บท 14: 0.16.
"Astrid, what other goals do you have besides freeing yourself from slavery?"
"Explore the world. But I think I'm already doing that, so maybe just the slavery part. Otherwise, I think I want to help expand Master Gull's business," she said with a nod.
"You're really loyal to him."
"He treated us well after all–how about you? What goals do you have?"
"Me? I've never thought of that," Sequencee hummed to himself.
"Seriously? You look like someone who knows what he wants though?" she exclaimed with eyes open wide.
"Yeah, no. I'm not as committed as my mom," he glanced at his mother having a meal with the adult group.
'There she goes drinking again.'
"How about that girl Schwii?" she asked, twirling with the lock of her dark blue hair.
"Schwii? Well, I don't know about that … " he sighed longingly.
It was said that couples would always do everything with each other. Sacrificing time and attention as a show of commitment. However, there was this opposite case he knew where a couple almost never crossed paths unless one person took initiative–his mother.
Sequencee caught Ceylon looking down at the ground.
"How did you first meet Schwii?" Astrid asked.
"She came over to my place for a holiday one day a long time ago. Since that first time we met, my mom would bring her over to our mansion to play but–last year, she sent a letter saying that she was busy."
"When? You said it was two years since you met her right? How about this year?"
"Not sure if she'll be coming."
'What was the point of talking about this? It's not like it'll resolve the issue.'
"Then you still have a chance right?" Another slave remarked.
"Which is why I'm so nervous. What if she doesn't come again?" Sequencee huffed.
'If she doesn't come then … isn't that just a sign she doesn't like me …? '
Sequence glanced at his mother once again.
'... Or are relationships between demons just that distant?'
His father had never set foot before his sights, not once even when he was still a child. Meanwhile, Anna visited him each year–and it was during the end of these visits that she brought along Schwii. Refusing Sequencee's request to join her to visit his father was one thing, not knowing why his father can't just visit them once was another. Both were vexing in their own right.
"Sounds complicated."
"If things don't work out, just stop pursuing," Ceylon, who sat with his hand supporting his chin, muttered.
"..."
"How could you say that?" One of the young slaves denied.
"It's how it works."
Astrid who remained silent to his comment could be seen with furrowed brows.
The intentions in his words were something only the two of them understood–no, three, because Sequencee was there.
"No, I'm not going to give up just yet," Sequencee said.
"That's the spirit."
"You know ... Ceylon might be right. I mean, if it were me, if I liked someone, I don't think I would want to be apart for so long."
"How about you visit her instead? Maybe she's waiting for that?"
Conversations about love always end up this way. Though it was an embarrassing topic to bring to the table, Sequence always found a sense of sentimental joy from it.
As the kid's conversation were progressing in that direction–
"There are limits to what a single person can do in this world," Guff said.
"But, it's defining those limits and breaking them down that keep the world running. If we remain stagnant, things crumble," Anna exhaled deeply. The warm, pungent smell of alcohol leaked from her mouth.
"Limits are broken through cooperation, not alone Anna, you should remember that."
"Then I'd be better off a politician."
"Anna, that's not the point."
"I don't know what is … " she leaned against the counter and pressed her head against her arms.
Gull shifted his gaze from her depressed figure to his drink.
He had known that Anna was a mysterious person ever since he first met her. After all, to be an S-rank mercenary so young was unfathomable. The only other person who had talent on par with her was Aaron. The other four SS-rank mercenaries, Gull heard, were at least fifty years old. That being elves or half-elves.
The description of her problems were vague, like wanting to chuck a steel rod in between the gears of prejudice between humans and demons–an inconvenient subject to talk about in this world that was alright even without such a revolution.
In fact, he heard from his colleagues that many merchants these days actually work closely with demons in trade. Wasn't the recovery of racial conflict already headed in the right direction? After all, both empires had specialty products the other did not–this scarcity led to value.
"This may be selfish to put it, but strength isn't everything Anna. We're no longer in an era of war. Today's battles are waged with money and status. If strength was the key, the ones sitting on the throne would be people like you."
"... I've wasted my life chasing the wrong thing haven't I?" Anna cried–groaned, whatever the odd noise was.
"That's not my point."
"Then what? I've reached my pinnacle? That's it? I can't do anymore than what I've done now? That I should just give up and let the world decide what happens?"
"You can still grow, though perhaps in a different direction."
Anna shot back up and chugged down her mug of alcohol. She slammed it down with a burp. She turned to Gull.
"And how do I do that?"
"From my experience, there are three ways. One is to notice your weakness and study more diligently about the topic. Second is to stop trying and wait until some new path opens up–that's not to say that you shouldn't continue to improve yourself, but instead, maintain your foundations so when the opportunity comes, you're prepared. And the third is to find someone greater than yourself in terms of status, strength, power and influence; someone you can trust, and have him or her open up a path you hadn't expected." Gull paused for a moment, "think back to the last time you had a breakthrough, I reckon it came from an unexpected situation, or meeting with someone unique, right?"
"Mn … "
'The last time I met someone who changed me … '
She turned to look at Sequencee who sat accompanying the other kids. As if he had been waiting, Sequencee turned to her just then, and their eyes met.
She smiled.
===
'I'll end it tonight.'
Having informed Gull about her absence for the evening, she headed straight for the mountains.
The boundary where the grass field meets the dirt red rock patches, an incline growing steeper as the elevation of the ground climbed. None of these hindered Anna who flew through the air at blink-speed intervals.
The sky loomed with spires of dark clouds now clearly seen, the weight of the water it was sustaining edged it on a downpour.
A dragon's nest.
The greatest existence on the continent aren't humans, demons nor high elves. They were the dragons.
This powerful race too had a form of hierarchy. Wyverns and drakes, intelligent but not enough that they hold the ability to communicate through telepathy. Elemental dragons, most possessing the capability to conquer large domains in overwhelming devastation. And at the apex, the sole dragon emperor which beheld a designation of a world calamity, Majesty Black Dragon, Astroth.
Legend has it that Astroth was the guardian of the continent. Having revealed itself no more than twice since the inception of the world, He was an existence who acted only when a calamity strong enough to threaten his nest came to being.
Devout believers of His faith say that it was to His Majesty Astroth's generosity that permitted the coexistence of other lifeforms on this land.
Trickle.
The first drop of rain hit her clothes. She commanded the wind to form a barrier around her as she continued accelerating upwards.
The rain grew heavy, visibility shrunk to ten meters. The air was freezing, visible mist could be seen in her every breath.
Anna landed at the entrance of what looked to be a large crater basin inside the mountain. It was located in such a way where unless one looked at it from the side of the demon empire, they would never have noticed.
Creating a ribbon of light in her hands, she sent it forward to illuminate the giant space.
A deep opening black as the abyss. The fickle light barely lit the ground, as if there were some black fog devouring the space. The sounds of the rain faded out mysteriously as Anna pushed into a thick membrane of mana. There was a strong resistance against her entry, Anna covered herself in a layer of strong gale. The clashing of the two forces created a sparking noise, followed by a peculiar bloop sound of sinking in.
A whole new world opened up to her.
Castle-sized pulsing crystals grew from the cavern walls, filling the enclosure with light. Treasures which existed from even before the Last Era, ancient artifacts which would've each been valued at nearly tens of thousands of holy gold each; not to mention the sea of coins and pure magic crystal cores that created mountain upon mountains.
Yet despite the scene of it all, nothing could compare to the almighty pressure exuded by Astroth who laid curled up in sleep. His body was as humongous, if not larger than the royal courtyard.
Sensing the presence of a bug, His eyelids unfurled, revealing the vertically slit pupils underneath.
Anna fought against the urge to kneel. She wasn't going to let Him do one on her like last time.
'Thou have come for what purpose?'
His words rattled her mind, but she stood firm.
"Your Majesty, I've come with a request."
'Leave.'
"No! You remember that you owed me a favor last time, didn't you?!" Anna yelled, fearing her voice wouldn't reach Him.
She couldn't tell it was a snort or sigh, but something along those lines leaked through His maw.
'Speak, child.'
Anna collected her breath, "I challenge you to a fight."
Her words echoed across the wall, a painful silence followed. The fear of dying eluded her, she bit her lips.
'Thou seeks a fight with thee?'
"Yes … " She wondered when she had become so childish?
He closed his eyes.
'What truth does thou seek from this?'
Anna reached out and manifested her spear. Forged from the alloy of a combination of the sap of the World Tree, elixir and true silver, blessing with it a mint-silver luster body; jewels and other elven ornaments attached to the frame which added not only to the appeal, but also bolstered magic conductivity and amplification–the World Tempest Spear.
Astroth, seemingly unperturbed, tilted His head to one one side to face away from her.
"I want to grow stronger."
'Thou is pursuing a false path.'
"If so then what is the right path then?!"
'Enmeshed emotions led thine's pursuit astray. Consider, would power serve thine's inner truth?'
Anna's eyebrows twitched.
He was right–she knew deep down in her heart that He was right; she was pursuing a false path.
Why exactly did she come here? To fight with His Majesty for what purpose? To beat him? To prove that she was strong?
Impossible. Let alone kill Him, she wasn't even sure if she could touch Him.
Then did she come for reassurance? To seek wise counsel–for someone to tell her what she already knew?
A mixture of doubt, worry and confusion. From within her, an answer surfaced.
Her wish that the world will finally find its peace–no.
Her wish to protect her son.
"I want to know what I should do … I'm lost," she confessed.
To that, Astroth raised His body. The cavern trembled.
'A path of truth thou seeks.'
A dark aura pervaded into the surroundings. Anna felt a crushing weight press down against her, some of the mana-toxic air entered her lungs. She quickly enveloped herself in a layer of wind and began to cough. Each breath she took felt like knives stabbing into her chest.
Was she strong?
'What does thou seek, truly?'
Everything felt hazy, the world was spun in her view.
He didn't even need to lift a finger, and she was already deprived of her ability to breathe properly.
Meanings change, purposes change–when she first stepped foot into the brutal world of mercenary, all she had in mind was to live a good life. Not knowing who she was, or what she was growing up as an orphan, she thought to pursue meaning through adventuring.
Thinking back, she had quite a weak, naive dream. Moving from one party to another, witnessing the death of her teammates, betrayal, starvation, left behind to fend for herself–inevitable misfortunes like these repeated over and over accrued to form a new desire within her.
Become strong in order to survive.
As long as she was strong, she could protect others. As long as she was strong, nobody would be able to take advantage of her. As long as she was strong, her freedom was guaranteed.
And somewhere along this pursuit, she got her first Gift. Obsessed with the possibility of even more strength, she sought to perfect her mastery of wind magic. Everything from then on fed into this one deep passion of becoming the best–she rose through the ranks, becoming the icon of the mercenary space as: The Rending Wind.
Then she met him.
And, her son, Sequencee was born.
If she changed the world but lost him in the process–she would regret it forever. Anna realized here that her true wish was …
Astroth nodded.
'Will thou accept thee's teaching?'
"Yes."
Anna gritted her teeth.
The answer to her question–
Astroth, the most revered dragon to have ever lived, the wisdom he has accumulated over centuries of existence–what advice could He give to help her?
'Rest and let. That is thine answer.'
This was it.
'Return.'
Saying as much, Astroth lowered his body back languidly, and shut his eyes. In one word, He shooed her away.
Anna stood there dumbfounded.
Astroth opened one of its eyes and peeked at her, quite a cute gesture for a dragon like Himself.
"Hey … " Anna's voice trembled.
'...'
"Before I do as you say. At least … fight me as a souvenir?" What waste of a favor she worked so hard to earn from this dragon.
'How obstinate.'
Astroth took in a deep breath.
'Very well.'
Black painted the world.
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