Blink's Inheritance

A gangly teenager walked towards the river with a tired, heavy gait. He looked very dejected, his shoulders drooping like a mountain weighed on him.

On a piece of rock as flat and even as a platform sat an old man with long grey hair and beard. He had a knowing glint in his eyes as he observed the youth moving his way.

"Had a rough night?" the old man asked in a quietly soothing but surprisingly audible voice.

The youth looked stunned momentarily. He couldn't seem to recall seeing the old man sitting on the rock platform earlier. But as he thought it over, he realized that he must have been walking with head hanging down for a good while.

"Good evening, sir," the youth greeted the old man. "I haven't noticed you earlier."

"You've been looking at your feet forever," the old man said. He had an even set of pearly white teeth and an almost youthful twinkle in his eyes.

"There's something I must do, and I don't feel confident that I could do it." The old man had that easy-going vibe of someone one could confide in. Still, the youth was surprised at how easily he opened up to the other party.

"But what does your mind tell you?" the old man probed. "The heart can sometimes get conflicted, but the mind can always break through the fog and see the light."

"Your words are rather profound, sir. I am called Blink. May I know your name, sir?"

"I know who you are, Kraszad. You're the top disciple of Tszarek's academy and probably the most intelligent young man in the entire continent. There's also a long journey ahead of you."

"Who are you, sir?" Blink was on high alert. If the old man turned out to be a threat, he wouldn't risk the life of his loved ones just to keep his sorry life. He would fight the old man to the death if it came to that.

"I mean you no harm," the old man said, amusement clearly expressed in his eyes. "As for who I am, you actually know me but don't know it yet."

Blink got even more confused. "I know you but don't know it yet? What is that supposed to mean?"

"It is what it is," the old man retorted.

Blink scratched his head.

While still smiling, the old man revealed his soul. His soul was about twice the size of his body. What was more shocking was that his mana was so dense it was deep blue in color.

At this time the aura emanating from the old man gave Blink an intense amount of pressure. It was so intense that he went down on all fours gasping for breath. His body also seemed to expand and compress.

Blink looked at the old man with a pitiful expression. He realized that the old man could have killed him very easily.

The old man retracted his soul and aura. He smiled at Blink and muttered under his breath. Thereafter Blink felt a refreshing wave wash over him, rejuvenating his body and soul.

When Blink checked his soul, he was stunned. His mana had been filled up! That wasn't all. His mana had gained a qualitative change. Previously, his mana was almost transparent with specks and short, thin lines of a very faint bluish hue. Now it was more blue than white. It was still very faint, but the difference was quite obvious.

The most shocking thing, however, was that his soul had expanded by about two centimeters. Before this, his soul was around three centimeters thick. After the wave of rejuvenation, his soul was clearly extended five centimeters from his body, perhaps a bit more.

Looking very pleased with himself, the old man laughed at Blink's dumbfounded expression.

"Consider it an elder's gift to you on first meeting," he said still laughing in a deep melodious voice.

Recovering from his shock, Blink thanked the old man profusely.

"Stop fawning, it's embarrassing," the old man lightly scolded and laughed even more raucously.

After the old man laughed for a while, he gazed at Blink for several seconds. His expression had turned serious.

"You know that the entire village is in danger, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes, Master." Blink knew the greybeard before him must be very powerful. Thus, he was hoping to be taken under the old man's tutelage.

"But you no longer have the heart to eliminate the threat." The old man stated it casually as though it were an established fact. But more importantly, he didn't reject the honorific by which Blink addressed him. He even acted as though he had already expected it.

Blink no longer felt surprised that the old man knew his situation. He was very clear on his mind that he was standing before a very powerful being whose depth was beyond his ability to fathom.

"It just didn't feel right to beat up something that no longer wished to fight," Blink sighed.

"All our actions have repercussions on the future," the old man spoke in a soothing melodious tone. "And the criminal is no more despicable than the person who refused to act in the face of grave danger. Perhaps the latter could even be considered worse."

Blink understood perfectly what the old man meant. He looked towards the distance and seemed to see through the thick rows of trees that dried patch of land where he fought the monster for days.

Above them, the bigger moon had completely covered the smaller moon. It would take a little over five minutes before the edge of Bulan would emerge out of Ganawil's overbearing silhouette. The month of Kraal was ending; the month of Lumina was about to begin.

"This platform-like rock has a very interesting story, do you know that?"

Blink looked bewildered. "I don't know what you mean," he admitted.

"On this very spot, Agnos sat down to rest for a few days. Her servants flattened the rock so the goddess could lie down in comfort."

Blink didn't know what to think of the old man's story.

"Master, are you telling me that the legend is true?" he asked.

"What is the basis of legends? I'm sure even with your limited years of existence you can understand that legends aren't created out of thin air."

"So, Milal and Agnos were real?"

The old man didn't answer Blink's question and instead continued with his story.

"For several days Agnos rested on this very piece of rock as she and Milal exchanged messages through her servants. It is on this very spot where her first tears fell."

The old man looked at Blink somewhat pensively.

"You are the true heir of Milal; therefore, your inheritance includes the tears of Agnos."

"My inheritance? Heir of Milal?" Blink was totally dumbfounded. Everything from his breakthrough to the old man's story was just too much to take. But nothing jolted his mind more than the old man declaring him as the heir of Milal.

As the young man was still in a state of mental stupor, the old man ordered him to look down where he was sitting. Under the water Blink saw several sparkling objects.

"Take them. They are your inheritance from the goddess," the old man ordered. "Hurry up! When the Rahang Nimgan ends, those gems shall disappear for the next five millennia."

Still in a daze, Blink didn't understand right away.

The old man was forced to snap him out of it.

"Plunge into the water and take all nine teardrop gems." The old man's voice was very calm and had a soothing effect.

Immediately, Blink took off his robe and dove into the water under the rock platform.

The glimmering gems were on a very deep spot which Blink was very familiar with. He had dived this exact same spot many times before Master Tszarek personally fetched him and took him into the academy. Many times he had gotten his Namgan Magra into trouble with their mother just to enjoy a good dive on this very spot.

Aware that he had less than two minutes to grab the gems, Blink kicked with his legs and thrust forward with his hands furiously. As far as Blink could remember, he used to be able to reach the bottom in less than 20 seconds, yet the gems seemed ever out of reach.

Blink felt his lungs fill up and constrict at the same time. He needed to return to the surface before his lungs failed him. However, he had this very strong sense that those sparkling things down below desperately needed to reach out to him. In a way that was impossible for him to explain, those "tears" had a real connection to him. Thus, although every muscle in his body seemed to ache and throb even as his lungs threatened to burst, Blink flailed and kicked but never let his eyes leave those shiny things for a moment as if they'd disappear once he blinked.

Though it seemed to take forever, the tiny white gems finally came within Blink's grasp. With one swift motion Blink scooped them all up then turned towards the surface. This time it took him less than twenty seconds to reach the riverbank.

Recounting the length of time it took him to get the gems, Blink concluded that he just experienced the opening of a magical dimension. If the old man's words were correct, this magical dimension only opened every five thousand years.

Normally, Blink would immediately examine the treasures he had just acquired at nearly the cost of his life. However, he expected the old man to be there when he surfaced and was totally dismayed to see that not a shadow of him could be seen.

There were so many things Blink wanted to ask him.

On the spot where the old man sat, Blink found a ring set on two large book-like items with metal rings at the edges keeping the pages together. On top of the thicker one was written in very ornate letterings "Journal of the Prince of All Time". On the thinner one, Blink could barely perceive the letters from the dark macabre cover design.

"Why would he leave his things here?" Blink wondered aloud.