Previous | Table of Contents | Next
Linda flipped through her notebook, reviewing the measurements she had taken earlier in the day. She hadn’t measured many animals before, but she found them more agreeable to work with than some of the people she had taken requests from before. When she wrapped the animals with strings to record the circumferences of their ankles and necks, they didn’t complain or make snooty comments while she worked.
The first page of her notebook had the rough sketch of a ferret on it with arrows pointing at its limbs and neck. On the ends of the arrows, there were numbers followed by units. Linda picked up her pencil and sketched a few designs, thinking of what kind of accessory would fit the ferret best. It was completely black save for its mahogany eyes, so she imagined darker minerals with hints of color like amethyst or tiger’s eye would look good as anklets. At the same time, brighter colors could also work to accentuate the ferret’s dark fur. Of course, depending on the type of crystal she used to adorn the ferret, the accessories would have various effects. Sam had requested she make something that’d aid the ferret in sneaking around because it loved being in places it shouldn’t, and he didn’t want it to get caught.
Linda swept her hair back with her left hand and leaned her elbow on her desk, letting her forehead rest on her palm. She flipped to the next page of the notebook and stared at the scurry-looking eagle that had been sketched on the pages. There were arrows pointing at its ankles and neck; there weren’t many options to place on accessory on an eagle. It couldn’t be too heavy either or it’d weigh the bird down as it flew. Sam had requested for the accessories to aid in amplifying the eagle’s squawks. Linda wasn’t sure why he’d want to make the obnoxious sounds coming out of the eagle’s beak—one she had it demonstrate—but she wasn’t going to question it.
Linda tapped her pencil against the page before drawing a few sketches. A necklace would probably suit the bird the better than anklets since eagles did a lot of grabbing with their talons. As for the gemstone, either something colorless to match the eagle’s feathers, or more than likely, a blue crystal like sodalite or lapis lazuli to amplify the eagle’s voice. Linda nodded her head and jotted a few notes down before flipping her notebook to the next page.
Linda’s eyes narrowed as she examined the two-headed snake drawn on the page. It was coiled around an object roughly shaped like someone’s head. She had never created an accessory for a snake before. It didn’t exactly have ears or wrists or forearms or ankles, but it did have a long body and two necks. As such, she had measured the circumference around its necks, upper body, and around its tail. However, considering the snake coiled around Sam’s head, Linda couldn’t exactly make the ornaments too bulky or they’d press into Sam’s flesh, maybe even distorting his eyeballs from the pressure. After thinking for a bit, Linda exhaled and flipped the page. Figuring out what to craft for a two-headed snake, it was too difficult, so she’d figure it out later.
On the fourth page, there was a rough sketch of a sloth. It was orange, and in Linda’s opinion, it was ugly. She wasn’t quite sure what sort of accessory it’d like because she felt like no matter what sort of accessory she made for the sloth, it wouldn’t look good on the creature. However, it was easier to come up with ideas for it instead of the snake since the sloth had ankles to work with. Sam had requested for the accessories to regulate the sloth’s temperature, allowing it to be comfortable in any weather condition. Linda sketched a few designs on the page before exhaling through her nose. She tilted her head from side to side, cracking her neck. Then, she flipped back to the first page and reviewed her designs.
After taking note of what crystals would have the best effects, Linda went through the stock of materials Sam had supplied her with, retrieving what she thought would be useful. Since Sam had retrieved two billion credits for her from SAT Group, she wouldn’t be stingy with her resources. She took note with what she had to work with before pulling up a website on her tablet. Although she was good at shaping crystals, memorizing the effects of different crystals wasn’t a talent she was born with; luckily, there were websites out there with the information she needed to make the accessories with the perfect effects.
For the ferret, a clear or violet gem would suit it best since those colors corresponded with the crown chakra. Linda could craft accessories capable of producing supernatural effects, but there were rules relating to what kinds of crystals could produce which kinds of effects. For the ferret’s purposes…. Linda’s eyes narrowed on a chunk of moonstone. Since the ferret wanted to sneak around in places it shouldn’t be, wouldn’t the moonstone, a gem capable of protecting those around it at night, be the most suitable? It’d look good against the ferret’s pitch-black fur, though, it might give away the creature’s location when it was sneaking around, but it wasn’t likely since the ferret was so small.
Linda grabbed the moonstone chunk and weighed it in her hands. It was as large as a brick, but it wasn’t completely pure. The blue-eyed woman took in a deep breath and poured her focus into the moonstone chunk while activating her talent. The chunk of crystal gradually shrank as powder slipped out from the gaps between Linda’s fingers, and all that was left behind on her palm was something covered by a layer of white powder. Linda took in a deep breath and blew while shaking her hand, revealing a perfectly polished piece of moonstone; it was translucent with streaks of blue and violet only visible at certain angles. Although Linda’s talent wasn’t good for combat, the ability to manipulate crystalline structures was quite useful for making money.
Linda glanced at the lump of moonstone in her hand before bringing it back to her desk where she looked through her notebook once more. She clasped the moonstone between her palms and stared at one of the sketches she had drawn, and the moonstone gradually warped, elongating and shifting as if it were a piece of wet clay. Linda pulled her hands apart, and the moonstone spread apart as well, creating the rough shape of a bracelet. Linda glanced at the notebook again before focusing on the moonstone, shrinking it into the appropriate shape. It was slightly larger than her measurements, but she could always manipulate the anklet to fit snugly on the ferret’s leg after the fact.
As for checking the crystals effects, Linda had a device for that. She went to the corner of her office and opened the closet door. There was a cylindrical structure with a hole near its upper end, resembling a trashcan of sorts. Linda placed the anklet into the hole, letting it rest on a shelf, and pressed a button on top of the device. The hole was sealed, and although Linda couldn’t see it, lights shone inside the device as it scanned the moonstone anklet. Linda walked away from the device and flipped through her notebook. While the cylinder analyzed the anklet, she’d start on a necklace for the bird.
***
Sam pushed the door in front of him open and stepped through the room. Since his sacral chakra had been unlocked and mastered, thanks to the mantids’ unwilling but generous contributions, Sam needed to learn what he could do with it. While Linda processed his orders, he’d use the time to train himself, and once he was as prepared as could be, he’d set off for Silva Volucris and save Gregor—provided he arrive in time. Sam turned his attention onto his tutor, someone with a bright-orange aura radiating out of them, detectable through his All-Seeing Gaze.
“Hello,” the tutor said, a feminine voice ringing out. “I was wondering when you’d pay me a visit.”
“You were waiting for me?” Vercedei asked as Sam walked into the room. It was a sparsely decorated room with only two cushions on the ground and a low table placed between them. “Or is that something you say to everyone you mentor?”
“It isn’t,” the feminine voice said. Sam couldn’t see her facial features clearly with his All-Seeing Gaze since her aura was too blinding and a snake was wrapped around his eyes. “I’ve heard rumors about you from the other tutors, and I was wondering when you’d book a session with me.”
“I wasn’t aware my reputation had spread so far,” Vercedei said as the illusion of Sam grinned.
“Well,” the tutor said, “it’s rare for someone to have unlocked so many chakras, much less have great mastery in them. Although all tutors are their own individual, we do have a forum for discussing our mentees; after all, it never hurts to gather information before choosing to accept someone.” The orange aura around her face was tinged with yellow as she smiled. “There are a lot of unreasonable people out there.”
“Really?” Vercedei asked. “And what does that forum say about me?”
“Sam, an S-ranked awakened,” the tutor said as the aura on the crown of her head turned murky, “you’re quick at learning, and your mastery of your chakras is comparable to someone who’s been meditating on them for decades. As for whether or not you’ve bribed those tutors to post good reviews about you, that remains to be seen.”
“An honest evaluation,” Vercedei said. “So, what are you going to teach me today? I have no experience with my sacral chakra at all.”
“Call it your Svadhishthana,” the tutor said. “And call me Stacy.”
“Alright, Stacy,” Vercedei said. “Tell me some useful tricks my Svadhishthana can perform for me.”
Flashes of yellow appeared around Stacy’s eyes as she laughed. “Well, let’s start with the most basic of the basics,” she said. “Expressing your emotions.” Stacy pointed at herself. “You can use the All-Seeing Gaze, right? If so, can you see the color of my aura shifting as I express myself?”
“Yes,” Vercedei said after pausing for a brief second to snoop on Sam’s thoughts. “You’re very orange.”
“Thank you,” Stacy said, “I’ll take that as a compliment.” She pointed at Sam. “You try it. Visualize your aura, and consciously attempt to change its color. Think of your Svadhishthana as your paintbrush, and use it to paint your aura.”
Sam took in a deep breath through his nose and focused on himself. His aura seemed to be … a deep-blue color. He focused on his sacral chakra, imagining it as a bucket of red paint. Using his Ajna, he visualized a paintbrush dipping into his sacral chakra, its bristles being coated in a layer of red. With a thought, he painted his aura, manipulating the colors with wide sweeps of his brush.
“A bit rough,” Stacy said, bits of yellow and red tinging the aura in the region around her eyebrows, “but I didn’t expect you to get it so quickly, so your first attempt is quite commendable.”
“So, what’s the use of something like this?” Vercedei asked, voicing Sam’s question for him.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Stacy asked. “The better your mastery of your Svadhishthana, the better your control over your emotions. If you’re feeling bummed out”—Stacy coughed—“feeling like a deep blue, you can paint yourself a different color to experience another emotion.”
Sam’s brow furrowed. The way Stacy had commented on his aura stung, and it made him a bit frustrated.
“If you paint yourself red, you’ll anger more easily,” Stacy said. “If you paint yourself yellow, you’ll be happier. If you paint yourself green, you’ll be calmer.” She leaned over and picked up a folder on the ground, taking out a sheet of paper which she offered to Sam. “Here’s a chart with the corresponding emotions for every color.”
Sam took the offered paper. He couldn’t read it with his All-Seeing Gaze, but he didn’t mind. He was sure the reptilians would have something similar he could access through his stone tablet.
“Thanks,” Vercedei said. “What else can I learn other than controlling my emotions?”
Stacy nodded. “You can influence the emotion of others, and you can prevent others from influencing your emotions as well.”
Wasn’t that the sloth’s ability? If anyone could learn how to manipulate the emotions of the people around them, then Joe didn’t seem to be that useful, huh? None of the other animals had abilities that could be replicated by human chakras. The sloth hugging Sam’s waist rumbled, and although it hadn’t finished expressing its thoughts, Sam knew it was upset at his comment. So, he scratched its back.
“How do I do that?” Vercedei asked.
“It’s simple,” Stacy said and held out her arm, the orange aura shifting to a yellow one. “If your aura touches mine, and you change your emotions, my emotions will change as well. If your mastery of your Svadhishthana is greater than the person’s you’re trying to influence, the stronger the effect will be.”
Sam extended his hand and willed his aura to extend towards Stacy’s outstretched arm. His aura, which he shifted back to blue, touched Stacy’s, and the resulting mixture became green. The yellow aura around Stacy’s forearm brightened, but despite her best efforts, she couldn’t prevent the green color from spreading up her arm. “Wow,” Stacy said. “Your mastery is really strong. I can’t stop you at all.”
Sam brought his arm back, and the green color in Stacy’s arm reverted back to yellow. Well, the sloth could influence people from a greater distance, so it wasn’t completely redundant. Joe the sloth grumbled, and Sam scratched its back some more. Yes, yes, he was sorry for calling it redundant.
“So,” Vercedei said. “What other tricks can you teach me?”
“Don’t say it like that,” Stacy said as the aura around her body became completely orange. “You make it sound like I’m training a dog.” She reached into her folder and took out another piece of paper. “Here.”
Sam received it, but the snake wrapped around his face didn’t bother moving to allow him to read the words written down.
“Through manipulation of your emotions, you can also change your state of mind to boost your creativity,” Stacy said. “Most people skip unlocking their Svadhishthanas because they think it isn’t very useful. What’s the point of having creativity if they’re not going to study the arts? People prefer more practical things like combat-related abilities, techniques that’ll save their lives in a pinch.” As she spoke, the aura around Stacy dimmed. “However, they underestimate the power of creativity.”
“Can you give me a practical demonstration?” Vercedei asked.
“Sure,” Stacy said. She held out both her hands, and her aura seemed to shine, orange rays radiating outwards from her palms. “Take my hands.”
Sam placed his hands on top of Stacy’s, and his brow furrowed as the vision within his All-Seeing Gaze turned orange. Then, it was as if he were seeing normally through his eyes without a snake blinding his vision. However, he wasn’t in the room. He seemed to be floating in a vast expanse with images and symbols trapped in spheres of light that floated around him. Was he in an illusion?
“What is this?” Vercedei asked. When Sam tried speaking, he found his mouth covered still.
“My creative space,” Stacy’s voice said, echoing through the expanse from all directions. “With your Svadhishthana unlocked, you’re given the ability to dream up anything. You can’t bring anything you create here back to the physical world, but this is still a great place to organize your thoughts in the form of emotions. Even a mind reader can’t access this space unless you invite them in.”
Sam’s vision reverted back to the All-Seeing Gaze as Stacy withdrew her arms. “I can dream up anything?” Vercedei asked.
“Anything,” Stacy said. “First, you have to look deep within your Svadhishthana. The way I imagine it is like seeing one of those videos where someone zooms in on a landscape that seems empty at first, but as the camera continues to zoom in, more details pop up. Try to really examine your chakra.”
Sam did as Stacy instructed, and he found himself within his own vast expanse, one without images or symbols floating around. Apparently, he was supposed to come up with those himself, which was probably why Stacy didn’t want him sticking around in her space for too long; those images must’ve been personal. Sam imagined the scene of him performing the magic ritual from his book, and a bubble appeared in front of him, its interior holding the images he recalled. Sam raised an eyebrow. Although it didn’t seem particularly useful for fighting, perhaps it’d be useful for … something? Well, plenty of people survived without the use of this creative space, so it wasn’t a necessity, but Sam was glad he had it instead of not. According to Stacy, he could hide things from mind readers in here—as long as he didn’t think about this space? He wasn’t quite sure how it’d work.