Chapter 59 - Eureka*

Sylas returned dejectedly to the Sacar Tribe. The Frontier was a quagmire right now, and he was truly tempted to announce the finding of a Fruit of the Mountain God in the Karol Mountains, however he knew he would be punished by the Tribe for not announcing the finding first when Roland found out. Had they known, the Tribe could have prepared better and gotten the Fruit without problems.

Both Roland's hurry and longing to recover his former glory, as well as Sylas's greed made them both make the wrong choices, which ultimately led to the fall of Roland, and the loss of the pieces of the Fruit.

Now, he would probably be reprimanded or ridiculed for a while, but he would not be punished severely by the tribe. A Fruit of the Mountain God was worth the Tribe sending its best warriors to the Frontier.

As expected, once he got back, he saw the person he wanted to meet the least at the Tribe's Sacred Ground entry, an old man with some wrinkles in his forehead, a tanned swarthy look, with luxurious fur around him, with thick black hair, and stern eyes of the same color. This was the Fifth Elder, another Qi Emperor of the Sacar Tribe, Samoa Du Sacar.

"Well, well, well. What have we here? If it isn't the Great Spider of the Sacar Tribe, coming back from his heroic enterprise on the Frontier. So tell me, where is nephew Roland. I fail to see him with you". The sarcasm in Samoa's voice was quite evident, and he went directly for Sylas's sore spot.

"Hmph… Be careful Frog. I'm not in the mood to waste my breath on you" Answered Sylas not deigning to look at Samoa.

"Hahahaha… The Patriarch wants to see you, with orders from the First Elder. Hopefully, nothing else will happen to you", said Samoa gloatingly. Sylas stopped moving for a second. Then he silently went forward towards his cabin area.

When he arrived, the servant that had delivered Roland's letter last time was waiting on his knees. Actually calling him a servant would be a misnomer. He was part of the Intelligence group formed by the Great Council of Rhodnius, which was the Union made by the Ten Great Tribes. Every Elder of the tribe had a "servant" or close aide, usually from the same tribe, part of this group who acted as their steward and right hand as well. They were privy to a lot of secrets, and were the best helpers to the Elders they served.

Sylas passed by him, but then stopped and said in a low voice: "Go to Gallia's slums and look for the envoy of the Dark Brotherhood. Tell him that Mikael Dai Rosalia, is still alive and currently close to the Frontier between Ansem and Rhodnius."

When the servant heard this, his pupils constricted. "Mikael Dai Rosalia is still alive? But he is an old ghost, I mean the last we heard from him was more than thirty years ago. Even if him being alive is interesting, why would the Dark Brotherhood want to seek him out? Are you sure about this, sixth elder? They're a creepy group if I might add, and the ones who have tried to make a fool out of them have paid with their whole families destroyed. No one knows who is backing them up, but they have apparently infiltrated the 6 territories already. Their strength is unfathomable, and some people call them heretics. If I tell them some useless information, I fear there may be repercussions. The Patriarch has made an order for the Tribe members to stay away from the group and expel any who try to contact them."

"Ha. Should we fear a group of rabid dogs now? Even if the Patriarch is not happy with me right now, we are still the Great Tribe of Sacar, one of the ten Great Tribes of Rhodnius, and our power can not be underestimated. If we fear any upstart group that bares its fangs, then we would not deserve to be a Great Tribe at all, even if I really tricked them, I'd like to see them come and ask for trouble.

Besides, the info I'm providing is golden. Many people do not know that Armand Dai Mikaeli's martial art was the Path of the Interceptor Fist, but I do. Roland suffered previously because of it, and as his support in the Tribe, I was deeply aware of Armand's feats. I fought with Mikael Dai Rosalia on the Frontier. Mikael Dai Rosalia's Path of the Interceptor Fist. The very same Martial Art. Now, you tell me if this info is worth checking out, or not. Mikael's interference ruined our business, he is the main cause for the delays that eventually caused Roland's death. I can't seek him out right now to look for revenge, but the Dark Brotherhood, I'm sure, will more than happily search for him. He is nothing but a has been. After all he is supposed to be a ghost already, we might as well make sure he stays dead, wouldn't you agree?"

"The same Martial Art? Master and disciple, or members of the same school? The Dark Brotherhood has been searching all over the Continent for Armand's origins and possible acquaintances, with little to no success. If this info is helpful for them, they might offer an incredible reward, or owe us a favor" said the servant.

"Indeed. Go do as I said. I need to go see the Patriarch now, otherwise Samoa might try and give me more trouble. This is not the end."

…

Nerun, Maikal and Silvester finally returned to Radem after a short journey back from the frontier, once again, in a caravan escorted by the Night Raven mercenary band. With the fall of the Violent Tigers, this mercenary band, supported by Captain Serena, and new trainee / "boy toy" of the Dragon General, Elijah, swallowed most of the fixed assets from the Tigers. Reyes saw his goodwill paid back quite quickly, and he made sure to keep ingratiating himself both to Serena and Elijah, in whom he saw an insurmountable potential.

Therefore, Reyes gifted Elijah with some rare ointments, herbs and precious materials that aided with the development of a Warrior, and they would help Elijah shorten his training and become stronger in a faster way. The cost for such treatment was close to one third of the total amount of treasures gotten from the Violent Tigers. For Elijah who had no real support in terms of wealth and backing, this was like sending coal in times of need, and keeping this favour in his heart, he understood that Reyes was investing in his future, which he gladly welcomed. He was quite confident in his future and in paying back to Reyes in the future.

When Nerun and company finally got back to the Orphanage, they were welcomed warmly by Maya and the rest of the children. They were truly happy to be back together, and Nerun understood even more the importance of his family and loved ones to his heart. He once more vowed to protect what little he had.

Nerun gave Sagat's ring with all the gold, jewels, and more to Maya and Maikal, so they could use them for the Orphanage. These goods were more than welcome to Maya, and they had a little party to celebrate the return of the boys and the successful entry of Elijah to the Army, even though he could not be present.

After some days passed, and things went back to usual, all the boys kept looking for odd jobs, and doing the "morning exercises" with Maya and Maikal. Maikal seemed to be even stricter with the boys now that he was back, especially with Nerun, who had to work double the exercises for two weeks in a row as punishment for his reckless behaviour. Maikal had noticed that even though his boys were no flowers grown in a greenhouse, they were still sorely lacking some life experience, and he seemed to be in a rush to teach them as best as he could in the shortest amount of time. Maya was a bit concerned, and talked to him late at night everyday, but otherwise they seemed to behave as usual.

Maikal also started teaching them common knowledge about the continent, some general geography and things to notice in the world outside. His words opened the mind of the children, who were mesmerized by some of his stories.

Silvester had used this chance to solidify his power, and after digesting all his gains from his experience on the Frontier. He rapidly reached level 13 of Qi master, a great achievement due to his age. He also opened another two auxiliary meridians, which made him a lot stronger, so he was now invincible among the children. Nerun, even though he had lost a lot of his Qi and Mana power, was also close in power to him, due the baptism he had received from Arbak. The use of the diluted drop of Millenial Stone Milk also helped the children further solidify their foundation. Silvester was quite happy, and Maikal promised to teach them a Martial Art movement he could use even with his body constitution.

The morning that Nerun's punishment ended, Maikal went out as usual to find booze. He looked the same as always and took some money from Maya as before. Maya, however, had a strange look on her face, and she looked a bit sad, but no one paid much attention to it.

After Nerun's punishment ended, he could finally go to the Forest close to home, and meet Whitey once again. Whitey was even bigger than the last time Nerun saw him, and he was already a level 2 Magical Beast. He was already one and a half meters big, and his fur was even more luxurious and beautiful. Nerun was very happy about it, but surprisingly, it was Whitey who felt a sense of awe and even a bit of fear from Nerun's body.

Nerun's body emitted the aura of a beast king youngling. This was one of the by-products of having received the Primeval Baptism from Arbak, a Beast Lord, as well as her blessing. This was alluring to a lot of beasts, since consuming Nerun's meat would make them a lot stronger than eating a normal Warrior or Adept, but they would also have to consider whether they could fight the one who gave Nerun said Blessing. Therefore, there would not be many beasts who would dare attack him. That was not to say that if Nerun provoked them, they would not strike back and kill him on the spot, but unless a Magical Beast also had the support from another Beast Lord, a normal Magical Beast would not seek trouble with Nerun for no good reason.

Nerun went back to his training once again, and, with Whitey's company, he started practicing the First Form of the Free Flowing Fist.

Nerun was trying hard to regain the feeling he had when he saw Arbak and Kerchak's fight in the Forest, as well as his desperate fight with Sagat. However, he practiced to no avail, since he couldn't quite make the right movements, so he became somewhat anxious and disappointed. He felt the same obstructions as before, being unable to increase his Qi and keep his Mana. And as his levels of Qi and Mana were lower than before, getting the feel of their flow in the body was a bit harder. He wanted badly the power that Ego Sum had promised to give him.

He had said to Maikal and the rest, that he had really no concerns at all about losing his hard-earned Qi and Mana, but in his heart of hearts he felt saddened a bit by it. His current Qi level was 4, and his Mana had also decreased to the same level. Even though Arbak had given him the chance for a new beginning, he understood after his adventure on the Frontier, just how weak he truly was. Whitey who had felt his mood, came closer to him and started to rub his head on Nerun's chest.

When Nerun was starting to feel frustrated however, his mind allowed him to sober up quickly and summarize the things he was doing bad, and was being hasty about. The wisdom he had gained from his pact with Ego Sum, made him understand that he was nothing more than a kid right now. He should then behave like a kid, and enjoy his childhood with his friends and loved ones. He knew he could do nothing right now against his parent's enemies, and being all anxious and hurried would only be counterproductive both to his training and growth.

So, he calmed down and patted Whitey on the head and back, and smiled once again as he used to do. Then he started playing with Whitey, chasing one another in the forest. When he was dead tired from playing around, night had already come.

Nerun was on the top of a tall tree in the forest, next to Whitey and was looking at the starred night. Watching the boundless heavens, and trying to count the infinity of stars, he was so awed by the magnificence of the world. Nerun was not particularly prone to religion and praying to EON, but watching the forest around him and sensing the lives in it, Nerun felt like his soul was sublimating at the marvel of the greatness of heaven earth, and couldn't help but praise EON in his heart for his creation.

Feeling inspired, he started once again practicing the First Form of Free Flowing Fist, over and over, but this time with a smile on his face and a tranquil heart. As Nerun was extending and folding his arms, he realized that he had moved a bit off the original position that Maikal had taught him during the performance of the 7th move. He was about to correct himself, when he suddenly noticed that the Genesis Stone on his chest started getting hotter all of a sudden.

Nerun stopped moving and touched the stone to check it. However, much to his disappointment, there was no apparent change to it, nor did he hear Ego Sum's voice. So he once again started practicing the Form, this time slower and repeated the same motion he had done before during the 7th move. One more time, the Stone got hotter when he started and finished that move from the First Form of his Martial Art. He noticed as well that both his Qi and Mana moved at the same time with no obstructions when he did so, and not the movement he had gotten by a fluke like the times before, but a true integrated movement of both energies, as if they were dancing alongside Nerun's body. He could even feel that the energies increased by the tiniest amount.

This increase would normally be unnoticeable, but with Nerun new bodily senses and his increased wisdom, he was able to quickly notice and compare the changes with the time he'd practiced before.

Nerun didn't get overly excited just yet, since the stone did not seem to react to any of the other moves from the First Form. So he decided to make an experiment with the first move, the simpler one that only used his upper extremities, to see if he could get another reaction. He slowly repeated the same move over and over, changing small parts of it. Changing the range, changing the height, a bit to the left, a bit to the right. Nerun kept the spirit and style of the move but kept modifying it.

He kept rigorous check of what moves he had done before so he didn't repeat himself by mistake, and his improved mind and wisdom allowed him to keep himself in check, not to lose his time doing a repeated movement. This was one of the perks of the pact, his memory had become eidetic and the quickness of his thoughts and the control of his body was increased dramatically.

Many minutes passed, but Nerun did not lose his patience. When Nerun was doing the 120th attempt, as he was extending his arms a bit higher and wider than usual, he also increased the distance between his fingers by a small amount. He felt it clearly then. The Stone got hotter and he once again felt the increased flow of Qi and Mana.

Nerun's eyes dilated then and there. Eureka!

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*Eureka: It is said that Archimedes, a greek mathematician shouted Eureka when he suddenly found the answer to a problem that had kept him busy for a long time while taking a bath. Eureka then means "I've found it", and the world is usually used when you have a sudden epiphany or answer to a complex problem.