Mysha smiled and said: "Yes, you're right. It's really interesting…Tell me, what's your name?"
Lin looked at Mysha and said: "Young miss, are you thinking…"
Mysha's smile was her only response as she looked at Lin, making Lin feel deep emotion for the kid.
"Thinking of what?" Seth asked, sensing something was off with the brown-haired girl beside him.
"You haven't answered my third question, kid…" Mysha said with a deep, profound smile.He hesitated for a moment before saying:
"Seth."
Mysha's smile brightened, like gazing at the sunrise over the ocean – it was sparkling. She then said with a calm tone voice: "Alright, Seth, you may go now…"
Seth was confused when he heard her say that, but his hands, tied behind his back, were suddenly released. He was briefly shocked by the sudden magical action, but given his transmigration, it was just a momentary surprise.
He slowly stood up, looked at Lin, and then at Mysha as he asked: "That's it?"
Mysha nodded, still smiling.
"Can I really go?" Seth asked again.
This time, Lin said: "You can go, kid. Just don't lose your way."
'Unfortunately for you, I will surely lose my way…' Seth thought as he looked at Lin. He then gazed at the cave exit, where white clouds floated above the sky.
Seth took two steps, stopped, and look at Mysha. He continued, taking five steps, now farther from Lin. He took seven, nine steps, and stopped again, looking back to see both Lin and Mysha watching him – Mysha still smiling, Lin with a indifference expression. Seth took ten steps, he didn't look back, and gazed at the thick trees, white clouds, and snow.
On the eleventh step, Mysha's right hand struck the back of his neck. His sight turned blurry, and he blacked out.
'Dammit…'
With a soft thud, Seth's body landed in the snow. Mysha looked at Lin, her smile vanished, as if it never been there before and said in a icy tone voice: "Carry him."
Lin nodded as she took a long sigh, picked up Seth, and the three of them – one unconscious – traversed the snowy field.
ᯓ
In the Kingdom of Vermeil, on the Suda Continent, a stark contrast existed between the vibrant celebration of Luminaria and the desolate alley where a young girl lay dying.
With no name, no family, and no home to return to, her life had been a lonely struggle. As she gazed up at the stars, she whispered her final word:
"Beautiful."
The stars shone brighter, as if in response to her whisper. Miraculously, the girl's eyes fluttered open, and her gaze locked onto the night sky. Her irises had transformed to purple, and she repeated the word 'Beautiful' in a different language, an Earth language!
"This…where am I?"
A flood of memories burst forth, revealing a little lonely girl's short, hard life. This body memories recalled the rain, hunger, and loneliness that had defined this little girl's pitiful life.
ᯓ
In Glace Continent, Seth awoke in an unfamiliar room. He slowly stood half of his body, he was now wearing a different outfit, a black robe, it was a little loose and quite big for his size, looking around his surroundings, he stood up, walked slowly towards the window, and gazed out at the snow-capped mountains and a sprawling houses in the distance.
Mysha, a beautiful girl with blue eyes and long black hair, entered the room.
"Oh, you're awake." she said.
Seth turned to her and asked directly: "Where am I?"
Mysha countered with a question of her own.
"Where do you think?"
Seth's response was laced with skepticism. "That's why I'm asking you because I don't know, and you're making me guess?"
Mysha smiled and said with a hint of amusement in her tone: "You have quite a mouth on you for someone so young. I'm worried about your future..."
Seth thought to himself, 'If not for this young body of mine, I would say the same thing to you.'
Mysha raised her right arm as she said: "You will have two choices." Mysha then gestured with one finger.
"First, you can stay here as I exit this room and live your own life from then on. But let me remind you, you're an orphan, and with your age and young body, you can't survive in this city. You'll only live a pitiful life on the streets."
Then she raised another finger. "Second, you'll serve under me and follow me as I exit this room. But let me tell you, you won't serve me a lifetime. Instead, there's only one condition: you'll help and support me in the competition to become the heir of the household. After that, whether I'll become the heir or not, you can choose to truly serve me for a lifetime or regain your freedom."
Mysha paused, looked at Seth, and said: "Im sure you can understand the words I just said, so what's your answer?"
Seth was naturally meeting Mysha's gaze, he wore an expressionless face as he said with an indifferent tone: "And if I don't have an answer?"
Mysha's expression turned serious as she said: "So be it then, you're just basically choosing the first option."
Seth meet Mysha's gaze and after he said:
"I'll choose the second option then…"
With that, he walked towards Mysha, stopped four steps away from her, knelt on one knee with his head lowered, and said:
"Let this pitiful orphan be at your mercy, noble lady..."
Sometimes, submitting to someone naturally would result in benefits and survival. Furthermore, Seth still had no foundation nor knowledge of this world, so he chose the latter, with a unique action at that!
Mysha's serious expression turned stupefied as she looked at Seth kneeling before her. She said in cold tone voice: "You're playing with me? What are you doing?"
Seth thought: 'Ah…I guess movie scenario doesn't work here.'
Mysha's eyes twitched twice as she looked at Seth, who was still silently kneeling and had his head lowered. Then, she took a long sigh and said:
"Forget it, raise your head."
Unknowingly, this action of kneeling with lowered heads and wise words actually works.
Seth raised his head, and Mysha's blue eyes, like the depths of the vast sea, looked down directly at him.
Mysha then closed her eyes briefly, opened them, and suddenly white threads appeared out of thin air front of her chest, forming into a white orb. Mysha pinched the orb with her thumb and index finger, pulled it back, and stretched it out to Seth. Seth looked at the white thread and asked: "What is this?"
Mysha smiled and said: "This is the Binding Vow Arcane Thread. You'll vow to me that you'll not harm me and serve me until I become the heir or not. And I'll vow that I won't harm you, and you'll receive care and regain your freedom until I become the heir or not. If you break this vow, you'll die. If I break this vow, my arcana sphere will be destroyed."
After hearing Mysha's explanation, Seth's face turned solemn. He said: "Wait a minute, that's not fair. If I break the vow, I'll die, but you'll just lose your arcana sphere, so you can still live? The consequences aren't exactly equal, are they?"
Although Seth doesn't know what is arcana sphere, he already guessed that it was that white threads of orb.
Mysha replied indifferently: "What equality can there be between the vow of a lowly sapien and a fully fledged practitioner of arcane pathway?"
Seth looked at Mysha for a second, then sighed as he thought.
'This being sapien again, does being an ordinary human so pitiful in this world?'
He stretched out his right hand, pinched the white thread, and asked: "And now what?"
Mysha said directly: "Eat it."
Seth hesitated for a moment, then put the thread in his mouth and swallowed it in one gulp. "Then?"
Mysha's said in a indifferent tone: "Bear it."
A sudden pain assaulted Seth's heart, and he grabbed his left chest. The pain was like the time he died miserably in his past life.
Mysha said: "This white thread will seep into your heart."
The pain lasted for thirty seconds, and Seth's grip slowly came off. Sweat formed on his forehead.
Mysha clapped her hands. "The agreement is done. Let's go."
With that, she walked towards the door, and Seth stood up and followed. Mysha opened the door, stepped outside, and Seth followed suit.
Seth walked behind Mysha, looking around at the wooden structures in the house. Seth soon found himself on the second floor and looked down to see countless empty tables, except for one particular table where a person sat eating. The person was a female with short brown hair that reached her neck and green eyes – It was none other than Lin.
Lin noticed both Mysha and Seth, looked up, and waved at them while saying with a mouthful of food: "I'm getting hungry and can't wait, hopefully, young miss is okay with it?"
Mysha looked at Lin and nodded as she and Seth walked downstairs, arriving at the table and taking their seats.
⊹
There was a counter with an old man cleaning a glass cup. Given the structure of this place, it was naturally a tavern.
Mysha gestured to Seth and said: "Fill your stomach first."
Even without Mysha's instruction, Seth was already eyeing the food on the table, and he was truly hungry. After hearing Mysha's words, Seth took a roasted chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth.
Mysha looked at Lin and Seth eating their fill and then went to eat too. After the three of them filled their stomachs, Mysha looked at Lin and said: "Has the matter been settled?"
Lin burped before saying with a thumbs-up gesture: "Yup."
Then Mysha looked at Seth and said: "Good, then let's go."
Saying so, the three of them got out of the tavern.
⊹
The sky was still covered in gray clouds with snowflakes carried by the wind. The surrounding streets were also covered with snow piles. The three of them, clad in black robes, walked through the streets, which had a peculiarly gloomy feeling. Soon they arrived at a certain dark alley, with Mysha first, Seth second, and Lin third. As they slowly moved through this alley, sounds slowly became audible.
As they walked further, these sounds grew louder. Then, with a turn in the alley, Seth saw a light in the distance.
Soon, the three of them stepped outside of this alley, and what appeared in Seth's vision was a lively street bustling with people. Lanterns served as streetlights, and there were different kinds of stone and wooden building structures, clothing shop, weapon and armor shops, fruits vendors and one structure stand out the most, tavern. Unlike the previous tavern they were in, this one was bustling with people. There were also carriages with horses leading them, and the driver sat in the front of the carriage.
Lin approached Seth, stretched out her left hand to hold Seth's right hand, and said:
"You might get lost, just bear with this big sister Lin hand for a while..."
Seth raised his head a little, looked at Lin with a change of expression.
Lin noticed this, chuckled, and made a guess: "Oh, is this your first time holding a girl's hand?"
Unfortunately, she guessed it wrong. In his first life, Seth had already held his mother and older sister's hands; his mother and older sister were, after all, girls. So, naturally, this wasn't his first time holding a girl's hand.
The difference this time that made Seth's expression changed was because Lin's words were exactly the same as his older sister had said before.
⊹
Mysha was still walking ahead with her back facing both of them as they followed.
The three of them walked through this bustling street and soon arrived at a certain bridge, where there were no people. Under this bride was the frozen river. Mysha stopped in her tracks, looked back, and gazed at Seth and Lin, who were holding hands. Mysha nodded at Lin.
Lin nodded back and crouched down to Seth's height, stretched out her left hand to Seth's right shoulder, and said:
"Kid, no, little Seth, as you've already made the vow, you'll need to help young miss for the position of the heir of the household in the future. This household is one of the imperial households in the Glace Continent, and currently, young miss is part of the Lunar Household and one of the candidates for the heir. So, young miss needs absolute support and manpower to compete with the other heirs."
Lin paused for a bit before saying: "Now, let me ask you, what do you think is needed for an individual to compete?"
Seth didn't need to think hard about it, and also, in this foreign world where magical phenomena could be created with human hands, it was truly obvious. So, he directly said with a firm voice: "Strength."
Lin looked at Seth with a different gaze now; she suddenly felt admiration towards her young miss for truly picking a potentially rare genius in her view. Just with his young age, with this kind of maturity and attitude, it truly made him more like a natural genius.
⊹
Mysha, who was leaning against the pole of a certain lantern and watching this from ten steps away, naturally looked at him when she heard Seth's answer.
⊹
Lin then nodded her head while saying:
"Good then, once you cross this bridge, turn left and walk one hundred and fifty steps straight. You will see a gate, with tall walls, behind were people already gathered there, and there will be a person who will ask you. Just say, your taking the academy admission and also pay 3 silver coins for the entrance fee. Just hand one gold coin and get the change.
As she was talking, Lin reached into her pocket and took out a bag full of coins.
"Take this; it contains thirty gold, enough for you to last through this school year. But don't worry, I will visit you next year. And also, as soon as you get accepted, you will be transported to a certain academy on a certain continent, one of which is in the Elyria continent, where there is the number one academy 'Ellen Academy'.
Although I am not sure if you can pass the qualification for it to be enrolled there, I'm sure you can pass the qualification of some academy. Just write me a letter to inform me which continent you're on and which academy you got enrolled in.
As for the method to write me a letter, It's called arcane messenger, naturally the academy professor will provide you with this if your an arcane pathway, but if not, just buy it, as for using it just envisioned me in your thoughts."
Seth nodded his head as he grabbed the bag of coins. As he was about to ask, Lin tossed a small booklet to him, and he then heard Lin's next words: "This book contains all the common knowledge of everything and also some insights into being a practitioner and whichever pathway you will belong to."
With that, she patted Seth's head, stood up, and slowly walked towards Mysha.
Seth inspected the booklet as he scanned some pages. While inspecting, he heard Mysha's voice: "Let's meet again kid..."
Seth looked at where Mysha was leaning and where Lin was standing, but there was no one there anymore. Only the sound of the wind was heard, and the flakes of snow were visible in his vision.
He then walked towards and crossed the bridge with an expressionless face.
ᯓ
By following the instructions said by Lin, Seth soon reached the gate as a male adult person wearing a brown kind of uniform came to ask him, this male adult has already had wrinkles on face as he asked: "Did you lose your way here, kid?"
Seth then shook his head as he answered according to Lin's instructions.
"I'm taking the academy admissions."
This male was stunned for a bit before asking: "How old are you?"
Seth replied: "I'm twelve years old."
"Are you sure about that kid? You can only do this once in your life. If I were you, I would just go train my body and comeback until I am an adult to have a better chance in opening my pathway.
If you're here trying your luck because you thought you're some kind of a genius rarely seen in a thousand years, then I regretfully suggest that you should go back, before you suffer kid." This male adult said.
Seth frowned and thought: 'You talk too much mister.' Miss Lin didn't say anything about chances though?'
'Although on the way here, I already read some pages that naturally caught my attention, and that is the pathways.
Currently, there are three pathways for me to have a chance in getting it. Mauler, Arcane, and Majeure, but I am not sure if I could actually get one of these pathways.
In the booklet, it only mentioned that pathways were predestined, but if you're not, with only one chance of doing it, yet, In the end your not destined for a certain pathways, then you can only have a prospect of living a sapien life.
'As for the way to open a pathway, it's written in the booklet that one must pass through a test which specifies a certain pathway. Arcane pathway test is the illusion of death, Mauler pathway test is the illusion of hardships, and Majeure pathway test is the illusion of hurdles, and to get into this test, I need to take the academy admissions.'
'As for what academy admissions are, it's an aptitude exam for the potential pathway to participate in the test. Arcane aptitude are white threads, Mauler aptitude are raging waves, and Majeure aptitude are layers. Naturally I can see my aptitude once I enter my sanctuary. A sanctuary naturally is my own consciousness realm.
'As for what the aptitude exam is, it will be up to the Jade Stone Ruin, which will examine my aptitude for a certain pathway, and that Jade Stone Ruin is currently inside this place.'
Seth thought as he looked at the gate in front of him, and he couldn't see what's behind it as his gaze landed on the person in front of him, and said:
"What about you, mister? How old are you?"
This male adult was stunned by this young boy's question but soon recovered his expression and said with a stern voice: "I'm already fourthty-one years old, kid, so you should treat your elders better and not rebuke them. Didn't your parents teach you that?"
Seth smiled before saying: "Precisely so, mister; you're already old while I am still young. From what I can guess, you're just a sapien, mister; you already lost the opportunity to change your life years ago, and even so, you're not destined to begin with."
Seth paused, looked at the adult in front of him whose face clearly showed a change of expression in it as this adult heard Seth's several words.
Seth then continued without any regards, with even a hint of amusement was carried in his tone.
"And me? I still have the opportunity to change my life. Isn't it worth a try to grab this opportunity early for me to learn whether I am destined or not? And as for my parents, yes, they did teach me about moral ethics that 'you must respect your elders,' but they also taught me to be practical and seize opportunities when they arise. So, I'll take my chance, and you can just take your advice and keep it to yourself, mister." With a confident smile, Seth stood his ground.
This male adult's face was already twitching from Seth's words. But eventually, he realized that the boy had said something kind of truthful.
He was already truly old.
This male adult then took a long sigh with a thought: 'New waves rise, old tides fall.'
He looked at Seth and said: "Three silver coins for the entrance fee."
Seth was already prepared; He took one gold coin he prepared and gave it to the male adult as the adult gave him his change of seven silver coins. That is to say, one gold coin is equivalent to ten silver coins. This male adult then opened the gate as Seth took a step forward and entered it.
People were already everywhere; most of them were teenagers, varying probably from age fourteen to seventeen; some were also adults, probably from eighteen to thirty years old. Some of these people were gathered in a group, and some were also alone, standing or crouching.
In the center, there was a large colored jade stone; it stood high and big as a tavern house. It was the Jade Stone Ruin!
Seth looked at this Jade Stone Ruin from afar; he analyzed it. Seth already knew when it was going to start; it was written on the fourth page of the booklet.
It would happen when the clouds would disappear from the sky, as the night revealed itself, and the stars would start shifting from the north. This event only happened every once in a year; on this, it was to say that Seth really transmigrated at a perfect timing.
It was also written in the booklet that every continent has a group of phases of this particular event. There were a total of seven continents: Suda Continent, Noda Continent, Elyria Continent, and Ausi Continent were in the first phase.
The second phase consisted of Glace Continent, Aran Continent, and Vida Continent.
Seth walked towards an empty space and sat cross-legged. He took out his booklet and began reading some of the pages.