[Hey, big brother.]

[Yeah?]

[Why were you talking so… weirdly? You seemed… different, especially when she was looking at you. You were much more tense,] Luna replied.

He gave an almost unnoticeable shrug. [It’s a bit of a habit. I usually use very formal language when dealing with people I don’t know. If you remember, I was being a bit formal with you when we first talked. After getting to know you though, I started to loosen up,] he replied. [It’s probably a bad habit, but breaking it in front of a 200 foot long, translucent dragon seemed like a… poor idea. Hell, she’s able to make that without a body, so who knows what is possible-]

“For future reference, I can see the Ether strand that is bridging both of you. Please do not do that in front of others, it is seen as a very rude gesture,” Ythane said from behind them, causing Luna and Kain to tense for a moment. “Beyond that, where are we going? We have been walking around for an hour, and we have not found anything.”

Kain nodded sympathetically. They had been aimlessly walking through the dark, dusty corridors for over an hour at that point and Kain was in agreement with Ythane: they had not found anything of importance. They had found a few miscellaneous rooms with glass tubes filled with bones, or filing cabinets with all of their contents removed, in them, but not much more; though he had taken the contents of the tubes for potential future use.. “I… do not know. We simply decided to explore this complex after we found it. It is buried under 10 feet of concrete, in the middle of a city, and possesses hundreds of what you call ‘soul gems’ or ‘soul crystals.’ I believe such a list of traits makes this place worthwhile to explore,” he concluded. “As well as that, I apologize for being rude. We were reminiscing about meeting each other.”

She gave a curt nod. “Hmm. That is fair. Do you mind sharing the story, or is it private?” she asked.

“It is not exactly private, but I will only tell if she is fine with me doing so,” he said pointing to Luna. She gave a small shrug and focused her attention on the hallway ahead, which was simply more wide, dark tunnels. It was wide enough for Ythane’s original form, Kain thought, and was made of the same material that the floor of the hotel was. He turned his head slightly to look at the small, ethereal Duvalad floating behind them, coiled around the fist-sized, triangular-based crystal. “It was not a very… auspicious meeting, you could say. At the time we first met, she was a normal rabbit. Or at least that was what I thought. She was simply sitting by a river, drinking water. After a small incident involving the water in the river, I met her once more when she attacked me.” Luna winced at the mention of their first real interaction, not helped by the confused stare that bore into the back of her head from Ythane. “It was after we really spoke that I learned about an affliction that originated from her licking some of my blood. She needed it to live, for reasons we can only guess about, and after another incident where we fought I gave her a bit of my blood. After that, she said she became sentient and the rest is history,” Kain concluded.

The small dragon looked into his eyes and nodded. “That is indeed interesting. Despite my proficiency in soul magic, I have no clue what caused her to have such a reaction. Perhaps it is the density of Ether in this place, but blood from a sentient being should not do that,” she pondered aloud.

“I was wondering, what is all of this about souls? You know that we are quite new to using Ether, and soul magic seems to be much more advanced than that,” Kain wondered.

“Ohh! Me too! What is a soul?” Luna chimed.

Ythane gave a sort of smile and began to speak, “Well, do you know why you are able to manipulate Ether?” she asked.

“No, I do not.””Nope!”

“I see. Normally, Ether is the essence of neutral. It has no meaning beyond strength, which is a passive property of Ether. The way that it becomes yours is by running it through your soul,” she explained, causing Luna to tilt her head and Kain’s eyes to widen ever so slightly. “Once there, it is able to take on a new meaning based on the whims of the soul. Ether is very specific, however, and it is extremely unlikely that two people can produce the exact same type of Ether, even if they are functionally the same. For example, you, Kain, may see fire as a beacon of light and warmth, while you, Luna, may see it as a tide of death and destruction. Normally, however, the differences are not so melodramatic. And, despite the differences in minor details, the two will still functionally be the same. I have gotten myself sidetracked, so let us return to your original questions: soul magic. While conventional magic requires the use of Ether, soul magic is different. You see, every sentient being exudes a sort of energy, one that radiates from their soul and is completely subservient to them. It is how we can classify something as sentient or not. It is not foolproof, though: a particularly tragic incident involving a species that did not produce soul energy, but still showed signs of intelligence comes to mind. Either way, to use soul magic, you have to master soul energy. And to do that, you have to master Ether,” she explained. “Any questions?”

Luna raised her paw, to which Ythane nodded. “Does that mean that animals don’t have souls?”

“Of course not. It just means that their souls are not developed enough to produce it,” she answered.

Kain threw a hand up. “So if we need to master Ether, how do we do that?”

Ythane laughed. “That is something that every Ether user worth their salt should ask. I do not have the answer, however. The problem is that mastery requires years of study, practice, and understanding. If I were you, I would begin my studies with sigil casting; your bodies are suited for all three types, and it is the easiest to practice for mastery. You see, the thing that I left out of my explanation is that, at the core of the matter, soul magic is infusing your soul energy into Ether. Saying any more than that will hamper your progress, if I am to be honest, so study sigil casting for now,” she concluded, returning her attention to the hallway ahead.

“Wait,” Kain began, “how do you know that we are good at all three of those categories? You have only seen each of us do one type.”

She laughed. “At my age, you learn to pick these things up with just a glance,” she chuckled. “But if you must know, it has to do with how soul energy works. Again, any more than that, and it will hamper your growth. Besides, I believe that we have arrived at our destination.”

In front of the three was a massive doorway, easily 20 feet across, to match the hallway, and was twice as tall. While they were learning about Ether and souls, the hallway had widened and the walls became more scratched and torn. The door in front of them was a sort of spit sliding door, and the words ‘Primary Biomachine Production Center’ were engraved across the doors made of blue metal. “‘Primary Biomachine Production Center,’ huh?” he wondered, “So this is where those weird animals came from then?”

Ythane raised her scaly brow. “You can not only speak the sacred language of Du, but you can also read whatever this… gibberish is?” she incredulously asked.

“Oh yeah, you don’t have the necklace, do you?” Luna piped up. Ythane shot a glance her way. “Okay, so it’s this cool thing that lets us talk to anyone we want, as well as read anything we like; it’s really cool!” she explained, holding up the red gem necklace with one of her paws.

Ythane’s eyes went wide and, before she could ask for the necklace, Kain placed one in her tiny arms. She simply levitated it with her Ether. “This is… amazing,” she drawled out, “Where did you find this? This is some of the greatest craftsmanship I have ever seen… This could be revolutionary! To be able to talk to anyone you’d like, from any species, would be a dream come true for entire worlds! It’s so simple, and yet is so ingenious that I’d wonder why none of the other Soul Shapers, myself included, have never even thought of this before. It’s just… amazing!” she ranted. Her eyes went wide when she saw the looks the other two were giving her. Kain was giving a strained smile while Luna was giving a not so strained smile. She laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, sorry. I am a bit enthusiastic when it comes to imbuements with soul energy.”

Kains smile became much less strained after a deep breath. “Why don’t we just take it as a cue to be a bit less formal, alright? You were losing the edge a bit while you were teaching us, so…” he trailed off. At his offer, she simply half-meekly nodded. “Alright then, let’s see what this ‘Production Center’ has in store.” He gripped the handles that were at his level on each side of the doors and threw them open with the help of his Ether-enhanced arms. Although he was strengthening himself, the doors were lighter than he had anticipated, seemingly floating a few millimeters above the ground. The sounds and smells hit them all at once.

The door gilded open, and a colossal atrium greeted them. It was less like a room and more like a tall shaft that seemingly stretched for thousands of feet upwards and downwards. On every floor, huge, black platforms extended from the entrances into the chasm and linked together with bridges made of blue metal. From the bridges, shattered chandeliers hung, meant to illuminate the bridge below, but simply decoration at that point. Along the towering walls, artistic lights and various murals proudly shined, untarnished by time or the denizens of the structure. All around, along the walls, on the bridges, on the platforms, packs of animals roamed. And omnipresent in it all was the same creeping moss that had eviscerated the chitin covered monkey in the hotel.

It was much more active there as it battled with entire packs of acid-spitting pigs, or chitin-covered monkeys, or plant-bearing turtles, or blue metal cows, or any of the other strange creatures they saw battling the moss on any of the surfaces in the chamber. The platform they had arrived on was one that seemed to be owned by the 8-legged, vulture-like creatures. Kain and Luna tensed as hundreds of pairs of eyes snapped toward the door they had entered from and stared at them. It soon became eminently clear, however, that the birds only cared about the threat they could pose; due to the fact that the newcomers were wary of the owners of the platform, the vultures assumed that they were no real threat.

The trio carefully traveled to the edge of the platform, enabling them to look up and down. They were very close to the top, perhaps a dozen floors or so from the ceiling. The same could not be said about the distance between them and the bottom. More than two dozen floors stood between them and the bottom, which could barely be seen through the layers of bridges, platforms, and flying beasts that overlapped on each other. “Woah… that’s deep.” Kain and Ythane turned their heads and stared at the rabbit peering over the edge. “What? It is!”

*=====*

And we are back! However, I think that I’m going to have to slow it down soon. The rest of August should be no problem in terms of 5 uploads every week, but beyond that… nuh. I will call it here, however, that I plan on having at least one chapter every week. That may not seem like much, which it isn’t, but that is in the worst case scenario. Anyway, this is just a heads up for the future. As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.