“Huh. This is new.” I felt the weird cloud all around me. It was tangible, so it had substance, but for some reason it didn’t give off any sort of perceivable infrared presence. Given that seeing in infrared to some extent allowed you to see the temperature of a thing, that should technically mean that the cloud I was in the middle of should currently be giving me frostbite, but on the contrary, it was rather warm to the touch. Almost as though rather than any sort of physical material, the cloud was composed of solid mana. It was also impossibly soft. Sinking my arms into it was more comfortable than any mattress that has ever, or could ever exist. “Hey Soph, any thoughts on this?”
Sophia was somewhat stunned. “I…I don’t know how, but it seems you’re manifesting your Aspect.”
“That sounds really impressive, but I don’t actually know why or what that means.”
“I’ve told you that the lines on your body are a preview into your Titled Form. While technically true, that’s kind of like calling a lion a cat.” She then spent a little while explaining about Divinity and Aspects of Reality. “From what I’ve observed, people who are Marked by an Aspect generally find their magic to be empowered when they happen to employ that concept. This means that you also have a hint into what your True Name is, in that you can just observe the reactions of your Markings. However, what happened to you is far more than just simple empowerment. Somehow, you manifested your Aspect despite the fact that you are untitled. Such a thing should be impossible. The cloud around you is your version of my Flame. Something that exists outside of you, while also being a part of you.”
I monitored the cloud for a while, before noting, “It’s not going away or leaking mana or anything. Which means maybe I can use it for something.” I tried to grab some of the cloud out of the air and…it worked. Somehow I was holding a ball of softly glowing white and gold fluff. The nature of the fluff gave me an idea on a way to use it as well. “Hey Sophia, since this is technically mine, it won’t hurt me to use it right? No matter what the Aspect actually is, I should have some sort of immunity to it, like with your Flames?”
Sophia considered it before answering, “To be perfectly candid, I have no idea. As far as I’m aware, no one has ever managed to manifest their Aspect before being Titled, so we are in new territory here. Try running your mana through it, to see if there is a reaction. If something happens, I’ll pull you into the subspace right away to help.”
Nodding, I gave it a try. I felt my heart slow and calm down, my muscles relaxing, yet my mind growing more alert, more focused. Fascinating, and also extremely useful. There was also no observable mana leakage, allowing me to potentially run my mana through this material indefinitely. There was a bit of a problem with how little I could send through at a time, but my idea on how to use this cloud included a potential solution to that.
“Hey, would one of y’all mind cooking while I try to sort this thing out? I don’t really know if it’s safe for other people to touch or interact with.” Luckily it seemed that the merchant had some culinary skills, so he walked over to where I had left the meat and started preparing it while I…I guess harvested would be the right word? I harvested the cloud around me. I then took all of the strands and started working on separating them into the white clumps and the gold clumps. I wasn’t sure yet if there were any differences between the two, I’d have to figure out some tests later.
By the time I was done sorting out the different clumps of strands, I went around collecting the sticks that we didn’t end up using for the fire. I then ripped a page out of my map diary and started designing the tool that I would need to build in order to use this cloud I could apparently generate. I had also tested out my Hopeful Campfire spell again, just to see if I would manifest my Aspect every time I used magic that triggered it, and yes, I did end up making another white and gold cloud, making me need to spend even longer separating the colors.
While all of this had been unexpected, the only part that truly confused me was the implication behind my True Name. According to Sophia, a person’s True Name was tied to the core of their existence, and the Aspect of Reality that they would gain access to is something that should resonate with their soul. However, what my marking had responded to wasn’t the fire, or else it would have manifested as a flame. The only other option was that my aspect had to do with the concept of Hope that I had infused into my flame but… that just didn’t seem right. That didn’t really seem like Me. I’m not really a hopeful kind of person, so would I really have access to Hope as an Aspect of Reality? That makes no sense.
I decided to trust my gut on this and assume that it had nothing to do with hope for now, but that only raised the question of what my Aspect was again, and if it had nothing to do with Hope or Fire, why the hell did my Hopeful Flame spell trigger my Markings? I would have to shelve that question, as it was something I probably shouldn’t ask Sophia about. This was MY journey to divinity after all, so how lame would it be to ask someone else to explain the path I should walk?
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
By now, dinner had finished cooking, so I stopped thinking about topics that were too advanced for me to fully understand anyways and instead focused on what was truly important. Meat. Delicious meat that was far better than anything I had ever made in my life, even back when I used to have a full kitchen to work with, and spices from all around the world in my shelves. I stared at the merchant who had cooked this masterpiece and stated, “During our travels, you need to teach me how to cook.”
The merchant knit his brows together and tilted his head slightly, indicating confusion, “Why wouldn’t I just be in charge of cooking? Also, way more importantly, back when you made that cloud, what was it, and why did you just stand there talking to yourself?”
Mike and Liz looked up from their meal, gazing at me intently, reminding me that Ash was currently the only one who actually knew about the existence of Sophia. I didn’t want everyone else to know that I would be ditching them every night to spend time with her, but given that I wasn’t exactly planning on just not talking to her for the next couple years, I figure that they should at least know that I wasn’t insane. “As for what the cloud is, I’m not too sure yet. And talking to myself, my….girlfriend? Mate? Sophia. She’s a very powerful person and also has some weird magic, one of which is a sort of communication spell, so that the two of us can talk from anywhere at any time. If you guys ever catch me talking to myself there’s like a 50% chance I’m actually just talking to her.”
Mike put down his meat and asked, “And the other 50%?”
I shrugged, “Talking to myself helps me think, so I tend to do it a lot whenever I’m working on a project, but that’ll mostly be unintelligible mumbling while I’m working on random things.” Mike seemed to be satisfied with that, though I did catch him exchanging an odd look with Ash, who responded with a shrug. I considered the relationship dynamics between Mike, Ash, and Liz, and decided not to engage. From what I noticed, that was a hot tangled mess that was liable to explode at any second, and I wanted no part of it. The only explosions in my face I wanted were failed magic experiments.
Sophia’s POV
I was truly astonished. Fundamentally, manifesting an Aspect of Reality was a matter for the divine, not mortals. The only reason I and other Titled could do so was that we had taken our first step into divinity. For Leo to do so as a currently weak human?? As far as I was aware this shouldn’t be possible, even for a Marked. Part of Veronica’s true name dealt with binding, which is why her binding magic was enhanced through her markings. That’s all that I had expected for Leo. Why the hell did he go so far above and beyond my expectations??
Considering it carefully, I had four theories. The first was the fact that he was soulbound to a Titled, and I was somehow unknowingly supporting the strain on his soul. The second is that the Aspect he was manifesting is inherently gentle, so it causes little to no soul strain in the first place. The third has to do with a theory I had long ago that everyone had multiple Aspects that they could manipulate, and one of them was dominant. For example, my Aspect of Desire is far more powerful than my Aspect of Flame, making Desire my dominant Aspect. If this is true, it could be the case that Marked can inherently manifest only their dominant Aspect, and Veronica simply hasn’t found hers yet, while whatever that cloud is happens to be Leo’s. But the final theory is the one that is most significant for the future in which he actually achieves divinity.
In hell, neither Desire nor Flame are rare concepts for demons to manipulate with magic. It’s highly likely that some of them will even eventually awaken one of the two as their own Aspects. If this is the case, then who says that all Flame Aspect Manipulators are created equally? What if a demon with a higher affinity to Flame than I do were to become a Titled with Flame in their True Name. Wouldn’t their Flame be stronger than my own? If that is the case, what if Leo just has a truly ludicrous affinity for whatever Aspect he manifested as that cloud? When he becomes a Titled….would he not be extremely powerful?
At the end of the day, these were all just potential truths. Only time would answer the questions burning inside my head, but I couldn’t help but feel curiosity and awe flood through me. Every time I thought Leo had nothing more to surprise me with, he turns around and shatters my common sense once more. How many discoveries would he lead me to?
Once he finished his dinner, he went into a tent with Ash. She had agreed that when he needed to wake up and return, she would inform me through the beacon he placed inside of the tent, which was the only reason I was forgiving Leo for even pretending to share a sleeping space with another woman. When he stood before me, I asked him to show me the material that he had gathered from the cloud.
“Sure, just don’t tell me anything you figure out. This is my path to forge y’know, I can’t really accept someone else clearing the way for me.”
I accepted his condition, as that was truly an honorable approach. Though if you asked him, he’d most likely claim that it was just more fun that way. After all, if he knows what to do, how could he conduct failed experiments that explode in his face? The horror of missing out on such excitement would no doubt give him nightmares. As I was mentally both supporting and ridiculing Leo for his choices, I inspected the magical cloud, asking him about what he had already discovered about it, and what he planned to use it for. I verified his claims that the material experienced zero mana leakage and was honestly probably one of if not the most valuable crafting material he could’ve gotten his hands on in that world. I also noticed what he had about the limited amount of mana that could run through it at any given point in time, but when he told me his plan…
It was ambitious. Possibly even ridiculous. There were so many unknowns that it could either be the greatest idea of his life or it could literally explode in his face with such force that he would be completely vaporized without a trace. I made him promise that he would only complete the last and most dangerous test in the subspace where I could try to intervene if anything bad were to happen. After he agreed, I ceased my testing, and helped him carry all of it to his work shed. We then made our way to our room so that he could get some sleep before he would have to wake up to take over watch