Chapter XXIV: A Strange Old Man II

Onin

Sengoku Empire

The Great Plateau

Month of the Pangolin 9, 172 ,328 DE

Walking along the crowded streets of Quad Twenty, I continue to experiment with changes in how I project the idea of nothingness into my awareness and aura. By the time I reach the avenue dividing Quad Twenty from the arena parkland, I reach what feels like a point of equilibrium between too much Trinity and not projecting the idea. The humans leave a small circle of empty space around me, while most of them seem completely unaware of my existence. There are still some humans that appear nervous or wary, but I cannot determine what I am doing wrong that allows them to sense my aura or awareness.

After crossing the avenue, I follow the winding paths through the parkland. While there are still humans around, they are far fewer in number. I am better able to observe the affects of my idea of nothingness on them. When I use Telepathy to probe the Minds of the ones that notice something, I do not find any reason for them to notice my awareness. However, when I use Empathy , I find their wariness and nervousness to be the primal sort of fear that a prey animal has of a predator. I do not understand why they would have such a reaction.

"Ho-ho-ho. For someone trying to not be notices, that is quite the aggressive presence you have."

At the sound of the human's voice right next to me, I have to stop myself from drawing my knives and attacking. The human is an old man. His dark brown skin marks him as a gaijin, and his yellowish-white hair and wrinkles mark him as old. I have never seen a human like him before, but Old Man Jones has talked about some humans in the far south and southwest of the Great Plateau, who are supposed to look similar.

Rather than the old man's origin, I am more interested in how he can so easily see me. He give off not hint Power, not Yuan Qi, Mind Force, Soul Force, the Trinity, or Trinity itself. As best as I can tell, he is completely dead to Power. Not only does he seem dead to Power, he does give off the slightest hint of stray thoughts or emotions that living creatures all seem to radiate at such close range. And he has no scent. Is he a Projection?

The old human smiles, revealing big, white teeth. The two in the upper front look half a size bigger than the rest. "Ho-ho-ho. You look confused. You can't sense my Power can you? You were not even aware of my presence until I spoke, were you? I've been walking next to you since you left your inn. How could you not notice me? Don't worry. I'm real. I'm not a Mind projection."

Standing five or six centimeters taller than me, the old man appears to have a wiry build, but his loose, strangely-cut robes make it hard to be certain. As we continue walking along the parkland path, his feet make less sound on the cobblestones than my own, but he does not seem to be making any effort to move silently. This old human may appear to be a Powerless nobody, but my instincts tell me his dangerous, maybe as dangerous as the shitty old man.

The old human laughs long and hard, not his affected 'Ho-ho-ho', but a deep belly laugh. "You are the absolute picture of aggression. Even when you're trying to appear passive, you radiate the aggressiveness of a very hungry, very angry Ferocious Beast. I have met many Great Beasts, but only a few had your level of smoldering aggression."

As my steps come to a jarring halt, and I glare at the old human, he laughs once more. His eyes glint with amusement. "You should say something soon. This silent treatment makes me feel like an unwanted intruder. Don't mistake the blind fools that live around here."

I look around, confirming that the none of the humans in the area are paying any attention to us.

"Don't worry. Our conversation will not be overheard. I am not you. No one in this city can penetrate my wards."

"What do you mean about me having an aggressive presence?"

The old human grins. "Your predatory Bestial nature shows through in everything about you. I could pick you from a crowd of millions just base on the aggression you constantly project. Even beings lacking in the strength in their Minds and Souls perceive and understand your aggression will be affected by it. I would be amazed if many of the people around you like you. That aggression is the main reason that you cannot mask your presence from everyone around you. Most humans have dull Minds and Souls, and this bullshit Cultivation created by the Dragon Gods does little to improve them, but some humans are more naturally sensitive than others. The stronger Cultivators tend to be the most dense. The perceptive ones tend generally tend to be more timid and fearful, so they are always mindful of threats. Your predatory aggression triggers their natural flight instincts."

Thinking about what the old human said, I focus my awareness into my Mind and Soul. As the world around me slows to a crawl, I try to identify the aggression in my awareness, but I can only perceive my own awareness from a subjective point of view. No matter how much I try, I cannot sense any real aggression in my Soul, my awareness, or my aura. I cannot decide if the old human is serious or bullshitting me.

"Interesting. You have yet to being Coalescing your Power, but you managed to mostly detach your Mind from your Body." The old human's words sound normal in my ears. As though our Bodies are operating at the speed of my Mind.

I had unconsciously looked down while focusing on my awareness. I try to raise my head to meet the old human's gaze, but it feels like my head is moving at a glacial pace. With my Mind operating primarily in the Eidos, my Body cannot keep with the speed of my Mind.

With his voice still sounding absolutely normal, the old human laughs again. He either finds everything funny, or he laughs in an attempt to put other beings at ease. Though, it could be for an entirely different reason. Despite growing up among humans, I cannot say that I understand why they do most of what they do. After a moments pause, he seems to be a bit more serious. "It is harder than you can imagine to make a truly objective appraisal of yourself. You are always limited to a subjective view of yourself. You are unable to see yourself from the outside, but I can see you from the perspective of an outside observer."

A I try to frown at the old human, I withdraw some of my focus from my Mind and Soul. The world around me seems to speed up, but I still sound like I speaking in slow motion. "The shitty old man that raised me never said anything about me being aggressive like you."

Still sounding like he is moving at the speed of my thoughts, the old human laughs. "Young Jones is almost as innately aggressive as you are. He is too dense to notice what others would."

My frown shifts into a full out scowl. "There's nothing about that shitty old man. You talk like you know him."

The old human's smiling, amused expression turns serious. For the first time, he does not start a sentence with a laugh. "I met him the day he first ar5rrived on the Great Plateau. He angry and bitter at that time. For a mortal, who had yet to begin Coalescence, he was one of the most deadly beings I had ever met, but his aggression radiate from him so strongly, it almost filled the air around him. He believed himself to be the picture of calm stoicism, but anyone not dead or blind, deaf, and dumb couldn't help but notice his barely leashed aggression and bloodlust."

Pausing, the old human opens his eyes wide, and his eyes, which are so pale blue as to almost be white, bore into me. "You are worse than Young Jones was back then. You are like a ball of tightly compressed aggression and bloodlust just looking for something to explode on. Your Souls is so overbearing; I'm a bit surprised that these blind idiot Cultivators don't attack you on sight."

As confusion floods through me, my scowls softens, if only slightly. "What so you mean about my Soul? It's weak, maybe, weaker than my Mind."

For just a moment, the old human's expression changes. For an instant, he gapes at me in blatant shock, and I get flash of emotions leaking from him, shock that matches his expression. The instant is over so fast that I almost think it could have been my imagination. The old human's face returns to its perpetual expression of slight amusement. "Ho-ho-ho. You really believe your Soul is weak? You were born after the attack of the Dragon Gods, as the sodding bastards call themselves. Your Soul is the proper Soul of a Great Wolf, but your Mind and Body were … deformed might be the best way to put it Sable came to my Master, who was one of the followers that remained behind to the maintain the College, to help her seal your Soul. You have a Transcendent Soul. You are just incapable of using it. Quite bluntly, I am amazed that a with the strength of your Soul, it is not doing damage to your Mind or Body. You need to Coalesce you Power into your Body and Mind and do it as soon as possible."

As I struggle to rein in my shock and bring my expression under control, I think about what the old human said. Am I misunderstanding my condition? Do I already have a Transcendent Soul? Should I already be Coalescing my Power?

I focus on the old human. "Who are you? What are you?"

The old human gives me a crooked smile. "Magabe. An Artificer. A Coalescent that has filed to Transcend Mortality."