Alnea closed off his connection with Yuri, ignoring the rest of the world, before concentrating within himself, and reaching out to his Roots. To the threads connecting his Spirit to the Origin Sea. In response, his Roots also reached out to him, as they always did, manifesting all around his Spirit, yet still remaining just beyond his reach. As if they did not even exist in the first place. But he was not fooled.

  Not that his Roots were trying to fool him. That was just how they worked, blinking in and out of existence, while manifesting at multiple places at the same time, only to vanish the moment he tried to touch them. And it was not just his Roots. Everyone’s Roots behaved in a similar way. Except maybe some Special Roots, like those of his master. Though that was probably, in part, because of her strength.

  Regardless, for the moment, he could indeed not touch his Roots. At least not with his Spirit. Only when urged through his thoughts, could he tug on it, or even latch on to it to take a trip to the Origin Sea. He could never understand how that worked. Then again, few could ever understand how their Roots worked. But those who did, unlocked another use of their Spirit. Resonance.

  Though it was not as if those who did not understand their Roots could not Resonate with it. Alnea had done it once before. And so had Yuri. They just had to pay some price. After all, to Resonate with their Roots, Wanderers had to become one with it. It was like using the Concepts of the Origin Sea, except, the Concept was their Root itself. If they could not understand it, they would be controlled by it. Getting rid of that control by just paying some price was already a good deal. The only problem was the price that Alnea had to pay.

  Losing control of his body… Getting trapped in the world of his memories… Alnea did not wish to experience that once again. Especially after seeing the crumbling world of his Heart. He did not know how much of what his namesake had said was true, whether or not they were all part of the same whole, but he was sure that if he gave the man a chance, he would surely try to wrest control of their—

  Of his body. Not theirs. His body. The man—the memories of his namesake would try to wrest control of his body. And learning from their last experience, it would not give anyone a chance to push it back into the depths of his memories, of his Heart. Instead, the moment it got the chance, it would surely try to merge into him, to become a ‘whole’ once again.

  Of course, if it was just the memories, Alnea would not have any problem with them. He already had quite of few of his namesake’s memories etched into his head. A few more would not be too troublesome to handle. After all, he was not the same Alnea he was two years ago. He did not think just a few memories could forcefully wrest his body away from him. Not after he had gained his Clarity. But the crumbling world he had seen earlier… the broken shards of Infinity that did not belong to him…

  Letting some memories into his head was one thing, but allowing them to pollute his Heart… Just memories alone could not define a person. It was how people perceived their memories, and what they took from it that made them who they were, forming their core. And letting his namesake’s broken Infinity merge into his Heart would be akin to forcefully introducing a new set of rules in his Heart, redefining his core. One different from both his, and his namesake’s.

  If he let those memories have their way, and merge with him to become a ‘whole’, who would the new ‘whole’ be? Alnea Oathkeeper of the world of Wanderers, or Alnea Oathkeeper of the world of Attuners? Maybe someone entirely different? Whatever the result would be, the new Alnea surely would not be him. And that, he could not accept. Letting a bunch of memories occupy his body, and continue his life…

  But he did not have any other choice. Getting entangled by weird Ritual of Heterodox Wanderers, he did not even dare to move, lest he trigger some unknown Cause and Effect, creating even more problems for his team. Thankfully, the Ritual was directed only at him, otherwise he would not even have known what to do. Still, the only option he had was not very ideal either.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  The normal way of getting rid of Cause was to fulfil its Effect. Similarly, the only way of getting rid of an Effect was to fulfil its Cause. Unfortunately, even when sure of their victory, two Heterodox Wanderers did not reveal anything about what kind of Cause and Effect they had entangled him with. So, he could only use some other means to get rid of the Cause and Effect. Like changing his identity.

  Just as every Effect must have its Cause, there had to be reason for the Blood Trial to target only him from out of the nearly thirty Wanderers fighting in the Blood World. And that reason did not lay in his name. After all, the name that the blue robed Wanderer had called him out with was wrong. But the man was right about his identity.

  Alnea Oathkeeper, born Ernith Tresting, son of Raun Tresting. Except for his name, the man was correct about everything else. And that was probably where the Cause of him being targeted laid. As long as he could get rid of his identity… It was just that the only way he could think of doing so was by merging with the memories of his namesake… by becoming a new ‘whole’.

  Or by simply letting go of the control over his body, of course. But that would end with the same result. One that he did not wish to see. Yet, if he did not give in to the memories of his namesake, then he was bound to end up in an even more miserable situation. Maybe, they would even use him to threaten his teammates. And once they had the complete advantage…

  No, Alnea declared to himself, and pulled on his Roots. And not just through his thoughts. Resonance? No, Resonance was for when one complied with their Roots, for when they became one with it. He was not becoming one with his Roots. He was Dominating it. He was bending it, forcing it to his will. As for the consequences, who cared about it?

  Not him. No, he had already made his decision. It did not matter what happened next. He had already decided to never look away, to never cower, and to never forget. To bear all the Cause and Effect. Even that of his own. So, what was there to hesitate?

  He was Alnea Oathkeeper, the man who lived for the people whom he took his Oaths for. And if let the people whom he took his Oaths for die, what was the use of keeping those Oaths? Just to keep himself bound by chains? No, his Oaths were not his Chains. They were his Blade, his Sword. And he was going to use his Sword to cut all those who dared to stop him from keeping his Oath. He was going to cut all those who dared to hurt the people took his Oaths for.

  But first, he had pick up his Sword. Lying in the depths of the Origin Sea… in the Heart of Rules, enshrouded by the countless Mysteries, yet shining like the brightest Star. Oath, it was called. The Sword of Oath, hanging over the heads of all those dared to break their Promises. Not him. He never broke his Promises. Not before, not at the moment, and never in the future. Though he did break the Rules. And for that he had to pay the price. But he did not care.

  Gripping the Sword in his hand, Alnea Oathkeeper tore himself away from the Origin Sea, and with it, a part of his Roots. It did not matter. Opening his eyes, he looked at the two Heterodox Wanderers in front of him. One in blue robe, and another in yellow. There were even more enemies around him. Three more in blue robes, two in yellow, two in green, four in red, one in pink, one in purple, one in brown, and one in orange. Seventeen in total. Some injured, some not. Of course, none of them were more injured than him, but that did not matter.

  Nothing mattered anymore. Not even the Cause and Effect gripping his Fate. Getting rid of the Blood Trial by changing his identity? There was no need to go through so much trouble. All he had to do was to swing his Sword and cut through the Cause. Without Cause, the Effect vanished on its own. As did the smug smile on the face of his enemies. The only thing that remained was the remains of the figure in the blue robed man’s hands. But it did not matter anymore.

  Be it the blood leaking from the blue robed man’s mouth, the pale face of the yellow robed man, or the shock on the faces of the rest of the Heterodox Wanderers, nothing mattered anymore. Not even the injuries on his body. If there was one thing that did matter, then it could only be the light of understanding, shock, disappointment, betrayal, guilt, and—

  Alnea stopped looking at Yuri, shifting all his attention to the enemies around him. There was no point in regretting. Not anymore. Besides, he did not regret his actions. His Heart was Clear, as were his thoughts. Since he was going to die anyway, he was going to die with a blast. Or, with a Sword.