Learning New Things (Part: 1)

• • • • • •

"How does this contract thing work anyway?" Lira askrd clutching the book Owen had given her. She wasn't ready to read it yet. It would be preferable to do it while she was eating.

Owen approached her and extended his wing. Blood poured from it, forming half a circle in the air.

"Just use Water Magic to complete the circle with your own blood, and I'll take care of the rest. Just think of the conditions and I'll put them in place while it's happening.

"You will know what they are before it is finished, and if you agree, it will be completed. It wouldn't take long."

"Is it really that simple?" Lira stated.

"Indeed." Owen gave a nod. "Anyone can make them as long as they understand how it works, have advanced knowledge of runes, and enough energy."

Lira nodded, her hand clenched. Her nails dug into her skin, causing her gold blood to splatter. She made it float up and complete the circle with Water Magic.

Lira didn't ask what he meant by 'runes,' but she'd find out soon enough.

She walked over to the lake after allowing Owen to make the contract. It seemed like something that takes quite a bit if concentration, so she didn't want to bother him. The lake appeared to be something that formed naturally, but she could have been mistaken.

A stone from the cave wall floated into her hand, and she repeatedly tossed it into the air before tossing it into the lake. Lira was meticulously paying attention to everything thing that happened, not wanting to miss a single thing.

The rock fell into the water and sank for a few seconds before completely freezing in place. Lira turned to see Owen staring at a slew of white symbols floating in midair.

They were rapidly changing as Aether flowed out of his body and into them. The girl looked, her eyes wide with interest. She knew he could use Aether because he had a book on the subject, and was able to see that she could use it as well.

Lira was just about to speak when the runes flew over to her and entered Lira's body. A gold tattoo in the shake of a chain formed on her wrist in a matter of seconds, but the chain wasn't connected completely.

Her mind was filled with details about their contract.

"There, tell me if there's anything you want to change, and we'll discuss about it." Owen said as he sat down next to her.

Lira took a few moments to make sure she wasn't about to sell her soul to the devil. Everything seemed fair, and she could end it whenever she wanted with no consequences. Like Owen had said, she was getting more out of the contract than he was.

"Wait, don't you want to get revenge or something?" She asked. He'd told her he had a run-in with some demons who nearly completely cracked his soul.

If a person's soul is irreparably damaged, no one can help them. They won't even exist. There will be no ego, conscience, or anything else. The only thing that will remain is the power that souls generate on their own.

"Nah." Owen appeared to be at ease despite his circumstances. "In any case, it was my fault. My objective was completed in the end so I'm fine."

Lira blinked looking at him, utterly confused. Why would he purposefully try to kill himself? She decided not to inquire about his past because it was none of her business. So long as he doesn't do anything stupid while they're together.

The chain tattoo glowed so bright that the girl had to shield her eyes. The chain was complete when it died down. She recognized Owen, but he was not the same. Very much so.

The once-colossal owl had shrunk to the size of a normal owl. His feathers were now gold. He landed on her shoulder and looked at the girl, who was struggling to keep her laughter in check.

Owen's eye twitched as he noticed this. She was supposed to be a being born from the one of first and strongest beings in creation, but here she was. Trying not to laugh like a child at his misfortune, despite the fact that she is one.

"Just read your damn book." Owen scuffed. "Oh, and here you go."

He raised his wing behind her, causing her to turn her head. When she saw the wolf, her eyes widened. Lira shifted her gaze between the wolf and Owen.

"What?" Owen inquired seeing her confusion. "Not familiar with a simple Shadow Space."

"No, I'm self taught, remember." Lira stated.

"Yes, yes, I recall, apologies. Shadow Space is a sort of storage created using Darkness Magic." Owen informed. "It's simply called Shadow Space because it exists within your shadow."

Lira listened intently to his explanation. If she could figure out how to learn it, it would solve a lot of her problems. She didn't have anywhere to put her belongings at the time so it would help quite a bit.

"Can you give me a book on it?" She inquired.

"Sure!" The girl smiled. "All I need is twenty souls." And her happiness was short lived.

Lira lowered her head, a frown on her face. She grumbled a little at his stinginess, but their agreement did not include sharing information. He had the option of sharing it or not.

"Don't be depressed, Little One. It's actually a pretty good price for an entire book about basic Darkness Magic. Especially since you know nothing about it- HEY!"

Lira struck him with a bolt of lightning. Owen sank into his shadow, making the bold miss him by a small margin. He peered over her other shoulder as the shadow moved.

"That was uncalled for!"

"If you saw so" Lira grinned. "What exactly is this lake? Or do you want souls for that as well?"

Owen glared at her before taking off above the lake, but it was mostly to get away from the girl. He was beginning to regret entering into this contract with her, but it was his only way of survival. He was skeptical that someone capable of using Aether would appear before his death.

He also desired someone who was reasonable, talented, and intelligent. Lira was one of the few who remembered her previous life, so she had an advantage over others. As long as she has the right tools, means, and motivation, she can reach highs like no one else.

"Have you heard the legend of this forest?" Owen said this while flapping his wings.

"Yeah, what about it?" Lira approached the wolf. "What am I doing here?"

"Drain the blood first. You can keep it or throw it away because it isn't very valuable. It's a Snow Wolf, and it's between fifty and sixty years old, giver take."

Lira hummed and created an ice dagger. She stabbed it in the neck and used Water Magic to extract the blood. She could drain it normally, but using magic would speed up the process significantly.

"Very good. Now, let's talk about this lake. The legend stated something to the effect of, "A lake that, if bathed in, grants immortality." That legend is both true and false at the same time.

"This lake does not bestow immortality. Whatever or whoever falls into the water will become frozen in time."

Lira stopped draining the blood and gazed greedily at the lake behind her. The blood bubble in the air almost fell, soaking the beautiful white grass in crimson red.

"What's the snag?" Lira said it knowing it wasn't too good to be true.

"No catch, Little One." Owen flre over to her and helped the girl drain the blood. He had a lot more control than her so he was able to do it much faster than her.

"If you coat yourself with Aether and dive in, the efforts on the lake will be nullified. That's the only way, unless you can manipulate time that is." Owen continued. "But, it's not very useful, now is it? The only thing it can be used for is preserving something.

"However, it can't stop the soul. Like me, if I were to go in, my soul would still continue to die. It can only save someone with a physical life treating wound. Once you get stronger, trying to kill someone that way becomes almost impossible. You must go for the soul."

Owen's voice was slightly bitter as he spoke of souls. Although what he did was deliberate, the fact that he nearly died did not change. He was a man of over five hundred years old.

He wasn't much of a fighter, but he'd been in a countless life or death battles, and survived them all. His pride was bruised by the outcome because it did not go exactly as planned.

"With that out of the way, let's move on to the next step." Looking at the blood floating in the air, Owen said. "Would you like to keep it?"

"Is there anything I can do with it?" Lira asled, stating that she only desired it if it had a purpose. There was no point keeping it if it was worthless.

"You could see it to Vampires," Owen pointed out.

"Vampires exist... of course Vampires exist." Lira sighed and turned away. There were Demons, Angels, magical owls, big ass wolves, of course there would be Vampires. "I'm keeping it."

Owen's shadow grew as he waved his wing. A few glass jars emerged from it. Lira looked on with envy, contemplating trading in the souls for the book.

After a minute, all of the blood was in jars in the cave's corner. With the assistance of Owen and Water Magic, the process was completed quickly. It only took a few moments.

"You can now extract the teeth or skin it." Before he could blink, Lira was already in front of the wolf, pulling the teeth out. Her grin was a little too wide as she extracted teeth from a dead wolf.

Owen sighed as he looked at her, then sighed again as he realized he had just signed his life away to a child. He hoped it was worthwhile to see his daughter again.

He had no idea where she was. He teleported her and his station to some random planet the last time he saw her. That was over two decades ago.

He knew she is alive, but she has definitely been near death a few times. The man just had to hope his little project was taking care of her.

• • •

"Question." Lira said sitting in front of big pieces of wolf meat over an open fire. The girl had just tossed the rest into the lake for later. "How strong are you?"

"Hm." Owen hummed. "A bit stronger than you magically. I know many spells but my energy pools are only slightly bigger than your's now. Physical strength, you beat me hands down. I don't even have my human form back yet."

Lira nodded going back to her book, and by going back, she meant now starting. She wanted to wait until she could eat but her patents had ran out. It was a surprise it took so long.

"Before you do that, I'm going to teach you to look into your Soul Space..."

"No need." Lira said laying on the grass. Owen looked at her not expecting that answer at all.

"Do you know how to do it."

"Yeah, it's like meditating, right. But I just need to go deeper." Lira smiled closing her eyes. She didn't know how, she just had a feel for these thing now. It only happened after she became a Nephalem.

They were one of the few races with an innate connection to souls. A Nephalem in their teens can look into the souls of others with ease.

Lira wasn't a naturally born one, but Aether was slowly changing that. As they years go by, she will slowly become a true Nephalem. Maybe even more, much more.

One that could riven and maybe even surpass a Nephalem born with royal blood.

• • • • • •