The room was similar to hers, but Lily could see Mia's personal touch. There was a bookcase in place of one of the wardrobes, and an oil painting hung on one of the walls. It was a family portrait of Mia and her parents, and Lily could see that Mia inherited her mother's beauty, not just her eyes. The woman was sitting on a chair, holding Mia in her arms, and she gave off an air of confidence that dominated the painting. Her gaze was piercing, and Lily quickly looked away, not wanting her staring to remind Mia of painful memories. Besides, there was work to be done, and she was excited to experience more magic. The girls took a seat on the edge of the large bed, and Mia began her instructions.

"First of all, you need to learn how to access your soul and see the status screen inside. Close your eyes, and focus inward. Try and feel the warmth of your soul," Mia explained, and Lily gave it a try. She closed her eyes, and tried to tune the outside world out. Her heightened senses gave her some trouble, but eventually she managed to feel the heat in her core, and she dove in without hesitation. Her time spent as a soul in the In-Between helped her adjust to the strange feeling of weightlessness, and she noticed that her soul felt different than back then. She didn't know if that was due to the influence of Dahlia, Mia's Soul Link or the fact that it was in a body this time, but she felt stronger. Not knowing how to proceed, she opened her eyes and turned to Mia. "What do I do after I access my soul?" she inquired and Mia looked surprised. "Wow, you accessed your soul on the first try, very impressive. Most people take some time adjusting to the different feeling. Just think about your body and it's strength and a screen should appear in your vision. I know it sounds strange, but it works, trust me," Mia replied, and Lily dove back in. She tried doing what Mia told her, and true enough, a screen appeared in her vision.

Lily Spears

Level 1

Attunements:

Dahlia's Avatar

???

Attributes:

??? ???

??? ???

??? ???

Masteries:

Sword

Shield

Lily could now clearly see what Mia meant when she said people did not know their own stats. There were two more bars, one red and one blue, which she assumed indicated health and mana. More question marks stood above them, but at least one could estimate one's level of injury and mana available based on the fullness of the bars. Her's were full at the moment, so she focused on the rest of the screen. Attunements were the only thing that she could interact with, so she "pressed" on the first one. A new screen appeared:

Dahlia's Avatar

Skills Unlocked:

Divine Body (Passive) - The Divine nature of your soul and body gives you heightened senses, reflexes and mana regeneration.

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Invoke Divinity (Level 1) - Channel to assume your Avatar form, greatly increasing all stats while constantly draining mana.

Smite (Level 1) - Greatly increases the damage of your next melee attack. Costs no mana in Avatar form.

Apparently, being a champion of a goddess gave her three skills to start with, and while Lily was a little disappointed her skills didn't let her do classic magic things like throw fireballs or freeze things, having two all around buffs at level one seemed powerful. She returned to the previous screen, and tried accessing the second attunement, but nothing happened. She shrugged mentally and, satisfied with her progress, opened her eyes. Mia gave her a questioning look, and Lily told her about her skills. The dark-haired girl let her finish talking, before getting up and grabbing a thick book from the shelf. She returned with it in hand, and Lily could see the title:

Diary of Avatar Stella - Book One

Lily vaguely remembered Mia mentioning someone by that name in the context of her Soul Link, and she waited patiently while Mia sat down and shuffled through the pages. "Stella was not only the most famous Soulmancer of all time, she was also the Avatar of Dahlia at the time of the Deluge, one of the Five who ended the disaster at the cost of their lives. Unlike you, she was born on Teras and chosen to be an Avatar at birth but her knowledge and experience could prove useful," Mia said, not taking her eyes away from the book. "It certainly proved useful to me, as there is not a lot of literature out there on Soulmancy and Soul Link. It's not something people advertise as having, since it turns them into targets, but she and her linked companion, Clare, were so powerful, that nobody in their right mind thought about targeting them. Ah, here it is," Mia exclaimed, and finally ended her search.

She gave the book to Lily, and pointed at the page on the left. It showed a sketch of Stella's own Dahlia's Avatar screen, similar to the one Lily saw. There was no Divine Body, and her version of Smite was called Judgment, was ranged and stunned instead of dealing bonus damage, but Invoke Divinity was the same. The more interesting thing, however, was the comment underneath.

Mastering Judgement proved easy enough, but I had great difficulty in using and controlling Invoke Divinity initially, until I consulted the scriptures at the temple. Turns out that it's easier to access the goddesses power in a place of her worship, so I spent time at the training grounds in the temple learning to access the Avatar form properly. It didn't help with control issues, however, and I spent a lot of time apologizing to the priests and priestesses I gave a severe beating to in practice. Not all of them seemed to mind, and a few even enjoyed the experience, which I found strange at the time.

"I see, it will be easier if I am able to practice at the temple. Do you think I will be allowed to?" Lily asked, and Mia chuckled. "Silly girl, once again you are forgetting your status. Allowed to? Once she sees who you are the Head Priestess will treat your every request as a word of god. Besides, she will move heaven and Teras to keep you there as much as possible. Being the temple where the first Avatar of Dahlia in over a millennium is training will boost the prestige of its priesthood immensely, and increase attendance, which is great for business," Mia said with a grin. "I hadn't considered that fully," Lily admitted. She was not comfortable with the thought of being an object of worship, so she didn't think about the implications her presence would have.

"Of course you didn't, because you aren't used to wielding power. I, on the other hand, was born into wealth and influence, and have lorded over lesser creatures my whole life," Mia said, managing to keep a straight face the whole time. "I recall someone saying, and I quote, 'I don't like putting on the spoiled brat act' a few hours ago," Lily said with a grin which broke through Mia's sangfroid. "Okay, you got me, but in all seriousness, the sooner you get used to your status, the easier your quest will be," she replied. "An Avatar like you is basically royalty, and few states or organizations will dare deny your requests."

Lily certainly saw how that could be true, but strange women distributing magic powers were no basis for a form of government, and she was resolved to keep her involvement in politics to a minimum. "I had hoped that you might have some skills you could try out tonight, but it seems that hands-on practice will have to wait until tomorrow," Mia said, and Lily nodded. She had hoped the same, but she had spent her whole life up to that point without doing any magic, so she was certain she could survive another night without it. "Agreed, and it's getting late. We spent a lot of time traveling today, and you must be tired, so we should get some rest. From what you told me tomorrow is gonna be a big day," Lily said, and started getting up. In truth, with the distraction of exploring the magic system gone, she wasn't sure how long she would be able to resist Mia. Sitting on her bed, right next to her, was already straining her willpower, and she cursed her empowered senses for the first time. The sight and smell of the raven-haired girl in her tight kimono was intoxicating, and Lily wanted some alone time.

"You are starting to sound like my parents," Mia answered. "Unfortunately, you are also right." She stood up to return the book, but as she reached for the shelf, the sound of thunder broke the silence of the night. It surprised her, and she dropped the book. "How clumsy of me, I really am tired," she said in a husky voice, that Lily chalked up to her embarrassment. She quickly recovered, picked the book up and stored it away. "Good night then," Mia said with a smile that looked a little forced. "Good night," Lily said and went to her room through the door next to the bed. Her own bed was on the other side of the wall, so she turned off the small bedside lantern and went to bed.