"You're right" Indra assented. "I didn't find these out" he continued. "She did" Indra stepped to the side.
With his body out of the way, Mane was able to see the lithe figure that stood behind the strange god. It was a woman. She was dark in complexion and had long wavy hair that cascaded down her back like a beautiful waterfall and stopped slightly below her slim and slender waist. Her hair fell onto her buttocks, yet even these beautiful strands couldn't conceal the glorious arc of her buttocks. Although she wore a long robe, it did little to conceal her wonderful shape, only serving to exaggerate how amazing her curves were. The bulge of her chest was evidence of how well-endowed she was. Her lips were red, a stark contrast to her dark skin yet it complimented them more. Her wicked curves aside, her face was a work of art itself. It was almost as if all the artisans of the world had gathered to create this masterpiece. Mane was certain that the creator himself had gathered the best artisans together, created a wonderful patent and had, together with them, produced the beautiful creature before him.
Mane was only a few months shy of his eleventh birthday. He didn't feel much attraction to the opposite sex. Even the beautiful Selina did nothing to stir his stagnant heart. Maybe that was because he himself was a very good looking boy with equally exceptional parents; maybe his sights were set quite high. But looking at the tall woman before him, Mane felt that she was ethereal as she was beautiful. For although she was charming in every way, he felt that looking at her too long was blasphemous. He quickly lowered his head with a frown on his face. He had been dazed momentarily, but he knew it was strange- what he was feeling right now. According to Indra, Mane was a godling- a child birthed by gods and destined to become a god himself. His mind was that of a god, although his body was yet to catch up. Yet even his steady mind was shaken by the woman before him. Mane was thankful she wore such a long robe, or else who knew how long he would have stared. It was a good thing she hid her legs.
What Mane didn't realised was that because of his body wielding training, the Asgardian blood in him was greatly stimulated. This accelerated his growth wildly; the reason he was able to grow by a few inches in just a month. But the growth wasn't limited to muscles and height. With the increased production of growth hormones, Mane's attraction to the opposite sex would also increase. And it didn't help that one of his grandparents was a known womanizer in all the realms. With his blood flowing through Mane's veins, Mane would have a hard time dealing with these emotions he never felt before. It was amazing that Ray had been able to resist this curse- at least that was what it looked like.
"Hello there Mane. I am Ananse." The woman smiled slightly and introduced herself. She seemed unbothered by the slightly blushing Mane. She ignored his discomfort and stretched out her hand in greeting. Mane was startled by her voice. Lost in his thoughts, he had forgotten where he was. He hurriedly extended his own hand and held hers. Since he was still young, Mane's hand was smaller than hers. But it wasn't by much. After all, because of his training he had grown a bit bigger over the last few weeks. Mane marveled at how soft her palm was and reluctantly let her go, knowing that it was rude to hold on to a person's hand for so long when it was only a handshake.
"How do you know me? Because I am certain that I do not know you." Mane wondered. From what he understood, all that Indra knew about him came from this strange figure. Mane was uncertain about many things. He wasn't sure of who he really was. He didn't know what the future held, and even if he did, he wouldn't be able to do much about it. Yet there was one thing he was certain of. He didn't know Ananse. He had never met her before. Someone who was able to shake his steely heart would not be forgotten by him, especially since Mane's memory was impeccable. Yet even stranger was the sense of closeness he felt as he faced her. He felt like he had known her for a long time. It wasn't the same kind of feeling he had when he was with Abe and the twins. The twins were the friends he knew longest, but he felt that he had known Ananse even longer. It was almost as if they had known each other for millions of years.
'How is that even possible? I am only 11', he wondered doubtfully. Mane didn't doubt his instincts. At times Mane thought it was possible that he had a glow that even his own spirit couldn't discern- his instincts. For they were rarely wrong.
"You do not know me, but I know you. That is enough for me." Ananse replied vaguely. Mane felt that he wouldn't get the answers he wanted even if he asked. After all, if she wanted to be clear, she would have explained why he felt such closeness to her- a stranger. After his initial attraction to her looks, Mane realised that he wasn't dazed because of her impeccable beauty. Her unblemished figure was graceful in every way, but he realised that he wasn't drawn to her because of that. He felt like they were the same kind of people. Lifelong friends with the same cravings and goals. Mane didn't know who she was, but he was certain of one thing- she was a scholar like he was.
In worlds like Zandor, scholars were weak, with no talent in wielding. But from his masters, Mane knew that this wasn't the same in the higher worlds. In higher worlds, scholars were also wielders; they didn't pursue a normal path. Just like spiritualists, scholars of the higher realms were unique. In some worlds, one could be a mixed wielder: one could be a body wielder and energy wielder; an energy wielder and a spiritualist; or one could be so immensely talented like Mane that they would pursue all three. The latter was the rarest of them all, but there were some geniuses who pursued such a path.
There were also higher realms that condemned the practice of more than one form of wielding. You either became a body wielder, an energy wielder, or a spiritualist. It was frowned upon to pursue more than one path. The 3rd's world was a prime example. On the 3rd's world, one would be hard pressed to find a dual wielder. Triple wielders were even rarer. So the 3rd herself was a pure spiritualist. But that didn't mean that she was weaker than a dual cultivator. On the contrary, because she focused on just one path, her progress was outstanding. This was the reason that these worlds dissuaded their people from pursuing multiple wielding paths. It was believed that you would become a jack of all trades by going after so many different wielding branches. And while that made a person more versatile, they wouldn't be true masters of any of the paths. To these realms masters, it was better for their people to master their crafts and become experts in their fields than to know so much. The 3rd was the best example of what such training could breed.
Although she was only a spiritualist, she had mastered skills like telekinesis and was so powerful that she could move planets with her mind alone. Mane hadn't seen her do it personally, but the talkative 6th had let it slip once that 3rd had once fallen into a maddening rage and smashed two planets together in that state. Mane believed him. The 6th was a blabbermouth, that much was true, but he wasn't a liar. Besides, Mane could feel the respect the other masters had for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. He was certain that they wouldn't lie.
However, there was a 4th path that many seldom took- the path of scholars. This path was even more bastardly than the path of the spirit. Unlike the path of spirits, which required one to possess both a soul based bloodline of great quality and high intelligence, the path of scholars could either be seen as more stringent, or magnificently lax depending on the one looking at it. The path of scholars required a single thing- intelligence. One must be very intelligent to become a scholar. In this sense, many of the scholars of Zandor weren't worthy to become scholars. It wasn't because they were dumb. It was because they were weak. The intelligence requirement for embarking on the scholars' path was even more ridiculous than that of the spirits' path. One had to be at least two times more intelligent than the baseline for spiritualists to become a scholar. That was why it was seen as both stringent and lax.