Alastair was currently walking through the alien-like forest, returning to the city of Anfang. She had a smile of satisfaction plastered on her face as if she had gained some sort of treasure during her short journey. Well, what her face presented was primarily correct. For Alastair, it was a treasure she had needed this entire time.
She basked herself under the golden sun as the heavens didn't have any traces of the recently dispersed storm. There was not much Alastair could say about it. Seeing the Inferno for the first time was enough for her. Other than that, she would need to take time. Especially, Santanas, the wrathful lord of that realm.
"Well, I shouldn't think much about that guy. I'll surely meet him in the future." Alastair silently uttered as she continued treading the spirit forset. After a while of walking, Alastair found herself bored, and she was itching to use her newly gained skill. With this, she subconsciously activated her grimoire, which emerged before her.
It was none other than the Astral Codex.
Without further delay, Alastair started reading through the Astral Codex for new information about herself. And it didn't take a while for her to learn about her new self. The information she didn't see before had emerged and was now free for her to see.
"Hmm... My spirit power is specifically 145 units. I'm pretty strong. But unfortunately, I don't know much about the units the high officials have. I need to be careful around them." Alastair calmly uttered as she continued reading through the Astral Codex with a blank expression plastered on her face.
It was finally time for her to read the new skill she had received in exchange for 10 souls. The skill description was right beside the Miasma description. And from it, Alastair could notice the difference between the two. The new skill was at least 3 times bigger than the Miasma description.
"Poltergeist, an ability which gives its user to manipulate objects from afar at will. The Poltergeist can be used defensively, offensively, or for complete support. Intriguing..." Alastair said with a smile forming on her face. She then continued reading through the description of the new ability.
"The conversion between the power of the Poltergeist and the spirit power is simple. For every single spirit power, ten kilos can be carried with Poltergeist along with a meter of distance." How the entire thing worked was extremely simple. The only thing Alastair needed to do was to get used to it.
"So with my current power converted into the Poltergeist. I can at least carry 1450 kilos within the range of 145 meters. It isn't much compared to the scope of the entire realm. But this is enough for me. Besides, it also grows along with my spirit power, so I'm satisfied." Alastair nodded to herself.
The theories and numbers were good, but what about practical testing? What happens between theoretical papers and reality would always be different as there would be an unaccountable amount of variables every here and there. Even Alastair would have a hard time with the variables that might bring her problems.
But before thinking about the problems, she must see them for herself. Alastair calmed her heart and mind as the alien-like forest shrouded her. She turned her gaze towards a particular unique tree and tried to imagine taking the tree out of the ground with her mind.
At that moment, the earth where the tree stood cracked. The entirety of the tree got uprooted as it slowly levitated from the sky. Alastair thought that the test was a success until the tree began moving around erratically. The center of gravity and Alastair's Poltergeist contradicted each other.
They were defying and canceling each other out as the two had different conclusions in mind. Unfortunately, the distraction brought upon by the erratically moving tree also delayed Alastair's concentration on Poltergeist, resulting in the alien-like tree being flung into the air.
With that, Alastair had finally received her result regarding the problem. And it wasn't a result that she would consider as good. She already expected variables to appear, but she didn't expect gravity itself to be against her. Though, thinking about it for a while. Poltergeist does defy gravity without any question.
One could call Poltergeist an anti-gravity.
"How do I solve this problem? The center of gravity is making the tree move in the opposite direction where I want it to. Not only that, but the center of gravity constantly changes due to the effect of my Poltergeist defying gravity itself. This brings a new problem of stability."
"After all, if I can't control the stability of the Poltergeist. It might bring me problems never to be seen before. Like, trying to pick someone up onto the air only for that guy to be mushed due to the contracting forces of two different laws of reality. So I would need to control it before the biological experiment."
"Though, aren't the alien-like trees part of a biological order?"
Alastair questioned her own thoughts before shaking her head and continuing with the experiment. She had numerous ideas regarding the problem of the Poltergeist. The most basic of the ideas was manual control over them. Alastair was trying to say that she would control the Poltergeist via action.
Unlike thoughts that are everchanging like liquid, actions are extremely solid. Once done, no one can change the action back to its previous form. With this idea in mind, Alastair began to operate with this simple thought process. It took a while, but the general techniques started forming in her short testing.
The first was pointing her finger up, which would levitate the object upwards. The second was her fingers down, making the object crash onto the ground and even force it to stay on the earth. The third was hold, which was like holding an imaginary cup. With this, Alastair would be able to control the object in place.
The fourth was pointing in a direction like a gun. This would result in the levitated object propelling itself to the given target. The fifth and last one was none other than the pull technique, which resembled the action of -Bring it on- With this, Alastair would be able to bring an object towards her without any problems.
Such was the primary techniques she had made with the Poltergeist. It took a lot of time and adjustment to get one of them right, but the basic theory was highly correct. The only thing Alastair needed to do was refine such techniques so that they would be applicable in a battle.
Time passed by, and Alastair silently stood in the alien-like forest as destruction covered the area around her. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of uprooted trees around her. She had been testing her Poltergeist for a while until she had reached the exhaustion she wanted to feel.
Alastair understood that she must know the limits of Poltergeist and the results of such a test surprised her. It took at least half an hour of full-throttle to completely exhaust herself. It was rare for Alastair's battle to leave the ten-minute mark, so she had thought that was enough at the moment.
She calmly breathed in and out as she uttered with a calm voice. "I never thought that training would be this fun and intriguing. I'll bring Soteria here in the future. She should also train herself. After all, the danger in the realms beyond the Materium is extremely unexpected."
Alastair then stretched her body as she turned her gaze towards the city of Anfang. It was time for her to go back. Continuing her training at the moment would bring no results. She would have to test it in a battle, which was only possible through the soul deal.
With this in mind, Alastair uttered. "I guess it's time to go back. I have been delaying my arrival for a while now." She sighed as she walked towards the city of Anfang with a calm expression plastered on her face. She wondered about the current situation of the city, especially with the recent events.
Once again, Alastair walked back toward the city of Anfang. It took a couple of minutes for her to arrive and what she had seen was quite surprising. It appears that the entire city of Anfang was in a state of emergency. There were security bureau officers everywhere guarding the border.
"It seems that it was a lot worse than expected."
Alastair said as she continued walking towards the entrance gate with a blank expression plastered on her face. Arriving in front of the entrance gate, she could see numerous people trying to enter the city at a fast speed. Though, the guards were guarding the gate without fail.
She arrived near the path that the guards blocked. A guard then noticed her and spoke with a calm voice. "Miss, are you okay? A disaster just struck, and chaos is seeping through the city." The guard was none other than the guard who Alastair met first.
"Yes, thank you... But, can I enter the city? It appears to be in lockdown." Alastair asked with a calm voice as she turned her gaze towards the blocking guards. The guard before her chuckled and replied. "Of course, you can go back, miss. This is simply a check-up, directly ordered by the chief."
"Well, then..." Alastair nodded and walked through the entrance gate. None of the guards blocked her as she was pretty reputable despite not knowing it. There were cracks on the streets and on the walls. It seemed that the festivity had ended with the disaster striking just recently.
Alastair had never thought that simply acquiring skills would bring about such trouble. While walking down the streets, she sighed and uttered in her tranquil tone. "I should have gone farther." Well, there was no use in such thoughts. The only thing she could do was move forward and avoid repeating such mistakes ever again.
"Oi, Lady Alastair." Soteria emerged right beside Alastair, which made Alastair feel a chill on her spine. That was too unexpected and fast. Alastair turned her gaze towards Soteria and replied. "Soteria, it's nice to see you." A smile formed on Alastair's face as she continued.
"So, did you finish your business?"
Alastair questioned as Soteria had run off this morning. Soteria nodded with a smile as she tilted her head and uttered. "Of course, Lady Alastair. I customize all of the clothes I bought to fit your current physique. We didn't really fully test the clothes when we were in that store."
"So a blunder was made."
"Hmm... I see, isn't that terrific." Alastair knew that she was about to get dressed up like a doll the moment they returned. Though, before she could continue walking. Soteria asked with a calm voice. "So, Lady Alastair. What skill did you gain? I can't believe that skill acquirement would bring upon such attention."
"That is what I've been thinking this entire time. The skill acquirement is too flashy and dangerous." Alastair sighed as she shook her head in annoyance. Upon hearing the words of Alastair, Soteria nodded and continued. "Yeah, I can't believe that the earthquake went international and was felt throughout the entirety of the nation."
"Eh?" Alastair couldn't believe the words escaping from Soteria's mouth. International? That earthquake didn't stay in the city of Anfang but also enveloped all other regions? For Alastair, this blunder became tactical idiocy. That was like lighting a fire in the darkness shrouded by thousands of moths.
"Damn, I can't believe this. Soteria, get ready and give me the news about the city of Anfang and beyond. I believe that we will meet visitors sooner or later." Alastair gave her orders which Soteria replied immediately with a nod. The maid understood the danger brought upon the two of them by the attention. She knew that other strong ones would begin trying to find the epicenter of that disaster.
Meanwhile, in the center of the spirit empire, in the capital city where the monarch inhabited and dwelled. A gorgeous lady was currently walking toward a luxurious hallway with a red carpet on the floor. The beautiful lady had a crown atop her head, followed by an emotionless expression plastered on her face.
A subordinate then walked forward and stood right beside the wall. He then reported the findings regarding the recent disaster.
"Empress Anima, we have found the epicenter of the disaster based on the eyewitness and effects. Shall we send an army there?"
The empress stopped upon hearing the words of the subordinate. She turned her gaze towards him and replied.
"There is no need... I'll go there myself."