So things are easier said than done. Giving a cat a bath. Getting over a tragic breakup. Not overthinking situations. Amongst that exhaustive list of items, Marie was prepared to add another, which was coming up with an alternative to using the Heavenly Eye. It had been a good few weeks since she'd declared to her Master that she would find a way to bypass the Heavenly Eye and observe Constants. Yet, till now, she had made little to no progress on that front.
For one, the field of research was extrely restrictive. The only people she could refer to, and the only references she could access were by those who themselves were practitioners of the Heavenly Eye. And since at any point in ti only two practitioners can exist, she could only confer with her Master and with the extrely scarce stack of books he carried with him that were written by the practitioners before him. This brought on the second reason: Marie found out that research and advancent in the Heavenly Eye had stagnated three generations ago. One could only assu that her predecessors thought this was as far as they could take this cultivation thod.
This discouraged and demotivated Marie for two reasons. One, she had very few people to discuss, debate and bounce her ideas off. Marie was soone who thrived when there was an open conversation about a topic. She liked to float her ideas in a forum, and gain a wide range of opinions before centing her own which she would then take to her grave until sufficient evidence to refute it was brought to light. The nature of her cultivation thod made it so that there was no forum for her to discuss with, and everyone who practised it happened to be of one mind. Secondly, her excitent dimd knowing that the people she needed to contend with had far greater experience in both the cultivation thod and in life.
Every practitioner of the Heavenly Eye had lived for at least a thousand years, so even longer. During their lives, they must have travelled across the planet- multiple planets before the Age of Isolation. From those travels, they would have assimilated a plethora of knowledge which would further widen their own understanding of the world. What Marie was doing at the mont was pitting her asly fifteen years of experience, of which the first five were barely a blur, against that of her ancestors who each had a hundred tis her living experience. Even thinking it made her feel stupid. Those before her must have already walked down her line of reasoning. They must have already spent years trying to unravel the mysteries of the Heavenly Eye to find safe alternatives. But seeing as none of their successful exploits was recorded in the collection Master carried with him, it could be inferred that everyone must have failed.
"It's universally accepted that no power cos for free," her Master reminded her a week back. "I've told this to you many tis before. In gaining unimaginable power and abilities, one must sacrifice sothing in the process. Most, if not all mages have co to accept that fact. The practitioners of the Heavenly Eye have also accepted this. After running innurable cost-benefit analyses on the cultivation path, the cost of losing a small part of their body for benefit of gaining the power to observe fate in all its forms was deed profitable in the grand sche of things. In fact, we reached this point after years and years of research, trials and errors. This was accepted as the best course of action for many generations."
"There has to be another way," Marie reaffird, although her stubbornness was waning.
"To want everything without giving anything is just being greedy," her Master reprimanded. "Although I respect and appreciate your need to protect , I don't want you to walk down this path if it is consuming you. Greed often leads you down a self-destructive path where you perceive to lose nothing when in fact you're sacrificing everything else that matters to you."
"What I want is for everyone to be safe, all this power is secondary," Marie refuted. "If the people I care about have to bear the sacrifice for my gains, then the power gained isn't worthwhile."
"In fact, I don't need the Heavenly Eye; I will settle for sothing lesser," she declared then. But to date, she has yet to make any headway in finding this alternative. At this mont, she was willing to give up. Seconds counted down as her mind ran the numbers - Marie was stubborn but not irrational. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
"MARIE! MARIE!" Dora's excited voice interrupted Marie's computations. "Teacher Larks- I an Mister Larks has returned!"
The little girl was bouncing with overflowing emotions, sothing which her twin brother shared in a more muted sense given his introverted character.
"Has it been a month already?" Marie muttered out loud. It had not...
"Co, let's go!" Dora urged by pulling Marie's hand. With an acquiescing smile, the older girl complied and allowed herself to be guided by the little rabbit.
Marie had foreseen this event through her Heavenly Eye. It was supposed to happen in another week's ti, yet the event was preempted. It was Transient, such deviations were expected, but Marie didn't do anything out of the ordinary that could have resulted in this change. With a slight furrow, Marie stepped to the side and muttered, "Were you responsible for Mister Larks' early return?"
She knew that her Master had his attention on her at all tis during the day. It was pervasive but understandable. True to her assumption, a positive response resounded in her mind. Voice transmission.
"I could see you struggling," her Master's voice added. "I thought that maybe Guy might offer you so change in perspective."
Marie felt warmth bubbling inside her. "H-How did you do it? You never left the village..."
"That's a secret for later. You will learn to do it yourself in due ti," his voice answered. She could hear a mirthful chuckle underlying the response.
Marie t up with Mister Larks and Markus outside the orphanage. Mister Larks was carrying Dora and Kano on each of his shoulders and blowing into their tummy eliciting a tickled laugh from them. Markus was carrying a few bags, with little difficulty. Her gaze then moved past them, and she noticed a hefty figure lumbering up the stairs with heavy breaths.
"Who's this?" Marie inquired Markus.
"This is my friend, Furion," Markus answered. "His father owns Dune Caravan Managent. He'll be with us over the Sumr break."
Marie's eyes burst out of her sockets in shock, "THE Dune Caravan Managent? You're joking!"
During her ti working with different trading caravans, Marie had stumbled upon Dune many tis. She never got an opportunity to work for them given their extrely thorough vetting process, but they had a stellar record of delivery and custor satisfaction in the industry. To hear that her brother was acquainted with the heir to the company ca as a world-shattering surprise. What astounded her further was that she didn't see this boy in her earlier vision - probably a result of her Master's tampering with the event.
"Furion here will assist in managing the Verum Trading Company I was talking about," Mister Larks clarified. "As a Sect Leader, it will be difficult for to split my ti between managing the Sect and managing the company, so I'm training Furion here to handle the business side of things. He's extrely capable, he even managed to snag us a few pre-orders of the Gutenberg Press!"
The boy called Furion revealed a proud smile between his wheezes at Mister Larks' praise. "I... try..."
"He's being modest," Mister Larks added. "I gave you a difficult task in the first place. Chances of succeeding were slim, yet you managed, which is comndable! Just rember the process and don't get complacent"
"It was all coincidental," the boy responded. "All the scribes employed by the publisher got snatched by a rival at the exact mont I arrived. The only reason he was so amiable to the purchase was that he was desperate and didn't have enough ti to think things through."
"That really is a coincidence," Marie humd as she narrowed her gaze. Her Master played his hand magnificently. It may be a bit heavy-handed in his approach, but it was effective.
"Nonetheless, a success is a success," Mister Larks repeated. "Let's not waste any more ti here and go in. Furion, you may have to bunk with Markus for the ti being. He will guide you around the orphanage. Please be mindful of the people living here."
And with that, the group split up. Mister Larks carried the twins into the orphanage while Markus took his friend around the area. Marie chose to follow Mister Larks.
____
Marie had sothing in her mind. Guy could feel it, not just because the girl had been tailing him for a good hour, but also because there was this constipated expression on her face the entire ti. So, after greeting Grace and the others of his return, he led the girl to his room.
"So, what's eating you? I wanted to wait until tomorrow after I've had a good rest, but it looks like you won't be able to last that long," Guy chuckled.
But then, like the opening of a great flood gate, Marie's lips parted and a jumble of words gushed out. Guy lost track imdiately and so he waited till the girl exhausted herself, which took half an hour.
"That was a lot," Guy said with a bitter smile. "I don't think I followed after your first sentence. You might have to take through your problem once again."
Marie released a long exhale and said, "I apologise. It's not right to dump my problems on you like this."
"It's not an issue at all. I appreciate that you've co to with your concerns," Guy refuted imdiately. "If I may, why don't you take this day to settle your agitation and structure your inquiry more properly? Co back to tomorrow and we will continue where we left off."
The girl nodded and bid Guy farewell for the day. Guy observed her troubled figure retreat and sighed in satisfaction. He did not enjoy the trip in the slightest. Business managent was not his cup of tea at all. This! Teaching and guiding students are what he lived for.
"It's good to be back. Might as well enjoy the peace while it lasts."
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