There have been rumours and whispers of a war in the spiritual realm that has been going on for the past millennia, though time means something else in other realms.

A war propagated by some of the Seven elder gods in their struggle to reach the power of the Trinity.

Many Spirits are said to have perished, death has a different meaning to such beings. It is said all have chosen a side or fled from this all consuming conflict. A conflict spilling beyond the bounds of Eldridge Spirits.

The physical realms are protected of course from such trivial spiritual affairs. Protected by a force and entity older and more powerful that the four elder gods propagating the conflict.

This leaves a route of escape for the spirits who dare search for it. A route to the protected mortal realms.

But like most things there is a catch. For Spirits to enter the physical realm with their divine knowledge intact, they have to be summoned by a physical being and encompass flesh vessels to ground them, to limit them.

Those that can manifest in an already established body and through possessing it, grow stronger in their physical connection. Thus bringing more of their true natures out of the flesh vessel.

This route is intolerable to some since mortal flesh can never fully contain a celestial spirit regardless of modifications or augmentation.

It is known that very little divine knowledge and insight can be tolerated by mortal flesh without it breaking from the strain.

Thus others found another way. They discovered that being worshiped as a deity gave better options for retaining themselves even in the physical. Meaning they could come to the physical realm without being reduced to such a state that they are practically starting with absolutely no idea of who or what they are and their true celestial Selves locked away and forgotten in the rules of the flesh.

Thus, cults developed throughout the physical realm. Cults with clever enterprising Spirits behind them, cults that promoted the worship of these Spirits. Such worship resulting in the ability of these spirits to manifest into the physical realm of mortals without being reduced to but a shadow of what they are.

But this also resulted in the abilities and attributes of their manifestations being dictated by the beliefs of the worshippers.

Excerpt from: The Book Of Tears.

By: Atticus the Bold

* * *

Sachihiro

We climb the mountains and travel the valleys between them.

The most beautiful thing about the mountains are the views and the animals that call them home.

There are dancing deer prancing about in the swirling mists without a care in the world, the high mountain goats with their gravity defying climbing ability that call the stone peaks home. The glower hares are in abundance and the rams are huge with beautifully patternsled coats.

The most prominent birds are the mighty griffins, large and free flying both the magical and the mundane together breath-taking in their magesty. Powerful enough to carry a off a horse and beautiful enough to have learnt vanity even amongst themselves. Their perches at the unreachable peaks we didn't even attempt far above most cloud cover.

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The mountain lions are the size of bears and as difficult to spot as night rainbows, prawling into amongst the rocks yet they all keep away. Somehow driven back by Asriel's aura.

Another thing we are learning about, aura. Another power that's a natural phenomenon with massive cheating ability in a fight my people weren't consciously using to our advantage. Some creatures and people are especially susceptible to aura, it's like a scent in the air that tells me what's what. A way to talk and feel and make others feel without the direct touching of the body or utterance of words.

But all Awakened get a natural protection from most of its effects it seems, a weapon to control the 'mundane'. Unless the user has especially paid attention to aura in their Awakening bolstering aura with Awakening mana. Every topic we learn brings with it subsidiary lessons that broaden my horizons beyond what is explained to me by the patient Asriel. Silence has thought me to hear the words between the words, the words implied, the words that would first have to be true for what is explained to be true.

I still can't actually see aura by I can feel it just fine. It's hard to imagine how I could have missed it all my life while it’s been glaring at me in the face since I was born. We'll... Not that I actually missed it really, just never understood how to consciously perceive and harness to my needs. Now I understand balanced chakra helps with that, percieving and even projecting a specific aura out to the world.

Even places have auras, and trees. Mira can see it around me or around Asriel when he lets her see his, I just feel it but that's clear enough.

We climb, crawling on hands and feet amongst the greyscape rocks rolling with our passage. Being so far up makes me more conscious of the ever distant horizon. That's the funny thing about the horizon, it never really gets any closer dispite how much we travel.

The climbs are difficult but it gets easier as we go. My hands gain new callouses and different muscles develop in my body and mind. My mental space is completely different spending my nights and days in peaceful danger, meditating until walking through the the rocks trying to keep my footing steady and sure becomes a meditation of a sort itself. Truly a person is a nerve that experiences the world and bears witness.

Asriel takes every opportunity we stop to capture the beauty of the vista in drawing, to him his art is a form of meditating I've noticed. The man is interesting, a contradiction in many ways yet he is exactly himself in I have never paid attention in anyone else.

I've never spent so much time with myself before. I'm more aware of my internal monologues lately, it's odd being conscious once you're conscious about your consciousness. I'm getting to know and developing a side of myself I previously wasn't accustomed to.

Taking turns carrying Mira through some of the more treacherous paths we persist forward. Mostly North but Northwesterly taking deadly but passable routes, a single miss step could spell death.

From mountains to a sprawling mountain range. First individual huge mountains separated by streams and forests. Relatively low but wide things that house a number of troll and bear caves. All not as wide as the first three mountains of course.

From mountains to a sprawling range of mountain after mountains stretching as far as the eye can see. No break between them whatsoever all clumped together and going so high at places as to be above constant cloud cover. Their snow white raggered edges at the height of what should be Summer season are intimating to behold. Aura that, something deadly lives there my body tells me.

The winds here are cold and cutting, rabbit and fox furs doing little against the bleak cold of this place, the constant dampness of the cold snow. There is a particular cruilty in mixing such cold and hard rock, I find myself envying the hoofs of a prancing ram.

Always we press on, miserable yet at peace; pushed to our physical limits by the terrain while our minds are expended on by the ever watchful Asriel. Eventually even coming across beasts we have to avoid instead of them avoiding us, the proverbial sleeping dragons. Taking things slow, retreating when we must, when the surrounding aura of a place speaks of dangers beyond us.

It's a different kind of teaching this, how to survive alone in the dangerous wilds by reading the aura and signs of the world around. There are some places we rush through not hunting nor lighting a fire despite Mira's condition, and others we take take our time to strall through. Reading how to be behave through subtle feeling and signs.

All the while we transverse stone face meditating and getting to know each other without talking. Learning about chakras and the philosophy of Asriel's Order. From those who take vows of silence, to those that take vows of blindness and such practices and the benefits that can be garnered from such obsessions if one only knew how.

A year we spend like that.

A year alone in the mountains before coming across any form of human settlements.