Chapter 73: The nature of things

“Well~ no time is better than the present so should you begin your training~?” <Alexis>Eel thought about it for a second but quickly decided to no while sat upon Alexis lap.Since both of them were perfectly awake nor were they really in a rush, why not  begin right there and then? Made little sense to rush into a village in the middle of the night especially when there was a large chance that said village would side with the fakier - they would likely rush over to them instead once they had fully prepped which may as well be the perfect situation for her skillset as a Hunter.She had quickly learned that it was important to take advantage of one's surroundings from Leaf who’s power mostly came from her surroundings. Even the shitty lord Shanta apparently didn’t mess with {Elizabeth’s Paradise} because of the little nymph having secured the entire area as her domain. Were tripwires, potholes & snares honorable?Maybe not, but why does she care about what humans think!“Surely it would be a grander benefit to focus on what thou currently possess but hasn’t mastered rather than adding more upon thy plate. I ought to profess my belief that we should be done with this farce; even if those dullards unite it shan’t be a problem for us. Let us just put them in our place and be done with this journey!” <Promicarus>The previously silent girl spoke out with a frown present on her face which made the other two girls raise a brow.Promicarus may have been a grumpy person since they met her but it was more of a “why am I so much better than everyone” kind of grumpy. Even if she wasn’t always the most friendly person it never appeared as if she was in a rush to get things done yet she seemed quite visibly upset at something. The girl was always odd though… Even Eel felt things weren’t simple.<Urgh why are people so complicated to read; why can’t they just say what they mean and be done with it all!>Now the frown had spread as Eel glared at the grumpy Promicarus who obviously responded by returning the glare with a bigger frown. If it wasn’t for Alexis hugs Eel may have charged up to headbutt the other girl. Emily per usual was the voice of reason though.“Why are you so suddenly in a hurry…” <Emily>“I’ve never not been in a hurry - I haven’t waited for anyone as of yet so why would I start doing so now?” <Promicarus>“That’s just because you're a bit of a bitch though.” <Eel>“Thy words are as crass as one's race!” <Promicarus>Soon the real adult stepped into the conversation before the two began to fight once more - turning her head with her tails wagging behind her as she spoke kindly.“Now~ now, she merely has her own things to worry about. She must have important things she needs to succeed with… But whether they succeed is another matter~.” <Alexis>At least she spoke in a graceful yet kind manner at first. Towards the end of her statement her eyes thinned upon Promicarus who was standing away from them; in response the girl just looked aside with a furrowed brow. If she could sweat she would but luckily she was above such mortal problems.With the pressure from Alexis the girl just crossed her arms while saying nothing else, just silently biting her lip while facing away. Following that mature fox lady patted Eel’s shoulder with a doting smile. Her tails retreated behind herself so they wouldn’t get in the way of the pair.“Now~ to begin I’ll be pushing some of my gathered Spiritual Energy, sometimes referred to as ‘nature energy’, through you. What I want you to do is simply get a feel while giving me access to freely let it flow through your body. It is the energy that represents the will of nature itself so only one who is intune with nature~.” <Alexis>“Roger~ roger~!” <Eel>Eel crossed her legs, placed her hands on her knees all the  while closing her eyes. Instead of looking around she turned her gaze inside to await any changes in the ‘energies’ she could feel inside herself - this didn’t take too long. Just as Alexis had said she could tell something was making its way inside her which seemed to naturally interact with the mana already overflowing from herself. She could clearly tell that her mana was interacting with something as it was like when one drops salt in water; the salt will quickly vanish under the volume & purity of water yet the ripples of it’s initial impact still remain long after. Turning her mind to study these ‘ripples’ in order to find the ‘initial impact’ in order to then find the cause of it all. This process was more difficult than simply understanding something was happening but luckily Alexis easily had energy to spare - providing a steady stream of energy for the girl to try to discover was no issue. <Hm~ where is it… Where is it… There it is fufufu~!>A big grin appeared on Elizabeth Jr.’s face as she soon discovered the warm energy flow into her which was a lot like mana but also not. This actually made sense; afterall mana was apparently the gift of {The Infinite Mother} while the name ‘Mother’ was the passed down position for the {Goddess of Life}. If this ‘Spiritual Energy’ was a blessing from nature like the wise ol- mature Fox had said it would of course be close in nature to mana!“Oh~*chuckle* it seems you are really quick on the uptake with that cheeky little grin of yours little one.  Well, let me show you the pathways in your body - in the east these are common knowledge due to a process Munzumira invented called ‘cultivation’. The ‘leveling up’ you know is also a type of cultivation due to the blessing of {The Infinite Mother} under careful management of the {S.Y.S.T.E.M} which allows everyone under Mother from not needing to worry about their foundation. In this way the medicine on this side of the world is sometimes a bit backwards however with the greater presence of the {Holy Attribute} life is sometimes better… God's flock to Mother since she can protect them from certain people. For the use of Spiritual Energy though it will be a great aid if you can understand yourself~.” <Alexis>“Hm~? Why is that the case~?” <Eel>“Because it’s not supported by the system…” <Emily>“Your girlfriend is somewhat correct; you also shouldn’t completely leave your life in the hands of a being you understand nothing about. Although that girl, being, group - whatever they consider themself - does a good job that is just for mana. Not to mention how can you understand the world around you when you don’t even fully understand yourself~?” <Alexis><Huh… I guess that makes sense?>“Right~ so open yourself up and let me flow my energy through your pathways. You already seem to have a decent control over your mana so let it flow out of your body all at once and in return I’ll push my Spiritual Energy in. Once I get it moving you should be able to sense Spiritual Energy in the surroundings while being able to store it - it only takes a decade or so to get a decent amount even for a non-talented fox~.” <Alexis>Agreeing with her teacher, Eel happily nodded.She liked learning new things (which could help her hunt better) so she was especially excited to learn about the way her supposed ancestors hunted. Following the instructions once again she forced her mana back into the ground - if she’s abandoning it she may as well let all the mana she generated help the future growth of the desecrated forest. It took little time for the woman to begin pushing her energy into Elizabeth Jr. yet it seemed they both forgot something about her… She had another bloodline on the same level as Mother’s flowing through her veins.As Alexis kept her hands on Eel’s shoulders everything appeared to be going well yet before she could even finish the first rotation it was released. A plume of violent violet flames burst out from the hatchlings body causing Alexis to quickly open her eyes in surprise. Leaping backwards she watched as those purple flames replaced the aura of life that previously filled Elizabeth Jr. yet unlike the calm nurturing nature of Mother’s mana these flames were anything but nurturing in their usage. The pain coursing through Eel was beyond anything she had experienced so far causing her to not even be able to yell.Emily was shell shocked. Unable to respond to the sight of Elizabeth cradling herself as those demonic flames burned away at everything while Promicarus shook her head; she did raise her disagreement!“Quickly use your mana! Push the flames back down!” <Alexis>There was no grace or regality in the fox, just sheer panic as she attempted to yell over the flames that caused space itself to creak under the weight of their existence. Juxtaposed to the sounds of the {Void Beast} from earlier this was truly what terror should sound like - the level of the current power couldn’t be compared to when she first used them. This was their true might and purpose… Absolute destruction.Her heart where these flames had originated from was gone within a second as the flame only grew stronger yet she still listened to her senior. Greedily filling her body with mana once again she found the flames destroying the mana yet the amount of mana was enough to slowly seemingly satisfy those flames while sealing them back into her quickly regenerating heart. With how much she was focusing it took less time to regenerate yet she was not left without clothes…“W-what was that…” <Emily>“That would be the gift her other great ancestor left her - though the girl is sweet her beliefs are a little skewed towards strength. Well at least the girl isn’t a bigot who only understands the power of physical strength. Luckily the little one had already been accepted by Mother so her mana already displayed a lot of the sealing effects of the real thing. It’s not that those flames suddenly went out of control… Rather they’ve been sealed away all this time in her heart which functions as a devolved [Emotion Engine] *sigh*. Well it seems okay not at least so I guess we should leave things there. Even if your dragon bloodline managed to suppress lil’purp it would be best not to test it~.” <Alexis>The woman still stood a bit away with her hands behind her back while offering the girls a calming reassuring smile which quickly worked. Everyone liked a beautiful graceful woman smiling towards them after all. Due to her intervention the tension at the camp quickly fled while Eel just took deep breaths in her newly reformed lungs. Alexis turned to look at Emily with the same graceful smile.“Well~ how about you take this pup to get some clothes on her body after washing up in the stream while I make sure the fire still is alight by the time you get back~?” <Alexis>Emily was still a bit shocked but managed to get ahold of herself by biting her lip. Compared to Alexis or Promicarus what had she done recently? With that question gnawing on her mind she supported Eel on a shoulder while heading off to the stream a bit away from their current location.Upon seeing the girl leave Alexis smile vanished as did her healthy blush as a cold sweat came from the pain she was feeling. Slowly she pulled her hands out from her back - yet it wasn’t a graceful motion like when she wielded her duel-sword-staff… Her hands quaked while she bit her lip due feeling the cold wind pressing against her exposed flesh.If one were to describe her hands right now it would be anything but ‘graceful’.“This will make the coming battle far more difficult… But for her I’ll just have to try my hardest even without my hands.” <Alexis>Closing her eyes again before pulling some bandages out of her divine-realm; slowly wrapping her hands in order to not make a mistake with how much her hands quaked.In the distance a conflicted Promicarus just watched while thinking about what was to come.