"Now that we're alone, I believe we can talk in peace." The Fallen God said, in Phan's mind, after disappearing for some time.
"What do you want?" Phan asked, while spinning around in a circle, looking among the trees, and listening for movement in the leaves.
"I have… 'Things' to tell you." Said the Fallen God, pausing to find the right word to not overwhelm Phan's Childish mind.
"Then tell it to my face!" Phan shouted with some rage behind his breath.
"How can I? If I don't have a body to do so."
"What do you mean by 'Don't have a body'? Do you think I'm stupid? You think I couldn't tell it was Telepathy magic?" Phan ranted, being ticked off more than he has ever been before.
"Calm down and take a seat. This is going to take a while to explain." The Fallen God imitated sigh as if he were annoyed at Phan's immaturity.
Phan took a seat on the floor, using his tail to dust the floor before he sat down. The Fallen God explained to Phan: Why he doesn't have a body; How he entered Phan's body; and how he became a Fallen God.
"Now the next few things I'm going to tell you, concern you and your future." Said The Fallen God, changing his tone from an annoyed one to a concerning tone.
At this moment Phan had his second biggest shock in his life. The first being the lightning strike.
"Why are you so shocked? I haven't even said anything yet." The Fallen God asked surprised that someone who is intellectually superior to others his age fell into shock this quickly.
"Because you sound like I'm going to die soon." Phan replied still shocked.
"Not die but, more like become someone else." The Fallen God said, trying to cheer Phan up.
"What do you mean by 'Become someone else'?" Phan asked, without being able to piece it together.
"It's going to be hard to explain if I don't explain from the beginning" The Fallen God said, acting as if he were looking down and rubbing the back of his head.
"So, explain!" Phan exclaimed, wanting answers.
"Okay so, you know how we have souls and how all living things have them?" The Fallen God said breaking down the information into sizeable chunks.
"Yeah."
"Well, when they die the soul should leave the body and slowly become mana. But in some cases, the soul cannot or will not dissipate into magic particles to become mana. This happened because the soul has either a strong will, or the is too much mana coagulated into one area, causing the soul to dissipate slower than it should."
"So, mana is just the decomposition of souls?"
"Yes, yes, they are."
"So, what does that have to do with me becoming someone else?"
"Sometimes a soul similar to one in this world would merge with your soul. When this happens overtime the foreign soul would gradually devour your soul and become you."
"So, I got a soul from another world eating me from the inside out?" Phan asked now concerned for himself.
"In simple terms, yes. In complex terms, you got four years."
"So, I'm hopeless?" Phan asked in a panic, slowly breaking into tears.
"If you become my follower, then maybe I can help you."
"Why should I do that? I'm a follower of Fenrir." Phan replied, as if he had just heard the most blasphemous thing ever.
"Are you sure about that?"
"What do you mean 'Are you sure about that?,' I'm a wolfman of course I'm going to be his follower."
"If you don't know at this moment, you'll find out sooner or later, so I won't mention it again. Just be my follower."
"I won't be your follower, unless you tell me what you mean." Phan replied stubbornly, aggressively slamming his fluffy wolf-like tail on the ground.
"I can't tell you unless 'He' tells you or, you find out yourself. That's how 'He' wanted it." The Fallen God said, trying his best to explain it without giving away too much.
"Fine but, I won't follow any of your teachings or beliefs." Phan said releasing his stubbornness.
"Now that's settled, we can start with the first step. Near death training"
When Phan heard 'Near death training', all his hairs from the very tip of his ears to the very end of his tail stood on end. However, he thought this could also be a chance for him to learn 'Aura.'
Aura is an energy brought out by non-magic users, who fight or do things with their body. It is released when both mind and body are pushed to the extreme. Aura has no defined shape, its shape is ambiguous however, when it's released it covers the user's body in a film. This film its translucent and the colour of the film differs from user to user.
Phan wanted to immediately start his training, ignorant of how barbarous the training would be. At first the training started simple: running till you pass out; no magic, bare-handed fights with beasts; falling from high places with no precautions; carrying super heavy things such as a very heavy person called Boulder, who for some reason speaks in third person. But as time went on the training got increasingly dangerous. He would have to outrun boulders running in only a straight line; take hits from monsters, with no defences; and much more. Phan's naivety led him; to believe he could awake aura in a few months of training.
"Phan, don't you think it's strange that no one has come looking for you?" Asked the Fallen God, after not saying much, other than to tell phan to increase the intensity of his training.
"What do you mean? It's only been like what? A week?" Phan replied nonchalant, as if nothing were wrong.
"You must have a really bad sense of time if you think it's only been a week." The Fallen God replied sounding astound at Phan's sense of time.
"It's been longer?"
"About a month has gone by."
"It is what it is, I guess." Phan said, not really caring about how much time had passed.
"So what? It's normal for them to disregard you?" The Fallen God asked, no sounding concerned for Phan.
"I mean, the majority of the tribe would rather have me dead, than have to take care of me. You were there when I let the youngers beat me up, no?"
"Yes, why is that? Shouldn't you show them who's stronger? Unlike them you can easily launch magic bolts at them in quick succession."
"If I do, the tribe will most likely use that as an excuse to exile me. The youngers would lie and say I randomly assaulted them. Being exiled would make it hard for me to get into school."
"Why would that make it hard to get in?"
"To get in you need at least a parent or guardian to sign you up. Also, royalty get priority, so the remaining slots require you to take a test. The guardian acts like evidence of you belonging to a tribe. Whereas the exiled can't even set foot in the school."
"Why are you mortals so complicated?" The Fallen God asked rhetorically.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me. What should I call you? I still don't know your name after a month."
"Call me, Hircus. It's an old and forgotten word, so don't ask for the meaning."
"Well, Hircus, it's going to be a pleasure working with you." Phan said as if he made a new friend. "I hope." Phan mutters under his breath.
A few more months pass, at this point in time, Phan has experienced several lifetimes worth of near-death experiences. However, in this time span, Phan had not awakened aura, instead he developed a constant awareness to his surroundings, similar to awakening a sixth sense.
"Good job, Phan." Hircus congratulated Phan. "I honestly thought it would take longer to awaken your sense."
"What about it? Is it really that amazing?" Phan replied in disbelief.
"Developing your sense to the point of being aware of your surroundings, is an extremely hard thing to do. Most people would struggle to do this, since it requires a lot of near-death experiences and struggles. In your case it took longer since, it was all artificial. But to awaken it in only four or so months, with artificial experience, is still quite quick."
"So will you explain why I had to do all this?" Phan, asks unsure whether he should continue this 'training'.
"So when awaking this sense, your body undergoes a constant state of stress. This stress causes your soul to react in a way that reduces your lifespan. This change makes it so the other soul devouring your soul become much more aggressive in consuming your soul, hence allowing you to sense it. The next step to fixing your problem is learning to interact and sculpt souls."
"What do you mean by that? Why do you always need to be so vague?" Phan replies annoyed with Hircus not explaining everything fully.
"Dealing with souls is so complex. And souls are quite abstract. Even Gods are not fully sure on how they function. The only one who knows how it works is the True GOD."
"True GOD?" Phan asks, as his desire for knowledge takes over. "Who's that?"
"The True GOD is a God that predates your God of Creation. He made the God of Creation, who then made the High Gods, otherwise known as the Gods of Order."
"Then why would you exist? How can you know techniques that can control and manipulate souls?" Phan asks, now questioning everything he's done for the past four months.
"It is a long story. You sure you want to listen?" Hircus, unsure whether he should go off on this tangent.
"YES!" Phan eagerly answers. "To know history that predates life? Of course I'd want to know."