Novaris: Adventure in the Shattered Fang Continent

They hadn't been sure what to expect from this Alyx character, but they had to admit that after hearing the guy talk, he was obviously very intelligent. However, his intellect didn't prove that he had the skills to do anything with their soul. Still, it was impressive that he knew so much about the world and was well-informed.

The surprise came when he was able to see through the illusion. They were wary of showing anyone that they didn't have a mana cycle, as it seemed like a good way to be classified as some kind of aberration or monster. So in order to avoid any problems, they had flexed their celestial capabilities to try and hide this fact. They had been confident that their illusion would be able to fool anyone. Annoyingly, they were proven wrong rather quickly.

They weren't sure how the gnome saw right through their illusion, but it wasn't a good thing. Even if they had a contract, just the mere fact that he knew about this couldn't bode well. The twins worried about how outside forces might view their ability. So, as soon as they realized that the gnome had seen right through the illusion, they kicked him out of their soul.

Honestly, Arelion had been expecting to find that Alyx had already left the tree house and had gone to do god knows what. Heck, he had even flared up his dark energy as soon as he came to, as he would have tried to chase down the guy and at least try and explain things. However, coming back to reality, his darkness swirling about him, he just found the gnome looking at him, smiling.

Annoyed, Arelion demanded an explanation, “How the hell did you see through our illusion?! That was something you shouldn’t have seen!”

At his outburst, Rose stood up from her chair, “What's going on!? What happened!? Is Jasmine okay!?”

Arelion then only got even more pissed off as the gnome just blurted out in excitement as he addressed Rose. “Oh my gosh! Can you believe they don’t have a mana cycle!? You should have told me that to begin with. I would have been here yesterday!”

The response, however, just confused Rose more, and seeing the confusion, Alyx winced, “Oh, you didn’t know,”

Alyx’s response sent Arelion over the edge, and he dashed forward, yelling, “Answer my question, you damn gnome!” As he attempted to punch the gnome only to hit the shield bubble around the caster.

The gnome in question seemed to get the seriousness of the situation, but he finally came back from his knowledge high and responded, “Okay, first of all, I am a soul expert. Trying to hide soul things from me is rather pointless. Secondly, you aren’t the only one with special magic. Now, more importantly, how did you get that mana in there? Do you have some special power that lets you absorb mana or something!?!?”

Arelion went to speak but was quickly cut off by the gnome, “You know what? It doesn’t matter! How about you let me see it!? Please! I will even pay you!” This sentence made Alyx wince again as he realized that it could be taken way out of context, and he quickly added, “Your ability is that I want to see your ability!”

Hearing that threw Arelion off. He had expected condemnation and threats to be eliminated because they were different. Heck, they had even thought they would get threatened. However, they never thought someone would show such excitement over this ability, and it made them question things. In truth, they had only experienced a smaller fraction of the world, and what they had experienced had been rough. The church that was supposed to have helped them had essentially disowned them the moment they found they couldn't gain mana. They had even thought about actually joining them for good. But no, they only saw them as tools.

Now, they didn't believe that everyone would be like this gnome, but it helped broaden their horizons and made them see that not everyone was a greedy fool. Alyx seemed like he just wanted to learn and expand his horizons. However, it was still shocking to them, and they just felt like they had to confirm.

“So, you don’t think it's weird that we don’t have the mana cycle? You don’t suddenly want to kill us for being some sort of monster experiment?”

“What!? No! What kind of dumb questions are those? You are like one of a kind. If anything, I want to study you and see what makes you tick.”

“Got it, so you want to imprison us and experiment.” Arelion spitted coldly.

“Honestly, that would be ideal, but I doubt you would be willing even if I pay you. I am not big on holding people hostage. I know others back in the empire who don’t care, but it's just not my thing.”

“Well, it doesn't sound like a very nice place.”

“Eh. It has its ups and downs. Anyways, are you going to let me see your ability or not?”

“For now, no. You have yet to answer the most important question. Are you able to fix us or not?”

The question set the gnome on silent mode as he walked back and forth in deep thought, muttering random crap every now and then. He even asked the twins to let him look at their souls a few more times. In the end, he spent around 30 minutes like that until he eventually stopped and spoke up once again.

“Honestly, I am not sure if I'll be able to fix you. Now, there are a few reasons why I say this. First of all, you are both dealing with two different celestial powers. Usually, if there's some kind of soul merger like you're experiencing here, it is between two mortal creatures. That makes everything much easier because there's no outside source of power that could make everything go boom. So, in those cases, it is possible to separate or merge the two souls harmoniously with some rituals and other magics. In your case, however, your souls are already merged. And correct me if I am wrong, but you want to separate them in order to live separate lives, correct?”

A question Arelion answered with yet another nod.

“Yeah, that is very much more difficult because whatever is holding your soul together is not just going to willingly let it go. Not to mention that your body is celestial in nature and is holding both souls perfectly. So, a new vessel would need to be able to hold your soul and its power.

“Now, adding to this fact is the simple truth that I am not powerful enough to conduct such an experiment. I know someone who is powerful enough to do something like that, but we still require the vessels and lots of research to make sure we don't kill you. Additionally, it would be better for you to be higher ranked. That way, you have better control over your own souls, so when the experiment does happen, you'll be able to leverage that power.

“Now, the final thing is that we would need to find whoever did your core. I am worried that no matter what we do if that power is too strong and the core holds your soul together too fiercely, it might end up hurting you. It is obvious to me now that you haven’t told me the full truth of the situation, so I won’t pry much. However, I need to know. If required, can you find the entity responsible for stitching you together, even if just one more time?”

“Yes.”

“Very well, now I believe the issue you will find pressing you the most right now is your ability to rank up. I can imagine how hard it must be without access to a constant mana supply. How reliable is this ability of yours? Do you think you will be able to reach at least A-Rank?”

“The ability is reliable, and I can use it multiple times. Our worry was that the way it gives us mana would have us hunted down. However, if we aren’t killed, there is no reason why we can’t reach A or even S Rank.” Answered Arelion coldly, having already returned to his usual demeanor.

“Hmm, I see. Would you finally tell us what this ability does? I am sure Rose here is also curious.”

Rose nodded as she stayed silent. She had been quiet so far as she didn’t have much input in the conversation. She didn’t really know much about souls, but from what she was gathering, there was a path forward for her friend, and that was what mattered.

Arelion, seeing Rose nod and having his sister agree to finally share the information with the eager gnome, decided to explain their mysterious ability. As Arelion explained his ability to take out the mana from the souls of creatures, he saw Alyx's eyes going wide. And no, the gnome wasn’t scared. He was excited, and his gem eyes glinted as Arelion imagined all the sorts of things going on in the guy’s mind. On the other hand, Arelion saw a bit of wariness in Rose’s eye, which made sense. She was a follower of Sol, a god devoted to protecting others, and what Arelion was describing sounded very much like the ability of an evil-doer.

“Don’t worry, we only use it on monsters. Jasmine doesn’t let me use it on other humanoids.” Arelion quickly commented and saw Rose sigh in relief. Meanwhile, Alyx jumped with excitement.

“Amazing! I must see it right now! To the forest!” Yelled the gnome, actually getting up and making his way to the door.

“No! We can’t let other people see it so easily! Just because you’re okay with it doesn’t mean others will! You need to understand we are being hunted right now.” Arelion howled at the gnome.

The gnome, in turn, did a quick 180 and began to walk back, though he was still excited and was unaffected as he yelled a declaration, “So what! I am Alyx Vinci. As long as you join my group, no one in their right mind is going to try anything. In fact, I want to see them try!”

“You’re crazy,” Arelion responded bluntly.

“No! Who’s crazy is whatever entity decides to get between me and my sweet, sweet research! Now let’s go and venture forth as knowledge awaits us!” Alyx yelled back once against turning towards the door.

“Wait!” Arelion shouted as he got up from the chair and paused for a few seconds, thinking about Alyx’s proposition before speaking, some hope seeping into his cold voice, “Are you serious? If we join your party, will you use your background to protect us?”

“Of course! As long as I can study you, no cult shall lay a hand on you! You have my word!”