A maid was walking home in the darkness of night, unafraid of any danger. After all, who would be bold enough to attack the maid of the strongest human being alive?
She hummed a merry tune as she thought about everything she had to arrange for Illia tomorrow morning.
'I swear she's worse than a child when it comes to housework.'
As she walked, she did not notice the eyes opening along the ground she stepped on. Every eye focused on her for a brief moment, before closing and disappearing.
The maid stiffened for a moment, freezing midair. Her face jerkily moved into a smile, the exact smile she had carried before being frozen.
She once again began humming, this time, a haunting tune as she skipped back home merrily.
Whoever heard the beautiful tune, gained the same smile upon their faces.
...............................................................................
The Academy was aflame with the latest rumours, students chattering amongst themselves during mealtime as they discussed the latest information.
"So the Sword Hero is also going to watch it?"
"Yeah, they said he would choose his successor, which is why the tournament was made available even to us."
"That's crazy....."
"I know right?!"
"They said even Elder Asher will be watching!"
Alicia frowned as the wind conveyed all the information around her directly into her mind.
'Father.'
Her father was a subject she did not like to even think about, except plotting to destroy him.
Once, she had even looked up to him. His greatness. His prestige. But not after the incident. The incident that changed everything for her and her sister.
She shook her head, dispelling such thoughts as Amber mysteriously appeared in the chair next to air, even the air being oblivious to her movements until then.
"Don't mind me, just popping in because I'm hiding from Axel."
Before Alicia opened her mouth, Amber stated, "No, we haven't broken up, I just stole all his towels while he was bathing early in the morning."
Finding material to distract herself, Alicia asked, "And why were you two in the same room 'early in the morning'?"
Amber did not deign to give her an answer, instead choosing to stuff her mouth with Alicia's food to hide the blush on her face.
...............................................................................
Julian entered the library, a reward for fighting a demon and saving many students.
However, he was only allowed to browse in the section for second year students. He looked through the weapon arts, before feeling his instinct twinge.
A plain black book lay in the shelf, surrounded by much more grandiose tomes.
"The Basics?"
What caught his attnetion however, was the name written below the title.
'Alastor Stele.'
Julian hesitated, before deciding to take it with him.
As he removed the book from the shelf, he felt something resonate within his soul.
A small, pure white marble rolled out from under the shelf, coming to a stop near Julian's foot.
Alastor, who was watching from nearby, smirked.
'Fate. Truly a mysterious thing. If you can even call this Fate anymore.'
Julian picked it up, absently putting it into his pockets as he continued towards the front desk.
He ran into Alastor 'coincidentally'.
"I see that you've found my notes on battle," Alastor said calmly after they exchanged greetings.
Alastor spoke up again, "Be careful not to lose anything in the library. It's worse than a labyrinthian Dungeon on the best of days. I remember losing something important to me here, and I never found it again."
Feeling curious, Julian asked, "What was it?"
Alastor smiled widely internally, and wistfully on the outside, "It was a small white marble, a gift from my dead mother."
The gears in Julian's head turned, as everything clicked together. He pulled out the marble he had found earlier, holding it up to the light as it shimmered in an otherworldly glow.
"Is this it?"
Alastor looked shocked, "Where did you find this? I'm sure I scoured the library to look for it."
Julian placed it into Alastor's hands, a smile on his face, "I suppose it wanted to find it's way back to you as well, Senior."
Alastor smiled, unshed tears glistening in his eyes, "Yes. I suppose it did."
After talking a bit more, Alastor and Julian went their separate ways.
Back in his room, Alastor looked at the marble, or rather, the seed in his grasp.
Not a seed to any plant or tree.
A seed of Divinity.
...............................................................................
Karna asked Alastor, "Are you sure this tiny sphere is what you were after?"
Alastor nodded, "Indeed."
"Such a small thing, yet it contains the power to become a God of the Third Heaven in an instant."
"And it simply rolled out into his hands."
Karna's eyes sharpened, "Fate?"
Alastor nodded, "Yes. But something else as well."
"It doesn't matter anymore. I retrieved the object, and I also made progress in my 'gardening'."
"Everything is going according to plan. It has to."
Karna observed Alastor quietly, before shaking his head and changing the subject, "About this Successor tournament, what are your thoughts? Do we intervene?"
Alastor shook his head, "We won't. But this tournament will be fertilizer to the new seed I buried."
........................................
Alastor looked at the Seed of Divinity in his hands, laying upon his bed, his spear hovering nearby faithfully.
Silently, he dropped it into his mouth, feeling the orb burrow through his flesh, through the physical plane, and into his 'existence'.
'To activate it, I'll need quite a lot of pure Divinity, at least as much as Julian had in the novel.'
'However...I need to go beyond that.'
'Way beyond that.'