Dilemma

We traverse the damped tunnel for hours. Until we arrive at a dead end. Marco fished out a circular stone. He shined his torch on the walls as he is searching for something.

At the corner, he saw a depression. He placed the stone there and the walls instantly attracts the stone.

Zoom

The stone shines in white light. The light slowly flows like liquid going through the engravings on the wall.

"This is Arcane text," I exclaimed.

This piqued Sheen's interest, "Do you know what this means?"

"Yes. Probably." I answered, "This Arcane text is like bargaining to the concept of space. This special stone in exchange for the shortest path to travel, that's the condition."

"Interesting, how many letters do you know about the Arcane text?" Sheen asked.

"Deniesha and I learned everything inside the contents of the book," I answered. When I mentioned Deniesha, I remembered her helping me every day uncovering letter after letter from that book. This made me sad.

When Sheen saw my reaction he was apologetic. I told him it was fine and no need to be careful of his words.

"We're all set. The portal is now open." Marco informed.

A swirl of blue particles appeared on the wall distorting its form and patterns.

"This portal will take us to the part of Dresden continent, the Nonoria Forest. From there we will travel to the Dresden kingdom and try and train there till we can be strong enough." Marco added. "Let's go."

We carried Deniesha's corpse wrapped in cloths. When we stepped inside the portal the space suddenly expanded and stretched. A film of transparent space enveloped us as the surroundings contracted and deflate. With a pop, the film burst open slowly falling before turning back to normal.

The sunlight shone on our faces and a salty breeze blew at our backs. We were transported to the edge of the Nonoria Forest. A sandy beach with several coconut trees lined near the coast. This place is devoid of people, the only creatures I can see were some seagulls and crabs.

Marco said that the destination of the portal is in the western part of the forest. The south is where a lot of people stay, as it was a town where the main port of the Dresden kingdom resides. This is the safest route to the other continent as the strong winds of the Evergale Sea don't reach here.

"A lot of trading happens in the town of Nonoria. Merchants here travel back and forth to both continents. It's a nice place to stay for a while." Marco suggested.

"Okay.", "Fine by me." me and Sheen agreed.

"Good. For now, let's find something to eat. Lorenzo take a bath you smell so awful. After you bathe we will send Deniesha properly." Marco instructed.

I went to the sea and remove all my clothes while Marco and Sheen went to the forest to forage some food. They left me clothes to change of course.

I threw away my disgusting clothes. Now that I think about it, it smells really bad. Rubbing off this thick dirt on my skin and my dry hair, I scooped some sand to help me rub it off. Though it scrapes my skin and irritates it.

My swollen arms are no more. They are back to normal even the bones reconnected. Yet inside me feels lacking that I can't point it out. I tried doing the breathing technique but the connection suddenly severs and pains my very core. This made me collapse a couple of times.

When I finished my bath I wore the clothes they left behind. Now I feel comfortable and relaxed. I waited for the two to come back as I picked up my diary and started to write things.

When I was thrown into that place I forgot to write what happened to me. All I was thinking is the event that happened and how weak and defenseless I was. Even though it's a painful memory I still wrote it down. It is to remind me of the pain that I experience, the loss of something important, and the promise that I have sworn.

After writing it down, they were still not back so I decided to gather some dried wood and branches. It's boring to do nothing and just sit on the sand. I excused myself to Deniesha's corpse and went to find wood.

There was a lot of dried husk of coconuts too. I picked them up and carry what I find useful to start a fire.

When I returned the two were also back. They brought some fruits and birds. When they saw that I already prepared materials to make fire, they thanked me. Bringing the husk of coconut and dried left they rubbed the sticks till it started to burn and embers appeared on the sticks. They place the husk and leaves above it and softly blows the ember.

Thick smoke slowly rose as the fuel slowly burns. When it started to fire we placed the woods on top of it. While we were busy making fire, Sheen was removing the feathers off the birds. We roast it over the flames waiting for it to cook.

"Hey Marco I would like to ask you about something." I said.

"Tell me." Marco replied.

I explained what happened to me and how it's affecting my breathing technique. The feeling of exhaustion and losing the sense that I have when I was doing my cultivation before. Now all I feel is void, nothing, like being deaf and drowning at the same time.

Marco listened attentively to what I'm saying. He could only shake his head. "The soul has three parts, with it we as a species thrive in this world along with the dangers that it offers. Human, Psyche, and Atman are the three parts of the soul responsible for our functionality. Human, is the need to eat, reproduce, socialize, and do everything we do in the physical world. Psyche is the thirst for wisdom, knowledge, curiosity, imagination, calculation, and everything that molds ideas and thoughts. Lastly, the Atman is the aptitude to feel, absorb, and refine the ether and connect to the spiritual world."

"Your Atman was taken which means your aptitude is now lost. You can never cultivate again." Marco added.

I was lost for words. Then how can I get my revenge? I thought.

"So I'm wasted?" I asked Marco.

"Not really. What you need is a patron, a god. You can also try the beast master's way but it will be hard to defeat a beast without outside help." Marco suggested. "For now let's focus on the easy way, searching for a patron."

"What do I need to do?"

"First we will head to the town of Nonoria. Let's hope they have some statue of some god there. Then we need the very first sacrifice, your first sacrifice determines the gift that the god will bestow. This is the cultivation of an Avatar." Marco answered.

I nodded my head, "Thank you for your help."

"It's nothing as a boss it's my duty to help my henchmen for my own good and safety."

After that conversation, we ate our dinner. The birds taste great when roasted along with the sour fruits they brought. There were also some nuts which taste great when cooked.

When were done eating, we then piled a number of woods. Piling it till it reached the height of our hips. We placed Deniesha's corpse on the wood. Marco passed the torch to me. He wanted me to send Deniesha off.

I was hesitant at first but I still took the torch.

"Please be safe wherever you are. We will be missing you. Goodbye Deniesha you are a good friend, a great teacher, and a loving sister. I hope in my next life we can be real blood brothers and sisters." With that, I threw the torch.

The wood slowly burns, and flames started to emerge. The cloth that covered her body started to burn. The fire became strong and the only thing we can see is the sea of orange fire blazing.

The fire slowly decayed turning everything to dust. There is no sign of Deniesha anymore. Only her memory is fresh in my brain.

A wind blew the dust high in the air. Spiraling towards the skies returning back to the cosmos next to the stars above.