"This…?" Mane stuttered in disbelief. How was it possible for him to breakthrough so easily? He just said a few things and his strength had already grown by such a large amount.
"Surprised?" Ananse smirked playfully. Mane was stunned for a while looking at her grin. She was very charming indeed. He shook his head and asked, "How did I breakthrough so quickly? Even for me this is too fast".
Indra looked at the two- goddess and godling suspiciously. Before, their figures were blurry and their voices unheard. But he could see them just fine now, and he could hear their voices clearly enough. He could feel that Mane had changed, but he couldn't pinpoint the reason for the change. It wasn't surprising that he couldn't. Scholars were able to cloud the senses of most, so even when they broke through it was still impossible to read through their energy signature.
"That is the path of scholars. Scholars and spiritualists are very similar, but different. Whereas spiritualists depend upon chaos, scholars depend on the edict. But otherwise, they are very similar to each other. Spiritualists with the greatest of talents are able to use telekinesis, whereas the most talented of scholars are also telepaths. Scholars are the brains of every team. Not only are they great strategists, they are also exceptionally rich in all kinds of knowledge. Spiritualists are also intelligent. But their intelligence mainly bears fruit during battles. They are able to understand an opponent's movements and are battle freaks. But that's pretty much it. Although they are more powerful than scholars in battle, scholars are no weaklings themselves. Just like spiritualists, scholars are dangerous in battle. We may not be able to read minds and do spirit scans, but our eyes have the ability to see a person's weakness once we become high level scholars. And when we become Scholar Emperors or Empresses, we can see through every disguise in the world." Ananse explained slowly
Her explanation enlightened Mane. He finally understood why his masters were adamant that he becomes a scholar. With an ability to look through every disguise and all weaknesses, even gods would be terrified to face him. Mane had learnt a lot from his father in the last month, so he knew that the only way to kill a god was to seal their godhead. When one becomes a god, they develop two attributes: a godhead, which contains their vitality and grants them immortality; and godspark, which contains all their power.
When a godspark is sealed, the god loses access to his or her immense power, but would still have their measureless level of vitality if their godhead is intact. That was what Ray did whenever he spared with his son. He sealed his godspark, effectively cutting him off from his immense power but kept his godhead unsealed. There was only one way to truly kill a god- they must have their godhead destroyed, or sealed. Normally it was difficult to see through a god's weakness. Unlike the godspark, which was part of the god and couldn't be removed no matter what, the godhead didn't have a fixed position. Many gods didn't keep their godheads on them, choosing to lock them away securely so that they wouldn't be found out.
In a sense, the godhead was the true core of a god. This is because, even if the god is destroyed- along with their godspark- they would be reborn as long as their godhead remains intact. It would take a few years for them to regain their full strength, but to beings who had lived for millions of years, it was but a small price to pay. After all, that was far better than true death. They were beings that had lived for so long that they didn't regard the lives of others as highly as their own. And because they killed mortals so simply, they were more afraid of death than mortals. When you live for a very long time, and you don't have to fear dying of old age, you learn to cherish your life more than the mortals who know that they have a fixed number of years to live.
"Because we are able to heighten our senses, we are able to see, feel, hear, smell, and taste better than others. Our proprioceptive and vestibular senses are highly heightened as well. When we become High Level Scholars, our eyes undergo a metamorphosis of a sort. We are able to see past the skin and observe organs and bones, muscles and nerves. When we become Scholar Kings/Queens we can see even to a microscopic level and hear sounds from thousands of kilometers away. Our improved olfaction makes it possible to locate the slightest of smells, making it almost impossible to poison us. Our skin become so sensitive that we can feel any change in temperature within our vicinity. Basically, our sensory organs are not normal any longer." Ananse flicked a rogue strand of her hair backwards as she explained.
"However, things change when we become Scholar Emperors/Empresses. At that stage, our senses aren't limited to only elements, but energy as well."
Mane was so startled that he interrupted her. He looked at her wide-eyed and exclaimed, "You mean-"
Ananse returned the favor and shut him up with her words this time. "Yes", she interrupted. "We can see a person's connection to the edict- and even chaos."
Mane was still reeling in shock from what he was hearing. No wonder scholars were so scarce. There was no way gods would allow people capable of seeing the energies of the cosmos to thrive. What he didn't really understand, was how that helped a scholar locate the godhead of a god. So he asked the one who would know why.
"But how does seeing edict and chaos help to locate the godhead?" he wondered. Luckily for him, Ananse was willing to answer.
"Simple. The godhead is connected to a god. No matter where it is hidden, there would be a faint connection between the god and his godhead. And gods depend on edict. So if one can see edict, then…" She stopped halfway, once she was certain that she had gotten her point across. Her audience was a godling who was able to discover one of the seven great mysteries with a few hints, and a battle god who lived long enough to know the danger that scholars posed.
"They would be able to find the location of the godhead." Mane continued. Indra was silent throughout the entire conversation. He was a god himself, so he knew how dangerous it was to face an Ascended Scholar (Scholar Emperor/Empress), or even worse, a Sensor God. Sensor Gods were scholars who had successfully become gods. Some confused them with Spiritual Gods- gods who had attained their godhood by pursuing the spiritualist path wholly.
"That means I have to keep my identity as a scholar secret" Mane mumbled. "Smart boy" Ananse praised him. Indra just looked at him with a smile. He finally understood why Shiva was so terrified of the Absolute Queen. It was possible that Shiva knew that the Absolute Queen was a scholar. However, because of her background, and the fact that she usually refrained from involving herself with the gods, even if he spread this knowledge, nothing would happen to her. The gods couldn't possibly come after an Asgardian Sensor God. Plus, not only had she attained godhood as a scholar, she was also at the peak of body wielding. Making her an enemy was an unwise decision.
"You are a strange one. You don't even care that I am a scholar, do you?" Mane looked at Indra strangely upon seeing that the battle god didn't care about the kind of threat Mane would pose to him when he was fully grown.
"What does it matter? You are treading on so many paths that it would be difficult for you to become a god in them all. Your parents are prefect examples of this. Your mother is a Sensor God. However, because she also wants to become a Battle God she has neglected her strength as a Sensor for quite a while. So she is a bit rusty. Your father is a Battle God, and he is a spiritualist as well. However, unlike your mother he is always fighting somewhere, so he cannot take the time to focus on becoming a Spiritual God." Indra nonchalantly explained. It was difficult to tread multiple paths. And although Mane was the Supreme, it would be impossible for him to gain true mastery in all fields.
"That isn't necessarily true" Ananse rebutted Indra's claim. "Oh? How so?" Indra asked, not understanding what Ananse was referring to. He wouldn't daringly claim that he knew all that the universe had to offer. Even exploring scholars wouldn't be filled with hubris so. But he wasn't a kid either. However, Ananse was rarely wrong, so he was curious.
"Some have mastered multiple paths. The Heavenly Emperor of the 7th Heaven is a Spiritual God and a Sensor as well. He has been missing for a while now, but he isn't dead in any way. There was even one who was able to become a god in three different fields." Ananse declared
"That's impossible" Indra argued adamantly! "That isn't possible" he exclaimed once more, shocked by the revelation!
"It is. The fact that you haven't seen it before doesn't mean it isn't true." Ananse waved her hand nonchalantly as she spoke.
Indra took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He knew that Ananse was right. The fact that he didn't know, didn't mean it wasn't true. He quickly calmed himself down and asked, hoping that he would receive an answer, "Who was this person?"
"The Sixth Supreme"