Burning Soul

For the next few days, Theo was under Skadi’s care.

.

Ever since he entered this world, this was the first time he could relax and enjoy the place, Aeneas and Lumiere would check on him every now and then. It was truly a calm period in his life.

He used this time to understand a few things,

‘Lay Line’, the tree that he saw back in the trial stage was a branch of the mighty Lay Line tree also known as the lifeline of all Mana that flows around the mortal realm.

She helped him in understanding the flow of mana, with her help he was able to enhance the effects of his skills. He also learned a few quick heal spells, something he lacked and needed.

Over time he also figured a few important things.

“So, this is one of the 5 planes that the Original Skadi left behind as Treasury!” Theo asked her to confirm.

“Yeah, conquering the first one allows one to ascend to the next one,

I wouldn’t recommend you to go there right now, you won’t last long as of now!” she warned him about the dangers.

“Conquer all 5 to gain the ultimate Treasure left behind by The Goddess of Illusion!

That will take a while.” She looked up to the sky and spoke in a low voice.

She also told him that she wasn’t a fragment of Skadi but her Avatar, a true Avatar! That explained her powers.

In the past there had been a few people who walked in this world but no one could complete all the trials, Duvrion was the one who could finish up one and the other was someone no one knew or ever heard of, Reign.

He then took the time to exchange a few things with Himari, after the battle he couldn’t talk to her for a while. He was knocked out and she was naturally worried about his well being.

The other sword he got from Lumiere was a very refined sword and was no less than a Legendary weapon. He also figured that using Himari for prolonged period strained his Mana extensively,

he wasn’t ready for an artifact yet.

But, he didn’t have to worry as Himari could take spirit form and remain in the spirit realm, just like Aeneas’s Excalibur.

That meant he wouldn’t have to worry about carrying an artifact around, quite handy.

For a week, Theo took as much rest as possible while not bringing up the subject of his reward, though Skadi and Aeneas would ask him to lend Himari over for ‘Observation’. Naturally, she won’t step out of the spirit realm leaving both of them disappointed.

On one evening Skadi’s avatar found Theo gazing off in the distance, it looked like he was thinking over something.

She had heard about his journey and what he went through. After thinking over approaching him for a brief moment she finally decided to go talk with him.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” She casually looked at him from the side, seeing her so close he got flustered for a moment.

“Yea…yeah! It

It surely is,

For sure it is beautiful!” Looking at him flustered she giggled back at him.

“I heard about you from Aeneas, is it okay if we talk a bit about it?” She looked at him curiously, he couldn’t deny those eyes.

He nodded in agreement with a slight blush on his cheeks.

“I heard about how your journey began, I may sound rude, but hear me out!

I understand your situation a bit, you don’t know why there are people after you, why people are helping you and what is the meaning to your journey. You don’t know the true purpose of your journey, and why is it important for you to continue it, am I right?”

Hearing her he couldn’t answer anything back.

“I’ll take your silence as yes,” she touched his back while continuing,

“You know, if you aim in the dark, you’ll never hit anything. Your journey won’t bear any fruits if you don’t know what it means and what purpose it holds,

Tell me, is it only that you want to continue because Serena told you to do so? Is it only because you want to save your people? Do you want to know what meaning it holds for others? Why were you chosen as the one to take on this journey and not anyone else?” She held his hand and asked him gently.

“Can you answer me?” He looked at her with hope-filled eyes.

‘How can I say no and crush his hopes!’ She thought to herself before sitting next to him