instead.

“Your improvements have been just as remarkable as that of the girls, if not more. Just in terms of timing your attacks, you are currently the best in the team. But that is because you have experienced the breath of Death more than the girls. So, do not slack in your practise, or you may be overtaken at any moment.”

“Don’t worry, master. I am going to become the greatest Wanderer. How can I let two crazy girls beat me?”

“…We will see how this crazy girl beat you later.”

“…You haven’t even seen the tip of craziness yet.”

Alnea shuddered as the warnings of the crazy girls rang out in his ears, and mind. He did not dare to react to them though, and kept his eyes fixed on his master. Thankfully, his master did not disappoint him.

“Stop being cheeky,” his master said. “Like I was saying, you have made great improvements in the past few months. And I am not talking about just your abilities, but also of your mind, and Heart. You may not have realised it yet, but the Serenity of your Heart has deepened once again. As you are right now, you will have no problem in breaking through to the Advanced Stage. However, I will say the same thing. Do not slack in your practice, or you will be overtaken by the girls before you even know it.”

“…Yes, master!” Alnea said, seething in excitement. His master was still not done with him though.

“Now that I have talked about your improvements, let us talk about your flaws.”

“I also have flaws, master?”

“What do you think?” his master said, raising her brows in amusement. “What are Yuri, and Cecilia to you?”

“…Teammates?”

“Then have you ever heard of a person who is so conceited that he wants to protect his teammates from all possible dangers?”

“…I have started to let go.”

“Save your lies for Yuri. You cannot fool me.”

“But I truly did let go, master. I believe in them, so I decided that I must trust them to win their own fights.”

“And yet, the moment they were hurt, you dove into your Roots, seeking help from your Oaths? I know that you do not wish to abandon the girls, but did you forget all that I taught you about your Roots? Even if you did it unconsciously, it is still no excuse for you to be careless with your Roots. Especially since you have already been experiencing weird sensations in regard to your Oaths recently.”

“…I thought it was because of the curse.”

“Then did you ever stop to think if the two were somehow related to each other?”

“…It slipped from my mind.”

“I know that you were scared, and worried about the girls, but the more dangerous the situation is, the calmer you have to be. For Wanderers, one wrong decision can be the difference between life and death. And when people are panicking, they generally tend to make the wrong decisions. If not for Yuri risking her life, then you might have been stuck in the vault of your memories for your life.”

“…I will be more careful next time.”

“Next time? Do you still intend to have a next time?”

“No, I—

“Forget it. Since you have resonated with your Roots already, it is time to figure out a few more things about your Roots anyways. And it would be better if you experiment in front of me, rather than when you are alone.”

“…Am I going to train with you, master?”

“Did I not make it clear already? Your training in the Night Canyons is over.”

“…Are we going to leave the Night Canyons? But it hasn’t even been a year since we came here.”

“When did I say that we will stay in the Night Canyons for a year?” his master said, before glancing at the darkness around them. “These canyons… their only good point is how they are divided. The deeper you go into the canyons, the greater the chances there are to find Fortune Springs. And anything that can increase their strength have great attraction to Oren Beasts. These beasts may bide their time when they are young, and weak, but once they grow up, no one can stop them from venturing into the depths of the Origin Sea to search for Fortune Springs.

“There can be a few exceptions, of course. But in general, the degree of danger of these canyons can be divided according to their depths, making it one of the best places in Rianra for Wanderers to train. With your current strength though, dealing with most of the Oren Beasts in the peak phase of their Adolescent Stage would not be a problem for you. And going to greater depths of the canyon would be too dangerous.

“Besides, you have had enough time to decide your future paths. It is time for you to make your choice about what kind of Scholar you want to be. Learning Glyphs, engraving them on your Spirit, and them comprehending their mysteries… Unlike Yuri, who has long built her foundations, there are many things you need to prepare for. Becoming a Scholar in the Night Canyons might be a little dangerous for you. Especially since the Heterodox Wanderers have already found this place. And following their movements, the Lotus clan might come here too.

“I brought you here specifically to avoid the Lotus clan. Staying here, despite knowing that they might be coming at any moment would not be a wise idea. Besides, did you forget about the Fate Devouring Cat? From the information I have collected, it seems like the cat was brought into Rianra by the Heterodox Wanderers themselves. And releasing it into a Forbidden Area… You can guess what their intentions must be. Right now, staying in the Night Canyons would be dangerous not just for you, but for the entirety of Rianra.”

Alnea was already prepared for stepping foot on the path of Scholar. He had made his choice long ago, and the fight with the Heterodox Wanderers had served to increase his confidence in his choice. The cat though… He glanced at the cat sleeping on Cecilia’s lap. A Fortune Devouring Cat… He might not have known much about it before, but Yuri had explained the danger that the cat represented in great detail. Collapsing the Fortune of Rianra…