"Dear August,
How are you doing? Knowing you, I am sure you would be doing fine. Me? I am also good, just missing the valleys, forests and the clear water streams of your town. Damian is also feeling the same way as I am, I know he enjoyed our time together. Only he doesn't express himself more.
And I …can't hide my desires to whom I am already open to. Maybe my feelings were showing on my face when my father himself advised me to write this letter to you.
I am trying my best to open up to people, I am trying to make some friends now. The capital might not be the best place for me to find true friends but I'll try nevertheless.
There are children of other nobles who are trying to befriend me but I know they are just doing this to make their parents happy. And their parents are probably hoping to curry favour with my father.
That's why I said the capital might not be a place to find new friends after all. Well, recently I've realised it isn't as full of joy as your town here. I am already hating my own home now.
But hey there has been a new member in our family. It's Lara. Lara and I are best friends already but I think she hates Damian for some reason. Well, he does annoy her a lot. Only if Lara could talk. I mean she's a pet, silly.
Sincerely I have no idea what else to write, there are so many things I want to talk to you about. You were the first friend I made in my life after all.
Thank you for everything August.
I hope we meet again someday…"
August read the letter and sighed in his heart, "Idiot. She didn't write a single word about her health."
It's not like he had forgotten about May and her disease even though it has been two months already. She wasn't the only one to consider both of them friends after all.
August closed his eyes and tried to enter into the deep state of meditation but the thoughts kept flooding him. He was reminded how hard he tried to look for a cure regarding this disease of May. He searched every known medicinal literature in existence.
While he had not found anything just yet, August had not lost hope. Not yet. So what if the top medical performers hadn't found the cure yet? They didn't have as much resilience as August.
Speaking of resilience, he might have understood something regarding sword fighting nowadays but in terms of reaching the gates of the conscious realm, he was far behind.
However, he wasn't about to give up.
August entered into the state in which his eyes saw nothing but darkness. He threw the useless thoughts away and concentrated solely on his goal. It was just like the rest of the days before.
There was nothing to see, nothing to observe. No door to unlock. No gate that could guide him into the conscious realm. Surprisingly the strange voice also didn't speak again.
'They asked to meet in the conscious realm'
Which was another matter for him to think of. Who were they actually? And what did they want from him?
It had been months since he began his attempts to enter into the conscious realm. Up until now he had faced nothing but failure. He was making steady progress with the sword fight surely but this was a way different matter.
But August never gave up. He tried with more and more diligence every time. His constant efforts couldn't possibly go all in vain, he thought. And more than anyone and anything else, he trusted in himself.
Therefore August experienced something he tried to achieve for a long time. Like a slab of glass a crack began to come into existence slowly. Not much of a crack but a scar to be precise. Light seeped through within the scar like there was something on the other side.
August concentrated again and the crack grew bigger.
He understood well what it meant. He knew he had crossed the threshold and now what remains for him is to break the barrier between reality and the conscious realm completely.
He was overwhelmed with joy and right at that moment the connection was severed as his concentration was interrupted.
After encountering nothing but failure for months at least, August' hard work was finally coming into fruition.
— — —
Several weeks later August was happy that he was making steady progress nowadays. His entry into the conscious realm didn't go exactly as he thought it would be. Honestly he felt a little annoyed when he came to a realization that even after overcoming the threshold, he had to spend even more of his concentration on making the crack bigger by the day. As it turned out the process to enter another realm was exhausting.
Not only that, the crack seemed to heal when he did not continue with the meditation for two days. Just like that August found another way to make himself busy. Only this time it was more of a mandatory task and not an obligatory one.
Just skipping a day from this practice could've cost him two days worth of hard work.
On the other hand, in the session of sword practice, he had improved a lot. At the start his father taught him the mental concepts, the different ways in which he could resist the effects of his weapon and use it according to his own will.
Since the weapon was too powerful to be subjugated, August had to constantly resist the effects of it. This was his biggest challenge.
'Why does everything in this world want to take control of me?'
He learned a lot about how he could resist that weapon and tried the ways practically under the supervision of his father. Only to prevent himself from embarking on a murderous journey.
Every time he held that sword made him think with a strange perspective. Under its effect he would think as though he hadn't seen the world more clearly before. Everywhere and everything seemed to be vile and full of sin. He only wanted to end the misery of this land which for some reason begged him to do just that.
For a moment August would think like this was his true self, like the sword only made the doubts in his mind go away and made him see the world with more clarity.
However, a person who had fought a long battle against his surroundings without letting others know of it, how could he submit to the will of a measly piece of metal crafted for some strange purpose.
He found that the only sure way by using which he could guarantee his success was the most basic one. The trick was to link himself with a purpose and never forget it.
After spending all his day only in meditation and sword training he felt exhausted. It was evening when August was on his way to home with his father.
May was constantly writing him letters keeping him updated about anything related to the capital, Damian, her pet and much more. Anything but about her disease.
August had also written a letter or two in response about which May seemed very pleased. He had also thought of writing a letter to Shelly but he did not know where she had even left. His parents also did not seem to know much about the matter. Therefore, August had no choice but to wait for Shelly herself to come back.
Due to his busy schedule nowadays, he also did not have the time to spare on his favourite hobby so, reading the letters sent by May was his only way to find salvation from the exhaustion.
This was all good however there was something August was concerned about. It had been four months already when he started his training to conquer fallen star. His father has only given him six months time to prove himself, therefore even when there were two whole months remaining August was concerned that he could not prove himself before the deadline.
Something that was being a great hurdle in his path and making him anxious was that he had not decided his purpose yet. While this wasn't something that had to be put up on a timeline, in his case there was a deadline nevertheless.
On his long journey of four whole months, August had learned a lot of things. He was now more sharp with his blade and his movements had become more fluid.
There was only one thing that remained in his heart. A hurdle that seemed way too high to be crossed alone.
The last doubt in his mind…
Today, he decided to find an answer to this question.
In the light of the setting sun he suddenly stood in his father's way looking at him with serious expressions. He took a long breath and asked,
"What should my purpose be to wield a weapon, dad?" His father gave him a warm smile trying not to react to his next words, "I have thought a lot and came to a conclusion that I lack the experience to decide a purpose for myself. Please guide me and give my life a purpose."
The act of finding purpose in life wasn't something as shallow as finding an answer to a question but it was more like searching for the meaning of your life. That's why no one in this world should ever ask anyone else to give them a purpose because these types of situations often end up as something people might regret in future.
Why wouldn't it though, a person should choose his own paths in life.
Valerius knew the gravity of the situation too well and even after thinking about it a lot he decided to do something that might weigh on him forever.
"If it was someone else to ask me this question, I would've asked them to follow whatever their heart desired, without a second thought" the sun sets beyond the horizon, its rays vanishing from the lands below, "I would've suggested them to experience the world for themselves and only then to make a decision"
His smile dimmed a little, "...but you Augustus. You are my son and I am proud of you. In my whole life, I've made countless mistakes" his smile faded away replaced by a grim expression, "...mistakes that could never be repaired"
He turned to August, his eyes devoid of light, for some reason the mood turned ominous suddenly,"and I have some responsibilities, towards the people of our town, towards you and the biggest of them all, towards your mother. That's why I could never let myself be dragged down by the guilt of something that I've committed in the past. I have to move forward no matter the cost." he chuckled, his voice missing any hint of amusement, "you might have angered the gods in your past life so much that you were born as my son."
August was surprised that it was the first time his father had opened up to him with something related to his past. August had a vague idea that the history his parents were hiding might not be very good to be remembered. He figured as much. But today as he heard the words of his father, he came to know how much his past weighed on him.
"I am ashamed to ask this of you my son" his father's voice sounded like he had never heard before, "would you mind taking up some of my responsibilities on yourself as your purpose? Would you mind sharing my burden so that I can fulfill the one promise I made years ago?"
August stayed silent for a while, his father looking the other way, maybe avoiding to meet his eye. After all these attempts August finally had his answer. He sat on one knee bowing his head in respect before his father,
"As you said yourself, I am your son, dad. Your responsibilities are mine to take, your sins are mine to bear. It is my honour that you deemed me worthy of sharing your burden with me. I promise, you will not be disappointed. Please do not worry, not anymore. I promise I will try my best to follow your footsteps in your absence."
— — — — —