The Abyss is a realm of chaos that exists parallel to this world. It is a realm where there is everything and nothing at the same time, a realm where space and time matter not, and a realm in which the natural laws do not apply. It was through this chaotic dimension from which the witches draw their magic.

While not much was known about the Abyss, it has been observed to manifest into this world in ways that reflected the minds of those within the vicinity of the Abyssal Rift. Using this property of the Abyss, the witches had mastered ways of creating objects out of nothing by sending their thoughts through a minuscule rift of their creation. The transfer of information was done via the Ethereal Threads, and once the object has been generated within the Abyss, the witch would pull it into this world also via the Ethereal Threads. However, as the human mind could not possibly fully recreate an object by memory and imagination alone, the witches had learned to tap into the memories of Ether to supplement their understanding.

While their magic is powerful, it does not come without its risks as it relies heavily on absorbing large amounts of information into their Ether at a time. Though the exact details are not yet to be known, Ether seems to play a part in most living creature's regular functions. It has been noted that including information that does not belong into the Ether of one's body could cause several malfunctions. The reason for this is unknown. Could it be that it's not that Ether absorbs information of its surroundings, but instead, the surroundings are based on the information within Ether? Speculations aside, it is a sure thing that changes within the Ether would reflect in the body in some ways. The witches call this effect, 'Rebound'. When severe enough, the Rebound could even kill a witch outright in ways not unrelated to the type of magic being cast. Cases in which a witch specializing in fire-based magic combusting into flames or a witch specializing in frost-based magic becoming thoroughly frozen are unfortunately not uncommon.

Another risk to the Abyssal Arts is the risk of becoming a 'Demon', a witch that had lost all sensibilities and knows only to pursue whatever lingering obsessions in their last moments before they turn. It is speculated that this is due to the Abyss's effects on the mind and a witch's regular interaction with the Abyss puts them highly at risk. There are also claims that this may be yet another form of Rebound, that Ether can even absorb information from the Abyss, which would, in turn, contaminate the body and mind of the witch.

With moderate use of the Abyssal Arts, a witch may yet adapt to the foreign information added to the Ether in their body, drastically lowering the risk of Rebound. However, there will always be a threat of a witch becoming a Demon. There has not yet been a recorded case of a witch becoming a Demon and regaining their sanity afterward. It would seem that the only way to deal with a Demon is to kill them.

***

"So there's you have it. That's everything I know about the Abyssal Arts. Perhaps you've even learned something you did not know about before."

"Unfortunately, I know most of that already," said Morganna, though deep down, she was actually impressed with the pool of knowledge that a mere Mystic has in the magic of the witches. She's a bit miffed, in fact, that his understanding seemed to be more complete than what she knew. She even heard a thing or two that she might have never thought of herself.

"Alright, up next is Martial Arts," Joseph announced before moving on to the next topic.

"Hold on," Auguste then interrupted. "I don't like the name after all. Let's change it."

"And here I thought you were being quiet for a bit. Were you thinking about that this whole time?" Joseph was taken aback. "I hope you were at least partially paying attention."

"Don't worry, I heard every word you said. This though, I'm not letting it go until the name is changed."

"Looks, the name's already set in stone. Nothing we can do about it now."

"Don't care. We'll have it changed between the three of us."

"Is it me," said Morganna as she furrowed her brows, "or is he being more childish than usual?"

"The painkiller must be kicking in," commented Joseph in response. "Well, it's not as if we're doing an official presentation, so why not? We can call it whatever we want just between the three of us. Anyone here got a name in mind already?"

"Well," Auguste began speaking, "we can call it, uh......"

"You know what, maybe you should let me explain how it works before coming up with a name."

***

What the Scholars of the Mystic Arts called 'Martial Arts' is the result of a peculiar interaction Ether has with its host. When injured, it appears that the Ether within the body would attempt to repair the injuries suffered, allowing wounds to heal faster than they otherwise would. As a host trains their body to the limit, essentially having their bodies incur small injuries over time, the Ether within their bodies, as if adapting to the host's condition, begins to preemptively reinforce the body before the injury even occurs, allowing heightened physical performance in the host.

Due to the Ether adapting to the host's tendencies, in theory, the more one practices certain movements, the stronger the Ether will reinforce the body when the movements are performed.

It is unknown what triggers the interaction in the first place, but the most commonly accepted answer is that the host has a degree of control over Ether even without undergoing training for the Mystic Arts and might have subconsciously caused the reinforcements to occur. There is, however, another less accepted and much stranger explanation. This explanation claims that Ether has a mind of its own, strengthening the host to allow for a greater chance of survival. It does so out of the need to feed off the host and seem to treat information as some kind of food source. This explanation was found lacking in basis and, naturally, was shunned by most scholars. The person who came up with this remained uncredited.

***

"It all sounds like something that happens naturally? Can you really call that an 'art'?" Morganna pointed out.

"Well, it seems that whoever named it in the first place had a lack of understanding of how it all worked, but I guess the name just stuck around," Joseph explained.

"I've got it!" Auguste cried after being rather silent for the past few moments. "Let's call it 'Aura'! No, 'Battle Aura'."

"That's dumb," Morganna immediately expressed her distaste.

"Do you have a better idea then?"

"Hmm..." Morganna placed a finger on her lower lip. "How about 'Ethereal Reinforcement'? That sounds about right, don't you think?"

"Oooh! Straightforward and to the point; I like it!"

It seemed like Joseph rather liked that name, to Auguste's dismay. Not that it mattered, since he'd probably be rather embarrassed for coming up with 'Battle Aure' once the painkillers wear off.

Like so, they decided on 'Ethereal Reinforcement'.

"Well, that about covers the Ether-based techniques," said Joseph, seemingly concluding the segment.

"You made it sound as if there's more," said Morganna thinking that Ether was the end all and be all of this world.

"There's more," said Joseph, "there's always more. Never assume that what you know is everything."

The tone used was almost harsh, as if he was trying to reprimand her. Morganna wasn't pleased with it, but she couldn't refute his point.

"Well then, what are you waiting for? Keep in going! We want to hear more," said Auguste, like a child pestering his parents for a bedtime story.

"Oh don't you worry, I'll get to it. Don't really have anything better to do anyways," replied Joseph as he moved his hand to scratch an itch around his bottom.

***

Miracles, such is what they called the powers of gods bestowed to those who practice their respective faiths. Not all who practice a faith gain the power of Miracles and it is unknown what kind of criteria one must meet to gain such power. It would seem that not even the most faithful of practitioners have a guarantee to gain the use of Miracles. Perhaps, at the end of the day, it's all up to the whims of the gods.

It is unknown how Miracles function as they seem to work in such a way that not even the most sensitive of Mystics could observe. Of the most prominent Miracles, the Augurs of Arithmi come to mind, as they wield Arithmi's Miracles to divine the strengths, weaknesses, and potential of individuals on a daily basis, sometimes as soon as an individual is born.

There also exist Miracles that defy natural laws much like magic born from the Abyss. At the same time, even such Miracles are not exempt from the effects of the Heaven's Ward. Due to this, some speculated that certain gods may, in fact, be Abyssal in origin.

Another way of gaining the use of Miracles is through objects known as Divine Relics. Divine Relics are objects left by gods mostly forgotten, faded away due to the lack of worship or had decided to part with the mortal realm entirely of their own volition. These relics left behind hold a portion of the god's power and could only be used by those chosen by said relics. There are apparently quite a few bearers of Devine Relics within the Lightbrigers, Albert being one of the most prominent of them.

***

"I think Helena has one of those relics as well," Auguste mentioned as he laid there atop the fur blanket.

"The bow that shoots those transparent arrows, right?" Morganna responded.

"Yeah. I think it used to be her father's, and before that, her father's father's. Is it normal to pass a relic down from one generation to another?"

"Well, sometimes a god's blessing lasts through the entire bloodline. Depends on the god though," Joseph began to explain. "Zethos, the God of Strength and War, was one such god. That's why the Zethians are so obsessed with bloodlines and such. Back in their empire days, one's bloodline determines one's standing within the empire. Not so much nowadays though. Even since they lost the war a hundred years back, they've been hurting more for money than blessings. Of course, there are still some who refuse to let it go. Watch out for those if you ever visit Zeth, they're about the most obstinate people you'll ever meet and a major pain in the ass to deal with to boot."

"I heard witches are welcomes in Zeth though. What do these people think of us?" Morganna asked.

"It depends. I'd say most of them wouldn't welcome you. The noble houses have quite a grudge against you. Most of them blame the witches for their failed conquest of the Vestal Coalition, you see. Not to mention, those who welcomed the witches belong to the faction pushing for modernization within Zeth, and they're at odds with the old nobles. Either way, unless you're confident in your capabilities, I wouldn't want to stand out too much. You're going to get dragged into their shit-flinging contest if you're not careful."

"Is that so? Duly noted. Looks like there's always trouble no matter where witches go."

"We don't really run into much trouble these days though," Auguste made mention.

"I suppose that's because we're in the Dungeon and the Dungeoneers are simply not one to care. That's one thing I like about this job, I suppose," said Morganna as she smiled fondly, a rare sight for sure.

"Alright, moving on to the next and last one. You're going to want to hear this one, Auguste," said Joseph as he turned to look Auguste in the eye.

"Hm? Okay?"

Auguste didn't quite get it, but he's sure that he'll find out in a moment.

***

End of Chapter 65