Athelei placed Javiexis' Concrupture onto the table where Irene could easily reach it.
And then he began his observations.
The relevant memories began flowing back into Athelei's mind:
It started with the process of moving from Rank 2 to Rank 3 Dictator. Those that wished to advance, needed to give their Tangible Wills more substance. They needed to carve it into something with a form, and many usually had difficulties in this. A Dictator would have to—as the name of their class implied—dictate each and every aspect of the object their Wills would take the form of. To the people of Oxhor, this simply meant making the shape of the object.
But Athelei knew that things weren't that simple.
Whenever Athelei used his fog-body for an ultra-extensive execution of Examine, his sight usually changed. He could view some more of the intricacies of what an object truly means.
It was his vision becoming more micro. He could see the texture of the materials or the pores and gaps between cells of living beings. That's where his fog would seep in, after all, allowing him to learn of a world that many of the people of Oxhor had yet to experience.
The microscopic world dictated that the creation of a solid object made from Tangible Will would be a lot more than dictating a simple shape. The Dictators would have to specify those small details if they wished to have an easier time advancing.
This is where the Spirit Lotus came in.
Athelei learned that Irene was going to use the Spirit Lotus as a mould for her Will. It would allow her to easily give her Tangible Will a form without having to slave after the details that their planet's technological level had yet to achieve.
'If only the people of Oxhor valued information and research more over their desire for amassing power...' Athelei imagined what could have been different if the people had different mindsets.
As Athelei was daydreaming, Irene's brow was slick with sweat. She moved her golden-glowing hand towards Javiexis' Concrupture. With her prior knowledge, she activated the Mystic Artifact and a faint, pink light began to spill from it.
"Hoooo," Irene breathed out, pulling the pink light towards her with her beautiful and pure, Tangible Will.
The golden liquid Will devoured the pink light with greed and hunger. It swiftly consumed the energies it provided and delivered it to where Irene wished it to be.
H u u u m !
A low resonation shook Irene's house ever so slightly, and Athelei noticed the energy from the Mystic Artifact had nearly disappeared. It seemed like it would take time and effort for it to be recharged to be used again.
'So that means I cannot abuse the fact that Irene is in possession of Javiexis' Concrupture to give myself a Spirit Seed...' Athelei nodded as he weighed his opportunities in the future.
Flash!
A green light suddenly lit up out of the corner of Athelei's eye as silence descended.
Irene seemed to notice this as well. Cold sweat dripped down her back and worry appeared on her face. She bit her lip, thinking 'They're trying to prevent me from advancing! Damn blasphemers! Leave me alone!'
For a moment, sound returned as the invaders spat out hate-fill words.
"Many brothers have still not woken up." A voice growled from within the shadows of Irene's house, "And we know it's all your doing, you Vistas bitch."
"Let's see you fight while walking on a knife's edge. You will die here!"
Four Nightwalkers sprung out from the shadows, carrying their silencing green knives. Silence descended once more.
The Nightwalkers were a blur, and Athelei's Battle Prowess was nowhere close enough to react to such speeds.
He was like a weapon left in its scabbard. Irene was not in the position to use him effectively, with her advancement still ongoing.
Athelei could also act alone, but he was an assassin. The enemies got the jump on Irene, and he could not prepare effectively.
Three of the Nightwalkers, in the blur of their movements seemed to disappear into Irene's body. They vanished from the physical realm while one stayed behind to take the Mystical Artifact that lay on the table.
The Nightwalker who was left behind had no problem taking the Mystic Artifact and instantly jumping into the shadows.
'Damn,' Athelei struck the place where the Nightwalker disappeared into with one of his tentacle tails. He was too late to hit anything. 'I'm still incapable of keeping up with their blitzes.'
He then hurriedly turned towards Irene, whose expression was horrible. Athelei felt that his mark was being messed with, and he knew that the battlefield was inside the soul. It seemed like the risks of advancement included things like this. Athelei would've never thought it possible to invade someone's soul that easily.
The energies present in the physical body would mess with any invading presence no matter what.
'Are they trying to take the extensively grown Spirit Lotus from Irene?' Athelei narrowed his eyes as he analysed the situation, 'The Mystic Artifact is gone, and I don't have much of a chance to take it back. The best option, for now, is likely to cut my losses and help Irene...'
Athelei dove into Irene's soul in the way he watched the Nightwalkers do so. He matched the rhythm and flow of their energies and successfully made it in. It was surprisingly easy to do so which further strengthened Athelei's conviction that it was the process of advancement that allowed this. If not, then he could simply invade the souls of all his enemies without worry for any side effects.
His vision was suddenly covered in a resplendent gold. The light of Irene's Will was blinding, and where the lights were the strongest sat the Spirit Lotus that had already begun to bloom.
Surrounding the lotus were the three Nightwalkers, doing some weird ritual that seemed to take advantage of Irene being in the middle of advancement.
Meanwhile, the owner of the Spirit Lotus, Irene, was panicking. She felt what was happening, but she could do nothing. If she forcibly stopped her advancement, much of her progress over the years might be destroyed by the ritual the Nightwalkers were doing. If she continued her advancement, the Spirit Lotus would grow, bringing her to Rank 3, but it would be ripped out of her grasp the moment it did.
She could only watch as green and grey lights began to contaminate her soul.
It was then that a monstrous consciousness invaded her mind. Irene felt an immense pressure fall upon her soul when it did. It was the consciousness of a being that had once infinitely outclassed her own level of existence.
It was terrifying.
And it was bringing a great strain on her soul, as cracks began to appear throughout the world of gold.
This was different from the time a shallow connection was established between Athelei and Irene.
The angel had now forcefully entered Irene's soul, bringing with him his entire consciousness.
But it was not only Irene who felt the weight. The three Nightwalkers were also brought to their knees, incapable of continuing their ritual.
"The battlefield you chose brought you three an infinite amount of disadvantages." A childish voice rang out in their nonexistent ears, nearly making their fog-bodies explode. "You guys messed up big time... though your friend did escape."
A A A A A A A A A H !
The familiar choir of tormented minds rang out and shook Irene's golden soul. The three Nightwalkers were devoured with gusto, and Athelei quickly exited the young woman's soul.
He appeared back in the physical world and shielded Irene with his wings. Athelei was not going to allow the targets of his vengeance to have their way.
The initial crisis was averted, but the damage had been done. Irene's soul had been damaged from having to bear the weight of an otherworldly being's mind... but she had to push on.
There was a residual grey fog that Athelei's consciousness left behind, staining her pure golden soul. Irene sensed its presence and sent her thoughts to Athelei through his mark.
"How do I... devour a consciousness?" She asked, with her voice still trembling from the pain and the initial panic.
Athelei scrunched his brows, "Are you trying to consume the residues of my fog-body?"
"Y-yes... Is that not possible? I'm sorry, but I don't know what else to do." Irene stuttered as she realised that her soul was going to fall apart due to the cracks it had and the influx of energies brought about by her advancement.
"It should be possible... Hold on, I'll see what I can do." Athelei focused on the bits and parts of him that were inadvertently left behind inside Irene.
Inwardly, Athelei was weighing whether or not those actions were viable. 'Instead of eating, I will be feeding someone else... right? So, it should be doable...' In the end, Athelei gave a mental shrug and decided to see where things went.
"Okay," Athelei said through his mark, "You devour by simply absorbing a consciousness within you. Normally, the absorbed consciousnesses would drive you insane, but since you'll be absorbing a part of me, I won't go on a mental rampage... Just, be cautious. This is a first for me as well."
Athelei felt Irene grimly nod as she instantly got to work. A dull pain invaded Athelei's senses and he recognized this as losing parts of himself. He willingly let go of his connection with those residual parts of his consciousness and carefully observed what was occurring.
'Indeed, a part of me has disappeared and is likely used to repair Irene's soul...' Athelei felt a smile tug at his lips, 'What kind of effects will this have on Irene's growth? Will she have an Unnamed Mutation as well?'
Athelei continued to think as Irene absorbed the grey fog and turned it into a magnificent gold. The small bits of consciousness left behind were staggeringly powerful that Irene was astonished. The power she gained from it filled the cracks in her soul and even pushed her advancement further forward, with extra to spare.
"Use the extra power to create wings for yourself," Irene heard a familiar voice speaking into her mind, and just like every suggestion it made, she followed after realising that it would be a decent enough choice. She pulled the remaining energies that had not been used and recalled the feeling of borrowing Angel's wings. She constructed it as she recalled each feather and each joint.
And then, as she advanced, she felt something click into place.
No, not something... Everything clicked into place as the golden liquid Will of her advancement swirled and allowed for solidification.
"I've reached... Rank 3." Irene opened her eyes to the physical world, and the first thing she saw were familiar grey wings of fog. It wrapped around her body like a mother bird protecting her chicks.
The wings slowly opened up, and the owner of those wings took a step back.
"Congratulations on reaching Rank 3, Irene." Athelei smiled and then gestured at Irene's back., "Cute wings."
Irene froze when she realised that there was a weight on her back. It was very light and brought a different feeling than Athelei's 5-metre spanning wings. She dashed hurriedly out of the living room to stand in front of a mirror.
What she saw truly astounded her.
"I really have... wings..." Irene's pupils dilated as she scanned the sight before her.
She saw a pair of golden wings formed from her Tangible Will. They were tiny, with each wing only the size of her hand... but these wings were hers and hers alone. She tried to flap it and saw the wings twitch. She tried supplying her wings with more energy to make them bigger, but nothing happened.
Irene attempted a few more things and somewhat realised the reality of the situation.
She then heard Athelei's voice call out to her, "To figure out how to grow your wings, you need to experiment. Mine grew through devouring consciousnesses, but you would be driven to insanity if you did the same."
"I see..." Irene replied, walking back towards the living room and sitting opposite the angel once more, "I feel like I've become a very special Rank 3 Dictator... I would have to figure out my powers before I try and do anything."
"You have become quite special indeed. Whatever bonus effect you would have gotten from the Spirit Lotus might have gone towards your acquisition of a pair of functioning wings. And from what I observe, they aren't simple conjurations." Athelei answered.
"They feel like a separate entity that needs to train and grow..." Irene voiced out what Athelei implied.
"What a night..." She exclaimed as she slumped into her sofa.
The Mystic Artifact had been stolen, but her advancement had gifted her a special ability. Many of her plans had gone awry and her eyelids weighed tons.
"Thank you for everything, Angel" Irene muttered as she began to drift into dreamland.
Athelei giggled when he heard this, "I have gained a lot from you as well, Irene."
Irene wasn't the only one affected by his invasion of her soul. Athelei had accidentally absorbed some of the power that had come from the Spirit Lotus and a Rank 2 Dictator's advancement into Rank 3. If Irene hadn't been going through an advancement, Athelei might have lost himself within her soul, in spite of his immense consciousness strength.
Athelei spread his fingers as an olive-gold coloured Tangbile Will allowed his hand to glow.
"This is cool."