Chapter 168 – Explanations 2 – Innate Abilities, Souls and Elementals

Chapter 168 – Explanations 2 – Innate Abilities, Souls and Elementals

“I am a light user,” Rave explained and created a small flash of blue light in demonstration. “I also punch stuff. Guess ya could call me a battlemage.”

The princess hummed in understanding before asking: “Are your powers innate or acquired?”

“Innate,” Rave answered.

“You possess a light type soul?” Lydia probed further.

“Yup, already made a contract as well.” The techno-lover raised her left arm, showing the wristband that was Copernicus’ item form in the process.

“Ehem,” John audibly cleared his throat, “can I ask what this ‘light type soul’ thing is about? This is the first I have heard about it.”

Lydia massaged her forehead. “Whoever was responsible for educating you on the matters of the Abyss did an exceptionally shoddy job.”

“Well, there was nobody in particular, things just kind of pop-up from time to time,” John explained.

“Ey, I did tell ya some stuff!” Rave interjected.

“Some stuff, yes, that would be the exact formulation I would use.” He gave his girlfriend a sideway stare. “Jane, I love you, but you are not a born teacher.”

“Wha-? Now that’s just mean!”

Lydia sipped on her third cup of tea, while she watched the minor lover’s feud take place. “Thank you again, Aclysia,” she said to the maid, who bowed. All the while, John and Rave continued to throw insults and accusations at each other.

“And remember when I had to listen to that boring podcast with ya? See what sacrifices I make for you!”

“First off: If the Emperor had a Podcast is not boring, but a modern masterpiece. Second off: That was the agreement, once a week I can bother you with, and I quote, ‘boring 40k stuff’. Third off: I think that is pretty fair, after all I give up the blanket pretty much every night.”

“That’s such an overstatement!”

“Is it? I woke up in a full-nelson today!”

“What does that have to do with the blanket?!”

“It has everything to do with your sleeping habits being pretty weird.”

Lydia checked her watch and knocked on the table to get their attention back. “You will have to resolve this matter another time.”

“”Resolve what?”” the couple asked in unison.

Lydia’s forehead was put into wrinkles. “Your quarrel just now.”

The two of them exchanged a glance, “That is, sorta, just how we hang out?” Rave said.

Lydia’s eyebrows stayed raised, “I suppose I have no room to give you relationship advice,” she finally admitted, then added in her usual, iron tone, “I, however, am in the position to demand that you do not waste my time needlessly. I have several provinces to govern.”

John nodded in apology. “Sorry, we just get sidetracked easily. Back to that soul type thing then. If you have the time to explain it to me, princess.”

The auburn-haired royal leaned back in her chair, then began her explanation. “It is the current understanding of the Apothecaries that soul types are how people get their Innate Abilities. Everyone has a soul of some variety, represented in the aura sight virtually all Abyssals possess. More acute aura sight can visualize the differences in soul types. Those who have meaningfully different souls possess Innate Abilities. There are as many different soul types as there are differing Innate Abilities, but they are broadly categorizable in 8 categories. Fire, water, earth, wind, these are the basic and most common types, granting abilities related to the elements. I myself am an earth type, subsection metal. Then there are the four rare ones. First, we have life souls, who have extremely potent biological abilities, such as blood or plant magic.”

Sylph took it with both hands and engaged in a wild shaking of hands. “Thank you, thank you!”

“...You were supposed to bump it...” the blaze elemental grumbled.

“Do what now?”

“Just forget it,”

“Wha-wha-whaaaaat are you doing!” Gnome finally finished her sentence and ran over to Mono, who readily embraced her. Embarrassed, little “Uwuwuwu” sounds came from the brunette.

“Perverts, all of you!” she condemned the actions of the group while calming the oldest of the elementals down with motivational whispers.

“You are a lively bunch,” Lydia stated in a neutral tone. It was like she was informing somebody that the sky was blue.

“Yes ...also yes I am familiar with the traditional contract process,” John said. “Traditional being what Rave did, using her Innate Ability, or soul type I guess, to attract elementals that would fit her. I engaged in a modern contract, which does not require this inborn quality, and instead utilized a ritual to establish a short-lived connection to one of the six elemental planes.”

“On the benefit of being much more reliable, with the drawback of only allowing contracts with much weaker elementals... at the base,” Lydia looked at the elementals in turn. Before she could ask what was on her mind, however, Copernicus made himself known again.

“And then there is that disgusting thing your people came up with,” the solar feline growled.

Lydia sighed, “You not liking it doesn’t mean that it is disgusting by nature. Most elementals willingly sign the contract.”

“Most, exactly,” the sun cat kept at it, “your method forces elementals into a state that is unnatural.”

“As does corruption at the hands of inexperienced summoners in the other two methods,” Lydia calmly said.

“What is this about?” Rave asked, she was just as confused as John, “I never heard of a third type of elementalism.”

“That surprises me,” Lydia said, “German elementalism isn’t widely practiced outside of the noble houses of Europe, but it still is practiced and not in secret.” Neither John nor Rave had anything to say, instead they waited for Lydia to explain. “Where traditional and modern contracts both bind two beings, summoner and elemental, together, German elementalism is a practice that fuses the two beings together into one instead.”

Lydia’s eyes turned from their greyish blue into a true grey shade as all the metal on the table suddenly flew into her hand and compressed into a sphere.

“The resulting entity is considerably more powerful, combining the strengths of both in a body that is mostly human, but is changed in many, typically subtle ways.”

“And it also kills the elemental.”

“Just as it kills the human,” Lydia waved it off, “the resulting person is reborn from both of them. Memories, dreams, aspirations, ideas, all of them and more, mesh together. Two complete people become one set of experiences. No one leaves as they enter.”

Rave picked Copernicus up and pressed him against her chest. “I don’t like the sound of that at all,” she openly said.

Lydia shrugged dismissively. “What you like is none of my concern, it is a customary and effective practice and I never regretted having gone through with it, neither halves of me. We typically keep our elementals under contract for several years, to give them time to make the decision. “

“But ya can force them?” Rave asked.

“Doing so is tantamount to suicide. In a beneficial twist of supernatural law, whoever forces the ritual finds their own personality greatly if not entirely subdued at the end of the fusing process. In other words, forcing it typically just creates an unhappy extension of the entity it was forced upon.” Lydia unfurled the ball of metal pieces, straightening up the utensils she had abducted. “To answer the question of titles, John, it is how the Abyssal nobility inside Germany designates itself. Unlike our real counterparts, who kept their blood ‘pure’ to claim their ancestral lands, the noble bloodlines in the Abyss are out to breed Innate Ability users. The titles we hold are our rank of nobility in addition to the type of our magic.”

“That works?” John wanted to know, “You can just breed innate abilities?”

“To have a bloodline primarily consisting of Innate Ability users maximises the chances,” Lydia answered. “Where normally there is a single Innate Ability user within a thousand Abyssals there is one in ten inside the nobility. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it helps. Romulus himself approved of this system of aristocracy, which is why all of his lands can field noble armies of powerful abilities. Sadly, many of the nobles in all of the empire’s member countries rest on their Innate Abilities and past glories, refusing to hone themselves. The system is in a fickle balance,” she let out an annoyed breath, “Just like the whole of Europe.... How much do you know about that?”