bullyxtreme About Part Two of Merin's Journey
About Part Two of Merin's Journey
1. Grey Space: /posts/m-2-1-grey-space-159386660A golden, swirling energy pulsed with ancient power as countless runes surrounded it in silence. They were dull and lifeless, as though they had slept for uncounted millennia.
Then, a single rune glowed.
Another followed. Then another. One by one, the dormant symbols awakened until the suffocating darkness blazed with brilliant golden light.
A heavy sigh echoed through the void.
*“So, I am dead.”*
A profound silence followed. Moments later, a rift tore open nearby, revealing a boundless grey space filled with churning mist.
*“This will do for now.”*
The voice fell silent once more, retreating into a deep slumber.
---
Inside the grey expanse, a young man materialised out of thin air. He stumbled, looking around in sudden, gripping terror.
*Where am I?*
Clay clutched his head as a violent torrent of memories flooded his mind. He saw the life of a boy named Merin, growing up in a strange world, studying, graduating, and then… dying in the midst of celebrating that very graduation.
*I am Merin.*
The thought sent a shiver of revulsion through him. Resolve slowly fought its way through the panic in his eyes.
“No,” he whispered, his voice trembling but firm. “This life, I can only be Clay. The son of Suzanne and the elder brother of Sofie. Merin is dead.”
****************************************
2. Home: /posts/m-2-2-home-159420973
Clay smiled brightly, eager to finally bring a piece of good news into their bleak lives. “Mother, I passed the Mage Qualification Test today. The Mayor himself has invited me to a grand banquet at his estate tonight.”
His mother froze. She quietly stared at him, her eyes wide.
But instead of the pride or ecstatic joy Clay had anticipated, a deeply complicated, shadowed expression settled over her face. The silence stretched between them, heavy and suffocating.
A sudden spike of confusion rose in Clay’s chest. This wasn't the reaction he had imagined while riding home in the carriage.
After a long moment, she looked away, her voice tight. “Oh.”
Clay hesitated, the excitement draining from his veins. He stepped closer, asking carefully, “Mother… are you not happy for me?”
She snapped her gaze back to him, quickly shaking her head as if trying to banish her own thoughts. “No. No, of course I am happy for you, my son.”
Her expression grew distant again, staring at something invisible in the room. “But... becoming a Mage is not as glorious as you think it is, Clay.”
***********************************************
3. Leaving Home: /posts/m-2-3-leaving-159429667
Suddenly, Clay found himself standing within an endless, pitch-black space.
Directly before him, a familiar grey door stood wide open. The moment his phantom eyes locked onto it, a flood of information manifested directly inside his mind, as clear as if he were reading a ledger.
This void was his mental space. The door led to the Grey Space, a realm that connected everyone born from Merin’s True Spirit. Once a vessel awakened its True Spirit, it could enter this space freely.
Confusion immediately tightly gripped Clay’s mind. What is a True Spirit? And I’m not the only one born from it? Does that mean I was created from some shattered power belonging to this Merin person?
Taken from NovelFire, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
*****************************************************
4. Rose Garden Mage Tower: /posts/m-2-4-rose-mage-159435162
Clay’s eyes widened slightly in awe.
Figures clad in uniform grey robes were moving purposefully through the clearings outside. But what truly caught his attention were the structures.
Everywhere he looked, strange buildings stood shaped like colossal, ancient trees.
At first glance, they appeared entirely natural, but Clay could clearly discern polished windows and heavy wooden doors seamlessly integrated into the massive trunks.
He couldn't tell if the structures had been meticulously hollowed out from living flora or intentionally grown through magic to take the form of trees.
Beside him, Marco let out an excited, breathless sigh. “Finally. We're here. The Rose Garden.”
The carriage train slowly ground to a halt inside a paved, stone compound. Marco practically threw the door open, climbing down first with Rosie and Lilian following closely behind.
*********************************************
Realms of Mage (Apprentice): /posts/m-2-5-realms-of-159454305
The instant the pale wood of the rose-branch bracelet made contact with the iron, a faint click echoed, and the sharp thorns instantly retracted, sinking entirely into the smooth surface of the handle.
“Now, look closely,” Francis muttered. He tapped the bare iron handle with a single fingernail. For a terrifying fraction of a second, the jagged thorns violently snapped back out like spring-loaded needles before just as quickly retreating back into the metal.
Francis turned his cloudy eyes onto Acker. “Now grip it yourself.”
Trembling slightly, Acker reached out on his own and firmly wrapped his fingers around the handle. No thorns emerged.
Francis offered a slight, grim nod. “This room is now attuned to your bloodline signature. It can only be opened by you. Inside, you will find two sets of standard apprentice robes assigned to your rank.”
The old man then turned his gaze to the rest of the group. “Go on. Choose your own rooms down the hall. You will find your garments inside. If you want further details on how this place operates, read the rule book in your hands.”
*********************************
6. Value of Spirit: /posts/m-2-6-value-of-159454496
Marco shook his head in a fierce negative. “No, that’s the craziest part! The engagement wasn't forced at all. Back at the Fog City Preparatory Academy, Rebecca spent an entire year chasing after Acker, writing him letters and begging for his attention before he finally gave in and accepted her feelings.”
Clay’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh...”
Marco snorted quietly, digging back into his stew. “She never actually liked Acker the person, Clay. She liked Acker, the Baron's heir. She liked the status it gave her among the commoners. But the moment they got up the mountain, a higher-value asset appeared. Eric and Sean both scored spirit values above 2.0, while Acker only pulled a 1.6. Rebecca threw her 'beloved' fiancé aside, the literal second she realised Eric had a better chance of becoming a high-ranking Mage.”
Clay remained silent, casting a long, calculating look over at Eric and Sean. The revelation was brutal, but it confirmed his darkest suspicions about this place. Up here, bloodlines, titles, and coin were nothing more than ash. Spirit value was the only metric of human worth.
***********************************
7. Crystal Seed Meditation: /posts/m-2-7-crystal-159454670
Beside Clay, Marco leaned over and whispered quietly, “Do they just not want us to become Mage Apprentices?”
“Silence,” Clementia said calmly, her eyes flashing toward their row.
The classroom instantly fell quiet once more, no one daring to breathe loudly.
Clementia continued her lecture, tapping the desk lightly with a finger.
“The Rule Book states that one must master a Meditation Technique to sense the magical energy within their body.”
“But in reality, most people perceive magical energy long before reaching true mastery.”
“Afterwards, they abandon the Crystal Seed Meditation Technique and begin learning more advanced meditation techniques instead.”
Then, she paused briefly before adding a final, earth-shattering detail.
“However…”
“If one truly masters the Crystal Seed Meditation Technique, their spirit value increases permanently by one entire point.”
Shock immediately erupted throughout the classroom like a sudden thunderclap.
**************************************
8. New Merin: /posts/m-2-8-new-merin-159457788
But at that exact moment, the old man’s remaining true energy was completely exhausted.
The cave chamber fell silent once more.
Slowly, the old man opened his eyes.
A self-deprecating laugh escaped his dry lips.
“To recover my true energy fully…”
“I will need more than a year.”
His expression became profoundly bitter.
Throughout his entire life, he had feared death too deeply.
Because of that fear, he had never dared to impact the Spirit Point earlier in life.
And now, when he finally gathered the courage to attempt it, his lifespan was already nearing its end.
“If I had tried one or two years earlier…”
“Perhaps I could have broken through and become an Innate Master.”
“And gained twenty more years of life.”
The old man slowly rose to his feet, preparing to leave the chamber.
But the moment he stood fully upright, his expression suddenly changed.
The rocky cave chamber was gone.
Endless grey mist now surrounded him in every direction.
The old man’s eyes instantly sharpened with vigilance.
“Where am I?”