Altair walked dazedly for a short time through the Servants Quarters. Now that she was free of the two women who pulled her along without her approval, she had time to think about everything she had learned and seen in this short period of time.
She wasn't stupid. She could tell now that there was no trap waiting for her after she left her room. It was more accurate to say that the space she could move around freely in had grown. That was all there was to it. She figured that out when she saw the two familiar guards in a different place. She probably had no chance of actually escaping still.
Even if there was another way out of this area of the mansion, Altair assumed that it would be guarded just the same as the one she had been led to. Still, since this area was mostly unfamiliar with her she would need to explore it fully to see if there were any other options to leave through. Even if there wasn't though, since the guards were so far away from her room she could now escape through her window after breaking it. Of course, her escape would have to wait a while longer though.
The information about the strange power of a 'Spiritual Self' intrigued her. She barely knew anything about it so far. But, since it was the power of the Gods, it was bound to be beneficial to find out more on it. She wanted to know how it worked and what all it could do.
She already knew that a Spiritual Self was different from Mana. Mana wasn't linked to some weird thing called a Soul. Mana was just a form of power within everyone, or at least that's how Altair knew about it. The moment a person's Mana became detectable by them was the same moment they would be able to start training in Magic. Everyone could learn the basic Magic's and use them to at will by burning some of the Mana within them and, of course, the effects of the Magic would be almost completely dependent on how much Mana someone had and their talent in manipulating it.
The Spiritual Energy and Spiritual Self that Noel had told her about were vastly different to that. She didn't even know what a Soul was or how to connect to it. She wondered if it could be done with Mana or if the concept was something she could understand with what she knew now. Even now, a while after being told about it, she still didn't understand a lot of what Noel said about it.
She could only try asking Donel about it since he was the closest God to her…
Upon thinking about that, Altair came out of her daze with widened eyes. 'Donel turned invisible earlier and snuck up on me but why would he do that if I'm just getting a larger area to roam about in?' That point didn't make sense to her.
She looked around with a critical eye and tried to notice anything moving about. However, she didn't see any hint or sign of Donel. His ability to turn invisible really was incredible…
That didn't mean that Altair didn't have other ways to see if he was nearby though. Although the amount of Mana she had access to was pitiful, she still had a Magic well suited to discovering invisible foes. Her threads would easily be able to detect them if she created them from her body, allowing her to feel everything they felt, and whirled them around her. But she couldn't create that many with the Mana she had and they wouldn't be very long either. Still, it was better than nothing and she wanted to ask him a lot about that Spiritual Self stuff.
So, Altair started to burn her Mana. She created two thin and small threads that came from her arms and spun in a circle. They only made contact with air and disappeared after three rotations. Altair frowned as the Mana Pool she had access to emptied and she felt the complete emptiness again. It cost all of the Mana she had and only got her feeling incomplete.
She sighed lightly and suddenly lost all motivation to look for him. He would pop up to tutor her later anyway, so she would ask him then.
Altair started to make her way back to her room. She didn't have the drive to explore right now, not with that emptiness inside her ringing from, what seemed like, everywhere around her. It was far more profound and obvious now that she had recently gained some Mana back. It felt oppressive and draining.
On the way back to her room she considered what to do about this new room to wander around in. It would make a great place to exercise, considering the size of it and the fact that she could actually run around without having to stop every dozen or so steps. She also wondered exactly what other rooms were here and what the overall layout of the place was. Perhaps there was something interesting and useful to find, like where Donel got her food from.
She was really dissatisfied with her portions.
She got back to her room without incident and promptly fell onto her bed as soon as it was within reach. She lay there for a couple hours before some of her Mana trickled back into existence within her. The feeling of it growing back within her quickly pushed away the complete emptiness and she finally got back up.
It was around that time that Donel knocked on the door and entered immediately after, as he always did. His first sight was Altair, still dressed like a servant, pushing herself off her bed. His eye twitched momentarily at her disheveled appearance which, to some certain adults, would provoke immoral thoughts but to Donel, he struggled to keep the smile from his face. To him, it was like Altair was announcing her willingness to be a servant in the family even though her position had yet to be chosen. He wondered if he should inform his Master about this but quickly dismissed the idea. He was sure that Renald would be angered if a Steward like him tried to give advice on something.
Altair briskly walked over to Donel while saying, "Donel, Donel! Spiritual Self." She then looked at him with eyes full of expectation as if her meaning was obvious.
Donel's gazed became clouded as he thought about what she could mean. It was like someone ran up to him and randomly said 'duck'. He had no idea what to make of it.
Altair realized that Donel probably didn't understand what she said so she pulled on his clothes to bring his attention back to her. Once he was looking at her, she pointed at him and said, "Spiritual Self." She didn't know how else to explain it in their language. Once more, yet again, she felt the gap between them through the language barrier. If she just knew more of their language it would be so much easier to get the information she wanted…
Donel chuckled lightly and nodded in understanding. He figured she wanted him to show her his Spiritual Self. That was easy enough, although it was usually very rude to ask such things. Altair was still a child though, and they were in a private room, plus Donel's abilities were well known among the Marnithok family already. So he had no issues showing her what tier he was at.
Altair's brows furrowed as she sensed a strange change in the air. It felt like the air around Donel had come alive. This feeling was far different from anything she had experienced so far and she quickly took two steps back out of caution.
A faint glow started to form around Donel. The glow slowly became denser and denser, taking on a bright green hue as it coalesced.
As it coalesced around Donel, all the hair's on Altair's body felt like they were standing on end. Her eyes widened and she felt her heart start to race in her chest. Even her breathing became erratic because of it. Her instincts screamed danger to her as fear gripped her heart. It was like Donel's presence alone was threatening her very life.
Altair had felt this feeling before. Images from her past flashed through her mind in sequence. A rainy night, in a village engulfed flames, with both Humans and Demi-Humans running in terror. Half of a friends body lying on top of her so that she wouldn't be discovered. The roar of a creature that should only exist in legends that caused whole buildings to collapse under its pressure alone and its steps that caused the grounds to shake. That night, Altair had come face to face with death when she encountered an Ancient Dragon.
What was the difference between a normal Dragon and an Ancient Dragon? The same difference between a pebble and a boulder. They couldn't be compared in any way other than that they were the same species.
Altair would never forget the fear she felt that night. It was the same feeling that as assaulting her senses right now. She didn't know why she was feeling this from Donel. It couldn't be possible that he was as powerful as that gargantuan creature of destruction. Even if he was a God it shouldn't have been possible.
A cold sweat broke out over her body as her mind fought with her feelings and instincts on the issue. She couldn't bring herself to believe it even though she had seen plenty of proof that the God's she had been in contact with were creatures that couldn't be underestimated. Even if the proof was staring her in the face and forcing its presence upon her, causing her to feel the same way as she had back then, she still couldn't do it.
Altair's complexion became pale. It only took five seconds for her to get to that point since Donel had started. Her legs abruptly quit on her in the next second and Donel realized what he was doing.
He quickly stopped and the pressure disappeared as if it had never existed. With a worried look on his face he attempted to walk over to Altair but she pulled away from him on instinct alone. This was a strange reaction that he had never seen before. Sure, he started to use his Spiritual Energy to make his Spiritual Self show. But, even when he did this to children who had yet to even tap their Spiritual Self, they never showed the look of complete terror and horror that Altair was showing. Her face becoming pale was already strange. It was like she could sense his Spiritual Self. That shouldn't be possible.
No one could sense another person's Spiritual Self. They could only sense their Spiritual Energy when it was used. But he wasn't using his Spiritual Energy to do anything on their plane. He was using it to show his Spiritual Self, so it shouldn't be detectable.
And yet, Altair was showing signs of being able to feel it. It was the same as the descriptions that were theorized in books.
Altair walked dazedly for a short time through the Servants Quarters. Now that she was free of the two women who pulled her along without her approval, she had time to think about everything she had learned and seen in this short period of time.
She wasn't stupid. She could tell now that there was no trap waiting for her after she left her room. It was more accurate to say that the space she could move around freely in had grown. That was all there was to it. She figured that out when she saw the two familiar guards in a different place. She probably had no chance of actually escaping still.
Even if there was another way out of this area of the mansion, Altair assumed that it would be guarded just the same as the one she had been led to. Still, since this area was mostly unfamiliar with her she would need to explore it fully to see if there were any other options to leave through. Even if there wasn't though, since the guards were so far away from her room she could now escape through her window after breaking it. Of course, her escape would have to wait a while longer though.
The information about the strange power of a 'Spiritual Self' intrigued her. She barely knew anything about it so far. But, since it was the power of the Gods, it was bound to be beneficial to find out more on it. She wanted to know how it worked and what all it could do.
She already knew that a Spiritual Self was different from Mana. Mana wasn't linked to some weird thing called a Soul. Mana was just a form of power within everyone, or at least that's how Altair knew about it. The moment a person's Mana became detectable by them was the same moment they would be able to start training in Magic. Everyone could learn the basic Magic's and use them to at will by burning some of the Mana within them and, of course, the effects of the Magic would be almost completely dependent on how much Mana someone had and their talent in manipulating it.
The Spiritual Energy and Spiritual Self that Noel had told her about were vastly different to that. She didn't even know what a Soul was or how to connect to it. She wondered if it could be done with Mana or if the concept was something she could understand with what she knew now. Even now, a while after being told about it, she still didn't understand a lot of what Noel said about it.
She could only try asking Donel about it since he was the closest God to her…
Upon thinking about that, Altair came out of her daze with widened eyes. 'Donel turned invisible earlier and snuck up on me but why would he do that if I'm just getting a larger area to roam about in?' That point didn't make sense to her.
She looked around with a critical eye and tried to notice anything moving about. However, she didn't see any hint or sign of Donel. His ability to turn invisible really was incredible…
That didn't mean that Altair didn't have other ways to see if he was nearby though. Although the amount of Mana she had access to was pitiful, she still had a Magic well suited to discovering invisible foes. Her threads would easily be able to detect them if she created them from her body, allowing her to feel everything they felt, and whirled them around her. But she couldn't create that many with the Mana she had and they wouldn't be very long either. Still, it was better than nothing and she wanted to ask him a lot about that Spiritual Self stuff.
So, Altair started to burn her Mana. She created two thin and small threads that came from her arms and spun in a circle. They only made contact with air and disappeared after three rotations. Altair frowned as the Mana Pool she had access to emptied and she felt the complete emptiness again. It cost all of the Mana she had and only got her feeling incomplete.
She sighed lightly and suddenly lost all motivation to look for him. He would pop up to tutor her later anyway, so she would ask him then.
Altair started to make her way back to her room. She didn't have the drive to explore right now, not with that emptiness inside her ringing from, what seemed like, everywhere around her. It was far more profound and obvious now that she had recently gained some Mana back. It felt oppressive and draining.
On the way back to her room she considered what to do about this new room to wander around in. It would make a great place to exercise, considering the size of it and the fact that she could actually run around without having to stop every dozen or so steps. She also wondered exactly what other rooms were here and what the overall layout of the place was. Perhaps there was something interesting and useful to find, like where Donel got her food from.
She was really dissatisfied with her portions.
She got back to her room without incident and promptly fell onto her bed as soon as it was within reach. She lay there for a couple hours before some of her Mana trickled back into existence within her. The feeling of it growing back within her quickly pushed away the complete emptiness and she finally got back up.
It was around that time that Donel knocked on the door and entered immediately after, as he always did. His first sight was Altair, still dressed like a servant, pushing herself off her bed. His eye twitched momentarily at her disheveled appearance which, to some certain adults, would provoke immoral thoughts but to Donel, he struggled to keep the smile from his face. To him, it was like Altair was announcing her willingness to be a servant in the family even though her position had yet to be chosen. He wondered if he should inform his Master about this but quickly dismissed the idea. He was sure that Renald would be angered if a Steward like him tried to give advice on something.
Altair briskly walked over to Donel while saying, "Donel, Donel! Spiritual Self." She then looked at him with eyes full of expectation as if her meaning was obvious.
Donel's gazed became clouded as he thought about what she could mean. It was like someone ran up to him and randomly said 'duck'. He had no idea what to make of it.
Altair realized that Donel probably didn't understand what she said so she pulled on his clothes to bring his attention back to her. Once he was looking at her, she pointed at him and said, "Spiritual Self." She didn't know how else to explain it in their language. Once more, yet again, she felt the gap between them through the language barrier. If she just knew more of their language it would be so much easier to get the information she wanted…
Donel chuckled lightly and nodded in understanding. He figured she wanted him to show her his Spiritual Self. That was easy enough, although it was usually very rude to ask such things. Altair was still a child though, and they were in a private room, plus Donel's abilities were well known among the Marnithok family already. So he had no issues showing her what tier he was at.
Altair's brows furrowed as she sensed a strange change in the air. It felt like the air around Donel had come alive. This feeling was far different from anything she had experienced so far and she quickly took two steps back out of caution.
A faint glow started to form around Donel. The glow slowly became denser and denser, taking on a bright green hue as it coalesced.
As it coalesced around Donel, all the hair's on Altair's body felt like they were standing on end. Her eyes widened and she felt her heart start to race in her chest. Even her breathing became erratic because of it. Her instincts screamed danger to her as fear gripped her heart. It was like Donel's presence alone was threatening her very life.
Altair had felt this feeling before. Images from her past flashed through her mind in sequence. A rainy night, in a village engulfed flames, with both Humans and Demi-Humans running in terror. Half of a friends body lying on top of her so that she wouldn't be discovered. The roar of a creature that should only exist in legends that caused whole buildings to collapse under its pressure alone and its steps that caused the grounds to shake. That night, Altair had come face to face with death when she encountered an Ancient Dragon.
What was the difference between a normal Dragon and an Ancient Dragon? The same difference between a pebble and a boulder. They couldn't be compared in any way other than that they were the same species.
Altair would never forget the fear she felt that night. It was the same feeling that as assaulting her senses right now. She didn't know why she was feeling this from Donel. It couldn't be possible that he was as powerful as that gargantuan creature of destruction. Even if he was a God it shouldn't have been possible.
A cold sweat broke out over her body as her mind fought with her feelings and instincts on the issue. She couldn't bring herself to believe it even though she had seen plenty of proof that the God's she had been in contact with were creatures that couldn't be underestimated. Even if the proof was staring her in the face and forcing its presence upon her, causing her to feel the same way as she had back then, she still couldn't do it.
Altair's complexion became pale. It only took five seconds for her to get to that point since Donel had started. Her legs abruptly quit on her in the next second and Donel realized what he was doing.
He quickly stopped and the pressure disappeared as if it had never existed. With a worried look on his face he attempted to walk over to Altair but she pulled away from him on instinct alone. This was a strange reaction that he had never seen before. Sure, he started to use his Spiritual Energy to make his Spiritual Self show. But, even when he did this to children who had yet to even tap their Spiritual Self, they never showed the look of complete terror and horror that Altair was showing. Her face becoming pale was already strange. It was like she could sense his Spiritual Self. That shouldn't be possible.
No one could sense another person's Spiritual Self. They could only sense their Spiritual Energy when it was used. But he wasn't using his Spiritual Energy to do anything on their plane. He was using it to show his Spiritual Self, so it shouldn't be detectable.
And yet, Altair was showing signs of being able to feel it. It was the same as the descriptions that were theorized in books.
