Day and Night. Two of the most fundamental forces of the Origin Sea. And the two most dependent on each other, enough for them to lose their meaning without each other. In a sense, it could even be said that they defined each other. Yet, despite their unique connection, the two could not exist together. At least not in their most natural form. Their resplendent form, shining in the skies, were not bound by such restrictions.

  Then again, what could possibly restrict the two celestial beings existing in the depths of the Origin Sea, casting their projection into the skies of the world of Wanderers, turning its tides of Time? After all, other than being the symbols of Day and Night, they were also the symbols of the Gods they were named after. Some even said that those were the Gods themselves. Or at least a part of them.

  Regardless, the radiant sources of all light, dark or bright, could not be observed through the filter of common sense. Though, in Alnea’s defence, they were not the forms of Day and Night that he was interested in anyway. At least not at the moment. Not when there were still enemies lurking around them. Even if those bastards had already left the Final world, like Ralph and Vestia said, they would certainly not make things easy for his team.

  Given his situation, praying to the Gods was of no help. It never was. His prayers generally came more as a form of habit, than of faith. But at the moment, not even faith was going to be of any help. So, instead of marvelling at the wonders of the Origin Sea, Alnea shifted his attention to the most primitive form of Day and Night, the form that lay hidden in the Origin Sea, and could be called out only with their corresponding Mysteries. He shifted his attention to—

  “The Darkness, most primal, and the Light, most primeval, shining in the tide of changes…”

  The only Arcana that could help him. One that he had created months ago, but had never had the chance to use. Not because it was useless, of course. On the contrary, of all his Arcanas, it was the one he was most proud of. Even more so than he was with ‘Sorrow of Night’ and ‘Vision of the Dark Side’. And that was despite it being born from an experiment inspired by from the changes in Yuri’s Roots, and the need to ‘surprise’ the girls.

  It could not be helped. Back then, he was already knee deep in favours he owed, and had promises to fulfil. Thankfully, his experiments worked, even if only partially, allowing him to create an Arcana that he could share with the girls. An Arcana, that later became his proudest work. His only Arcana made from perfectly blending the Mysteries of—

  “Day and Night, Night and Day, the name of the tide that lights the way…”

  Of course, the Arcana was not perfect when he first gave it to the girls. In fact, back then, it had barely reached the Intermediate Grade. And as such, despite its novel idea, was not very practical. At best, it could only be considered as better than nothing, to be used only when Yuri could not use her Roots. It was not until months later, just before entering the Final World, that he finally perfected it, turning it into something that even his master would be proud of.

  A Perfect Grade Arcana, that too, with Auxiliary functions. The kind that even Cecilia had never heard of. Though, in her defence, the Serpia clan was not known for its collection of Arcanas. And what collection it had, she had never had the chance to see. Mostly because she began following Yuri just a few days after laying her Roots, and had rarely returned back home ever since.

  Regardless, Cecilia’s ignorance about Arcanas of her clan did not stop Alnea from being proud of himself for perfectly blending the Mysteries of Day and Night. Or at least a part of them. He had not comprehended many Mysteries, after all. Just about fifty of them, of which, only about twenty were unique. The rest were just different Stage variations of the same Mysteries. And that was with the Mysteries from the lineages of Destruction and Life in count.

  “We call upon the Shadows lost in the tides, resting in the changes between Day and Night…”

  Of all the Mysteries he had comprehended, not counting their variations, only about a dozen or so were from the lineages of Day and Night. And even amongst them, quite a few were not compatible with each other. At least, he could not find any common point between those Mysteries to make them work together without any major problems. As such, he could only make do with what he had.

  Though, given how it had only been a little over a year since he had begun walking on the path of Arcanists, bending Mysteries from even the same lineage was already testing his limits, let alone those from different lineages. It was only because his Roots were also based on the lineages of Day and Night, that he dared to experiment with Mysteries from the two lineages. And even then, if not for his experience in the Arcana Trials, he might never have been able to blend the Mysteries of Gravity and Illusions to create the ‘Sorrow of Night’, let alone go a step further.

  “To dance among us, and guide our paths, bringing us together with the—

  Except, he did. He went beyond even his own expectations, bending the Mysteries of Light and Darkness, Mysteries that stretched into the realm of Shadows, seeping into the senses of his Spirit, and the Mysteries that went beyond the realm of his Spirit, all into a string, before paving a path out of it. A path that went beyond all common sense, but matched perfectly with his vision. He created a—

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “—Path of Stars.”

  Perfect as his Arcana was though, it was not without its problems. For instance, he could not summon the ‘Path’ whenever and wherever he wished. Formed from the blend of multiple Mysteries, the Arcana required delicate manipulation, which could not be interrupted mid cast, or would result in unpredictable consequences. To make matters worse, its casting time was five to ten times as long as his other Arcanas, rendering it almost impossible to use in midst of a battle, or in an unstable environment.

  More importantly, since it was a ‘Path of Stars’ that he called, the Arcana would take effect only if there were ‘Stars’. Not the literal stars, of course. That would have made the Arcana almost completely useless in places where stars could not reach, like the forest he was in. And with such a glaring flaw, it certainly would not have been the Arcana he took most pride in.

  No, the ‘Stars’ that his Arcana demanded were its anchors. Markers for the ‘Path’ to recognise the people whom it had to guide. And the only way for his Arcana to mark those ‘Stars’ was for the ‘Path’ itself to begin from those people. Or end in them. It did not matter. All those who summoned the Mysteries of Night and Day, and twisted them into strings, would become a part of the ‘Path’. They would become its ‘Stars’, sharing their senses over distances so vast—

  Alnea did not really know how vast a distance his ‘Path of Stars’ could cover. He had never had the chance to test its limits. At least not after he had perfected it. But it was at least more than ten kilometres in any direction. And for their purpose, that was enough. Twisting the invisible fluctuations of Mysteries he had summoned into a string, he stretched it out of his body and used it to probe his surroundings.

  Not so surprisingly, he found three similar fluctuations around him. Three strings, similar to his. And once those strings came in contact with each other, their summoners urged them entangle each other, twisting them together in an even thicker string, forming the true ‘Path of Stars’. Four ‘Stars’, to be exact, all standing next to each other. But that was only for the moment.

  Opening his eyes, Alnea ignored the confused faces of the rest of his teammates, and said—No, not said. Rather, he expressed his thoughts through the ‘Path’.

  “Can everyone hear me?”

  “Loud and clear,” Cecilia said, with a bright glint in her eyes, and a grin on her face. “Much better than the last time we tried the Arcana. I could barely understand what you were saying back then.”

  “I liked its first version,” Vestia said, flashing her dimples at Alnea. “It was the first ‘surprise’ you gave me after all. A ‘surprise’ that could allow my Spirit to connect with yours…”

  “…Vixen.”

  “Focus, Cecilia. And you too, Vestia. This is neither the time, nor the place for you to start another one of your fights.”

  “…But she—

  “Lia.”

  “…Fine. I will not call her vixen… for now.”

  “You too, Vestia.”

  “Do not worry. I know what is at stake here. Although teasing her is one of my only entertainment—

  “Hey!”

  “—I will restrain myself until we finish our Trial.”

  “…Good,” Yuri said, nodding at the two girls, before turning towards Alnea. “Everything looks good so far. But we still need to be careful. As far as I can tell, your ‘Path of Stars’ requires too much concentration to maintain, and that makes it easy to disrupt.”

  “That is what I was going to warn everyone next,” Alnea said, nodding solemnly, as he glanced at the girls, addressing them all at once. “Try not to use any complicated Arcanas while we are separated, or like Yuri said, you will most likely cause your end of the ‘Path of Stars’ to collapse. Also, it would be best if you let others act as scout. That should ease your burden a little.

  “Still, if the ‘Path’ fails even after all your precautions, then do not run around. Just stay where you are. We will come to you. Similarly, do not panic if you encounter the Lotus clan, or any obstacles that you cannot handle. Just try to hold on until we come to your aid. It should not be long, considering that we must all be within ten kilometres of each other.”

  “Only ten kilometres?”

  “Only? Did you forget how hard it was to maintain the ‘Path’ just beyond the range of a kilometre the last time we tried it in the desert? Even if I have Perfected my Arcana now, I have only decreased the cost, not eliminated it altogether. Of course, we should still be able to maintain the ‘Path’ beyond the range of ten kilometres, but it would be too draining on our Spirit to maintain it for long and would everyone at risk.”

  “…I was just asking,” Cecilia mumbled, pouting to show her dissatisfaction. “There was no need to say so much.”

  “…I am sorry. Maybe I was a little too aggressive. I will make it up to you later, after we leave the Final World, alright?”

  “…It’s alright. I was also at fault. There is no need for you to make up for anything. But if you insist…”

  “I do,” Alnea said, letting out a smile. “And not just for you. I…”

  “It is alright, Alnea,” Vestia said when she noticed Alnea glancing over her. “There is no need. I—

  “No, I must make up for my mistakes. For all the sufferings I caused… Especially you three… I—

  “We will talk about it later,” Yuri said, tilting her head to point towards the rest of their teammates. “Let us give them an explanation first, or they will think that we have all lost our mind.”