Althea wasn't sure what she was expecting. The invasive paths actually listening to her and going away wasn't it. But that was what happened. Like a bunch of rabbits that had met a tiger, they scurried off, back into the chaotic mana. The mana looked just like it had a few moments ago, before she had tried to force a reaction.
'Not doing that again.'
The mana issue aside, that…had been something. The experience left her reeling, but it had taught her much. Even as a part of her just wanted to sit back and sigh, another was already analyzing what she had learned.
This was the first time she had gotten any concrete information on paths. Even if it was vague as fuck, it was something. More than what she had known before, or expected to learn for a very long time.
The paths were related to a person's personality. Perhaps an extension of will? Yes, that sounded right. The magic system was dependent on will and intent to function. The path must be how will grew. Or perhaps how will interacted with the world? Althea wasn't sure how meridians, mana or manuals came into it, but she was sure that would come.
Now she at least had somewhere to start. The paths had retreated when she had shouted at them using her will. The effect of the will had ended when they exited her body. Althea couldn't control or scare them anymore.
The answer was clear as day.
The paths were ways to connect her to the world, to project her will onto it. How could she build one? Well, she didn't know that yet. Perhaps she didn't have a place to start. That was fine. This was the information she had gotten just after spending a day in this place. A few months and she would have a path as strong as the Druid one.
There was, however, something that irritated her. So much that she wanted to huff and slam her foot against the ground. Even if it wouldn't be very lady-like of her to do so. Then again, she hadn't been very lady-like lately.
This place had turned out to be a great ground for her to work on. A great place she had found just as she decided to start looking to improve her path in earnest. If she didn't see the connection, she would be blind.
The Great Mother was up to her antics again. How much of the past few weeks had been planned? Had she had the thief steal the staff? Even Gramma's village was conveniently placed, especially with Aasha being in the same forest she landed. The more she thought about it, the more fake the journey seemed.
Perhaps she was splitting hairs, seeing an illusion where there was none. Or she was being manipulated into doubting herself and the Great Mother was using her as a puppet. How much of her life was a lie? Was even what she was thinking true? Was she even able to stop the tendrils, or was that just a lie the Great Mother showed her to make her feel safe?
A frustrated grunt escaped her as she actually did slam her feet on the ground. The very soft ground that sank to accommodate her feet. And then clung to it, refusing to let go. The embarrassment of her, a Master, being stuck in the soil warred with her fascination with the soil having the capability to even impede her in the smallest of ways.
A consequence of the strange mana, she had no doubt. That seemed like something she could blame for her problems. At least that was easy.
Althea sank onto the ground, too frustrated and tired to worry about sitting on the ground. Not like her dress would even get dirty. The bloody thing was made of jewels, with enchantments to keep itself clean. The only enchantments Mira had somehow learned to put on them. The Great Mother's work again.
What was she going to do about that?
What could she even do?
The Great Mother was too powerful. So powerful that she was making her doubt reality just by being. Althea had no idea where the tree was, or even if she really existed. For all she knew, the burning tree was the one manipulating her mind. For some reason, she doubted it, but that reason could easily be Mind Magic.
There was no way for her to tell if what she was thinking were her own thoughts or what someone else was feeding to her. Blocking those tendrils had calmed her for a while, but now she was panicking again.
The reality of her situation was getting through to her. For now, at least, she was fixed. No, not fixed. What was that word? Forced? No, even that sounded wrong.
A feeling of frustration swept through her as she found herself unable to find a word. The sentence was of little consequence, she hardly needed the word to think, the meaning sufficed. But it irritated her. Like a burning anger that threatened to consume her whole, it was there. The threat of mind control, the threats that just refused to go away, the sheer ridiculousness of the situation-it, it was too much.
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Althea wasn't having a breakdown. But she was. There were no tears, no scream into the void. Not even any sadness or feeling of doom. Just a frustration, a feeling that kept her beating quickly. A need to scratch an imaginary itch, to yell out into the world, blaming it about this injustice.
Mana reacted to her thoughts, but even so, it did not know what to do. There was no great reaction from the elements, no great fire that burned the ground around her. Just a howling wind that ruffled her hair as she growled helplessly.
What, oh what, was she going to do?
Althea growled some more in frustration, feeling even more inept doing the exact same thing without getting any results. Shaking her head as she growled some more, she turned her head to the work before her. There was no point in losing her head on whatever that was. The feeling had to subside eventually. Had to. Yes, it had to.
Taking a deep breath, she focused on her surroundings, ignoring other…distractions. The path. A path. Whatever. English was a weird language- and why was she thinking about that again? The path. The thing that connected her mind to the world. How to find it.
Connect to the world.
Althea slammed her eyes shut, forcing any other thoughts to keep quiet. This was her mind and she was the boss. This was what she wanted to be doing and this was what she would be doing. The other ideas could wait.
For the first time in a long while, she tried to connect outward without calling for mana. Mana connected to her anyway. The same way as it normally did. For some reason, she felt angry about that too. Ignore it. The manual was not easy to shut off.
That explained why the people finding their own way of cultivation were those without a manual. Wait, people without a manual. Why had she not thought of that? That would have been a monumental discovery a few minutes ago.
The lot of them must have paths. That was how they cultivated. And why they tended to be so much more powerful than others that cultivated normally. A path that they built themselves and cultivated using must be more powerful than others.
Hmm, the discovery was actually more important right now. Knowing what she did about paths now, it let her connect a few thoughts.
The thoughts could have led to her theorizing some more, but really it led to frustration. Had the Great Mother interfered with her thoughts again? Was this why yet another convenient thing she could not explain had occurred?
The feelings of frustration and anger grew, making her want to throw something at something. Just about anything would suffice. A tree was preferred, but at this point she would take anything that could take a beating. But no, she was stuck in a barren land where not even grass grew. The Great Mother probably had done that too.
The felling of mana tendrils seeping into her mind ignited inside her. Althea reacted near instantly, jumping towards it like a cat that had found a pointer light. The tendrils would not escape. A flood of pure mana flooded them away from her mind, emotion mana surging as she called on it to hold the fort.
There was no way she knew off that would allow the tendrils to survive this onslaught. But they managed anyway. The bloody things stood on the edge of her mind, some kind of field around them that kept them safe. Just outside the edge of her mind.
Althea wasn't even sure how she was sensing them there, outside her mind. But she was. And it infuriated her. The enemy was right there. But she could not reach it.
"What do you want?" she growled, not expecting a reply. Not like she had used telepathy, anyway. That wasn't something she knew.
"I have done very little of what you accuse me of, you know." The Great Mother, if that was what this was, replied, much to her shock.
"So you're finally going to acknowledge my presence?" she shot back.
"I see little reason not to. I was the one that brought you here."
"So you did manipulate me into this place? Tell me, which one did you manipulate, the bird or me?" she asked.
"I had no hand in that. In fact, I did not have any hand in landing you here. That was the doing of the Flowing Dragon Sect. Reward them for it, if that is your wish. I do not care."
Althea rolled her eyes. The Great Mother had literally said yes two seconds ago. Now it was suddenly a no?
"I did not, in fact, say yes. I was referring to your transport to this world from yours. Not to this…pitiful excuse of a battlefield."
So the Great Mother was responsible for her transmigra-wait. Did she just READ HER MIND?
THAT FUCKING BITCH.
So she could do it this entire time. Of course, she was right. The tendrils were an illusion-
"There is a difference between the core of your mind and your surface thoughts. I can access one, not the other. Not that you will believe me."
Of course, she didn't. Why would she? The Great Mother had been manipulating her this entire time. The less you believed people of suspect character, the better.
"Well, you were a troublesome child. Do you have any concept of the trouble-" The mana around her fluctuated, as if it had just had a seizure-"This is proving itself useless? This conversation would be much more productive if you would just have a decent conversation with me. The amount of rudeness I have had to face in the last few minutes is astounding. Not ladylike of you at all."
Althea rolled her eyes. Yes, she wasn't being ladylike. That was the most important thing here, not the mind controlling creature.
"So, you wish for me to follow decorum? I can do that. Perhaps you should follow, and actually show up in person. I can hardly be expected to talk to someone that only appears as mind controlling tendrils."
"I will have you know that I am here simply for your benefit. The condition you were in was counterproductive to your future progress. I am here to fix that. Now, if you would allow me-"
Althea felt something rise against her. The power she had witnessed before, the large real power from chaotic mana that had defeated the ethereal power. The same one was here now, and it was heading for her mind.
The Great Mother was commanding it. To change her or something. Althea wasn't sure what. But she was sure as heck wasn't going to allow her to do it. If the druid path was too weak to help her, she just needed to acquire a better one.