Informing Yuri about his discovery, Alnea walked up to the dune releasing the strange, intangible waves, and observed it in person. Dark, gritty, and soft to the touch, its sands gave way to his feet, easily sinking a couple of inches under his weight. Even the way it moved so easily when he sifted through its sand through his feet… No matter how he looked, the dune did not seem to be any different from all the other dunes around it.

  Yet, when observed through his Domain of Night, the dune gave him a completely different picture altogether. At first, all he saw were the intangible waves coming from the depths of the dune ever few minutes or so. When he reached out to the waves though, and tried to interact with them through his Spirit, they latched on to his senses, and pulled him into a world of complete darkness, something akin to how his Domain had looked before he had comprehended any Mysteries.

  No, it was not quite a world of absolute darkness. As he glanced around, Alnea noticed a huge silvery blue sphere, some thirty to forty metres large, hovering in the world of endless darkness, releasing a soft silvery glow, while spinning ever so slowly. And whenever the sphere complete one full rotation, it released an intangible wave. The same wave that had brought him strange world. And the same wave that brought him out of it.

  Opening his eyes, Alnea looked at the dune once again. It still looked no different from all the other dunes, but he was not about to be fooled. The waves coming from the depths of the dune, the strange world that he had just been to…

  “Is it hidden within this dune?” Cecilia said, hopping over with a grin, with the rest of the Star Seekers following behind her. And though they tried to act normal, Alnea could see how excited they were. Fortune Spring…

  “You can say that,” Alnea said, turning back towards the dune.

  “…I do not see what’s so special about this dune,” Norren mumbled, with Ralph nodding from the side.

  “I am sure that we went over this dune earlier…” Ralph said, looking at Alnea in doubt, only for the latter to shake his head.

  “We did. But the Fortune Spring is much more hidden than I had initially thought. If it was not because of the special nature of my Arcana, I may not even have noticed its presence even if we were to destroy the entire dune.”

  “But you have found it now, right?”

  “…I did.”

  “And it is in the dune in front of us?”

  “…Yes.”

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s begin accepting its Fortune already.”

  “…It is not so easy,” Alnea said, shaking his head to Cecilia. “Concentrate your senses on this dune, and tell me what you see.”

  “…A dune.”

  “What else?”

  “…That’s it.”

  “And here comes the problem. This Fortune Spring… I think it is hidden in a subspace, or space pocket. And it is probably the kind which bestows its Fortune on only those who can find it.”

  “…What kind of Arcana did you use to find traces of the Fortune Spring?” Norren said. “Maybe we will have a similar Arcana…”

  “That’s right. If it is because of an Arcana, then I should also have—

  “It is a prototype of a Domain.”

  “…What did you say?”

  “…It is a prototype of a Domain.”

  “…Did you hear what I just heard?”

  “…Do you even hear your own question?”

  “A prototype of a Domain!”

  “…I know. I heard it the first time.”

  “Do you know how rare such Arcanas are?”

  “…Although my clan does not have as many Arcanas as yours, we have enough to know what a prototype of a Domain means.”

  “…Then why are you still so calm?”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “…What else can we do? It is not as if we can get the Arcana by being excited. Even if Captain shares his Arcana with us, do you dare to use it? Do not tell me you do not know what Arcanas that can create prototype of Domains mean…”

  “…What do you know? I am just appreciating the beauty of the Arcana…”

  “…In other words, we can sense this Fortune Spring only if we have a prototype of a Domain?” Aren said, ignoring Karl and Zain’s banter.

  “…Almost. At least I have yet to find another way.”

  “…So, you are saying that this Fortune Spring has no fate with us?” Fran said, staring at the dune with all sorts of emotions crossing his face.

  “…How about we just blow up the dune?” Zain said, before Alnea could answer Fran. “Maybe that will work.”

  “We already did that during the day.”

  “We controlled our strength during the day… I am talking about completely evaporating this dune. Let’s see how the Fortune Spring will hide once we completely destroy the place it is hiding in.”

  “…That’s actually a good idea, Zain,” Cecilia said, nodding with a solemn face.

  “No, it is not,” Alnea hurriedly said, hoping to dissuade Cecilia from doing anything foolish. Once she had decided something though, it was hard to get her to listen with just words.

  “Let’s blow up this dune until the Fortune Spring shows itself.”

  “Stop!” Alnea said, pulling Cecilia back, just as she was about to step towards the dune. “Will you listen to what I have to say first?”

  “What is there to say? The Fortune Spring is right in front of us. All we have to do is to find it.”

  “…You are not wrong. But the problem is that the Spring is hidden.”

  “Then let me blow up the dune. Like Zain said, as long as the place it is hiding in is gone, the Fortune Spring will natural show itself.”

  “…When did you start listening to Zain’s ideas?”

  “When they became reasonable, and made some sense.”

  “Hey, my ideas have always been reasonable, and they always made sense.”

  “…Slow down, Cecilia,” Vestia said, glancing at the dune in front of them. “From what Alnea said earlier, it looks like the Fortune Spring is hidden in an altogether different space, with the dune acting as just a node for anchoring that separate space. It is only because of his special Arcana that Alnea found traces of the Fortune Spring. Without his Arcana, even if we destroy the entire dune, we will not find anything.”

  “…Then what are we supposed to do?” Cecilia said, while the rest looked at Alnea in silence. “Are we supposed to just watch the Fortune Spring slip away from our hands right before our eyes?”

  “…It looks like you have yet to calm your Heart,” Vestia said, shaking her head.

  “…Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”

  “…I am ready to accompany you to a fight anytime, but first, you need to calm down, and get rid of the influence of the Fortune Spring from your Heart,” Vestia said, causing Cecilia, and the other men to pale at her words. “Now, are you willing to listen?”

  “…Go ahead. What do you want to say?”

  “…What did Alnea say about the Fortune Spring?”

  “…That it is hidden.”

  “Then how did he find it?”

  “Because of his stupid Arcana…”

  “Then that’s our solution, is it not?”

  “But it is his Arcana. How can we…”

  “Do you finally understand?”

  “…Don’t be too smug, vixen,” Cecilia said with snort, turning her face away to hide the flush on her cheeks.

  “…What did you two talk about?” Norren said, scratching the back of his head. “Why did I not understand anything?”

  “…Our first battle against the Lotus clan,” Aren said, staring at the dune.

  “…I still do not understand…”

  “…Just think that the Captain has a way to let us experience the Fortune Spring.”

  “So, we can all experience the Fortune Spring?”

  “…We still have to try to know for sure, but it should work.”

  “That’s great! I knew that we could rely on you, captain.”

  “It is not just me. I will also need Yuri’s help.”

  “But without you, none of us would have been able to experience this Fortune Spring,” Yuri said, flashing him her brilliant smile, prompting him to shake his head helplessly.

  “…Forget it,” Alnea said, before glancing over his other teammates. “When Yuri shares my senses with you later, you will find some intangible waves coming from the dune in front of us. All you need to do is to reach out to those waves with your Spirit. Those waves will pull you to the space where the Fortune Spring is. As for what to do once you reach that space, and how to induce the Fortune Spring, it will all be up to you.

  “It is not that I do not wish to help you, but that is just how Fortune Springs work. You need to explore their Mysteries on your own, or it will defeat the whole purpose of experiencing the Fortune Spring. Helping you find the Fortune Spring is already risky as it is. If I help you experience the Fortune Springs too, I don’t know what kind of consequences you might have to face.”

  “It’s alright,” Vestia said. “We should also do some work. Or else, we will not be at ease experiencing the Fortune Spring either.”

  “She’s right,” Fran said. “True strength is always what you get for yourself, and not what others give to you.”

  “…Anyways, you don’t have to worry about us,” Cecilia said with a grin. “Just take us to experience the Fortune Spring already.”

  “…Is everyone ready?”

  “We are always ready.”

  “Good. Then Aren, Fran, Ralph, Norren, and Zain, you are up first. Make sure to—

  “There is no need to do this in batches,” Yuri said. “I can connect everyone’s senses at the same time.”

  “…But that will put too much pressure on you.”

  “You are not the only one who has grown in the past few months.”

  “…Fine. Do it when you are ready.”