Though Aldon was filled with confusion and regret, he was unable to move or speak and could only spectate what was occurring in front of him.
Zane appeared to be surprised by the appearance of the little girl. He questioned her with an evident panic in his voice, “Enya, what are you doing here?”
Before Enya had a chance to respond, a young boy around seven years of age appeared in front of Zane and spoke cheerfully, “Hello, father! Little Enya was pestering our mother that she wanted to see you. So, I brought her here!”
The moment those words left the boy’s mouth, Zane smacked his head lightly and spoke, “Gael, you moron! Why did you bring her here!? You must know by now that the mountain near our village is a dangerous place!”
Gael rubbed his head and complained, “But father, I’ve started my Magic Education! Surely I’m strong enough to enter the mountain!”
Zane was rendered speechless for a while by the young boy’s proclamation. Smacking him again, Zane chided, “Do you have anything in that brain of yours? You’ve barely entered the Realm of Application! It’s nowhere powerful enough to explore the mountain!”
Gael was shocked by this revelation as his mouth opened wide in astonishment. Once again speechless, Zane carried the young girl, Enya, in his arms and spoke curiously, “How the hell did you convince your mother to permit you to do such a dangerous thing?”
Gael avoided direct eye contact with his father and tried to come up with something, “I... uh...” Zane instantly realized that Gael had not taken his mother’s permission and spoke with a knowing look, “You didn’t tell her where you were going, did you?”
Gael awkwardly replied, “Uh... The thing is... I didn’t tell her anything.” He tried to assure himself and continued, “She probably doesn’t even know that we’re missing. It’ll be alright if we return quickly.”
Zane looked at Gael as if he was looking at an idiot and sighingly exclaimed, “Ah! You’re screwed, for sure! Let’s return home immediately! Your mother must be panicking a lot!”
Looking at Gael, who was biting his nails anxiously, Zane smiled slightly and spoke, “You want to haul this boar I hunted? If you can successfully haul this boar till we reach our home, I’ll admit that you’ve become stronger!”
Enticed and distracted by the opportunity to gain his father’s acknowledgment, he stopped thinking about his mother’s anger and replied enthusiastically, “I will haul it! Give it to me!”
Zane carefully transferred his hunt to Gael and spoke with a chuckle, “It is quite heavy! Do you think you’re capable of handling such weight?”
Though he was straining a bit, Gael answered in high spirits, “I’m more than capable of handling this much weight!”
Noticing that her brother was trying his best, Enya spoke in a cute voice, “Do your best, Big Bro!” Gael smiled tenderly and replied, “I will, Little Enya!”
Observing this, Zane tickled Enya and played with her, “Ohh! Our little Enya is cheering her brother on! How cute!!” Turning to Gael, he continued, “You all ready? We should really get going now.”
Gael nodded in response, and both Zane and Gael rushed down the mountain and towards their home.
Aldon felt a gust of wind on his face as the ball of White Light dragged his chair and followed Zane and his children.
***
A while later, Zane and his children reached their home and noticed a young female elf around thirty years of age nervously and anxiously pacing around the portico of their house. It was Elaine, the mother of Gael and Enya, and the wife of Zane. Her pretty face was filled with worry as she appeared to be at a loss.
The moment Zane opened the gate to their house, Elaine looked up and noticed Gael and Enya tagging alongside Zane. Her tensed face relaxed in relief as she rushed towards them. Hugging both Gael and Enya, she began to shed tears of joy.
Seeing her mother cry, Enya, who didn’t understand what was going on, also began to cry loudly. Elaine quickly noticed this, wiped tears from her face, and started to console the young Enya.
Observing the chaos he had inadvertently caused, Gael silently dropped the boar he was carrying and tried to slip away. But, this was noticed by Zane as he grabbed him by his shirt and raised him. Gael was now dangling helplessly in his father’s hands.
After consoling Enya, Elaine turned towards Gael. Though she was overjoyed that both of her children were unharmed, she made up her mind to chastise Gael. Her eyes were sharp as she began to reprimand his behavior.
After a while, Gael learned his lesson and was on the verge of tears. But Elaine still continued to chastise him. Desperate to get out of this situation, he cast a pitiful gaze towards Zane, hoping his father could help him out.
Feeling quite sorry for him, Zane tried to placate Elaine’s anger, “Elaine, darling. He appears to have learned his lesson. Wouldn't it be appropriate to show some restraint now?”
This act of kindness backfired on Zane as Elaine switched targets and began to complain, “You... Don’t you talk about restraint! You’ve been holed up that damned mountain for almost a week! You rarely come home due to your job. Even when you come home, you always end up taking the requests of the villagers and going up the mountain to clear some of the dangerous animals. I barely even see you! Do you know how that makes me feel?!”
Zane could only laugh sheepishly as he waited for Elaine to calm down.
After lashing out for a while, Elaine realized that they weren’t inside the home yet, and began to feel embarrassed for causing a scene outside their home. The neighbors peeking from their windows didn’t help her embarrassment, and she took her kids’ hands and entered their home quickly, leaving Zane to deal with the second-hand embarrassment.
Some of the neighbors had come out of their houses due to their commotion. Seeing Zane, they greeted him and teased him about his feisty wife. Zane chuckled in response to their good-natured teases and made some small talk with them. After talking with them for a while, he bid farewell to the neighbors and entered his own home.
The neighbors soon dispersed, and the only one left in front of Zane’s house was Aldon. He was experiencing immense regret when a Royal Messanger from the Kingdom of Anae appeared in front of him.
As with the inhabitants of this world, the Messenger too couldn’t perceive Aldon nor the ball of White Light floating above his head. The Messenger knocked on the door of the Zane household and awaited a response.
Without any indication, the time slowly came to a stop, and Aldon once again felt his head spin uncontrollably. Soon, his vision cleared up, and he noticed that he was still in front of the Zane household. But, the situation was different from earlier as Zane, Elaine, Gael, and Enya were huddled together in a group hug. Zane appeared to be departing on a long journey as he had prepared various supplies that lay on the ground beside him.
Breaking from the group hug, Zane prepared to bid farewell to his family. But before he could even utter a single word, Enya grabbed one of Zane’s legs and pleaded with a downpour of tears from her eyes, “Daaddy. Enya promises to behave, so please stay for some more time!”
Grabbing Enya and lifting her high up, Zane placated her, “Good girl! You’ve always behaved well! I’ll be sure to complete this mission quickly and come back, alright? Don’t cry...”
After calming down, Enya fell asleep in Zane’s arms. Handing her over to Elaine, he saw that Gael was trying his best to appear brave, but it was clearly evident that tears were beginning to form in his eyes. Zane tried to tease him hoping to take his mind off his departure, “Enya is always so well-behaved! Very unlike someone I know, who rushes into danger in an instant, without any thoughts in his head!”
It appeared to be somewhat successful as Gael complained with a slight increase in his vigor, “It happened weeks ago, father! I already promised not to wander into the mountain anymore! Would you please drop it already!?”
Zane smiled mischievously, ruffled Gael’s head, and replied, “No, I won’t! I’ll tease you with it forever! Hell, when you eventually get married, it will be the first thing I tell your wife when she asks about your childhood stories! Hahaha!”
Though Gael felt embarrassed, his normal mischievous behavior was nowhere to be found as he tightly hugged his father in response. Taken aback by this, Zane smiled slightly and patted his back.
Looking at this, Elaine began to chuckle lightly. When Zane asked her why she was chuckling, she didn’t reply and smiled mischievously. After a while, she sighed and spoke, “Do you really have to go so soon? You still have a month off from work! Can’t you just decline the Third Prince’s request?”
Zane smiled as he answered, “I can decline the request, but I won’t. When the Third Prince himself is requesting my presence in his squad to control the growing Dungeon anomalies, it would not be proper to decline it. After all, I’m a distinguished General in the Kingdom’s military.”
Elaine seemed to be annoyed by this proclamation as she muttered, “But what about me!?” This fell on Zane’s ears as he chuckled, pulled her close, and gave her a good, long kiss. Parting from the kiss, he replied cheekily, “Will this be enough for now?”
Elaine blushed slightly as she playfully smacked Zane’s arm for that cheeky remark. Laughing loudly, Zane picked up his supplies and bid his farewell.
Though she was feeling quite sad, Elaine, with a sleeping Enya in her arms, wished Zane good luck, and bid farewell to him. Gael once again tried to be brave and successfully managed to stop the tears that were quickly forming in his eyes. They waved their hands till they couldn’t see him anymore, and shortly later, returned to their regular routine.
Witnessing all of this, Aldon felt as if someone had knocked out his breath as he began to hyperventilate. He pieced together the things he had witnessed and realized that these were the memories of the brave General who sacrificed himself in the battle with the bigger Wyrm. Pity and regret filled his heart, and anger began to boil his blood. Though he couldn’t discern whether he felt anger towards himself or someone else, it was distinctly present.
Aldon’s head began to spin uncontrollably as his vision once again went black. After a while, his vision cleared, and he found himself in a familiar grey surrounding. He was back at the grey dimension of the Plane of Ascension. As usual, the ball of White Light floated above his head.
Breathing heavily, Aldon regained his senses and calmed himself. The ball of White Light that usually floated above his head quickly moved and appeared in front of his face. Before he could ask what was happening, a pair of slender, translucent arms emerged from within the ball of White Light and embraced him.
The left hand of the White Light curled around Aldon’s head and rested its palm on his left eye. Similarly, the right hand of the White Light embraced his chest and rested its palm on his back. Immediately, the arms of the White Light began to pulsate in a mysterious way as numerous enigmatic characters of unknown origins flashed in and out of existence around it.
Aldon instantly felt a piercing pain in his left eye and back due to this. It was as if thousands of hot needles were piercing them simultaneously. He screamed inaudibly and eventually passed out from the pain. But the ball of White Light didn’t stop whatever it was doing and continued even after Aldon fell unconscious.
After a while, the ball of White Light finished whatever it was doing and glowed slightly. As a result, Aldon disappeared from the Plane of Ascension.
After Aldon’s departure from the Plane of Ascension, the ball of White Light began to rotate above the lone chair amidst the grey, desolate dimension. It appeared to radiate a sense of loneliness as it spun aimlessly.
***
Inside the Barrier surrounding the city of Cartos, time began to flow normally after Aldon was ejected from the Plane of Ascension. Suddenly, a huge orb of golden light emerged from within Aldon and completely consumed him.
Everyone present around Aldon, including the Kingdom’s troops, were startled by this as they drew their weapons in panic. Sylph, Celes, and Kesha, who were rushing towards him, quickly withdrew a few steps and looked at the golden orb with concern.
The orb vanished after a few seconds, and Sylph, Celes, and Kesha quickly arrived beside Aldon. They observed that the light had shredded Aldon’s shirt, and he now had a weird tattoo on his back. A golden tree with lush leaves and deep roots was imprinted on the entirety of his back. The tree appeared to be gushing with life and seemed that it would come alive at any moment.
Kesha quickly began to assess Aldon’s condition. While she was busy doing that, the voice inside Sylph’s mind excitedly spoke, “Ah! A ‘Mark of Divinity’, huh? This lad’s sure pampered by the Goddess! I’m beginning to grow even more curious about his origins! Hahaha!”
Hearing the voice’s words, Sylph questioned curiously, “What does the ‘Mark of Divinity’ mean?” The voice chuckled slyly as it replied, “Ah! It wouldn’t be much fun if I disclosed everything I know now, would it? It will be more exciting for you to find that out by yourself!”
As Sylph started to argue with the voice, Kesha finished examining Aldon. With an odd expression on her face, she addressed the gathering, “Aldon’s injuries only originate from the battle with Wyrms. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find any anomalies in his body caused by the golden orb other than the tattoo of the golden tree on his back. Weird.”
After addressing the crowd, Kesha began to heal Aldon’s injuries, and the Kingdom’s troops, though bewildered by her words, quickly started to raise tents and created a temporary base in a short time. Sylph and Celes carried Aldon inside one of the tents as Kesha continued healing him.
***
After a few hours, Aldon sat up as he regained consciousness within the tent. His mind was still in a chaotic mess from his experience within the Plane of Ascension. Add to it the erratic behavior of the ball of White Light before he passed out, he was noticeably disoriented.
Aldon took a while to organize his thoughts and glanced at his surroundings. He appeared to be inside a tent of some sort. He stood up and walked outside, wanting to get some fresh air. The Sun was setting slowly as it cast an orangish glow in the jungle.
Aldon felt somewhat chilly as he exited his tent. He looked down and discovered that he was not wearing any shirt. While he was wondering what had happened to it, Sylph, Celes, and Kesha arrived in front of him and gazed at him with an odd look. Though Celes was drooling over the shirtless Aldon stealthily, Sylph noticed this, and a small frown began to form on her face.
It appeared that the guard outside Aldon’s tent had noticed that Aldon had gained consciousness from the movements inside the tent, and had notified them about the same.
Noticing their odd stares, Aldon chuckled lightly and spoke, “Do I have something on my face? Why are you all staring like that?”
Nobody said anything in response as Kesha took out a full-size-length mirror from her storage bag and showed Aldon his back. Seeing the entirety of his back covered by the tattoo of a golden tree, Aldon freaked out as he exclaimed, “What the fuck is that? How did this happen? Is this some sort of a sick joke?”
Witnessing Aldon freak out, Sylph chuckled and narrated what had happened. Aldon remembered the ball of White Light’s actions in the Plane of Ascension and hurriedly checked his left eye. He breathed a sigh of relief as he didn't notice anything amiss with it.
As Aldon wondered what the ball of White Light had done to him, Sylph spoke up, “I have read somewhere that the tattoo on your back is something called a ‘Mark of Divinity.’ I don’t know much about it, but I thought of mentioning it.”
Aldon searched through his memories thoroughly to see whether he remembered any information regarding the ‘Mark of Divinity.’ Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t heard the term before and couldn’t uncover any information. Sighing, he spoke, “Well, it's futile to ponder over something we know nothing of. It’s better to focus on pressing matters.” Taking a shirt from his storage bag, Aldon put it on and continued, “Where’s Orym? I want to speak with him regarding something important.”
Sylph pointed to a tent that was slightly bigger than the rest and answered, “You’ll find him there.”
Thanking Sylph, Aldon walked towards Orym’s tent and entered it. Orym was sitting on a chair and massaging his head, visibly exhausted by the reports of their battle with the Wyrms. Noticing Aldon, he stood up and spoke happily, “I’m glad you finally woke up! I have something important to share with you” Without wasting a moment, he continued, “ Follow me.”
Orym quickly exited the tent and started walking towards one of the tents that was placed at a distance from the main camp. Aldon followed Orym and questioned him on the way, “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to know how you encountered those Wyrms. And even if you encountered them by chance, you would’ve been able to escape easily. Why didn’t you?”
Orym answered while walking, “It is exactly what I wanted to share with you. After I regrouped with my troops, we encountered a group of elves who were unconscious and trapped under a collapsed building! It was surprising as we were sure that we had successfully evacuated every elf inside the city. I didn’t think much of it then and ordered the troops to clear the rubble and heal the elves, intending to question them once they gained consciousness. But the moment we stepped towards the unconscious elves, the Wyrms sprung from within the ground and surrounded us in an instant. We could just rescue two elves from the unconscious group before we had to engage with the Wyrms. The rest of the unconscious group were unfortunately crushed to death instantly by a strike from one of the Wyrms. Just when we were about to be decimated, you all arrived and helped us out!” Stopping for a while, the third Prince bowed deep as he continued, “For that, we are forever grateful!”
Aldon waved his hand and replied with a smile, “Please, raise your head! It was our combined strength that defeated the Wyrms. We couldn’t possibly take all the credit for our victory.”
Orym raised his head and resumed walking towards the faraway tent. He continued, “We guarded the two elves even while battling the Wyrms, and they are safe. I ordered my troops to place them in a tent at a distance from the main camp. That’s where we are headed. I thought that it would be appropriate to question them with you instead of questioning them alone.”
Aldon smiled and thanked the third Prince’s consideration, “You have my gratitude, Orym.”
Soon, they arrived in front of the distant tent. A couple of soldiers kept guard and prevented anyone from going inside. Orym quickly opened the flap of the tent and entered inside. Taking a long breath, Aldon prepared himself and followed suit.
***
The inside of the tent was very similar to the one he woke up inside of. The only difference was that this tent had some magic circles etched on its sides that prevented anyone from exiting the tent without any outside interference.
A young female elf was pacing around nervously and quickly noticed the arrival of Orym and Aldon. The other elf appeared to be male and still hadn’t regained his consciousness as he lay on the ground, unmoving.
Aldon’s eyes were drawn to the elf pacing around the tent, and he immediately felt a burning sensation in his left eye. The sclera of his left eye quickly turned jet black, and his iris turned pure white.
Aldon could suddenly see numerous streaks of Mana flowing around him. Each streak of Mana was completely different from one another, and it moved in a turbulent manner. He instantly realized that these were the materialization of the Mana Signature of numerous things and organisms in his surroundings. It was a universally accepted fact that one could only sense the Mana Signatures and not see them. Hence, Aldon was confused as he could witness the presence of these Mana Signatures with his naked eye.
Aldon instantly associated this unnatural phenomenon with the actions of the ball of White Light inside the Plane of Ascension. He looked around him in fascination and found that the Mana Signature from the unconscious elf was practically non-existent and didn’t seem to be suspicious. The same couldn’t be said about the elf pacing around.
From his left eye’s vision, Aldon perceived that the elf was enveloped in a green fog of some sort whose Mana Signature was linked to the emerald pendant she wore around her neck. He came to the conclusion that the pendant was an Artifact, and the elf was using it to disguise herself.
Without any hesitation, Aldon approached the elf and rapidly snatched her pendant. The elf herself was surprised by this as she had not expected someone to figure out her secret so quickly.
All of this happened within seconds after Aldon had entered the tent, and his left eye quickly returned to normal.
As Orym looked on in confusion, the features of the female elf quickly distorted, and her true features came to light. She was completely covered in a black hooded cloak, and her face was not visible.
Observing this change, both Aldon and Orym’s expressions grew grim as they drew their weapons and readied themselves for a fight. They didn’t notify the guards outside as they could easily perceive the elf’s strength. She barely possessed the prowess of a Mage in the Realm of Awareness. They could easily deal with her if she attacked them.
Aldon was so focused on the hooded figure that he didn’t notice the slight heat radiating from his recently acquired ‘Mark of Divinity.’
*********(AUTHOR'S NOTE)*********
1) An additional FOUR (4) Chapters are available on my Patreon.
2) Hey guys!
I'll cut straight to the point. I won't be working on any new Chapters for my Patreon from tomorrow (ONLY till 17th April, 2022) as the day has finally come, and I need to prepare for my 1st Semester exams. (I have taken Physics and Electronics as my Majors, and I really have to study.)
The exams will (hopefully) conclude before 17th April, and I am already awaiting the day I return to writing!
Just to be clear: I will NEVER drop this work of mine. It will be on HIATUS only on Patreon. The advance Chapters will be updated here ON SCHEDULE. Let's hope my exams will be over before I run out of advance Chapters! (My exam timetable has yet to be announced.)
Thank you for listening to my ramble!
