Bidding his farewell to the Aspects, Alnea made his way to the giant hole in the Origin Sea. Though, on second thought, compared to the endlessness of the Origin Sea, the hole was almost negligible in size. In any case, for him, the hole was giant. And the only way back to his Domain. So, resisting against the attacks of the Origin Sea, and the attempts of the endless layers of Oren trying to entrap him, he made his way to the golden ring.
Glancing back towards the Origin Sea, towards the Aspects, Alnea waved at them for one last time, before stepping back into the blank emptiness of his Domain. Into the dark, and the quiet. And as if sensing that there was no need for it to exist anymore, his domain covered the giant hole with a curtain of golden light, turning it back into a golden disc. But there was no need for the disc to exist either. And so, soon after disc had come into existence, it began bleeding back all its light to its edges, turning back into a ring of golden light, which soon dimmed, and faded away into the darkness of his empty Domain.
Thankfully, the process did not consume his Spirit Power. At least not by much. Having stayed in the Origin Sea longer than he had planned, he was running precariously low on his Spirit Power as it was. Any further drain on his Spirit Power would have surely resulted in a headache. Not that it would have been his first time. Be it due to low Spirit Power, taking Oaths, or just simply Forging his Spirit, headaches were like his constant companion.
Still, it was not as if he was deliberately trying to get headaches. Or any pain for that matter. Things just happened in a way that they often led him into suffering some pain, or the other. If he could avoid headaches though, then why would he not do so? Just as Alnea was ruminating about his relationship with pain, the shield on his chest, his Aspect, reached out to him ever so hesitantly, and asked, Headaches? Protect? Guard? Fight?
Laughing to himself, Alnea reached out to his Aspect with his thoughts, and reassured it that he was fine. At the same time, he also gently brushed his hands over the shield, soothing its anxiety. Only after his Aspect had confirmed that he was fine, did it calm down, reminding him to call it if he ever needed its help. That made him laugh even more, as a strange excitement bubbled up within him.
His Aspect… Not only would it act as his shield, and armour, but in times of need, it could also act as his sword, his weapon. A truly versatile Aspect, with an all round capabilities. Though it did not have any elemental properties attached to it, it was still one of the strongest Aspects that he could find in the shallow regions of the Origin Sea. He was looking forward to the well that he would have to dog for the Aspect. Would it be larger than the Wells that Yuri had dug? Or…
Unfortunately, his Spirit Power was too low at the moment, and would need at least a few hours to recover. Or at least, that would be the case if he did not use external agents to aid in recovery of his Spirit Power. He had just had a very sumptuous meal though. There was no need to overload his body with nutrients. That would just make him fat. Short, and fat… In any case, he did not have enough Spirit Power to dig an Aspect Well, so there was no need to think about it at the moment.
Instead, he used the calm, and the quiet of his Domain to concentrate within himself, reflecting on his actions, and tempering his Heart. The Razorback Black Water Turtle… the Dark Wind Wolf… the Dark Devouring Snake… All of the things he did, all of his actions, and choices, flitted past his mind, as he sorted through them, looking at his mistakes, wondering how he could have done things better.
Like when fighting the Dark Wind Wolf. If not for the boulders, behind which he had taken cover, then he might have gotten in trouble with the suicide attack of the wolf. Since he already knew what the wolf was capable of, he should have prepared for the attack in advance. No, he should not have given the wolf the chance to use that attack in the first place. That would have been the perfect way to deal with the situation. Winning the fight with no injuries…
Even if he had the robe to protect him in case something happened, he could not keep on relying on it forever. He could not always be the one being protected. He had to become the one doing the protecting. He had to become strong enough to protect his master. To protect Yuri, and Cecilia. Even big sis Serena. And his mother. He had to protect everyone. No, not just them. He also had to protect their smile. He had to…
Alnea opened his eyes after his Heart had reached complete Serenity, taking another step towards Clarity. Looking around his empty Domain one last time, he promised himself to turn it into a miniature Origin Sea, greater than even the Domains of the strongest of the Supreme Wanderers. Not an Oath, the kind that would bind him. He had already done that. That too, with two different Oaths; becoming the greatest Wanderer, and creating the path to the Rank of Origin Wanderer. There was no need for taking another Oath for the same thing. He just had to follow his old Oaths, and make sure to keep them. As long as he did that, his Domain would become the greatest Domain in existence all on its own.
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Chuckling to himself, Alnea reached towards the thread, towards his Roots, connecting his Spirit to his Spirit World, just as it connected his Spirit to his Domain. In a way, he could even think of his Roots, and his Spirit, as creating a connection between his Domain, and his Spirit World. And following that connection, he soon found himself travelling back to his world in the same way he had come to the Origin Sea, crossing the barriers between the Origin Sea, and his world by merging with his Roots.
How long it took, he did not know. Time was meaningless in the state he was in. As was the existence of his being… until he reached his Spirit World, whence his Spirit returned to its original form, returning his meaning to him. And to his aspect, still stuck to his chest in the form of a shield, protecting him from any, and all harms. Even from the darkness of his Spirit World. The same world, which was going to become its home. He did not have enough Spirit Power to dig its home though. So, for the moment, the Aspect had to make do by living on his Spirit.
Comforting his Aspect, promising it to come back in a while to dig an Aspect Well for it, Alnea withdrew his senses from his Spirit. He did not immediately withdraw from his Spirit World though, stopping to take a look at his Spirit. It still had its bluish white glow. But on top of that, it also had a slightly golden tinge added to it, coming from the shield on his chest. And at the centre of that golden tinge was a black.
Nodding to himself in satisfaction, metaphorically, of course, he finally withdrew from his Spirit World, and consequently, his Spirit State, opening his eyes to find the worried faces of Cecilia, and Yuri, staring at him intently. After the feast, his master had removed the table, and the cushions, stashing them away in her ‘Dimensional Pocket’. At this point, he wondered if it should still be called as a ‘Dimensional Pocket’, or a ‘Dimensional House’. Maybe, even a ‘Dimensional City’.
In any case, with the table out of the way, there was nothing blocking the two girls from sitting closer to him. So, while he had been Wandering, they had been staying by his side all the time, worrying for his safety, waiting for him to come back from the Origin Sea. Only when they saw him open his eyes, did they let go of their worries, and let out a sigh of relief, before regaining their smiles. Or at least Cecilia did. Yuri, on the other hand, looked at him with discontent, and displeasure, pouting at him.
“Since you were done with your Wandering, why did you not inform me? Don’t you know how worried we were? How worried I was? Especially after you told me that something happened with the rings…”
“I have experienced Wandering the Origin Sea with you so many times… Don’t you have trust in my capabilities?”
“This is different. This time, you went into the Origin Sea yourself. What if something happened to you, like it happened to me on my first Wandering?”
“…You worry too much.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“…I just wanted to surprise you.”
“You…”
“How did your Wandering go, Alnea?” Cecilia asked, grinning at him, with her green eyes shining in a bright light. “The Origin Sea… How did experiencing it for yourself… in your own Spirit felt?”
“It was quite good,” Alnea said, grinning in return, before shifting his gaze from Cecilia to Yuri. “The attacks of the Origin Sea… the sensations that it was flooding my senses with felt a little more intense than the times I experienced it with you. Other than that, everything was fine.”
“Did you encounter any Mysteries?” Yuri asked, to which, Alnea responded by shaking his head.
“There were no manifestations of Mysteries, but… I did encounter one thing.”
“Encounter something in the Origin Sea other than Mysteries… what was it?” Cecilia asked in excitement, while worry made its way back to Yuri’s face. Alnea, however, kept grinning, choosing to turn towards his master instead of answering Cecilia’s question.
“Can you guess what it was, master?”
“Cheeky disciple,” his master said, shaking her head with a smile. Just like his two friends, she too, had been worried for him. Maybe even more than them. Even when she knew that she could use her Roots to save him if anything were to happen to him, she still could not stop worrying. But she did not let it show on her face. She did, however, show relief when he returned from the Origin Sea. At the same time, she also showed a look of surprise, as she looked at him with pride.
“I knew that my son was talented in the path of Warriors… but to tame an Aspect, and set foot on the path of Warriors on your first Wandering… You have broken through all my expectations. Congratulations on becoming a Warrior, Alnea.”