48 All Stray Paths Start Here (1/2)
In the clock shop late at night:
”I see. That kid practiced more than a hundred thousand times over these past days. His determination is impressive.”
In the clock shop, blonde Hermes had his foot propped on Ye’s work table, playing with Ye Qingxuan’s aether ball. He whistled at the ball, and the quiet aether ball lit up. The clear crystal reflected the candlelight, displaying the shadows of complicated runes and images on the wall.
If measuring aether was its most common usage, then this was the aether ball’s most valuable ability.
The music score crystallized when it recorded every note, and melody interacted with the ball. It could display it as data and help the user compare notes, remove white noise, increase resonance with aether to help one reach the standard.
But Ye Qingxuan had never once activated it, so he had never experienced the most helpful tool for other students.
But Hermes woke it up, overrode its protective measures. He unlocked the music scores, and clucked in awe as he skimmed the data.
”Amazing. One hundred forty-three thousand three hundred eleven times over eight days. He’d had to spend at least nine hours on this every day, right? It’s amazing how he could continue this intense level. Too bad…” Hermes shook his head, pondering. ”He didn’t succeed, not even once. What kind of bad luck does he have?”
”Isn’t everyone like this?” Setton asked. ”Some people will never be able to sing the right note in their entire life, right?”
”That’s because they didn’t try one hundred forty thousand times. Even an ape that keeps dancing on a piano would be able to transcribe ‘Ode to Joy.’ But this kid hasn’t even gotten the chance to touch a piano key yet. With his luck, he’d probably get kidnapped and sold just walking down the street.
”Anyway, I haven’t heard something like this in my years of being an artist. So, he either has the worst luck in history, or there’s another reason,” Hermes said.
”Another reason?” Setton asked.
Hearing his question, Hermes laughed. Rather than replying, he asked, ”Setton, do you know what’s most important for a musician? Tell me. I’m in a good mood, so I won’t tease you.”
”Hey, you...isn’t the most important thing to have resonance with the aether?”
”Yes, but not entirely.” Hermes squinted. ”It’s important for a musician to resonate with the aether. The higher the resonance, the better. But for a musician, the most important part within that resonance is merely the breakthrough between zero and one!
”To go from nothing to something, from zero to one, is to create something from emptiness. A person will only have one chance. In other words, it is the door for musicians. No matter how hard you work, if you can’t push open the door, you can only pace outside forever.”
He spun the aether ball on his fingertip, whistling and playing with the light. The silver light illuminated the mocking smile on his lips.
”Some people say that pushing open the door is one percent luck, nine percent talent, and ninety percent hard work. But luck and talent are the most important. Some people can open the door only with their snores. They’re known as geniuses. But then there are those who are stuck outside the door, never allowed in. It’s cruel, but sometimes, hard work is useless.”
”Are you saying that the kid doesn’t have talent?”
”F*ck no,” Hermes swore, his eyes full of disdain. ”The nine families of the Dragon bloodline have the blood of the Deva. He was born more powerful than others…those born with a golden spoon have no right to complain!
”And he still has white hair even as a mixed-blood. If he was born in the East and had some powerful ‘talent,’ he might have a spot in the Lingyan Pavilion someday!”
Setton’s head hurt trying to process all the words. ”What are you trying to say?”
”I just want to say that he’s very hard working, and he definitely has talent from his Deva bloodline. So if he’s not unlucky, then there’s only one possibility…”
Hermes laughed, but there was something sinister in his smile. ”The Aether Seal.”
--
Setton went pale. He knew what Hermes was talking about now.
The Aether Seal was a byproduct from early experiments and research on musicians. Word of it slowly disappeared afterward. But from what Hermes said, copies of it were still kept and could be used.
When the Dark Ages had ended, many countries experimented on captive musicians to explore ”the Originator.”
During this time, thousands of strange techniques were created, including the Aether Seal.
Embedding more than nineteen silencer nails into the vertebrae of an ordinary person would shut his door to music forever. This type of surgery seemed to be useful, but it had three disadvantages that caused it to be discarded.
It was too expensive, had a high death rate, and the aether’s incompatibility with foreign substances made it impossible to use on musicians. So in the end, it could only be discarded.
But what Setton did not understand was why anyone would put something so expensive into a boy’s body to make sure he could not become a musician.
”Ha, who knows?” Hermes tossed the aether ball around, his eyes mocking. ”The Aether Seal really is a good idea. The person would feel pain in the proximity of Aether. In the end, he’d die under the pain of beautiful dreams. Logically, that’s how it is. But no matter who did it, this was a waste.
”They didn’t understand the Deva’s blood, and didn’t know what a laughable thing they had done. The lock could make sure he couldn’t open the door, but it can’t stop someone behind the door from bursting through…
”For some things, the more it is restricted, the harder it bounces back. Especially for this abnormal hereditary, Deva bloodline, it’s useless.”
Setton asked, ”Is the Deva bloodline really that powerful?”
”Of course, you idiot. It was built using countless bodies and lives…