Luce broke the silence, initiating the questions while his gaze scrutinized them seriously: "What exactly do you want from me?"
Jasmin took a step back nervously and whispered: "I'm sorry, Erold…"
Erold stepped forward steadily and began talking to Luce, narrating the details of his grand goal: separating their human world from the Jinn world, asking him to join them to help achieve this impossible end.
Luce listened intently, then said as if speaking to himself: "Destiny has truly brought us together; I was even planning to find a way to cross over there." He paused for a moment, and his voice returned sharper and more serious: "But the question is… why me, Erold? I think there are people far more competent than I am."
Erold smiled and said in a tone of appreciation: "You are humble, man. I sensed an aura from you that I haven't encountered before. Do you want to duel me to confirm this?"
Luce declined the offer calmly: "No, let's postpone the duel until we reach Uruk."
Erold smiled: "As you wish… but, will you accompany us?"
Luce tightened his fist with slight tension, as if settling an internal conflict, then answered: "Yes."
Jasmin jumped from her place and shouted with joy: "That's great! Let's go then!"
Meanwhile, the horse Utma approached Luce, but he was disturbed, neighing loudly and striking the ground with his hoof in fear. Luce approached him with slow, deliberate steps, saying in a low tone: "Easy… calm down."
Utma was still unruly, but as soon as Luce placed his hand on him, a strange calmness flowed through his body. Luce held his head and began stroking his mane gently, saying: "Good boy… good boy. What is his name?"
Jasmin answered, her features showing amazement at the speed of his taming: "Utma."
Luce smiled and said: "What a beautiful name… it suits a majestic horse like you." Utma responded to his touches and moved closer to him, as if he had known him for a long time.
Jasmin turned to Erold and said, laughing: "He really doesn't like you, haha."
Erold replied with feigned coldness, turning his face away: "As if I care…"
But Arthur's voice interrupted him from within with a loud, mocking laugh: "Yes, you do care! Hahahaha!"
Erold exhaled in suppressed anger and said: "Come on, let's move to the village."
The three—Erold, Jasmin, and Luce—began gathering their belongings in preparation for heading toward the village. On the way, Jasmin jumped lightly to settle on Luce's back, saying with childish enthusiasm: "Luce! Now that we've become companions, tell us your story!"
Luce tried to evade, adjusting his bag: "For goodness' sake, Jasmin… it's an ordinary story, not that exciting."
But she persisted with pleading looks, so Erold said, smiling as he walked beside them: "This little one doesn't know the meaning of giving up, man. She won't leave you alone."
Luce sighed in surrender and said: "As you wish, Jasmin…" He went silent for a bit to arrange his thoughts, then began: "I grew up not knowing who my real family was. Noble people found me and took me in to care for me, but I always felt that I was different from those around me. They were the elite, while I was just a common child… yet, they all welcomed me. I was raised among them, and they even gave me attention as if I were one of their own blood. They taught me much of noble ethics and the arts of knowledge."
He paused for a moment, a cloud of sadness passing over his face, then continued in a faint voice: "And one day… I rebelled against the King's order, and my punishment was exile."
He clenched his hand, his voice trembling again with suppressed anger: "Just for one mistake!"
He took a deep breath to calm himself and said in a voice that regained its composure: "I apologize for my outburst. Since that time, I lived angry and resentful… until I realized that anger would benefit me nothing. If I remained a prisoner of that anger, I would have died long ago. So I decided to refine myself, to make myself better… to aspire to Eternal Perfection… that is my goal."
He added slowly, his eyes shining with a strange ambition: "And to realize perfection itself… I must head to the Jinn world and find that legendary piece… called the 'Boundary Breaker.' It breaks all boundaries, no matter what they are… it is like the injection that brings you closer to absolute perfection."
Erold asked suspiciously: "And what makes you sure that something like the Boundary Breaker exists in the Jinn world?"
Luce replied confidently: "In the Jinn world, there are things more precious than any treasure. The legendary weapons that reached our world came from there… therefore, the Jinn world possesses powers and secrets we haven't discovered yet." Luce smiled a faint smile: "That is my story… simply."
Erold continued walking and said with admiration: "What a story, and what a goal, Luce."
Jasmin interrupted their conversation, her voice carrying a maturity beyond her years: "But, what is your concept of perfection, Luce? Perfection… is an idea people think is fixed, but in reality, it is fluid and differs depending on the eyes that see it. What someone sees as perfect, another might see as a deficiency or an evil. Therefore, any attempt to achieve perfection by creatures… is doomed to failure. We, as humans, are always limited, and we measure the world by the meager understanding and experience we possess. True perfection is not in reaching things, but in the constant desire for improvement, and in the pursuit of the better despite the impossibility of reaching it."
Erold looked at Jasmin with pride and remained silent, letting her words echo in the air.
Luce smiled and said with admiration: "Well done, little one. Perhaps your words are correct, Jasmin… human perfection is limited, and we are restricted by human eyes and their deficient gaze. But there is something that transcends these restrictions, something that no human mind can fully comprehend… something that makes the impossible possible. This piece… the Boundary Breaker… is not just a tool, it is a key. A key to something greater than the relative perfection you know—something complete… in every sense of the word."
Then he tilted his head slightly, whispering in a mysterious tone: "And the question is not whether humans can achieve perfection, but if they even dare to pursue it and pay the price."
Jasmin went silent for a moment, thinking, then raised her eyes toward him and said in a calm, wise tone: "But… might this pursuit itself destroy you, Luce? When ambition overshadows the heart, a human turns into a monster, a shadow of what they once were. What is the use of perfection if the price is losing your self?"
Luce smiled a wide smile: "Little one… the self itself is just a restriction. We cling to what we are because we are afraid to be something greater, or perhaps something worse. Perfection does not deprive you of your self… it frees you from it."
Erold intervened, in a low but firm and serious voice: "The perfection you speak of seems closer to a bottomless abyss… one wrong step, and you fall, never to return."
Luce smiled, looking at the distant horizon: "Perhaps… but isn't all of life a series of abysses? He who refuses to jump will remain standing in the same place forever, being consumed by time."
Jasmin knitted her eyebrows and said: "But sometimes… standing in the same place is better than being lost in an endless darkness."
Silence prevailed among them for moments, broken only by the whistling of the wind blowing around them. Luce was calm, then muttered in a faint voice, barely caught by their ears: "One day you will realize… that no one sees the true light unless they have the courage to cross the darkness first."
Then he looked at her, his eyes shining with warmth, and said: "Discussion with you is truly enjoyable, little one… I never feel that I am talking to a child of your age."
Jasmin replied with confidence and a bright smile: "Erold always says my mind is older than my age."
Arthur interrupted in his head with immediate mockery: "When did I say this?"
Erold answered with internal calmness: "I didn't say anything with my tongue… but she understood it." Then he said aloud to his companions: "We have reached the village, friends… your conversation was good and thought-provoking."
They all stopped on a small hill overlooking the valley, and their eyes widened with amazement and beauty. The village was a masterpiece; the small mud houses were lined up in a natural and beautiful order, embraced by small gardens and interspersed with lush greenery. Fields of vegetables and fruits surrounded it like a bracelet providing it with life. Narrow water channels sparkled under the golden sun rays, and the palm trees waved their fronds with the cool evening breeze, while the sounds of children's laughter and the chirping of birds reached their ears, filling the air with the fragrance of innocence and serenity.
Jasmin touched Erold's shoulder with enthusiasm and said: "It's small… but it's pulsing with life!"
Erold nodded his head, but his experienced eyes were scanning the place with extreme caution: "The calmness here might be deceptive… we must remain vigilant."
Luce turned his head toward the village and agreed with Erold in a serious tone: "Stay alert… no one knows what might be hiding behind this beauty."
The village seemed like a sanctuary for peace, but something hidden in the air made them feel a prickle of warning; as if this current calmness was nothing but the silence that precedes the storm.