Neither Alnea, nor the girls paid any attention to the strange gazes being directed at them. And neither did they wait for the Lotus clan to react to the results of their Trials. Once out of the Blood Hall, they quickly made their way back to their mansion. Although they—he had a plan to deal with the Lotus clan, and lure them out of their hiding hole, he could not just stand under Enn’s grace, and wait until they came to him. That would have been just a waste of time. And time was one thing that they could not afford to waste.

  Even back in their mansion, neither Alnea nor the girls wasted their time on useless chatter. Already used to their routine of making use of their every waking moment, they quickly returned to their rooms, and began meditating, trying to recover their Spirit Power as soon as they could.

  After all, easy as the Martial Style Trials were, they had still sapped their Spirit Power to some extent. And almost all of their training required them to expend their Spirit Power. Only by meditating could they recover their Spirit Power as soon as possible, and make the most efficient use of their time. Thankfully, their Spirit Power had not been drained by a large margin, allowing them to recover completely in just under half an hour.

  Exhaling a heavy breath, Alnea readjusted himself, before entering his Spirit State, and reaching out to his Roots, to the thread connecting his Spirit, along with his Spirit World, to the Origin Sea. The golden and silverish thread, that led his way to his Domain. To a world mostly empty and desolate, with just a little over a dozen clouds of Oren, flashing in all sorts of hue, floating around in the void.

  Compared to over a year ago, when he had just begun Wandering, his Domain had indeed brightened up a little. Still, it was far from becoming a miniature Origin Sea. Of course, he knew that only the Domains of Grand Wanderers and above could be qualified to be called as such, but he also knew that if he hoped for his Domain evolve on itself, then even if he were to become a Supreme Wanderer, his Domain would still not be qualified to become a miniature Origin Sea.

  So, despite having made some progress in his Wanderings, he never let himself become complacent. Especially since every time he Wandered the Origin Sea, he was walking on the line between life and death. One little misstep, one little mistake, and the Origin Sea would drag him into its embrace. Just like it had devoured his father…

  But that was the fate of Wanderers, the fate of those who dared to harness the powers of the Origin Sea. If they could not accept such a fate, then it would be better for them to just give up on being Wanderers. Alnea Oathkeeper, on the other hand, was going to become the greatest Wanderer. Besides, he was not alone. He had so many people with him. People whom he dared to take his Oaths for. And the number of those people only kept growing. He was not alone. He was not afraid. He was…

  Regaining his Serenity, Alnea reached out to the gates of his Domain floating just within the reach of his thoughts, and tugged on their existence, forcing them to manifest in front of his Spirit. A bright golden light, that formed a large ring, roughly twice his height, with most of its light bleeding in towards its centre, forming a disc within a matter of a couple of moments. A disc, that collapsed with just a touch of his fingers, leaving behind a large gaping hole in his Domain, that opened up into a sea of lights. Into the Sea of Origin.

  “I am going to begin my Wandering.”

  “…Be careful.”

  “You too.”

  Checking to ensure that his Heart had its guard up, Alnea drifted through the hole in his Domain, and stepped into the Origin Sea, embracing all its attacks as they came to him. Alternating sensations of smell, touch, taste, and some incomprehensible sounds, all came to him at once, overlapping with each other, trying to break through the barrier of his Heart, and drag him into the embrace of the Origin. But he was not the same Alnea that he was a year ago. And even a year ago, these sensations did not use to pose too much of a problem for him.

  OATHKEEPER!

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  YOU ARE BACK!

  “I am back,” Alnea said, greeting his friends with a smile, as they circled around him.

  BACK TO PLAY!

  “Not exactly… but alright. Playing a little would not hurt a little.”

  Though he said that, he played with the Aspects every time that he came to the Origin Sea. Even if it was just for his Oath… No, even if he had not taken his Oath, he would have still played with them if they asked him to. And even if they did not ask for it. After all, his Oaths were just a manifestation of his determination. They were not his chains. Except that they were…

  Regardless, playing with the Aspects was just as much a part of his Wanderings as taming them was. He had tamed an Aspect just before encountering the Fortune Spring though, so it was not time to tame another one of them. Instead, it was time for him to Wander the depths of the Origin Sea, and comprehend its Mysteries. So, after he had played with his friends a little, he asked for their understanding, and began testing the depths of the Origin Sea.

  More specifically, the new depths of the Origin Sea that his Spirit could venture out to after advancing to the Advanced Stage of the False Rank. As he had expected, the intensity of the sensations attacking his senses was higher than before but was still within the range of what he could handle. After all that he had been through, he could not even comprehend how deep his Serenity had become. Maybe only the depths harbouring the True Mysteries could threaten him a little. Though he was not stupid enough to test the limits of his Heart. He—

  Alnea paused in his steps, as felt the world around him stagnate. The Aspects, the Oren, and even the endless sensations trying to push him into the Origin Sea’s embrace, everything came to a stop around him, making way for the descent of a Mystery. An Advanced Stage False Mystery. Though he did come Wandering the Origin Sea in search of Mysteries, he had not expected to encounter one on his first Wandering as an Advanced Stage False Wanderer. Maybe Fate was on his side…

  Or not. The Mystery… It went away just as abruptly as it had come, not even giving him the time to think about how to interact with it. He did not even get the time observe its fluctuations, or figure out what kind of Mystery it was. Kind of like the illusory Fate, always slipping out of his fingers. Maybe it was a Mystery of Fate…

  Then again, it was not the first time Alnea had watched a Mystery slip away before he could grasp its essence. That was just how the Origin Sea worked. Sometimes, it would force Wanderers to experience Mysteries, especially when their Spirit Power was exhausted, and wished nothing more than to return to their Domain. At other times, it would hide away everything that it could, not letting Wanderers glean anything of meaning from its depths, especially when their Spirit Power was abundant. At least he got a glimpse of a Mystery… of Fate…

  After testing the depths of the Origin Sea, Alnea turned around before his Spirit Power could fall below the mark of ten thousand units, and began making his way back to where he had begun his Wandering. That was the limit he had set for himself. And the girls. Turning back before the Origin Sea could drain more than half of their Spirit Power. A lesson he had learned from Yuri’s first Wandering. As for which direction to move in…

  With his Spirit connected to his Domain with his Roots, it did not take long for Alnea to find the general direction of where his Domain was, and make his way back to the large hole in the Origin Sea. And while he was at it, he did not forget to play with the Aspects, singing along with them, and chasing them around. It was only when he reached the giant hole leading to an empty, and mostly dark world, that he stopped playing with them.

  Asking them to wait for him to come back, he stepped back into his Domain, and closed its gates, before closing his eyes, and adjusting his Heart. Not that there was much to adjust. The Fortune Spring that he had experienced in the desert had not just increased his Spirit Power and helped him comprehend some Concepts. It had also helped him comb his Heart and get rid of its conflicts. Or at least the ones that he could find. As for the conflicts that he could not find… he left them for a later time.

  Leaving the state of contemplation, Alnea reached out to his Roots, and tugged on it, travelling down its length back to his Spirit World, where the Aspects that he had already tamed were waiting for him with eager anticipation. He could not ignore them just because he had already gained their recognition. On the contrary, it was precisely because he had tamed them, that he had to regularly communicate with his Aspects. Though they had said that they would always protect him, he could not risk them backlashing against him. And he could not let them be lonely either. They were his friends after all.

  Besides, it was not as if he could do anything else anyway. Wandering the Origin Sea had drained him of almost all his Spirit Power. Smiling wryly at himself, Alnea communicated with his Aspects one by one, meeting their demands as much as he could. Most of them just wanted to surge out of their cramped wells and play with him. Some of them, on the other hand, wanted to roam around his boundless his Spirit World. While a few just wanted to curl around him, and keep him safe…