The strength of one's spirit

Weeks went by as he continuously practiced. He had grown accustomed to the lifestyle here. But Fen knew. He knew that he should not be here. Instead, he should go out and experience life to the fullest.

[I should tell him…] thought of Fen as he watched Arche getting a mana injection.

"Keuk-!" held out Arche as mana seeped through his body.

"Just hold on. We can use the last remaining essence to further improve your constitution," said the mage as he injected more mana into Arche.

woosh

The surrounding had turned chilly. Waves of cold air emanated from Arche's topless body. Though far away, Fen still felt it.

[Ho… …I guess the ice mana of the Fenrir clan made itself known]

"Fuu…" Arche sighed.

"Your constitution for the wolf should've gone up with all the essences you've absorbed over our practice sessions," said the mage as he wept his sweat off with his robe.

"Sorry, I'm being such a burden to you…" said Arche as he looked down at the ground. Back exposed to the mage.

"It's fine. We're just repaying your ancestor," said the mage as he patted Arche's back.

Fen stood there in the shade that was cast upon by the tree where he leaned on.

[I should tell him now]

He walked towards Arche with an intention that could only be read as ominous. He didn't want to ruin Arche's days where he looked joyous every day. Yet he must. For Arche's future.

When Arche was busy chatting with the mage, Fen stood behind him.

"Arche, we need to talk," said Fen with his arms crossed.

"Why? What's the matter?" asked Arche as looked up to face Fen.

"It's about your future," said Fen as he looked down toward Arche.

"Hmm, okay," Arche had turned around to face Fen. As if to show that he is willing to listen to what he had to say.

"Let me ask your question. What are your plans when you finish?" inquired Fen. With a hand that moved from the cross to his forehead.

"I'm not sure myself," Arche responded to Fen's question. His eyes told no lies. He had no idea what to do after he had finished off his training in this pocket dimension.

"Then why'd you so easily agree on having this power?" Fen inquired Arche once more.

"I needed to get stronger," answered Arche in response.

"Why?" asked Fen.

"So, at the very least I can protect those I want," claimed Arche in response as he stared at his right fist.

"I see. Then do you want to exact revenge?" Fen had asked again, but this time the mood had gotten heavy.

"How did you…" said Arche as he stared daggers toward Fen.

"The elder told me about your past," said Fen.

"Elder?" questioned Arche.

"Yeah, they could see the past of others. This made catching criminals way easier. Though no crime had been done for years so it had been deemed useless magic," explained Fen.

[It doesn't seem like they know about my reincarnation] thought Arche silently with relief.

"Magic? Does this mean I can learn it?" inquired Arche with lights beaming out from his eyes.

"Sure, you can. That is if you get the permission from the elder," Fen said in response.

"Why?" asked Arche with a face full of confusion.

"Because it's his family's inherited magic," responded Fen.

"I see. Now that I'm done here, I'll go visit the elder now," said Arche as he got up and walked off.

"Okay," replied Fen waving his hand.

Arche stopped midway.

"Hehe…" said Arche as he stroked his head with his left hand and carried his clothes in his other.

"What's wrong?" asked Fen.

"Can you tell me where the elder is?" responded Arche, still stroking his head.

"….."

"….."

"Across my house," said Fen.

"Thanks, I'll get going now," thanked Arche as he walked off to see the elder.

"He's something else huh," said the mage from behind Fen.

"Yeah. Want to grab something to eat?" said Fen to the mage.

"Sure, I'm famished from all that mana injection," answered the mage as he stroked his belly.

knock knock

"Hello? Is anyone home?" said Arche as he knocked even more at the wooden door.

"Come in," a raspy voice came from the dark depth of the house.

"Coming in…" said Arche softly as to not disturb the elder.

"Arche, right? I've been expecting you. Come upstairs to the tower," said the elder with a raspy voice.

Upon arriving at the topmost room, which was the tower connected to the house. Arche stood there nervously, yet not for long. He took deep breaths and opened the door to see an old wolf sat down on the wooden flooring.

"Sorry for the disturbance," he said.

"What took you so long?" inquired the elder on his late arrival with his back against Arche.

"I came as fast as possible after I had finished," explained Arche.

"So, I take it that you have acquired the magic?" asked the elder as he turn to look at Arche

"Yes," answered Arche.

"Show it to me," instructed the elder.

As the elder had commanded, Arche used his magic. The room was filled with the light blue glow of ice. As if signifying the purity of the Fenrir clan's magic.

"How magnificent, never did the clan has someone with this pure ice mana," said the elder, impressed.

"Really?" doubt Arche.

"Yeah, has that boy Fen transformed before you?" asked the elder.

"Yes," answered Arche.

"Was there any instance of colors emanating from his body when he transformed?" inquired the elder.

"No," Arche answered again,

"There's your answer. Anyways, are you ready to learn memory magic?" said the elder.

"Memory magic?" questioned Arche.

"Yes, did that boy not explain it to you?" curiously asked the elder.

"Fen? No, he did not," replied Arche.

"Haiya, ok sit down," said the elder in frustration.

Arche proceeded to sit down in front of the elder. He sat down the way he had always been in his hospital bed. With two of his feet reaching out.

"Calm your mind, I'm going to inject the mantra for it," instructed the elder.

"This is different than the magic I had just learned," proclaimed Arche.

"Of course, it is. That was magic of the wild attribute while this is of the spirit attribute," explained the elder.

"Spirit attribute?" inquired Arche.

"Yes, I'll explain to you after I impart this," answered the elder.

"Okay," replied Arche.

Though Arche was reluctant, he was still willing. A reason was that he was curious about the power that can trace someone's past.

woosh~

[Our hallway…?]

A small figure, akin to that of a baby, had strutted out of a room. The baby crawled its way into another way. To find out what was happening, Arche followed the baby.

All of a sudden, the lit-up room's door was opened, behind it was Sunny. Without further ado, tears poured out from Arche's eyes.

"Huh? Why?" questioned Arche as looked down to see his two hands filled with tears.

He still couldn't fathom what was going on. Though he tried to understand, he did not have the chance. By the next moment, the vision was gone.

woosh~

[A full moon now?] said Arche in his head.

A figure of Damian then appeared in front of Arche. Now knowing what to say, he stood there frozen by the sheer shock. The next thing he knew, he cried.

"Dad…? Dad! I miss you!" cried Arche as he rushed towards the gallant figure of Damian.

But it was all for naught. When he tried on hugging Damian, he couldn't. The moment he tried, he went phased through Damian's body.

"No-! Please-! Let me at least touch!" Arche sobbed and sobbed as he looked at his two hands.

sniffles

woosh~

His surroundings were once again changed. From the beautiful moonlit night to the deep darkness of the sewers.

"No! No! Please, why am I here, just to suffer!" cried out Arche, with his two hands on each other, begging for this to stop.

shing

Sounds of metals clashing could be heard from the distance. Though reluctant, he walked, slowly, to where it emanated from.

As he had expected, it was the scene of that day. The clash between his guards and the masked men, with Aidan who led their charge.

There in the corner of his eyes, he saw two figures cloaked in black. They took advantage of the situation and dashed and got past the masked men.

From the deduction Arche had made from the previous two memories, it was proven that he could not interact and could only witness the scenes unfold once more.

swoosh

Exactly as he had remembered, one of the masked men took notice of her and threw a dagger. which was inbound to the child's leg.

The bigger one took notice of the incoming dagger. She patted her whole body as if to search for something to repel the dagger.

But she couldn't find anything that could help. With no other choice, she's put her hand on the trajectory of the dagger.

stab

"Ouch…" she whispered as if to not make her son worry.

Enduring the pain, she crouched and kept on running with her son. Still with her left hand pierced. Unfortunately, there were still daggers inbound toward her son.

She stood straight without any hesitation with her son's safety in mind. She ran more to the left, right behind her son.

"Mom! No!" the boy yelled out.

"Shh, shh, shh, I'm fine, now go! Don't look back and run!" she said with a smile on her face as the boy ran away.

Memories of the past twelve years he had spent in this world appeared one by one. From the first encounter with Lunaria right to the despair of his life. All memories were displayed.

woosh~

Arche was now in a pitch-black room, with not a single lighting.

"Sorry about that boy," echoed a voice from the dark abyss.

"Did you do that?" questioned Arche.

"Why- Why would you do that! Why have you made me suffer!" yelled Arche with streams of tears coming down his eyes.

"It was for the greater good my boy," said the voice

sobs

"Excuse me?" said Arche as he continued sobbing.

"By going through your memories, and shuffling between the good and bad, it strengthens your mind," explained the voice.

"I-Is that what I needed to do to use your magic?" stuttered Arche as he wiped his tears away.

"Indeed, dear boy," replied the voice.

Arche huffed and puffed. His tears were now gone.

"Okay, was that it?" asked Arche if there were any more that he needed to do.

"Yes, I needed your mind- No, your spirit, to get stronger than it currently is," explained the voice.

"Okay, can I use your magic now?" asked Arche.

"Yes, though only for a short amount of time. The only way to increase the time is to continuously use the power." The voice explained once again.

woosh~

Within a moment's notice, Arche was back in the elder's room. He and the elder looked at one another for a moment, before parting ways with each other for the last time.