Chapter 192 - How It Feels To Be The Loser

"Despite knowing that you are one, you don't know your own trait, huh?" Iliana quirked her eyebrow in amusement. "Very well, I will tell you about it. First, we have an abnormal vitality that makes us really good in be—"

"I don't need to know that." Basil raised this hand to stop Iliana from speaking any further.

"Are you sure?" Crossing her hands below her chest, she pushed her two assets up. "Would you rather to figure it out directly?" She looked at Basil suggestively.

"Quit yapping nonsense." Basil waved his hand mildly in dismissal. "We can talk about that when you are old enough."

Iliana's eyebrow twitched, and she was definitely irritated by Basil's word. However, she was professional enough to make it apparent.

"Kuhum! Second, our control over Mana is off the charts, so naturally all of us possess Grand Circle; talent still decides the amount of Grand Circle you can possess though. Third, we can practice [One With Nature] which is the Art of Dmitra."

At the third trait—an obvious fact—Basil looked at Iliana with eyes that were saying, 'Really?' Iliana graciously ignored it, and kept going on with her explanation; she did that purposefully just to get him back for his insult on her beauty.

"Fourth, we are a natural empath due to our high sensitivity over Mana. And the last one, the fifth, is the Pacifer Seal; this is the aparent proof of a Pacifer. Pacifer Seal is bestowed upon you by Maha Dmitra, and it also one of the requirements to be a Dmitra."

Seeing Basil tilted his head, Iliana misunderstood it as confusion. "Since you weren't born in the village, you naturally don't have it. However, that doesn't mean you are not a Pacifer. You can get it when we visit the village ... If we are lucky enough to find it, that is."

Waving her hand mildly, she continued, "Anyway, you should be glad that you don't have Pacifer Seal yet. Those who don't suit to be a Dmitra—who can't practice [One With Nature]—can't hide the seal, after all."

Iliana closed her eyes, and gathered her Mana to her heart. Her Mana overwhelmed the surrounding air for a moment, before calming down; in each passing second, her Mana became calmer, but her presence became even more overwhelming.

Basil watched the scene in wonderment and interest. 'Is this [One With Nature]? Interesting. I have always matched Nature Mana's wavelength to hide my Mana Signature, but this Art allows her to straight up absorb Nature Mana, which in turn makes her undetectable ... She truly becomes one with nature indeed.'

A few seconds after, a circular pattern with four arrows pointing to the four major directions appeared on Iliana's forehead; it was shining in amethyst color. Opening her eyes in the next moment, she gazed at Basil calmly.

Everything about her changed: her aura, her presence, and the way she utilized her Mana. She was there, but she didn't feel like she was there. She wasn't exuding any power, but her presence remained strong ... She became more profound.

Seeing that she managed to pick Basil's interest, Iliana pointed to the middle of her forehead, at the Pacifer Seal.

"If you had had it and you didn't suit to be a Dmitra, the seal, colored in black like a tattoo, will always be on your forehead; you would've naturally been killed since it is a dead giveaway that you are a Pacifer. Even those who are talented, like me, still need some time to master the way to hide it."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Iliana nodded her head, "therefore, you shouldn't..."

Iliana was about to explain that Basil didn't need to doubt his identity as a Pacifer since he apparently possessed every traits that any Pacifer had, but upon seeing what he was doing next, she couldn't bring herself to open her mouth.

'[Star Withering] allows me to absorb Mana that is imbued with Star Energy. Using the same principle that makes [Star Withering] absorb Star Energy, I should be able to absorb Nature Mana to imitate [One With Nature]. But, I don't need actually need to do that.'

Closing his eyes, Basil felt his connection with the Fragment in his soul. He appeared in his Mindscape in the next moment, and the Fragment appeared in front of him in the form of a five meters tall stone tablet.

Only a fourth of it had writings carved on it; though he could see the shining characters clearly, Basil still couldn't understand the content. Of course, it doesn't really matter. He didn't visit his Mindscape to comprehend the Fragment.

Extending his hand to the Fragment, he put his palm on its surface. The foreign yet profound characters shone even brighter, until Basil was completely engulfed in the light.

'Ah, this feeling ... It comes again.' Basil was assaulted with the foreign feeling which he was quite already familiar with—the sensation he always felt whenever he entered a trance.

He gradually felt like his soul was pulled out of his body, and it was left floating above his body; he didn't feel like he was himself, but he still had a full control over his body. In this state, he saw the world differently both figuratively and literally.

Though Basil felt like everything happened slowly, it all happened in just 9 seconds in reality. When the process was finished, Basil slowly raised his eyelids, revealing his golden eyes to the world.

Iliana, who had witnessed the scene since the very beginning, had her mouth tightly closed, and eyes widened in disbelief. She could see the same pattern that was on her forehead, the Pacifer Seal, on Basil's forehead; it was shining in golden light just like his eyes.

Iliana had told Basil that he was different the moment they were reunited. However at that time, she had mostly referred to his physical appearance and growth than his faint change in demeanor and apparent change in aura.

This time however, she could confidently say that she didn't know the person she was looking at; she couldn't say the person she was looking at was, in fact, Basil. Sure the face still belonged to Basil, but the presence ... She couldn't even begin with.

"You are confused," Basil said with a smile.

Iliana couldn't immediately answer; her body froze upon hearing Basil's calm voice. She felt a great urge to bow down in front of him. It was as if she was in the presence of a Maha Dmitra, whom she had only met once a couple of years ago.

'No, this is much worse. Not even the first Maha Dmitra gave me this feeling.' By the time she realized it, she was already looking down. Raising her gaze slowly, she stared at Basil carefully.

"Who are you?"

Instead of immediately answering, Basil hummed to himself. "I am not quite sure of who I am. In the very first place, what defines oneself? Name? Appearance? Attitude? Unique traits? Nothing actually defines oneself; one just exists."

"What are you—"

"Is it normal for not feeling you are not yourself but you are yourself when you are in this state?" Basil quirked his eyebrow at Iliana. "Being able to materialize Pacifer Seal ... Does that make me a Dmitra?"

"I—I don't know what you are talking about ..." As Basil tilted his head in wonderment, Iliana trailed off her word. "But, I can tell you that being able to materialize Pacifer Seal at will makes you a Dmitra ... That's what makes Dmitra different than the rest of the clan members, who can't do that."

"Is that so? Am I utilizing [One With Nature] now?"

Iliana felt like she was being questioned by her parents; she was strangely nervous, and was afraid to say something wrong. Luckily she was a strong woman, therefore she could maintain her composure in front of the "new" Basil.

"I can't say whether you are utilizing [One With Nature], but it feels similar ... Can I ask you something?"

"Speak." Although Basil said it softly, it felt like a command in Iliana's ears.

"Whom did you get the seal from?"

"Whom?" Basil quirked his eyebrow. "I wasn't bestowed with it; I was born with it. The moment I broke through to the Middle Realm, the seal naturally appeared on my forehead."

Basil wasn't quite sure whether he was really born with it, but from what Matheus had told him about Pacifer Clan, he should've been born with the seal. 'Just like any other Pacifer Clan member,' he thought. This is why he was a little bit surprised upon knowing that, unlike him, Iliana had hers bestowed upon her by a Maha Dmitra.

"The prophecy is real..." Iliana muttered. "You really are the fated boy. My..." Iliana sighed, and retracted her Pacifer Seal; she sounded like someone who couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Basil also did the same as the Pacifer Seal gradually disappeared from his forehead; his eyes lost its golden luster, as they regained their original color back. Before long, Basil returned to "normal," and Iliana felt familiar with him once again.

"You are more of an anomaly than myself, Sil ... Be careful with that." She tapped the middle of her forehead. "Once you show that in front of the public, it will be your end. The Church will not be the only one yearning for your blood, but the Empire will too."

Basil hummed to himself, instead of responding to Iliana. Prior to materializing the seal consciously, Basil had always had a moment of trance, and an unpleasant sense of incongruence within himself.

Now however, although he didn't feel comfortable yet with the feeling, he felt more familiar to it. He could even surely say he wouldn't find himself in a trance any longer—he felt "complete."

He didn't quite understand Matheus at first, when Matheus had told him that one of the Pacifer's traits would surprise him upon breaking through to the Middle Realm. Now however, he could finally understand what Matheus was actually referring to.

Basil gazed at Iliana calmly. "When I breakthrough to the Upper Realm, let's visit the village. I can feel where the other Pacifer are at—just like how I can feel you in my hands."

Pacifer Seal allowed him to find his people .... And one of the remaining Fragments.