For someone who didn’t belong to the tribe and didn’t go through the conditioning of ideas since his childhood, refusal was the norm for such an initiation requirement. Even with Stefan’s desperation, giving up his eyes willingly couldn’t be a light decision. And Ewan expected him to recede.
“I’ll do it,” Stefan said.
Yet he didn’t…
“Don’t be hasty, you have time to think about it,” Ewan said. “I need a navigator right now; I can't let you become blind before I find Nana.”
Stefan nodded with a deep breath, and his perked shoulders drooped a little. “I won't let you down even after we find her. I’ll find a way to navigate without my eyes.”
Ewan gave him a deep stare. “If you just want to punish yourself, there are other ways,” he said. Stefan’s reasons for self-hatred were his own to deal with, Ewan couldn’t help him unless he asked for it. But their ties had developed so in the foregone months, thus he couldn’t leave him to his own devices either, especially when it meant becoming blind for the rest of his life. And since Whispered was a path that led them to higher life levels, it would be an unending age of nothingness.
“I don’t deserve your care, Ewan,” Stefan said. “Even being blind can't atone for what I’ve done.”
“One day, when you’ll be able to forgive yourself, you’ll regret this,” Ewan said.
“That day will never come,” Stefan said.
“Are you really doing this?” Kidd asked.
“You should think about it carefully,” Lance said. “Losing your eyes will completely change your life.”
Stefan smiled at them. “It’s not like I’m losing it for nothing. I can become a Whispered and live longer,” he said. “And the alternative for it is being a Kyron for the remainder of my life and dying a meaningless death.”
“If you’re that adamant, then so be it,” Ewan said, putting the crystal ball away. “Once we find Nana, you can initiate the process, and I’ll help you take your eyes out. You have time till then though, think about it more and tell me if you change your mind, we’ll look for another way that fits you.”
“Boss, I’ve never dug anyone’s eyes out,” Kidd said. “How do you do it? Do you just pull it out?”
“You can help me do it, learn from it, maybe you’ll need the skill in the future,” Ewan said. Enucleation was a process whose theory he knew by heart. He could’ve already put the words into practice back in Obria, albeit rather clumsily, let alone now with his vast amount of exposure to the anatomies of Starons and Astylinds alike.
“Should we move now?” Stefan asked.
“Yeah, our business here is done, we’ll beeline for Nana’s area now,” Ewan said. “You manage Nyte, I’ll deal with the egg.”
The Stormfalcon broke the waves towards the endless waters again on Stefan’s directions while Ewan focused on the feather and its scorching zeal for the egg, loosening its restriction bit by bit. The feather melted when Ewan let it touch the egg and coated it in an oily layer, the egg soaking it up with small tremors. When its surface dried and the oily sheen dulled, the egg fluctuated with vigorous signs of life—it had come alive in its best condition.
Identify!
[Astylind Name: Necros-Crow (Egg)]
[Astylind Level: Level-0]
[Astylind Grade: Grade-D]
[Anima Affinity: Dark]
[Gender: Male]
[Description: Possibly extinct natives of Airadia. Thought to be the harbinger of misfortune and ruination, revered and dreaded as the one closest to death. Exceptional affinity with the dark-element from the birth (Endued) but they also bear its consequences (Unproven).]
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[Grade-Exalt Requirements: Astylind Core (Dark), Astylind Blood (Dark), Darkforest Grime, Nightberry, Necros Remains.]
[Remark 1: Beware, pay heed to their cries, for you will lose your Astylind if you don’t.]
[Remark 2: Suicidal tendencies, sensitive to foreign stimulus. A tougher stance combined with a softer touch appears to work well in managing them.]
The ‘suicidal tendencies’ threw Ewan off; his worries missed the mark by megameters. He expected issues with the egg, given the condition he found it in. Even though the feather brought it back to life, the suspended state of limbo for ages could twist its normalcy. Yet, his spell identified no problem with the egg and instead the remarks warned him of the species’ inherent plight. Mental issues and a rapport with death were not something he predicted…
The description painted it as a possible consequence of the high affinity with the dark-element, but the ‘unproven’ couldn’t contain his confidence in the statement. It took Ewan back to Drarith and reminded him of Avis. He experimented with the dark-element, and he manifested issues of the same spectrum. But Kidd too had high affinity with the element and even resonated with the undead, and he showed no such signs. One contradicted the other and tugged Ewan towards disbelieving the claim.
Nevertheless, this was not his concern for the moment. Whether the crow suffered from the problem because of his affinity or because of his genes, he was still going to be Ewan’s fifth Astylind. And with the advent of his spell, his blood spilled, bloomed, and cocooned the egg. When the threads thinned and when his wound healed, the shell cracked. Soon the fracture spread to the whole egg and with several weak blows against the shell, an ugly, pink-skinned featherless chick stumbled out and collapsed, cawing at Ewan with his eyes shut.
With the contract, there was no need for the imprint. The crow saw him as his father, and the intimacy in his consciousness conveyed the emotion.
Ewan smiled and carried the baby crow in a hug, his reddish and immature beak biting his chin and nose, as an eye-shaped onyx rune glimmered in his soul space, and his world opened up to the dark-element.
“Ghost,” Ewan said and named the baby crow.
[Astylind Name: Necros-Crow]
[Astylind Level: Level-0]
[Astylind Grade: Grade-D]
[Anima Affinity: Dark]
[Skills: Dark-Endued]
[Gender: Male]
[Description: Natives of Airadia. Thought to be the harbinger of misfortune and ruination, revered and dreaded as the one closest to death. Exceptional affinity with the dark-element from the birth (Endued) but they also bear its consequences (Unproven).]
[Grade-Exalt Requirements: Astylind Core (Dark), Astylind Blood (Dark), Darkforest Grime, Nightberry, Necros Remains.]
[Remark 1: Beware, pay heed to their cries, for you will lose your Astylind if you don’t.]
[Remark 2: Suicidal tendencies, sensitive to foreign stimulus. A tougher stance combined with a softer touch appears to work well in managing them.]
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Status: Healthy
Step-1 Severynth [Spirit-Nebula: Zeroth Surge]
Subtype: Step-0 Elementalist
Name: Ewan Ayres
Species: Human
Vitality: 7.0
Spirit: 25.4
Anima: [Fire – 25.4 | Ice – 25.4 | Blood – 25.4 | Mystic: 25.4 | Dark: 25.4]
Astylinds: 5 [Potential: 0]
Rolling Cat [Toast]: Step-1 Severynth [Spirit-Nebula: Zeroth Surge]
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Fire Monkey [Orange]: Step-1 [Level-10] [Grade-B]
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Imp [Frost]: Step-1 [Level-10] [Grade-B]
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Bloodthorn-Lotus [Iris]: Step-1 [Level-10] [Grade-D]
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Necros-Crow [Ghost]: Step-0 [Level-0] [Grade-D]
Equipment: Common Clothes; Yurn [Neck Gaiter]; Moonkeeper [Crystal-Ball]; Rainwarden [Staff]; Blackfeather [Overcoat].
Storage: Journal; Elementalist—The Path of Anima [Subtype-Book]; Spellbook; Bloodlust [Spell]; Transmute [Spell]; Unknown Book [Radon’s Legacy]; Anima-Crystals [Novas Coins]; Hub-Connector; Ingredients.
Novas: 25,145
Crelith: 1,014