26 Powers and Abilities

Alex raised a brow. "Rule of Triune?"

"Sensation, Meditation and Materialization." Arthur listed them with his fingers. "Sensation represents the state when our Spirituality awakens and we come in contact with aether, allowing us to peep into the mysteries of the supernatural.

"Meditation represents creating a balance in your Pneuma, allowing the amount of aether to not exceed the level of tolerance before the law of Origin takes effect and finally, Materialization.

"The last step represents gaining an understanding of your Powers and then with the help of your imagination, generating Abilities that would be able to affect the real world.

"Once these three steps are completed, a person is said to have truly completed his or her Origin."

Alex nodded with a look of understanding as he pondered on Arthur's words.

"Do all mystics have to carry out these steps?"

"Mn. It's longer for those on the weaker end but as you grow stronger, it becomes easier to withstand the law of Origin and also prolong the limitations of your Pneuma so it takes longer to get to that danger point."

"I think I have a vague understanding of things now," Alex muttered before adding. "So when do we start practicing the Rule?"

Arthur looked him over. "Are you sure you want to start now?... You just survived the process of nearly losing your Pneuma. It won't be bad if you get some rest."

"… I'm worried as well, especially after knowing that I could have lost myself today," Alex muttered. "If possible, I'd rather not allow such a situation to happen again."

"Hah, I guess there's no going back now" Arthur sighed.

Alex shook his head. "There's no need."

Arthur pursed his lips before sighing. "Let's begin."

A second later and a powerful force erupted from Arthur's body before sealing up the office they were in.

Alex blinked at the strange warm feeling he got as the invisible energy passed by him.

"Is that…"

"Materialization. I imagined a room where aether blocks the movement of sound out of this room and then materialized that thought."

"…Impressive." Alex instinctively remarked.

Arthur snorted. "This is basic stuff. All mystics can do this. Aether is a blank sheet so as long as you establish a connection with it, you can control it. The big deal comes up once it's time to wield Powers."

"What do you mean by Powers and Abilities, anyway?"

Arthur explained as he got to his feet. "Powers is the specialness of a Mystic to exert influence over a defined domain while Abilities is the techniques born out of the understanding of the said domain."

"… How do you know what your Powers are?"

"When a person breaks the boundary, a symbol would appear which serves as a marker to what their Powers are. We call these symbols Stigma. For the Human Wheel, the Stigma would rotate around the Trinity which represents the ethereal, the physical, and the consciousness with the location of the Stigma being at the back of your palm."

Alex glanced at his palm only for his expression to crumple as he muttered in confusion. "I don't see it."

"That's because the Stigmas are a result of the supernatural. Your eyes won't be able to see anything unless your Spirituality is active." Arthur explained with a slight chuckle.

"Which means I have to…"

"No need. Just show me your palm." Arthur remarked as he moved closer.

Alex noticed his brown eyes glow with a faint light, like they were a miniature star, causing him to blankly stare.

"Your palm."

Arthur's voice however jolted him from the surreal experience, leaving him with a slight perspiration on his forehead.

After a moment passed allowing him to recollect his thoughts, Alex reached out with his right hand and placed it in Arthur's waiting palm.

As Arthur studied Alex's palm, the latter was quick to note the high body temperature of the former.

It was at a level where he wondered if the old coot had a fever.

Just then, Arthur spoke up, derailing his thoughts. "Interesting."

"What?"

After checking for confirmation, Arthur pulled away and replied. "Shadow domain."

Alex furrowed his brows as he knew that his domain was Evernight, not Shadow.

But upon thinking it through, especially based on how Adam first reacted when he saw it, he thought it best that his true domain wasn't discovered.

Who knows if everyone would be as sensible as Adam?

Just then, Arthur continued, jolting his train of thought. "It's a pretty useful Power but be careful if you ever go up against a trueborn Vampire from the Draconian Lineage though the chances of that happening is highly unlikely."

"Why do you say so?"

"Because they are extinct… For quite some time if I might add."

"Extinct?"

Arthur nodded. "Mn, ever since the betrayal that led to the fall of the Quraishi family over 4000+ years ago."

"Quraishi family?"

"A powerful family in Emet that held power capable of rivaling the entire world of Mystics at that time. They are the progenitors of the current race of Cryptids."

"What happened to them?" Alex asked.

Arthur glanced at him. "Do you want to take a history lesson or do you want to learn about the Rule?"

Alex coughed awkwardly. "...Please continue."

Shaking his head, Arthur said. "Anyway, I mentioned the Draconian Lineage to let you understand that in the supernatural world, humans are at a disadvantage against Cryptids, Devils, and Otherworldly because, unlike humans, they don't have to worry about losing their pneuma to the aether.

"Using aether for them is the same as breathing. So unless you are completely sure of victory, do not engage. A cryptid and human at a similar level in strength would have the cryptid coming out on top if they fight, worse still if the human has a similar domain to the cryptid."

"Understood." Alex nodded.

"Good." Arthur sighed before pointing to the center of his office. "Go over there and get into a lotus position."

Alex glanced back at the spot pointed out before turning back to confirm the spot from Arthur.

The latter casually took another drag from his pipe without saying anything else.

Taking a deep breath, Alex got to his feet and walked to the center of the room before sitting on the floorboard and crossing his legs.

"Relax your muscles and try to keep your breathing at a controlled rate. If possible, try to listen to the beating of your heart and from there, track the movement of the blood in your vessels.

"It should take you quite some time to do that. Once you manage to get it done, we can move on to the next step."

Alex exhaled softly as he closed his eyes to do as instructed.

He wondered if he should take it slow or just run through it.

What Arthur wanted him to do would indeed take a bit of both time and effort for a normal person to achieve but Alex was a special operative back on Earth.

One of the most important aspects of his training was learning about the human body.

At his level, he had quite a bit of knowledge to rival the best doctors back on Earth, of course, this was only in relation to the human body mechanics.

With his knowledge, it wasn't difficult to completely stop himself from breathing and his heart from pumping to enter a dead state, albeit briefly.

So completing the process would at most take a little more than 3 minutes but then again, going too fast might make the old coot suspect something.

With no other choice, taking it easy was his best bet.

Of course, not too easy as he completed the process after 30 minutes.

Taking a deep breath, he muttered. "… I think I've got it down."

Arthur was stunned for a moment before he quickly collected his thoughts. "Now try to go further… you need to feel the presence of your Pneuma and establish a connection with it. That is the first step, Sensation."

Alex did as instructed and a little while later, found himself or rather, his Pneuma.

It was a featureless body of light with a similar physique to his own.