"Well then, the same concept applies. Arcane magic is incompatible with primal magic for the same reason."

"Where are you going with this?"

Aleister raised his hand and clenched it. "Would it not seem that primal magic is the true source of power that comes from a person?"

"In a sense."

"But, then, it leads one to ponder, if one needs an adequate enough bloodline to even become a Weaver, then it's not up to the individual if they become a Weaver or not. Not even their ancestors would decide such a thing. Instead, it would be up to their progenitors. The first beings of each race to exist before their blood diluted into several bloodlines. But, then, who created those beings? After all, before the existence of those progenitors, before the existence of the gods, or other primordial creatures, and even before the creation of the world itself, what came before it?"

"And you think I would know?"

"Why shouldn't you know? It's obvious."

"To someone as crazy as you, perhaps. With every passing day, I end up praying for your sanity."

Aleister smirked. "It's simple because it's a concept ingrained within the very fibers of the universe. There's the yin, and there's the yang. There's light, and there's darkness. There's order, and there's chaos. There's something—and there is nothing. Before anything came into existence, there was nothing. And the universe created something to counteract that nothingness to bring it back into balance. The world represents the unbridled chaos, while the gods represent order. However, they are both simply two opposite sides of the same coin. In the end, both of their power comes the universe. So I was wrong in saying that divine magic and arcane magic are opposites, but correct in saying they oppose each other. At their core, the very essence of both divine magic and arcane magic is what? That's right—anima. And where do our souls come from? The River of Souls. And where did the River of Souls come from? The universe. It existed along with gods. This, along with other forces that dictate the functions of everything, including time, gravity, forces, and other such concepts. I'm not an expert, and I'm not one-hundred percent sure, but the gods control none of these aspects of life. Nor have I ever heard about the gods creating souls. I have only ever read about how gods would shepherd the souls of the departed to their domains of control in whatever afterlife may exist."

Syn said nothing for a few moments. "I'm glad you're having all of these philosophical revelations, but where is this leading? And, by the way, you never answered my question."

"I'm getting there," Aleister said after a moment of thought. "This all leads back to my mention of would any choose to destroy their bloodline. You said I'm not a good person to talk about this and I disagreed. This is the reason I disagreed. Now I understand what Kuzax meant when studying the arcane was an act of defiance upon the gods. The world has no free will of its own and is under complete subjugation of the gods and those who walk upon it. In order to study the arcane, you must destroy the hold the gods have upon you. You must cast away your very own blood and sever the ties that bind you to others. That's what is required to become an arcanist. But it doesn't end there. The arcane and the divine are two sides of the same coin, but the fundamental law of existence I've come up with, says in order for there to be something, there also has to be nothing. Those are not two sides of the same coin. There's either a coin, are there isn't. And it is only by studying that other side of the coin, the arcane, along with the divine, that can I learn the entire picture, and hope to find the truth."

"I can't believe you said all of that just to prove something I said about you was incorrect." Syn shook her head. "I'll admit it. I was wrong. Happy? Hm? Are you even listening to me?"

Aleister heard every word but didn't respond. Instead, he focused on the odd sensation within him and his soul. Upon gaining a deeper understanding of the universe, or at least what he believed was, something strange started to occur.

His soul reverberated and shook with a violent force to create a maelstrom that disrupted the empty space it occupied. A pressure pressed from within—and it erupted. His soul expanded and took up more space within that emptiness than just moments before. However, it didn't stop there.

His soul drew the divine anima his body absorbed. Unfortunately, it didn't come with good intentions. That lingering divine anima surrounded his soul and restricted it. Every strand of that divine presence compressed downwards and consumed upon his soul like a parasite. His soul retaliated and, because of that pressing force from earlier, it continued to expand. This spread the layer of divine anima thinner and thinner until a small opening was exposed. However, his soul also had an opening to let his anima out. The divine anima used this opportunity and flooded that now open gate. His soul forced more anima out and this time, it enveloped the divine anima before absorbing it whole.

This invasion caused a bone-chilling pain to cry throughout his body. Aleister clutched his chest to apply pressure to the pain, but due to its metaphysical nature, it didn't relieve any pain. But the simple motion of doing so tricked his mind and body into thinking there would be an effect which was the purpose behind this.

"...Aleister! Are you okay?" Syn cried out, waving her hands in front of him dramatically.

Aleister noticed a spatter of blood across the floor. He didn't notice, but apparently, he drowned out the sound and environment around him.

"So you are alive after all." Syn let out a sigh of relief. "What happened? Are you okay?"

He looked up with a wry smile on his face. "I have no idea what just happened, and I have no idea if I'm okay."

"Your answers aren't very ensuring."

"No, they aren't."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"Obviously I'm going to have to pay a visit to the cleric much sooner than I anticipated."