Valerian, The Legendary

264 Follow The Heart.

Valerian found the old man sitting in front of a tombstone. This cemetery was where the deceased of the clar-awks was laid to rest in peace. This place was located behind the Tree Of Origin. Normally, everyone would come here once a year, to remember their loved ones. It was a festival to pay respects.

Only old man Fern was someone who would come here whenever he could find a chance to. Valerian was not shocked because he found the old man here, but because this place was nothing like a cemetery. It was a paradise, blooming with different flowers, and nicely trimmed grass and even the tombstones were all in one piece.

Valerian was confused when he saw this, he thought he was in a dream, another reason that confused him was that the old man in front of the tombstone was not moving. He could see that the shoulders of the person were wet with dew, and his eyes were listless. He did not dare to move closer to Master Fern. Not because he was afraid, but because he did not think he should be the one to disturb the old man.

He turned his head around and made his way to the palace, where he found the Chiefs and the maiden talking about something with smiles on their faces. Trin said, “Your Excellency, master Valerian is here.”

The young man walked closer to the crowd and they all sensed that something was wrong the Maiden asked, “Master Valerian, is something the matter?”

Valerian nodded and after checking the surroundings he said, “I apologize for being the bearer of bad news, but Master Fern, he left.”

The people were confused and did not understand what he meant when a Chief of the army said, “Master Fern, left? What do you mean, Master Valerian?”

The young man said, “He is in the cemetery, I do not know for how long he has been there, but I could not sense his breath or heartbeat when I found him. Please have someone check the situation.”

The group of people went blank. They could not wrap their brain around this news. The Maiden regained her senses and said, “Trin, call Miss Shiba, and let us head to the cemetery.”

.....

The aid nodded and rushed inside the infirmary, while the rest of the people asked Valerian about the details. The young human prince did not hide anything from them, including his analysis. The people were shocked and found it even more unbelievable, however, they could not get understand what was going on there.

Trin returned with Shiba beside her. The lady looked much calmer than before and her gaze was clear. She was not acting like the timid or brave self from earlier. She was the definition of a calm river. She cast a gaze at Valerian and then at the Maiden, who said, “Miss Shiba, please follow us.”

Shiba nodded and followed the group to the cemetery, and the situation was just as Valerian had explained to them. The people were shocked. They did not understand what was going on there. Looking at the man kneeling in front of a tombstone, Shiba said, “You all do not understand, do you?”

The people cast her a gaze while she explained calmly, “There was a legend, that if the flower or Sripa was fed with mana regularly for a long period of hundreds of years, it will be able to stay blooming forever. My father loved my mother and me a lot. Look at the scenery carefully.

This is because he used his mana to cultivate this place into a paradise for our deceased. This was what he forged with his life. A beautiful scene that will always welcome those who seek solace and those who leave us behind.”

The people looked at the kneeling old man and they could not help but feel a sting in their eyes. Valerian said, “Can we lay him to rest? He has been here all night, on his own.”

The people regained their senses and they all moved to work. Valerian, however, stood in the back to watch them all do the things. Trin would come to him and ask if he was okay from time to time. It was not like he did not take the initiative, but the maiden said that since he does not know their ways, it would be better for him to watch everything from the back.

The young man watched the entire process, the funeral ceremony lasted for a couple of days and then the grieving services were held. Valerian watched a lot of people cry and express their emotions and sense of loss. He stood in a corner with his head down. He did not know what to do, so after a few minutes, he walked out of the place and came to his shack.

The day passed quickly as he was sitting in meditation. It was night when the door of his shack was knocked and the young man asked, “Who is it?”

“It is me, Hansa.”, said the person.

Valerian could tell that the voice belonged to the maiden and opened the door. He walked out of his house and asked, “Is there something the matter, Your Excellency?”

The lady looked at him with her deep eyes and said, “I saw you very dejected and listless today, so wanted to ask if you are okay?”

Valerian was surprised, he did not know that someone was going to notice his abnormality. He nodded and said, “I am okay, just a little sad.”

Maiden Hansa nodded and said, “You can let it out by crying. It will be helpful.”

Hearing this, Valerian could not help but show her a bitter smile and said, “I am unable to cry, Your Excellence.”

The maiden was surprised and said, “I do not understand.”

Valerian replied in a low tone, “I was born with a lot of blessings, one of them is the understanding of beast lingo, and when I awakened my other blessings, I found that I can cast spells from any of the seven elements. You must have seen them today, right?”

Hansa nodded with her eyes filled with surprise, and Valerian said, “Vita blessed me generously, but then she also took a few things from me. The ability to express sadness with tears and wails, and the ability to speak.”

Hansa was shocked for a second and then she chuckled, “You almost got me there, Master Valerian. I thought you were serious.”

Valerian pointed at his collar chains and said, “Please look at these chains carefully.”

Hansa focused her gaze on the chains with an expression that said, ‘You cannot fool me.’

Valerian said, “You will see that they are vibrating slightly as I speak, however, the vibrations are produced by channeling mana through the chains. I only move my lips to sync them with the sound.”

Hansa was looking at the movement of the chains and she found that the guy was not lying to her. She was surprised and the more she understood the situation the more shocked she became. She looked at Valerian and asked, “How can you cast a spell?”

Valerian replied, “I was able to do this from the day I awakened my blessings.”

The maiden was shocked and she did not know what to say, this was not something that would ordinarily happen. After regaining her calm, she said, “I see, nothing in the world is without a price. I wonder what the others will think if they got to know this.”

Valerian said, “I hope that Your Excellency can keep this matter a secret. The more people know the more they change. Some look at me with pity while some look at me with disgust. Status and strength are the two criteria that can change how people look at things.”

Hansa understood what he meant and nodded as she said, “You do not have to worry, I will keep things secret, Master Valerian.”

Valerian nodded and looked at the sky, then said, “It is getting late, Your Excellency, you should return to the palace.”

Hansa looked at his profile and could sense that his radiant aura was gloomy, but even though she could sense it, she could not do anything about it. The lady decided to leave him to his own measures and left after bidding him good night.

Valerian stood under the night sky for a bit longer and looking at the moon in the sky he said, “May you find your peace, Teacher Fern.”

That said he sighed and walked inside his shack. Life will go on and on, it does not stop because someone has passed away. Although he was used to it, he has lost a lot of people, but still, he could not help but feel sad over the fact that life would come to an end.

...

The next day, Valerian woke up and after his class with the Maiden, he went to the Forging shop, only to find Shiba standing at the front door, with some hesitation on her face. He said, “Teacher Fern often said while forging one should follow their hearts.”