Novaris. Octus. 904. AGC.
Their soul. What a wonderful and annoying thing it was. It made them the special creatures they were and was also the very thing that had gotten them into all the trouble they had been in so far.
And, of course, their soul was the cause of their latest problem.
Ravnica began magic training by telling them that they first had to feel for the mana around them. The problem came when they couldn’t. They tried a variety of methods, one of which included Ravnica quite literally bathing them in ambient mana. However, they couldn’t feel any of the ambient mana no matter what they did.
Thankfully, after days of trying to feel mana, they eventually managed to figure it out, though it was mainly thanks to Ravnica getting annoyed.
The dragonkin decided to blast them with magic—well, wind magic, and not very powerful at that. However, this had still been annoying because, at first, the dragonkin didn’t bother chanting or making a circle or anything but would just gush the mana from her soul and transform it, which was stupid! If they were trying to feel for the ambient mana, why was she using her own!?
Luckily, they soon pointed out this minor but important aspect, and the dragonkin began pulling from her surroundings, which is an ill-advised thing to do while fighting because pulling mana from their surroundings required much more concentration than bringing mana from within yourself. Not to mention, the magic decreases in power because its not as pure as it is when bringing it from within yourself. And the fact that it takes longer to pull the mana in from your surroundings than just using your own.
Anyways, once Ravnica began pulling from the surroundings, they finally managed to figure out how to sense mana. Even then, it had still been tricky because they could feel the magic taking shape and could tell something was powering it, but they couldn’t figure out where or what. They knew it was ambient mana but just couldn’t sense it. Either way, after some long sensing sessions, they felt a tingle against their skin, and soon after, bam! They could feel mana!
It was an odd sensation to feel the energy all around them. Still, soon enough, they got used to it, and the feeling faded into the background like the buzz of conversation in a tavern when concentrating on delivering food while avoiding drunkards.
The problem came after they could sense the mana because Ravnica said they now had to follow the so-called “mana cycle” but take control of it instead of letting it run independently. Essentially, the mana cycle involved bringing mana into the soul, holding it, refining it, and releasing it. However, that had confused them.
They could feel their soul just fine, and there was none of that going. This really puzzled Ravnica as, according to her, most creatures have a version of that. Well, except for monsters, for the most part. Anyway, Ravnica said the rest of Project Nodel could do this, so it was odd that they couldn’t. Well, more than odd, it was problematic because no ambient mana meant no way to dilute their godly mana, which meant they couldn’t progress as fast or as easily. Well, at least without being in a lot more pain than usual. Like a lot more pain.
At this point, something had clicked. They both sort of figured it out simultaneously since they were both fully mentally there.
However, Jasmine was still fully in control of their body, and being the excitable one, she wanted to go and tell Ravnica. Luckily, Arelion, being the more emotionally calculating one, was able to pull her mental reins.
They had both felt that urge to drain that monster some time ago. They weren’t sure what draining meant exactly, but they were pretty sure it meant draining it of mana.
The issue was that Arelion felt it was a smarter move to keep the idea and ability quiet, at least for now. Jasmine wasn’t sure why Arelion was so skeptical of Ravnica, but he did finally explain why, and after listening, Jasmine understood.
Even though she was the light to her brother’s darkness, she wasn’t stupid. She wanted to believe in the good of people, but she wasn’t going to be dumb enough to ignore the fact that good people could and would still do bad things.
Arelion pointed out that Luxana had very literally created the weapons she needed to accomplish her goal. And they had to remember Jasmine was meant to be part of that weapon. The fact was that the people of Project Nodel were tools, and it was without a doubt that as much as the church said they wanted to help Jasmine and Arelion, it wasn’t from the kindness of their hearts. Luxana planned to use them to accomplish her goals, and what better deal than a two-for-one deal?
And even as much as Jasmine wanted to remove the Eldritch God from the moon, she also wanted to be free and not some tool under Luxana's constant watch. In fact, they both wanted to explore the world and see things they might have never gotten the chance to see before.
That particular thought struck hard as they remembered the plans they had made with Rose—well, the plans Jasmine had made with Rose. Plans that seemed closer due to their newly gained power yet still felt far away when Setiels clergy were bound to hunt them down. Heck, even their allies kept them imprisoned for their own safety.
Of course, there had to be a way for them to be free. However, even with access to the power of two gods, they still felt so powerless.
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So, that’s when Arelion, ever the one to the scheme, suggested an idea. It was simple.
They were going to make them think they were helpless while waiting for the right time to strike. After all, they had barely survived godly mana once, and surely no one would think they would ever try it again. No one was that crazy, right? Especially if the clergy thought they didn’t have access to ambient mana.
Following the revelation that they could gain ambient mana, they still told Ravnica that something was going on and that they couldn’t bring in the mana or do anything else, something that was actually true. Therefore, what came next was not a surprise.
A soul ritual.
The ritual itself went fine. The problem came afterward.
Their soul was not normal, and after looking at it, Ravnica wasn’t sure what to do, and apparently, neither did Luxana. That last bit of information had been a shock to them at first, but not that much. They knew their connection to the goddesses was a one-way thing. However, they didn’t know how far it went. And now they had another piece of the puzzle figured out.
So far, they knew they could pull as much mana as they wanted without the two gods being able to do anything to stop them. And now they learned that Luxana could not see directly into their souls. She couldn’t sense it all, it seemed, which added a bit of critical information to their escape plan. Clearly, the clergy couldn’t see their souls either, as Ravnica needed a ritual in order to do so. Then, the fact that Luxana couldn’t sense it meant she couldn’t pinpoint their location, which made escaping much easier.
The issue was still their body. Sure, the clergy couldn’t sense their soul, but they could still sense and find their body. Something Arelion said he was working on and could possibly get around if they could just get their hands on some mana.
Moving on from their plan and to the aftermath of their latest soul revelation. Things began to change. From the looks of it, Luxana and Ravnica had come to the same realization: if the twins couldn't get ambient mana, then they would basically be useless. It would take decades or even centuries for the twins to reach A Rank, nevermind S Rank or even Demi-God status. And to Arelions smug satisfaction, their treatment changed after this realization came about.
They still lived in their enhanced suite, but things slowly declined. The books in the library slowly phased from interesting magical tomes to more mundane things. Their meals also declined in size and overall tastiness, which really hit Jasmine hard.
Training with Ravnica also essentially stopped overnight, and they found no one came to clean their living space anymore. Not to mention, they now had one or two priestesses attending them instead of the usual dozen. However, in truth, the twins didn’t care about this change. In fact, it was quite the opposite as it gave them more time to scheme while also showing the true color of the church. There was also the benefit that Ravnica clearly looked down on them and didn’t believe for a second they had the power to escape. After all, someone without access to mana was pretty much worthless in combat.
Overall, the change wasn’t bad. They were let out occasionally and allowed to wander the rest of the temple, and the best part was that, eventually, they were allowed visitors. Well, one visitor, Aunt Emy.
Surprisingly, Aunt Emy took everything in stride. It seemed that after the night of the incident and once their transformation was complete, whatever was causing the memory spell ended. Aunt Emy said that, at first, things had been disorienting, and she had spent a few days in bed, but that eventually, everything had straightened out, and she remembered mostly everything. She said that the one thing that was still fuzzy was the original divination at the Temple of Zefree, but she couldn’t be sure if it was just her bad memory or part of whatever the issue was. Either way, she hadn’t bothered to question it as, in the end, everything had turned out fine, more or less.
Naturally, Jasmine had also asked about the rest of the orphanage and Rose, whom she hadn't seen since being at Luxana’s Temple.
Aunt Emy had told her that the orphanage was fine, and though everyone had experienced a bit of a dizzy spell as well, it wasn’t as bad as Emeline’s or Rose’s. However, she said Rose took it much better since she was younger and more stubborn.
Another important piece of news that Jasmine had seemingly forgotten due to training was checking on Jeremie. Which thankfully Aunt Emy answered with a smile as she informed Jasmine that the Church of Sol had managed to bring him back with the true resurrection they had attempted. That particular news brought relief to Jasmine.
Aunt Emy also continued saying that Rose had tried to visit multiple times but had been rejected by Luxana’s Clergy. Hearing that caused Jasmine’s anger to flare, and she almost left the room to go yell at Ravnica. However, Arelion, who was also angered by his sister’s anger, was able to hold them back.
Time quickly passed as they all chatted, and Aunt Emy was finally able to meet Arelion—well, sort of meet him, as Jasmine was currently in control. They also spoke about the inn and how it was doing, as well as how safe the orphanage was and whether anything else had happened. Aunt Emy had told them that everything was going fine and that nothing crazy had happened since the incident.
The chat also explored the twins' stay at the temple as they explained their training while leaving any dangerous parts out of the story so as not to worry Aunt Emy.
Eventually, however, they decided to tell Aunt Emy some of the truth as they explained how they were more prisoners than anything. Something that infuriated Aunt Emy, making her want to go and lash out against Ravnica. However, they were able to keep her from running off and instead told her that they had a plan to escape but that they would need her help. And naturally, Aunt Emy agreed without hesitation.
Now, they didn’t explain anything other than what she had to do, but essentially, they needed her to rent out a monster storage ring. They knew it was expensive, but they told her to sell their old black and silver blanket in order to afford it. Then, after she had the ring, she needed to make a request at the Adventurer’s Guild. The request would be to capture a Low C Rank threat monster and to beat it up before capture. Once that was done, she had to bring the ring to them without letting anyone know about it. She didn’t need to worry about the clerics in the temple noticing, as security had calmed down lately.
Of course, Emeline had all sorts of questions, but the twins promised that the less she knew, the better. And soon after, she left to put her part of the plan into motion.