“The first mark to being a proper soul bearer is knowing how to burn a soul, the second mark is knowing how to fuse them, and the final seal which turns a ‘soul bearer’ into a ‘truth bearer’ is knowing how to ignite one’s own soul.” As his master’s words entered his ears, Ega couldn’t help but scoff.

  “So? Where did you steal those words from?”

  “I did not steal it from anyone!” His master was appalled that Ega was taking him for a thief. “I am simply passing on their knowledge.”

  “What does that even mean? What the hell is a ‘truth bearer’ even?”

  “I don’t know, but doesn’t it make me sound smart?” Seeing that smirk on his master’s face, Ega couldn’t help but feel strangely ashamed.

  He should have seen it coming. After being with his master for three years now, he should have known that whenever his master said anything that sounded intelligent, it probably wasn’t originally from his mouth.

  “What’s with that look? Just because I don’t understand it doesn’t mean I can’t take you to being a ‘truth bearer’ as well.”

  “But, can’t we do anything else?” He was getting restless just sitting on the grass and trying to meditate. “How am I going to ‘ignite’ anything if I’m just sitting with my eyes closed?”

  His master sighed at his little disciple. The kid was a little brash, very impatient, and razor sharp around the edges, but if there was anything he had, it was an inhuman amount of grit.

  “You’re not just sitting with your eyes closed, you’re trying to meditate. What, you want to train your eyes instead?”

  “Yes!” Ega shot up at the opportunity to do something other than meditation. “At least I can feel myself getting better at it. Meditation doesn’t do shit for me.”

  He’d rather grind his body into the ground and push himself to the brink of death rather than try and meditate. Frankly, it was boring, and to him, it felt like a waste of time.

  Stubborn. His master was beginning to attach another label onto his disciple. “Fine, come with me. But don’t think this is over. You’re going to learn how to meditate one way or another.”

  Picking up his metal staff, he began to lead the way. Ega quickly followed behind, excited for some “actual” training.

  But Ega would come to regret that decision of dismissing meditation all those years ago. As he drew his blade out in the training grounds, his expression began to harden. It was finally time for him to face the wall that he was unable to overcome all those years ago.

  “Ignite.” Ega muttered, hoping that repeating the word would somehow let him understand the process better.

  Just what did it mean to unify the soul with the mind and body? Just how would a soul bearer even go about doing so? If he had learned how to meditate properly, maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to figure it out.

  Ega knew what to do. He knew that he needed to understand himself better. He knew that he needed to look within and find himself. He knew he needed to find the potential within his own soul. But he didn’t know how to do it.

  Vague, introspective processes were never Ega’s forte. And so, here he was, left to pick up the pieces of his incomplete training.

  No matter how much he tried to think it over, Ega just couldn’t come up with a solution to his problem. He didn’t know what the first step was. He didn’t know what steps he even had to take afterward.

  Frustration began to stain his face as more and more time began to pass without a single clue to his dilemma. No matter how hard he delved into his own thoughts, no matter how long he tried to think of some sort of solution, his mind ran blank.

  He hated it. He hated how useless he felt. He hated how stupid he seemed. But most of all, he hated how powerless he was.

  Unable to hold it in any further, began to swing his sword. If he couldn’t think up a solution, then he’d do it the only way he knew how. Train.

  Swing your sword until you can’t swing it anymore, and continue to swing it regardless. It didn’t matter that Ega was beating his head against a wall, he just needed to do something.

  The air nearly split with every swing of his blade. But it wasn’t enough. The ground seemed to tremor with every swing of his blade. But it wasn’t enough. The horizon almost disappeared with every swing of his blade, but it wasn’t enough.

  Ega was weak. He was beginning to feel that more than ever. Vulf had been a struggle. If it weren’t for Hela and her knights, he would have been dead just a few days ago. Just how much stronger would his next target be? Just how much stronger did Ega need to become? Just how would he bring back an Old God with this amount of strength?

  Ega didn’t want his strikes to just “nearly” split the air. He didn’t want them to just make it “seem” like the earth trembled. He didn’t want to “almost” make the horizon disappear. No, he wanted each strike to achieve that impossible and exact goal.

  He wanted to tear at the air around him. He wanted to make the earth crumble with each strike. He wanted to destroy the horizon that stood before him.

  If Ega truly wanted to prevent the kingdom from being consumed by Outers, at the very least, he needed to achieve the impossible.

  He swung and swung and swung until even the sun began to grow bored of his efforts, letting night take over to watch him. Despite everything, he still hadn’t found a single clue on how to ignite his own soul.

  Exhausted, Ega dropped his sword, cursing underneath his breath at the fact that he had not even taken a single step forward. His targets wouldn’t just wait for him to get stronger. The Outers wouldn’t just wait until he gathered up the Mithril Blood that he needed.

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  He was afraid, he was afraid ever since he had started to receive those visions from Yolu. He was afraid that he would eventually meet his demise. He was afraid that the kingdom of Lanier would be consumed by the Outers. But more than anything, he was afraid of his own weakness.

  He wanted to pick up his sword, no, he had to pick up his sword. Gritting his teeth, he moved his lead filled arms and gripped his sword once more. Even if this was useless, even if it wouldn’t help him achieve the true potential of his own soul, he had to do something.

  Even through the night, he started to swing again. His arms felt like they were burning, his chest ached as he heaved for more air, but still, he swung his sword. Desperation. That was the only thing that was pushing him now. No. It was the thing that had been pushing him since the beginning.

  Although his efforts felt futile, a small change began to ignite inside of Ega. He was never one to look inside of himself very often, so he didn’t notice that throughout the night, a light began to burn brighter. The flames to Ega’s soul had started to grow, even if just by a little bit.

  …

  With Ega out training, Ella was left under Hela’s watchful eyes. With everything that had occurred, more paperwork had stacked up on her desk. And so, she filled them out, keeping an eye on Ella who was trying to read a book.

  Not wanting her to become a muscle head like Ega, she thought that it was a good idea to get her to read some books. Although she didn’t possess the same eyes as Ega, she could tell Ella was struggling to read in the simplest book in her collection.

  “Do you need any help?” Hela asked, wanting to get away from all the paperwork.

  “N-no… I’m fine.” Despite those words, her cheeks began to flush red.

  “You can’t read or write?” Seeing Ella’s face flush bright red, it seemed like she had hit the mark.

  Realizing that her face was giving away all the answers, Ella tried to hide it with the book in her hands.

  Hela couldn’t help but laugh. “No need to be embarrassed. Why don’t you come over here, I have some time to teach you.”

  She had expected this, afterall, Ella had been living as a slave before running into Ega, and it wasn’t like he could have taught her much in the short time that they were together.

  Ella slowly approached Hela, still intimidated by her overwhelming presence. Knowing that she used to be Ega’s commander, she didn’t want to cause any trouble for him.

  “Sit here.” Bringing over a chair for Ella, she began to teach her how to read and write.

  Ega had told her something interesting, that Ella was strangely talented. Something about the child’s eyes would tip her off, and so, Hela wanted to witness it for herself. Grabbing one of the more dull documents on her desk, she began to read it out loud, letting Ella follow along.

  Just as she did, she glanced over at the child, noticing a strange gaze coming from her eyes. They were incredibly focused, almost as if nothing but the words on the paper was on her mind.

  ‘So this is what he meant.’ She thought. Hela didn’t need to instruct or teach, she simply needed to serve as an example and Ella would pick up on it.

  As she continued to read, Hela would stop a few times and ask her if she could read a few words. At first, she struggled, but as time went on, she was beginning to read a few phrases and even an entire sentence.

  Amused, Hela continued to go through the documents with Ella by her side. It made the process more bearable, and for a moment, she had forgotten about the fact that punishment would soon arrive at her doorstep.

  The sun began to drop over the horizon, and as Hela noticed the orange light seep through her window and dress her table, she decided it was time to stop here.

  “It's already getting quite late. I’m sure Ega would want to see you…” Hela’s eyes went toward the window which oversaw the entire training grounds. Seeing him still swinging his sword, she couldn’t help but sigh. “It’s about time for dinner, do you want to eat?”

  Ella furiously nodded her head. It seemed like any mention of food got her quite excited.

  “Alright then, let me call up one of the servants.” Picking up a bell on her table, she began to ring it. A maid quickly arrived at her doorstep, and after giving her orders to bring up two meals, they quickly left.

  “Thank you Ms…” Unsure of how to address, Ella stopped herself.

  “Why don’t you just call me grandma? I’m too old to be a ‘Ms.’ now.” Smiling, she began to pat Ella’s head.

  “Grandma?” Ella was beginning to warm up to Hela; being able to talk to her without being too intimidated. “Does that mean you’re Ega’s mom?”

  “Mom?” Hela was stunned. “No, no, I’m not…”

  Despite her words, she couldn’t dismiss what Ella was saying so easily. She had watched over Ega ever since he had first joined the order, even when he was still a cadet. How long ago was that? He was sixteen at the time, a rowdy teenager that always caused trouble in the order.

  Her lips curled up into a smile as memories began to resurface. “I guess you could say that, but don’t tell Ega.”

  “Okay grandma.”

  As she looked out the window to watch Ega again, Hela suddenly realized something.

  “Why do you call him ‘Ega?’ Isn’t he your dad?”

  “Well, we’re not… umm…” Ella didn’t want to say it.

  “Is that so?” From what Hela had witnessed, she didn’t think so. Maybe it would take him some time to understand. Afterall, she had known for a long time now that Ega could be a dense fool at times. “I’m sure you two will realize it soon enough.”

  Ella couldn’t understand what Hela was saying, but she didn’t have much time to dwell on it. There was a knock at the door, and the same maid as before brought in two trays of food before bowing and taking her leave.

  “Let’s eat. I’ll take you back to your room afterwards, okay?”

  Ella nodded her head.

  “Good.” Glancing out the window again, she noticed that the sky was dark, but Ega was still training. “Hopefully he comes back once we’re finished.”

  As they began to eat with what little space they had, Hela suddenly had a favor to ask of Ella.

  “Ella.”

  “Hm?” She was unable to say anything with her cheeks stuffed with food.

  “If Ega looks a little down or seems a bit tired, give him a few pats on the head for me, alright?”

  Although she was a bit confused, Ella nodded her head. Smiling, Hela turned back toward her food, picking a few items off and giving them to Ella. The two of them enjoyed their meal as the sun set as grandma and granddaughter.