Alma 66 A Second Home

Heima couldn't believe it. Every fiber of his being trembled as he observed the fluctuations of his prisoner's soul. Never had he seen anything like it before. The stainless gleam of a soul untouched by the filth of the mundane, terrestrial world.

His own ancestors, the Alf, had been known possess a purity of the soul that was uncontested among all of the early races. This was given since they had been beings born from the essence of nature and possessed a powerful connection to it even before birth.

But this was unnatural. This was too pure. He wagered not even the noble High-Alf founders of yore possessed such an untainted spirit. It not for its pitiful size, he was sure he would have permanently damaged his eyes from the backlash.

Goddess in heaven, had it been fully developed… I can not even begin to imagine what he would have been capable of…

It was like a small, wavering spark of light in an empty void of space where the rest of soul should have been. Even for a human soul, it was far too small for a consciousness to have arisen out of it. He stared at the young boy in muddled shock and wondered to himself how he had even survived his birth.

A fragmented, underdeveloped soul such as his should have resulted in a stillbirth for the mother. And even if he survived his birth, he should have had a short and tragic life. A couple short days, at the very least…

None of it made sense and yet, here the boy was alive and well. The boy was by definition, a walking miracle. His existence defied the natural order of things, whether he knew or not…

"Hey, are we done yet? How many times are going to do this? If you think I'm lying, then hurry up and sentence me already," said Reed in an annoyed tone.

For better part of an hour, he'd been subjected with all sorts of mental and spiritual techniques. Some to determine whether he was being honest, and others were spirit-enforcing techniques that forced him to do something against his will — such as speaking the truth.

Not that they worked on him in the slightest. Lacrima had subtly manipulated every technique that had been used on Reed, rendering them harmless.

As result, Reed had been forced to act the fool to keep up the illusion that he'd been mesmerized. Like a numb idiot, he had obediently answered whatever he'd been asked to answer up until a certain point. A couple of minutes ago, the grim-looking man had gone silent, much to Reed's annoyance.

The grim-looking man sighed and said, "Yes, we're done. It seems the faith lieutenant Clearspring has not been for naught. But even so, I cannot guarantee whether or not you will be given a special pardon." He gathered Anima around himself and said, "I… will see what I can do to help you for the lieutenant's sake but don't get your hopes up…"

He transformed into a wisp of smoke and vanished into void in haste, like he had somewhere more important to be.

And... he's gone. Back to the waiting game. ...You know, I'm starting to think that this was a stupid idea. There's no way they'd let me in just because I told them a silly rumor, even if it is the truth, right?

Reed smiled in self-derision and mumbled, "Hopefully escaping won't be too difficult when the time comes." He guessed that someone like him, who was a weakling their eyes, would be held in the upper portion of the spire where the contenders were. It'd make his life a lot easier…

Life, on the hand, had a different design for him as he'd soon find out.

Before Reed stood a half-circle of powerful entities that made him feel extremely nervous. Each of the six individuals possessed an aura that immediately extinguished the idea of escaping in one piece. He knew that he tried anything suspicious, it'd likely be the last thing he do before he experienced an abrupt death.

Three men and three women curiously observed him with noticeable interest as their eyes glowed ominously. Expressions of disbelief and shock covered their faces as they continued to observe Reed.

"My, my! Truly curious…! I would have never believed young Heima had I not seen it with my own eyes…"

"Miraculous, indeed. He is mind is clean as reported, as well. To think that the North sent someone like this to our doorstep without even knowing..."

"Those idiots must become senile to have let someone like him through their grasp. But as the ancestor used to say, 'One man's trash is another Alf's treasure…'"

"As expected of the North; blind as they always are, only interested in what lies on the outside and never the inside..."

"The North is truly gracious, for them to have given us two precious gifts in a single day..."

Whispers in the Old Tongue, the ancient language of the Alf, floated around the council room as the six figures smiled in joy.

Reed, who quietly stood in front of them as he waited for his judgment, wondered why he could not understand them. His tome was reputedly capable of translating an innumerable amount of languages, and yet he was unable to make sense of the conversation in front him. It was the first time since he'd been given his tome that it had failed him.

He found it odd enough that he actually spoke up for the first since he'd entered the room and said, "Um, why can't I understand what you're saying? Are all you using some kind of technique or skill to circumvent my tome's abilities?"

One of the council members, an older man with silver hair and refined features said, "We are not using any techniques at all, my boy. Rest assured, your tome is still functioning properly."

A beautiful older woman with kind violet eyes said, "We were simply speaking the Old Tongue, my son. That is why your tome was unable to translate our little discussion."

"The Old Tongue? But I thought that tomes contained the sum of all the knowledge scholars have collected, including the native languages from all races were summoned here…" said Reed in confusion.

"That what you have been led to believe, little brother. But that is far from the truth. You see, we, just like the other races on this foreign world, have made some compromises with one another for the sake of privacy. There are certain languages and dialects that have been kept from the universal compendium, and therefore are not in your tome's repository of knowledge…" said one of the younger council members, a younger looking man in his late twenties with glowing blue hair.

Secrets, always with the secrets. People never tire making them, do they?

Reed quietly mumbled, "O-Oh, I didn't know that. It goes to show that I'm still very ignorant about this world's affairs…"

"My, my… so you're not a native then, my boy? A foreigner?" said an older Avunian woman with glittering emerald eyes and warm, golden hair like wheat. "How tragic, for you to have been suddenly torn from your homeworld and brought here, of all places. Not to worry though, we will make sure you are taken care now that you are under our care…"

Reed awkwardly scratched his head and said, "Ah — no, ma'am, I'm not sad about that, or anything... I was, um, ...a mangy little orphan back home so it isn't as if I lost anything of value when I was summoned here…"

The blond Avunian woman's face crumpled up in sorrow, along with the rest of the council members when they heard Reed's response. When they thought about the boy's circumstances, they couldn't help but feel sorry for him even if he had been working for the North.

Born with an incomplete soul, a miracle never seen before, only to have been born without a family. Lived his entire life as an orphan only to have been transported to Mulia in order to become contender.

On top of that, sent on a suicide mission by the North, given the nature of his original mission compared to his current abilities. 

Born without anything, and forced to suffer for nothing, only to die a dog's death.

Even for them, as section chiefs who'd seen and heard the life stories of many a people as a result of their careers, it was a bit much to listen to the boy's story. It was as if someone above up wanted to punish the poor boy as much as possible.

The oldest figure among the council, an elderly man with energetic blue eyes said, "Life's been quite harsh to you hasn't it, son?"

Reed bitterly smiled and said, "I've learned to deal with what life throws at me the best I can, sir. Had I not, I would have broken down long ago in some dirty alley back home."

He'd wavered, feared and often times despaired, but he'd always held out for something, even during the worst days. The idea, the hope, that one day he'd see a light at the end of the tunnel.

That one day, he too, would be able to live a wonderful, peaceful life with purpose.

Expressions tightened up when they heard the boy's response among the council. They clearly saw how boy's soul shone even brighter than before like a stubborn, flickering candle in wind. None could deny that the boy had meant what he had said with all his heart as they gazed at his distant, lonesome eyes.

It was then that the elderly man stood, walked up to Reed and patted his small shoulders. He warmly smiled and said, "You won't need to worry about that kind of life anymore, son. Not anymore. So as long as the Golden Tree prospers in the East…"

Chapter end