I walked up to the library door and gave it a few knocks. The door would open and inside, Celestia was putting some books on the shelves.
"Nero," She turned towards me before pointing to the only table in this place, "Sit down, I'll be with you in a moment."
As I sat down, I noticed countless books flying in the air. Some of them flew aimlessly while some placed themselves in empty spots on the shelves.
The entire library was just a large circular shelf housing countless books. Well, actually that was pretty obvious.
A few minutes later, Celestia sat across the table and sipped on some tea.
"Now then, where should I start?" She said.
"The Orias," She began, "-it was originally a bloodline consisting of human commoners that possessed no innate ability for combat. However, it was until a Diviner Hero fell in love with one of them. This would grant them the ability capable of manipulating divine power. Their descendants would serve to be one of the strongest warriors to ever live, and they eventually obtained aristocracy due to their reputation."
"So… what's the problem?"
"The problem is that the bloodline began to deteriorate, weakening the power the Orias was once gifted. The proof lies in two of their recent descendants, Francis, the last one to wield that power, and Lloyd, the one completely stripped of that power."
"So that's why I didn't sense any energy from him…"
"Right."
"So wait, if the power from that hero vanished from Lloyd, then how is his daughter, Katrina, able to fight?"
"Well… why don't you guess?"
Me? Hmm… well, let's see.
The power of the Orias declined through their generations and ended with Lloyd and the last descendant to possess that power is Francis. If Francis were to have another child, that child would most likely be the same as Lloyd, stripped of power.
Then I remembered Layla, Lloyd's wife, and how she gave off a powerful aura.
"It's because of Layla, right?" I asked.
"Correct," Celestia said, "But, how was she able to awaken the power in the blood of the Orias?"
"Because of her divine energy, right? It must've reawakened the dormant energy in the blood of the Orias."
"That is only half correct."
"Half?"
"I'll give you a hint. Layla is actually not human, but she is a race capable of manipulating pure divine energy. What race do you think is capable of doing that?"
A race that is able to manipulate pure divine energy? What race is capable of doing that? Well, humans and other races are able to do it too, except this is pure divine energy.
The difference between pure divine energy and divine energy is that the latter is basically a filtered version that allows any race to manipulate it, as long as they don't possess dark energy. Pure divine energy is energy solely withdrawn and developed in heaven. Mortals such as humans cannot manipulate such energy. If they somehow manage to get their hands on such energy, they'll enter a temporary state called Stellar, which enhances a person's perception to the point where one doesn't need to move and their subconsciousness takes over. In simpler terms, the person enters a mental state where they are free of thoughts. The absence of such thoughts will allow the person to react to any attack dangerously fast, almost as if they anticipated it. I have never seen it happen but that is what I read in a book. After that, the soul of the body will break down due to not being able to handle the energy. This will eventually kill them.
There is only one race that is capable of handling such energy and the only race that resides in heaven besides gods are-
Wait…
After thinking about it for a while, it eventually came into my mind.
"Layla… is an angel. The genes from Layla not only reawakened the power inside the Oria blood but also purified the energy inside Katrina when she was born. Since Katrina is technically an angel-human hybrid, she is able to manipulate pure divine energy."
"Glad you were able to figure it out."
"But if that is the case, why is she struggling then?"
"It is because she is half-mortal. Angels are able to switch their consciousness and subconsciousness at will. Katrina is not able to do that. Due to being half-human, her consciousness is always on which interferes with the subconsciousness's control over the body. Basically, it's like two beings trying to control the same body; they will fight over who commands the body and who doesn't. Like all mortals, they have thoughts and that counteracts Stellar's principle. As half-mortal, she is always in Stellar state but being half-angel, she is forced out of Stellar state by her will but her mortal side interferes, and then it repeats. It is a constant loop and this causes her perception to constantly go haywire. Just imagine being able to feel everything and then nothing at the same time, that is how it feels for her every day. She can manipulate pure divine energy, but has very little control over it."
"Is that is so, then how is she able to fight? Wouldn't the constant Stellar loop interfere with her combat prowess?"
"She's only able to fight because the strength of her astral chains is so dense, it manages to put the effect of the Stellar loop to a minimal effect. The loop will continue to happen, but it will be highly suppressed, allowing her to shrug off those small irritating feelings that are caused by the loop."
Huh, it must be hard to fight like that.
Hmm, now that I think of it.
"If there is an enhanced version of light magic which in this case is holy, divine, pure divine, you know. If there are those, then what is the enhanced version of dark magic? I know shadow energy is one, but that would be the counterpart for holy magic. What is the counterpart for divine energy?" I would ask.
"…I don't know…"
Huh, that's weird. She usually gives me a straight answer, even when she doesn't know the answer but she paused there for a moment. Suspicious, but I'll just pretend she doesn't know for now.
"Anyway, now that that's out of the way, I'll be speaking the real problem."
"Huh? So what was all that about?"
"You learned something new. Consider it a lesson. Now let me speak."
"Ok…"
Celestia cleared her throat and sipped on her tea again.
"It's about him."
"Him?"
Him… now that I recall, Francis did say something about someone. Who's him?
"You see, Duke Oria's daughter, Katrina, is subjected to be engaged to Archduke Margo's son, Deroc."
"Is it an arranged marriage?"
"Not exactly. It is, but only one-sided. You see, the noble hierarchy is simple. You have the king, then you have dukes, then marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons. Then, there are those related to the king. Those related to the king do not inherit royalty, but they have a title higher than that of dukes, which is Archduke. As Archdukes have more power than other nobles, they can force whatever they want upon them if the king allows it so."
"So you are saying that this Archduke used his status to force a marriage upon the Orias between his son and their daughter?"
"Yes, but this marriage can be called off by the use of a duel."
"I see, I think I get it now. So this is why Katrina is being trained?"
"Yes. If Katrina manages to win her duel against Deroc, the marriage will be dismissed. Aside from his older brother, Deroc Margo is an expert fighter, one of the very best throughout the Margos bloodline."
"...I see. Though I must ask, what is so bad about the Margos?"
Celestia stared at me for a moment and I spotted a sad look in her eyes, then she closed her eyes and took another sip of her tea.
Hmm, I wish I was able to read minds, then I would know why.
"Let's just say it's related to the reason why I'm training Katrina."
Is that so...?
"So then, I recalled you inviting me here. Might I ask what my role is in all of this?" I asked, reminding her of what she said.
"Ah yes, of course."
Celestia would finish her tea. There was a brief moment of silence before she spoke again.
"Nero."
"Yes?"
"I'll be assigning an important task to you. This might make the girls a little jealous as it will require your womanizing skills."
"I see... wait what?"
"I'm going to need you to talk with Katrina. Enchant her with your charisma or something like that."
"Wait, wait, I'm not sure I understand. You want me to... what?"
"I just need you to talk to her. Maybe you can spark a bit of romance in her."
"...what?"
"Is that not alright with you?"
"Uhh... no, not really."
"Well... how about you do what you did to charm Kiyomi, Ravyn, and Akane?"
"...w-well... look, if you are talking about that, then most likely not. I mean, what would her parents say? Hell, what would that old man say? Should I remind you that I'm in uncharted territory? There are three people here that are able to kill me, and you are talking about one of them! Think about this logically."
"I am speaking logically. Look, they've given their consent, okay? Lloyd, Layla, and Francis have given their consent, so it should be fine."
...
...
"I don't think you know what the meaning of logically is..."
"Whatever, they don't mind at all... well, Layla doesn't."
"B-but-"
"If an angel approves of something, it should be alright."
Celestia had a smile on her face. She would get up from her chair and head for the library door.
"By the way, when you finish reading, the books will automatically go back to their original position so you could just leave them after you're done."
And then she exited the library.
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