8 Chapter Two End || The Mirror World

Moving onto the topic of Sol'h'meyr, Akari explained the basics.

"A world is like a mirror, hence the meaning of 'meyr.' A world only exists the way we perceive it, and in a sense, it is superficial. There are many other worlds out there as you can now attest, so a world is a transient reflection of space and time.

"Soul-heart refers to the way in which this specific world works or is built upon—magic. Magic exists in every creature; every creature is made of magic; it's their life-force. When something is devoid of magic, it is dead.

"While everything is made of magic, not everything has magical ability. In other words, the ability to use magic. The strength of one's innate magical ability lies in their soul.

"Magical ability can be further strengthened through physical training, in other words, physically practicing their magic, or physical exercise and training of their body to increase magic capacity and strength.

"We call it strengthening one's soul-heart, the heart which refers to the physical body, and the soul which refers to the magical or spiritual. Even if one doesn't have magical ability, their soul-heart can still be strengthened.

"Then, you get the name of spirits and demons. Spirits were born from the positive or righteous feelings, thoughts, values, and beliefs of humans. Demons are the opposite, but that doesn't necessarily mean spirits are good and demons are bad. They are like light and dark. While the light is seen more positively, the dark doesn't mean it's bad. They're just opposites that balance out the world."

Akari wrinkled her nose in concentration. "I think in some culture of yours, spirits and demons would be akin to yen and yeng..? Or something like that," she added just before they arrived at the ancient tree.

Essairyn nodded, understanding Akari meant the principles of yin and yang.

She pointed up at the tree boughs, saying, "That is where I made my treehouse. I figured sleeping in the trees would be safer than on the ground. I guessed that there would be more things moving on the ground than in the air seeing as gravity still exists here…"

"Oh yeah," Akari registered, "apparently your, uh, Earth? has stronger gravity. But how 'gravity' works here is a little different. When you walk, it's not like you bounce or anything. It's only when you jump that you feel the difference, I suppose."

"Hmm, that's interesting," Essairyn commented, "Anyway, let's go up."

Creating a magic circle and stepping up on it, Essairyn gesturing for Akari to follow. After the fox joined, the two glided upwards and landed on the treehouse porch. Essairyn gave a little tour of the treehouse, and Akari surveyed its contents, noting the neat craftsmanship of the structure and furnishings.

"This is a nice little place you have here," Akari remarked, "Are you sure today's your first day in this world? This place looks like it was built by an expert carpenter, and yet you built it all with magic? Just like that piece of cloth over there?"

The fox gestured towards the large fabric Essairyn had woven on the way and placed on the bed as a blanket. The girl had learned from the fox that the cotton-like plants she saw earlier weren't harmful; in fact, they were often used to make clothing.

"Yes," Essairyn replied enthusiastically, "if I just imagine the procedures, cutting, compressing, etcetera.. I can recreate the actions without the need for machines or tools. I've always loved arts and crafts, but magic is really amazing, isn't it? You can do so much so easily with it!"

She held up her bag of berries and compressed the juice into the wood cup as demonstration. "Ink," she stated with a smile.

Akari frowned at the thrilled girl, "Are you kidding me? You're an anomaly! You already were though when you used elemental magic as a human… And gimme that bag!"

The fox snatched the bag from Essairyn and began eating the crushed berries inside.

"You mean this isn't normal?" Essairyn curiously asked while the fox ate the berries.

The fox gave a little exasperated sigh before replying, "If that were normal we wouldn't have wars over magic."

The girl pondered over this as she leaned against the side of the window frame.

"I suppose magic is a resource like anything else," she deduced as she watched the fox jump up to the window ledge next to her after finishing the berries.

"Yes, the most valuable considering it can get you basically anything: money, fame, respect and recognition, a home, a living, even life," Akari elaborated, settling down on her belly.

"Life?" Essairyn softly exclaimed.

"Yes, magic can heal after all. So, it's basically like saving someone," Akari clarified and then added with a portentous tone, "And there are more ways to save a life. Hiding their soul, splitting it.."

Essairyn smiled uneasily, making the fox chuckle at her expression.

"Ah, it's only the gods and elementals that can do that anyway, so don't worry. Even then it's extremely hard for them to do unless they're the elemental creator gods," Akari reassured.

Essairyn's expression perked up at the mention of creator gods. Noticing this, Akari continued, "Water, light, earth, fire, and ice. They're the gods who created this world. And for a long time too, they lived in this world. But after the Great Elemental War, they disappeared and became part of the world themselves. No one's ever seen or heard them since. Now, people have forgotten how the world used to be…" Akari trailed off.

"How long ago was the war?"

Akari looked at her for a moment before responding, "Thousands of years ago."

The fox fell silent and looked at the floor. Essairyn tipped her head in concern.

"Are you okay?"

The fox jerked her head up, eyes wide.

"Y-yeah. For some reason..I always feel a little sad when I'm on the subject.. It's nothing, really."

Akari glanced out the window, and Essairyn followed her gaze. The forest had gotten even darker since they arrived and talked.

"You have night here?" Essairyn inquired.

"Yes," Akari answered, "It's a little different from your earthly night, but it's essentially the same. The world gets lighter and darker at periodic times thus creating the days. But our days are the result of magic in the air transitioning from high energy to low energy. When you cast magic, you see it like light. During the day, magic has more energy, so it's brighter outside. But the amount of magic is still the same, it just flows throughout the world. Creatures with more magical aptitude have a closer connection to the flow of magic and can harness more of its power. It's as simple as that."

Essairyn was genuinely amazed. Just like how Earth was the biological world based on elements, Sol'h'meyr was the magical world based on magic.

However, Akari hadn't yet explained the difference between regular magic and elemental magic. Apparently, humans were incapable of elemental magic.

"But is the world created based on elemental magic? If so, then how come humans can't use it?"

"It's true that this world was created based on elemental magic. The elemental gods' essences put together essentially formed this world. But humans like you never originated from our world. But since this is a magical world, your existences have to adhere to our natural laws. So some of you can wield magic, but it's never the elemental kind."

Akari paused in her explanation and stared firmly at Essairyn. "Heh. Although, I suppose you broke that law. Are you sure you're not an elemental?" Akari questioned through squinted eyes and jumped up to sniff Essairyn. "But you really do smell like a human," the fox ascertained after a whiff.

Essairyn gave a little laugh. "I didn't know you can, uh, smell human. But yes, I'm very sure. I don't even know what an elemental is."

The fox bent her front body in a downwards stretch. "Well," she began, peering out the window again, "I'll believe my senses that indicate you're a human. So, I'd love to tell you more, but do you have more food here or something? I'm still hungry."

"Pfft," Essairyn laughed and walked to the door, "Let's go find something."