Throughout her journey back, Sol maintained a near obsessive degree of focus on her meditation. She found herself able to enter the meditative state without much issue and had enough leeway to tinker around with the runes An demonstrated for her.
Sol kept the three steps in mind however she focused any extra capacity for thought to only explore the first step. She knew she was a novice and haste would only slow her down in the end. Rather than make a mistake and have to backtrack, Sol remained firm and took it step by step.
An demonstrated expelling magic a few times for Sol to observe with her spiritual awareness. Despite An dropping the strength of the magic as far as possible, Sol struggled to properly observe his actions. Ever since Sol first commanded her spiritual awareness, she would probe An’s body repeatedly.
Though An would complain and call her a pervert, the boy never retaliated and just allowed Sol to discover whatever she could. The reason Sol would repeat the scan so many times was because An’s body was nearly impenetrable for her. She once complained to An about it, however the boy could only shrug his shoulders helplessly.
From a practical perspective, An was a higher level lifeform than Sol. Much of the information a spiritual awareness provided to its user was dependent on the wealth of knowledge that user possessed. Anything unknown would remain unknown. As such, each time Sol’s spiritual awareness covered An, she would only register a blinding light or a metaphorical void in the space that just happened to be shaped like a human.
Needless to say, the information overload and blackout prevented Sol from properly observing the flow of magic inside An. Luckily, there were some clues at least. After giving up on his body, Sol turned her attention to the point An’s finger ejected the magic from.
From there, Sol was able to garner a glimpse at one of the mechanisms that enabled magic to transition from the soul to the body. Although she was unaware of what it was, she could tell there was a membrane of some sort that thinned out in a very precise manner.
Sol suspected that the membrane was an extended part of An’s soul. She had a few other guesses, however there was no way for her to test those guesses and An disappointed her by admitting his control was near subconscious. Without any further clues, Sol pursued her primary guess and started exerting control over her soul.
Sadly, her efforts fell short. There was simply too little magic inside her body for her soul to be properly detected, much less controlled. She sighed to herself and chose to exit her meditation. Eyes filled with complex thoughts opened and turned to outdoor scenery.
It was already the second day of the trip and it was dusk. Sol realized her path forward was going to be slower than anticipated and forced herself to come to terms with it. 7 years was all she had left. Even with slow progress, 7 years was enough for her to potentially survive.
As Sol’s thoughts drifted to the future, the image of the beast An caught came to mind. “Hey An. About that creature you passed to the Prince… What was it?”
“Mmmmm. It’s hard to say. Once you reach higher forms of life, there’s little to stop cross breeding.” An responded without much enthusiasm as if the knowledge were commonplace. Sol on the other hand, was flabbergasted. If cross breeding were possible, then the number of races out there are infinite. An saw the girl’s shock and chuckled.
“Let’s put it this way… Those who fail to become Assemblers are typically locked into their race no matter what. There are a few worlds out there that have advanced technology and are capable of manipulating their own species, however those are rather rare. In general, a lower life form’s race and body will take after its genes. This is only because that life form has no way of controlling its soul. After becoming an Assembler, that life form’s race and body will take after the shape of its soul. I guess you could summarize it as the soul’s shape will follow the body until the soul is strong enough. Then the body will follow the soul’s shape.”
“What are genes?” Sol’s curious gaze made An reconsider his example. He forgot the technological level of this world was abysmally low. He thought for a moment and reiterated. “Genes are from your parents and determine your black eyes, your black hair, your small nose, your short stature, your fiery personality, your squishy eyes, your weak muscles, your small chest-”.
“Shut up!” Sol couldn’t believe she just listened to the boy insult her repeatedly. It even took her a moment to catch on. She made sure to throw a cushion at An’s face as well. Sol crossed her arms over her chest feeling a bit insecure but then recalled her mother’s figure and felt a bit better.
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Her mind quickly caught up to the explanation and her curiosity got the better of her. With a cautious glare, she asked once more. “Since I’m becoming an Assembler, then I’ll be able to dictate my body’s shape, right? If that’s the case, then what forms the soul’s shape if these ‘genes’ no longer limit it?” Sol actually already had a pet theory, however she was hoping she was wrong.
“I’d say 99.9% of the time it’s the cognitive model you practice. The model refines your body and adjusts it to store magic in whatever method best fits the model after all. If your model works best with a tail, then you grow a tail as you practice. If it requires two heads, then you grow another head.”
Sol turned pale at that news. Her pet theory was correct. If that’s the case, hadn’t she just handed over her future looks to this man? Although Sol trusted An at this stage, that didn’t mean she wanted to be under his thumb. There was a sliver of fear that she would turn into a monster. Despite that, she understood there was little she could do. With a bit of hope left in her, she pursued that near impossibility.
“Then what’s that 0.1% option?” Her voice was weak and An smiled at the girl’s demoralized tone. How could he not understand her worry after being beside her for so long? He smiled and continued.
“It’s actually far, far, far less than that, but there are historical accounts of souls rejecting cognitive models and asserting dominance over the model. Assemblers in the records who have that happen to them are typically ultra powerhouses. Where those souls come from, why they’re so powerful, and how to replicate it are only known to the most powerful individuals in the divine realms.”
Sol was stunned for a moment. She initially thought The Unchained Queen Beast was a cognitive model that was designed to evolve as she grew stronger. As powerful as An was, it made sense to think he could accomplish such a task, so she never really questioned it. Hearing the relatable knowledge, Sol pursued.
“How do you know if you have a soul like that?” She brazenly asked the question. An only glanced at the girl and intelligence flickered across his eyes before he turned away once more. Remaining nonchalant, he responded.
“I don’t know. I’m not high enough to have detailed information on secrets like that. You don’t need to worry about those rare cases though. The model I gave you will keep evolving over time and will be useful up until Intermediate Assembler at the very least.”
Sol didn’t know if she should be disappointed or not. After a thought, she decided to forget about it. Her question was answered and the mystery was solved. Rather than waste cycles on irrelevant information, she’d rather hunker down on the practical.
Sol’s eyes drifted to the moon barely visible at the horizon. Her thoughts wandered for the first time in a long time and memories of the past few years crossed her mind. She had a sudden realization and took a long glance at An. Somehow… she never asked about him after learning about Assemblers and higher realms?
The thought reverberated in her mind and there was a sudden distrust in her heart. What did she really know about An? How much of what he told her was the truth? The fear only lasted for a moment when Sol caught herself and buried that emotion deep in her heart.
There were some things she felt she couldn’t ask An. She didn’t want their relationship to be affected by her curiosity and so what if she asked? What could she do if he lied to her? What if he told the truth? She was powerless. Sol smiled wryly at her conflicting feelings. Perhaps after she grew in strength, she would have the courage to ask.
Sol closed her eyes and rested her mind. She fell into a deep sleep and her body slowly collapsed onto the cushion. An removed his hand from her head and kept his gaze fixed on her for a while. His thoughts were deep and hints of worry flickered across his face.
It had been a long time since he lied to Sol. An tucked the girl into a blanket and extended his spiritual awareness out into the distance. The signatures of those tracking them had started to close in. An waved his hand and multiple rows of runes ebbed into existence in front of him.
A soft golden shield surrounded Sol’s sleeping figure and An’s figure faded from view. The carriage top hatch slid open and the carriage became a bit lighter. Moving at speeds that’d traumatize birds, An’s body ricocheted into the forest.
Beneath his layer of stealth, An’s body underwent a dramatic change. Veins popped from his hands and his muscles bulged. Sharp claws reinforced his nails and a pair of slitted eyes overtook his human ones.
As his form changed, his abilities increased. His figure accelerated once again and an invisible bullet tore through the forest. Moments later, a short screech was cut off and plumes of dust were ejected into the sky. An’s stealth was broken and his inhuman form stood atop another beast.
He flexed his muscle and crushed the beast’s chest ending what little life remained in it. An’s gaze was predatory and tens of pairs of nictitating eyes looked back at him from the darkness of the forest. His lips curled into an ugly smile as fangs started bulging. He then launched into the forest depths.