Quintessence of Arcana

The Sealed Village

Before the old man could respond, Erald continued, “That's my name... At least the only thing that I remembered.”

“I see. It’s a real pity. But you are absolutely not an ordinary youth so you should be able to retrieve your memories very soon.” The old man said.

“Thanks for the encouragement grandpa Gin. By the way, are you familiar with the place called Asia?”

“Asia? Where is it?” The old man turned to Erald, confused.

Erald was startled and said, “I don't know where... but according to my vague memories, it is a place...”

The old man shook his head. “I have never heard of a place named Asia. I've walked to almost every corner of the continent since young, and I’ve never heard of the name. When someone loses his memory, some of the fragments that resurfaced may end up as a mere delusion. So maybe everything that you’ve remembered isn’t real.”

“Oh? I guess so...”

Erald frowned slightly from the old man's words and pondered for a moment. As he expected, the places in Evan Skier's memories didn't exist in this place. In other words, this is a completely different world. He then accidentally recalled one of the terms from Evan's memories—the concept of Multiverse, a theoretical reality that includes a possibly infinite number of parallel universes.

“Did I traversed to this world? Or is it all my imagination? But why did I lose my memories... and how did I acquired the memories of a different person?”

Erald thought of any possibilities but he shook his head and leave it for the meantime. He continued to ask, “What on earth is this place called then?”

Grandpa Gin earnestly replied, “The continent where we are currently is called Yden. Beyond it lies the boundless ocean. Yden are separated into four regions—North, West, East and South. The Great Empire of Arcadia rules the east. The Kingdom of Altair rules the north, the Austine Empire rules the west, and the Alkaid Sovereignty rules the south. They are also referred as the continent's four great nations.”

Grandpa Gin seemed to yearn for the old days after recounting this, as if it had been too long since he had seen the world of which he spoke.

“Does everyone here speak a common language?” Erald asked.

“That’s right.”

“Then... where is this particular place?”

Grandpa Gin was silent for a moment and sighed, “This is the Forsaken wilderness, located in the outskirts of the Northern region. An area that was forgotten and sealed off...”

Erald was confused. “What do you mean by forgotten and sealed off?”

Noticing Erald’s confused face, the old man continued, “The existence of this place is not recorded to any historical books in the continent. When I first came here, this small village is just filled with only a hundred people living peacefully without any interaction on the outside world. It was then that I discovered that there was a strong barrier that only let people in but not out. The barrier covered the entire wilderness and one of the boundaries is the ravine where I found your unconscious body. Almost all of the villagers have attempted to break through it many times but every attempt has ended in failure. So, the trapped people here have no other choice but to settle down and live out their lives.”

Erald’s face stiffened in silence.

“A sealed place. If there is no way to get out, then how could I recover my memory and find my origins? Perhaps I should just settle here like the other people?”

Seeing Erald's stiffened face, the old man smiled and continued in a reassuring tone, “Don't worry. I know what you're thinking. Fifteen years ago, there's a magic practitioner that happened to stumbled upon this place. Although he didn't found a way on how to dispel the barrier, he managed to found a way on how to bypass it.”

Erald widen his eyes, as he had just regain his hope and asked, “Then do you know what is it Grandpa Gin?”

Grandpa Gin continued, “Well, the only requirement is that you must be a magic practitioner. To be precise, when you know how to channel mana and cast magic, you can bypass the enchantment placed in the barrier...”

“Magic? But how can I learn it?” Erald said in a panic. “Who will teach me?”

Granpa Gin chuckled and said, “You're really a lucky one that you ended up in my place. I happened to be a magic practitioner, so I can at least teach you about the basics of magic...”

Erald was overjoyed. “Really?”

The old man smiled and nodded. Then at the moment, a sound of hurried steps and a man's labored breathing broke their conversation.

Erald glanced in the direction of the sound, and discovered a tall man drenched in sweat running toward him with a large bamboo basket on his back. The man seemed to be pretty young, though with a weathered face. His physique was stout and muscular to a degree that was almost ridiculous.

Upon spotting Grandpa Gin, the man in the distance abruptly quickened into a sprint and dropped the basket on the snow-covered ground, exhausted. Only half conscious, he gasped, “Grandpa, I filled the basket with fruits that you mentioned and ran thirty laps with it on my back... so today’s work—”

Suddenly, he paused for a moment, focusing his eyes on Erald. Then, he jumped as if he saw a monster. ”You, you..... you woke up?”

Erald just nodded and turn to the old man. ”Grandpa Gin, who is he?”

“This is my grandson. He just recently had his twentieth birthday, and he took care of you while you were unconscious. Considering you’ve been half-dead for the past five years, it’s not unusual for someone to be startled to see you awake.”

Erald nodded and bowed. “I’m Erald. Thank you for taking care of me over these past five years.”

The tall man still seemed a bit bewildered. He looked at Erald up and down before realizing his reaction was somewhat impolite. Embarrassed, he rubbed his head and said with a simple, honest smile, “I’m Croen Staele. You can just call me Croen like the others...”

Erald smiled. “Alright then, I’ll call you brother Croen from now on.” Even though his demeanor seemed a bit indifferent to everything, he still made people feel at ease.

“Haha...” Croen laughed nervously, a bit shy. He was not the most talkative person. “Uhh... brother Erald, let me hand out these fruits first. Then we can sit down and chat or something.”

Croen then turned around, inhaled, and then yelled at the top of his lungs. “Everyone come here! Your brother Croen is back!”

Erald jumped in surprise, startled by the sudden shout. Ears still ringing, Erald looked towards Croen, and noticed that his eyes had subtly changed—It was impressive that there was a person like Croen in such a small, sealed-off region of land.

There was no doubt Croen’s voice went very far. Almost immediately, the chaotic sound of numerous footsteps approached from the distance. It belonged to the wave of children running towards them, carrying a wide variety of containers. There were baskets, boxes, stone bowls, anything that could carry something. The children lined up in front of Croen with eager eyes and shouted together “Welcome back, brother Croen.”

Croen just stood there, an embarrassed grin on his face. “Sorry for being late. I fell into a ditch and it took a really long time to get back out. Now come here. There’s some for everyone...”

Grandpa Gin watched the scene in front of him with. This was one of Croen’s daily requirements. It practiced his agility and endurance, and cultivated a sense of responsibility. The next generation did not have to be the kindest, but it could not be allowed to be evil.

Grabbing two with each hand, Croen continued to fill each child’s basket with fruit. He was obviously satisfied to see the kids leave with excited faces. Erald just watched quietly from the side. He was pondering his own life when he suddenly became aware of an acute tingling sensation that felt like he was being watched. It came from a nearby tree, and he turned his head to looked at it. His gaze met a pair of bright, glittering, and almost translucent eyes that belonged to a white silhouette hiding there. Perhaps startled at being discovered, the figure shifted a little and hid back behind the tree as if waiting for something.

Eventually, the last kid cheerfully shouted “Bye, brother Croen!” and disappeared. Croen rubbed his hands together, almost as if he was sad not to have anyone left to give fruit to. He had taken this task as a sort of daily pleasure a long time ago.

Only then did the white figure emerge quietly from behind the tree and stand before Croen with her head facing the ground. She called out shyly, “Brother Croen.”

The girl had attracted Erald’s attention from the moment she emerged and his eyes sticking to her like a glue. She seemed to be only twelve years old or so, and Erald could only describe her as small and delicate. She wore a long, flowing white dress that was wrinkled but at least clean. What caught Erald’s attention the most though was her long, blond hair and a large blood-red colored birthmark that completely occupied the other side of her face. It looked very frightening. The right side of her face was like an angel and the left side of her face was like a devil. If the birthmark didn't exist on her face, then she would be no doubt an absolute beauty.

Croen hurriedly reached into his basket to grabbed a fruit, but his expression stiffened when he pulled out a large fruit that seemed to be an apple. Embarrassed, he rubbed his head and apologized. “Sorry blond-haired sister, it seems that I miscounted today. This is the only one left. But it’s the biggest.”

The girl accepted it carefully and just smiled. “That’s okay. Thank you brother Croen.”

She nervously glanced over at Erald before running out of sight.

After watching her exquisite shadow disappear, Erald was left thoughtless for a moment, before asking, “Who was she?”

Grandpa Gin looked at him and said, “She just showed up a week ago. I guess she just broke in by chance and couldn’t get back out. As you saw it yourself, half of her face is too scary. Everyone here rejects her, and drives her away whenever they see her. But she doesn’t seem to be evil at all. She seems to be delicate, but at least she can survive on her own. She waits and comes here every day just to get her portion...”

Erald remained silent until Croen interrupted him. “Well brother Erald, since I've managed to finish my matters, I now want to hear your story...”

Erald smiled and replied, “Sure...”

The two young men then proceed to the balcony of the wooden shack while sipping a cup of tea. Erald just briefly told Croen about his lost memories, making the latter sympathized with him. They chatted till dusk as Croen do most of the talking. Erald just quietly listen to him.

“By the way brother Erald, what are your plans in the future?”

“Plans? Well I just stick around here for the meantime before I leave to search for my past. I asked Grandpa Gin to teach me magic in order to get out from this place's barrier...”

Seeing Erald's determined expression, Croen said, “The world outside is harsh and full of dangers. Status and power comes first above all aspects, and the strong ones would always feast over the weak. I can only advice you to be careful...”

Seeing the solemn expression of Croen, Erald couldn't help but ask, “Are you familiar with the outside world, brother Croen?”

“Well, I cannot say that I'm very familiar but I have experience at least. Two years ago, I ventured the outside world to temper myself and returned six months later. During that period, I manage to accumulate some knowledge and become stronger.” Croen earnestly said.

“Oh, so you're a magic practitioner!” Erald was surprised.

Croen grinned and rubbed his nose while saying, “Thanks to Grandpa for his guidance.”

Then he stood up, patted Erald's shoulder and continued, “Grandpa Gin is a good teacher and you can learn many things from him... I believe that you're an extraordinary person, so your talent in magic may be definitely high. Perhaps you are one of the so called 'one-of-a-kind' geniuses that grandpa usually mentioned.”

“One-of-a-kind genius?”

“Well, that is just my gut feeling.” Croen laughed.

.........................

That night, Erald returned to the bed that he had slept for five years, but since he couldn't sleep, he decided to go outside the room for the meantime to get some fresh air while looking at the boundless sky silently.

“Can I really found my past and returned to the life that I used to live?”

Erald deeply sighed as he turned his head downwards and grabbed something out from his collar. It was the pendant-like object that he worn around his neck. He stared into it for a while as if he was deeply engraving it's features into his mind, before clutching it with his hand.

“This object is the only lead I've got to uncover my past...”

After returning the pendant back into its place, Erald gently yawned and stretched out his arms. He didn't even notice that he accidentally grazed one of his fingers over a sharp part of the wood that is supporting the shack. Erald didn't feel anything, seemingly oblivious, but a short cut showed up on his finger and began to bleed. After a short moment, the cut surprisingly disappeared and did not even left a scar.

He breathe a mouthful of air afterwards before returning back to the room.