Loss.

 Running through the forest at a tremendous speed, jumping over logs, swerving through the undergrowth and a self-built obstacle course of swinging rocks and logs tied with rope and traversing harsh landscapes of cliffs and chasms, he comes to a finish line all spent and sore. You have done well young lad, Amery comes with a recorded notepad and a sundial with a smile on her face." At this rate, we'll reach our goal by your 17th birthday." 

Oso takes a deep breath and smiles, "I'm only twelve mum, . . . ha. . . alright,...what's next again ? " he asks due to exhaustion, spirit training time.

Amery has told Oso that the spirit is the power granted by one of the four lost Ancients known as the "Gariedd beings". 

Midas, The Stout, known as the ancient of power and vitality, Ragnithal, the Erudite, the ancient of knowledge and control, Niwa, the Lull, the symbol of kindness and harvest and Ghravi, the Gall, for courage and heart. Each one is worshipped throughout the continent but is hardly received any divine blessing from either one.

The way we draw out the spirit from within is to be accepted by one of these specific ancients through a certain trial and the amount of power that can be brought out depends on each individual. In other words, only the individual will know how to wield it moment the moment they are accepted.

For the trial of Midas, disciples must perform a ritual of strength by breaking a Miraldy stone, the blood force of Midas itself, once bestowed they are given immense strength and stamina to lift structures tens of times their weight and can last crossing vast distances and hardly break a sweat.  

In the trial of Ragnithal, a spell is written by the disciple which declares whether they are worthy to receive the knowledge the ancient possesses. The same spell is written by all disciples, but only one in a thousand is accepted and upon accepting they receive a book that contains all the historical records and forgotten spells of the old world and can only be read by the accepted disciples. But the transcripts are not all revealed, little bits of its contents are revealed to the disciple during their early days but through practice and enlightenment, more shall be revealed.

Niwa, the Lull's trial is unknown and unheard of by any other disciple and has the fewest number of disciples to be accepted, but if they were to be accepted, the amount of holy energy bestowed upon them varies from healing small wounds and illnesses to regrowing severed limbs or organs and revive corpses.

Ghravi, the Gall, is the most simple and most attempted trial as their disciples only require to follow the procedure of placing their limbs to Ghravi's totem which comes in various sizes from those as small as a coin and can be made by almost anybody to monumental sizes and only highly skilled artisans are allowed and capable of producing one. The size of the totem represents the number of blessings the disciple will receive. Therefore the disciples of this ancient are selectively and carefully chosen by high ranking officers and sometimes members of the royal family, the disciples' achievements also influence their right to be chosen. Once they receive the blessing, the process is irreversible.

However, unfortunately, after each possible trial Oso has performed, no visible sign has been shown. Time and time again, no matter how many attempts were done for days on end, there had been no progress to Oso's spiritual awakening. 

After trying another trial, she grabs his shoulder and says, " It's alright there lil squirt, ye'll get yer chance one way or another, " after hearing this Oso sighs and walks off but show neither frustration nor loss in his actions. Instead, his eyes were filled with conviction and stubborn passion, "I'm fine mum, in fact, if I can't do this, ill just stick to what I can." 

He then rushed to the grounds and resumed his training of muscles and his mind, Amery then sees how far he has become from that young dawdling cub to the proud bear he had finally become.

Then one day, after his swimming training with Amery Oso barely spots a stone pathway, hidden by two hedge berry bushes he had never noticed before until now. Although he had used the same route ever since he was young, he was too short to ever find it, until now. 

" Mum, where does this go, I have never been there before.... ? " he asks. After seeing where Oso was wanting to go, she went silent and spaced out onto the path, " Mum, are you ok ?" 

" H-huh... o-oh, I'm alright lad", After looking at the path, Oso was teased with curiosity" Can I see where it goes? " Amery turns to him anxiously " W-what... well I-I don't think you can.... well... uh umm, ". With an ounce of desperation " Pleeeease....., " he begs with puppy eyes and paws put together." Well....., "

" Pleeeeeeeease....., "

" Mmmmmm....oh alright, fine, you may go, but be sure to be back before sun-down when you're done ya hear? " His eyes glimmered " Ok, got it, " he hugs her and heads out, 

" I'll be waiting for you, Oso....." 

Oso then waddles away deeper into the forest along the stone path, he skips and frolics, stumbles and rolls, to then an abrupt halt as he bumps into a large stone shrine. The atmosphere around the shrine made Oso feel heartwarming and yet sad as if this place was filled with happy and joyous memories, now old and forgotten, which brought slight tears to his eyes. 

He then noticed that what laid before him, a table with a tree that had overgrown roots and overlapped the table as well as into the slab behind it.

The slab itself was decorated with intricate loops and flowers, along with a text engraved into the stone itself which said,

Geralt Molique Angus

" I will respect you, honour you, and cherish you as long as we both shall live.
Today I take you to be my wife and vow to help create for us a life of honesty, fidelity, trust, and love.
To love you not as some idea of you, but as you truly are.
To grow with you, learn with you, and live out our day's hand in hand.
I promise to be your guiding light in the darkness, a warming comfort in the cold,
and shoulder to lean on when life is too much to bear on your own "

Amery Lotus III

" I promise faithfulness and patience, respect and lightheartedness, attentiveness and self-improvement.
I will celebrate your triumphs and love you all the more for your failures.
For in your arms, I have found a home,
in your eyes, I have found compassion,
in your heart, I have found love,
in your soul, I have found a kindred spirit,
For you are my everything. "

Priest

" Now and forever,
Today and tomorrow,
In sickness and in health,
Till death do they part,
Their union shall be known eternal,
As husband and wife. "

Oso reads it in confusion and disbelief, wondering why his mother never told him about this place. He paces back and forth, rolling around the front of the slab and lays on his back with his face towards the sun.

This then sparked a question that he wanted to ask, but after remembering the incident with the moose,  he could never bring it up to his kind-hearted mother who had raised him by herself. Taking a deep breath he turns towards the lake, rethinking how he should handle all this.

As the sun starts to set, his heartbeats thumping in his ears, he sets his gaze towards the setting and his eyes close. Feeling the wind brush across his face, he recalls the words told by Angus " . . . be wild and free. . . ". Then as the sun slips beneath the earth, he runs back home with confidence wearing a smile on his face. Once the cave came into view, he skids across the ground, stops in front of the door, takes a breath, and enters. 

He slowly approaches the living calls out to Amery, " mum, are you home . . . . ", after looking around, he sees her sitting at the campfire lie in waiting, she then turns to Oso and asks him to wait at his nest as she heads to the storage room opposite his bed. Pulling out worn-down books and paper strapped to it. "I guess you want to know more about what happened, but for that, we need to go way back. Will you be willing to listen, son ?"

"Before we go on after you've finished explaining, will you be telling me everything?", after a short pause she nods in response with heavy air and his chest heavy."Then mum, please, tell me everything."

Alright.....