Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 561: Walkers of the Heaven and Earth III

CH561 Walkers of the Heaven and Earth III

***

”Heaven and Earth are an instant and an eternity apart. Within eternity... an instant holds the greatest importance,”

Havel could not help but shake his head.

It was obvious there was more to be said, yet this elven swordswoman could not be bothered to elaborate.

She lightly tapped the sheath of her sword with a finger.

A brilliant sword light erupted, engulfing the two fish in searing flame for a brief instant before fading.

That instant, however, was sufficient to cook them thoroughly.

She passed one fish to Havel and casually began eating the other.

”We have an eternity here. You may wish to make use of your instants,” she said before reclining once more.

”Zzz!!!”

She truly fell asleep without a single concern for the world.

Havel realised he would have to decipher the meaning of this trial on his own.

But before doing so, he quietly ate the fish— then lay back and slept as well.

He slept for an indeterminate amount of time.

When he finally awoke, he stretched and felt a sense of relief he had not experienced in quite some time.

’I haven’t rested this well in a long while,’ he reflected inwardly.

Grumble!

His stomach growled loudly.

In truth, hunger was the only reason he had awakened. Otherwise, he might have slept indefinitely.

Havel turned his gaze towards the seven fish swimming within the pond.

Assuming they would be easy prey, he leaned forward and reached towards the water.

Yet each time his fingers neared a fish, it slipped from his grasp at the final instant.

After several futile attempts, Havel grew tired of wasting effort.

He reached for his sword.

[Quick Draw — Flash Slash]!

’What?!’

To his surprise, the fish reacted at the final instant once more, narrowly evading the strike.

Perhaps he had misjudged the distance... or erred in execution.

He struck again.

The result was identical.

He tried targeting a different fish.

Once more, the outcome remained unchanged.

Each fish dodged at the very last moment.

Havel’s brows knit together.

He studied the seven koi carefully.

They were ordinary fish— nothing more.

None of them should have been capable of evading his blade.

It was then that realisation dawned upon him.

’Perhaps this is the trial,’ Havel muttered inwardly.

He recalled the woman’s words.

”Heaven and Earth are an instant and an eternity apart. Within eternity... an instant holds the greatest importance.”

’Eternity... and instant,’ Havel repeated to himself. ’If eternity is my hunger, then catching the fish is my instant.’

’Is that... correct?’

He then remembered how the woman had obtained the fish she had shared with him.

She had struck so swiftly that he had not even registered her movement.

’Instant... speed...’ Havel contemplated. ’The koi cannot truly be dodging my strikes. The most plausible explanation is that some form of enactment here preserves them at the final moment. If that is the case, then I must strike... faster than an instant— so swiftly that the enactment cannot respond in time to save them.’

Grumble~

Havel pressed a hand against his stomach.

He glanced at the woman, who appeared capable of sleeping for an eternity without concern. He knew he could not rely on her to awaken and feed him again.

He would have to act for himself.

’I must succeed... or I will likely starve here.’

—

Silver opened her eyes to find herself standing upon what appeared to be a verdant platform suspended against a backdrop of star-filled skies.

Before her stood a lean man with disproportionately broad, muscular arms. A strip of cloth was wrapped around his eyes, and he held an axe in one hand.

Without acknowledging her presence, the man began methodically chopping down trees that hindered the growth of the forested half of the verdant platform.

Once felled, he hoisted the logs upon his shoulder and carried them, one by one, to the grassy side where Silver stood.

Using one of the logs as a seat, he settled down and began working the wood with quiet focus.

Before long, he fashioned a bow— though it lacked a string. From additional logs, he carved a quiver and roughly a dozen arrows.

Turning the long-range recurve bow over in his hands, the man finally faced Silver.

”Heaven and Earth are vast... and yet small. Before the Will of Heaven, the distance of Earth is both relevant and irrelevant.

”To walk the path of Heaven and Earth is to comprehend —and distinguish— between what is far and what is near. It is to see clearly that which stands before you, and that which lies upon the horizon. To understand that something may be close... and yet impossibly distant.

”Once you truly comprehend this, the vastness of Heaven and Earth gains meaning— and simultaneously loses it. You will be able to appreciate distance when necessary... and disregard it when required.

”Distance, range... space — these are all concepts born of Heaven and Earth. And as one who walks their path, you may learn them... if only you pause to observe.”

The man raised the stringless bow he had just crafted and mimed notching an arrow.

As though responding to his intent, ambient mana gathered at the tips of the bow, stretching and weaving itself into a thin yet resilient bowstring.

”Space is vast... but also small,” the man said softly.

This statement seemed less directed at Silver and more like a mantra to focus his own will as he prepared to release the arrow.

The arrow in his grasp glowed with an abstruse radiance, imbued with a mysterious charm as though acknowledging his Intent.

PHEWWWW!!!

He released the arrow.

It shot into the star-filled expanse.

Silver watched in astonishment as the arrow traversed what appeared to be light-years in a single instant— arriving at a distant star and collapsing it upon impact.

The man then turned to Silver and extended the bow towards her.

”Heaven granted mankind the Will to achieve the impossible. Take up your bow. Refine your Intent. Let your Will manifest upon the stars.”

Without another word, he retrieved his axe and strode back into the forested half of the platform.

Silver lowered her gaze to the bow now in her hands... and the quiver resting at her feet.

The nature of her trial was clear.

She had to replicate what the man had just accomplished...

Before she exhausted the arrows available to her.

***