(Five Hours Of Walking In Wild Alaska)
Now that Tristan was finally going in the right direction, he found that training with his shadows was becoming much easier; instead of creating armor around his body, he decided to create a ground full of his shadows surrounding him by using the shadows of the surrounding trees in a circular formation of just above 15 meters. Tristan had just thought of an idea and asked Zil.
'Hey Zil, I think we should try to give our own shadow an anomalous property so that it won't disappear during daytime... I know it is night right now, or what should be considered morning in the wilds of Alaska right now, but, for now, giving it an extra edge till it becomes strong enough on its own should be a good idea.' Zil didn't even need to think twice before saying.
<You don't have to confide with me every time when it comes to your anomalous abilities, Tristan... But it's actually a great idea to add something to your own shadow for now. Possibly something more resistant to light for now.> When Zil said that, a sudden thought came across Tristan.
'I think with the quality of my anomaly ability, and I think I could create an ability that could start producing shadows passively, I feel like I don't need to give it more resistance as that would probably come with time and work... But I don't think I have ever checked what my 'anomalous' energy looks like from the inside.' Zil gave a shrug that couldn't be seen and stated.
It looked like a literal small pool of energy shaping as what it would seem to for Tristan, in an unpredictable manner that was five foot five in height and diameter. He reached his arm toward the energy, and it excitedly flowed to him. Unlike his shadows, as they were methodically comforting in his time of need, this energy was enormously sporadic and enthusiastic to truly meet Tristan finally.
(A/n: It kind of is the first time he meets the main source of his energy. He has been using it for five years but was more focused on being with Julius and Dahlia. And also added the source itself was constrained, so it wouldn't have been worth looking into the mindscape in the first place.)
As he reached his hand upon this moving energy touching it, it suddenly remained static for a split second. Then Its motion turned into a violent torrent of a deep red, and it kept interchanging into a deep dark blue as it began wrapping around Tristan's arm in its own little excitement. Tristan couldn't help but giggle towards this excitable energy. And he said.
"Hm~ now lookie here, aren't you a bundle of joy!! Now, what should I call you?" But the energy didn't even bother with Tristan's question as it moved fast to his left eye, and Tristan felt a sudden change within that eye.
Still, the energy didn't take too long to make the change and slithered back to its former ball away from Tristan, but it still had that chaotic movement like a whirlpool, with the only difference being that it became a grayish-purple color. Tristan gratefully thanked the energy as he spoke delightfully.
"Well, thank you very much, my chaotic source... Whatever you did for me will come of pretty great benefit... But now that I got a look at you, I think I have a wonderful name for you." Even though Tristan was about to give it a name, the source, without a body at all, was still able to communicate with him.
It didn't say any words. It didn't use anything with its body to communicate, and It was able to in some way or link where both understood each other.
"Oh, I guess you don't need a name, huh? Well, I guess names can sometimes be overrated... I find it weird that I could understand you without you doing anything, but it feels completely natural." With that, the ball of energy changing between white, purple, and red started to grow a long appendage of energy, which formed a formless face as it started shaking its head yes.
"Man... I guess that does make sense. I will definitely try to see what I can do with that beef jerky for you. Well, I guess I'll go and see what you gave me, and it was nice to see you finally. Mr. Anomaly." And with that, Tristan waved goodbye as he disappeared from the mental scape, leaving The Anomaly alone as it happily went back to shifting around like a whirlpool.
(Back from dreamscape)
As he awoke from his dreamscape, he was about to ask Zil about what happened while he was gone but had just seen something bizarre. Ana looked beyond pissed while Zil was trying his best to ease her. 'Hey, Zil. what in the world happened while I was gone? And why am I seeing a completely livid Ana?' Zil was completely relieved as he heard Tristan's voice
{HELLO!!! ARE YOU STILL THERE YOU DAMNED AVATAR!!! I'M STILL TALKING HERE!!!!} Tristan popped back to normal and said to her.
"Uhhhhhh? Hello Ana, it seems like I missed a bit while you were here. Can you tell me? Plea-?" Ana interrupted Tristan while he was trying to talk to her.
{Oh man?!?!? Thank god you're back!!! Now I almost thought that you were possessed?!?! But what were you and your Avatar just talking about for that twenty-eight seconds?} Tristan had to double-take on what she said.
"Wait? Were you counting the seconds on how long I was in a trance with talking to the voice in my head? And what is this Avatar-." He was again interrupted
{Answer the question, Tristy!!!!!} Tristan, at this point, thought that complying was better than just evading it. So he answered.
"Well, Zil only told me that something was interesting where he was walking to when I was entirely focused on something else, and then you appeared out of nowhere and got mad and went on a tirade for a bit till I came too, from my mindscape... That was about it." There was complete silence from Ana. She now said.
{Oh... You're actually naming your Avatar, huh?... This is something else...Ummmm... I really don't know if that should be worried about the fact that you are basically naming a voice inside of your head or be proud of the fact that you already have a really strong connection to your Avatar...} Tristan thought of what she said were now deeply annoyed as he looked at her hurt.
'Oh fuck off Ana, it's not like naming things is a bad thing, right Zil?' Tristan got his answer from Zil immediately.
{Tristan, maybe seeing you in a trance looked funny to me a few times, but now it's starting to make me worried... Was the voice in your head talking to you again?} Tristan sighed loudly as he said.
"Yes... I am perfectly sane, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with me... But could you tell me just a bit about this world before I move on and see what interesting thing is over there?"
{I didn't ask if you were sane-} It was Tristan's turn to interrupt.
"It's my turn to get my answers now, lady!!!" Ana only shrugged her shoulders and said.
{Well, explaining this world detail by detail will take forever, so all I'm going to say is that it kind of is abnormal for a mage to be so well-bonded with its Avatar at the beginning, and in layman terms, it is the portion of an individual's soul which is the source of an Awakened mage's ability to perform magic.
Mages experience this Avatar as a separate personality that is connected to the mage's soul and which drives the mage toward Ascension... And now that I think about you are already starting your seeking already... And you didn't even know. I'll be short with this one.
It is some sort of quest or mystery that depends on the mages themselves that will test them through anything. and accomplishing that seeking will grant them insights into themselves, magic, and the Tapestry.
My god, that is all I'm going to tell you!! Let's just say you level up in some way when completing it, but the only things that don't seem dependent on them would be that weird shadow magic you were playing with and the fact you seem similar to me in some way.} Tristan now regretted asking. But at least now he knows a small bit. But Ana quickly said.
{And going any further over to that direction over there is going to be dangerous for you, and let's just say while I was surveying this place, there seems to be a wild Wendigo patrolling nearby} Tristan only looked at her, waiting for more info and to his dismay she starting talking in short sentences.
{Wendigo's are basically the Garou's(werewolves) cousins but were at the short end of the stick of being fucked by life Tristy... And they are something that shouldn't be looked down on, even if they had grown weakened and are still fighting the agents of the wyrm} They both stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before she sighed to herself and told Tristan.
{You know what. Keep going forward to see for it yourself. I'll have to watch you get slapped around by an eight-foot-tall monstrosity... And try to survive your seeking} Ana said that as she tried her best to be emotionless, but it could easily be seen that she was shaking. And it wasn't out of being upset. And with that, she deformed and turned herself into shadows as she disappeared and out of sight.
(A/n: She won't let him die, but she's mad about the fact that his seeking was something dangerous, as the seeking really depends on the mage's personality. And his driving quests are random. Sometimes, the seeking would be adventure, meditation, facing parts of your trauma, or going through life-or-death situations.)
"Well, now... Now I feel bad for her for some reason... I guess I'll have to go see this Wendigo for myself." Before Tristan left, he finally focused on his gift from Anomaly, and his left eye showed him the numbers of how much energy he had left.
[67/75] 'Now look at that. I think this will come in handy when I'm looking at how much energy I have. And this little eye thing was spent eight points. Are you seeing this, Zil?' Zil was pleasantly surprised to see this.
"Nah, I'd win." So he left to whatever that feeling was calling to him as he strode with his shadows ready.
(POV: Caliel)
(Location, East side of Newyork)
'It has already been ten years, and that necklace I gave to Julius and Dahlia for their little boy isn't working... I won't let that child go through this alone... Just like how I failed to save my last child, that was supposed to be in my care. I have to find him myself because it seems like something is blocking that stupid necklace.' Caliel had finally found another body to take over, and this time, it was a female cultist who wished to be possessed. And with that, she decided to travel to the last place where both Dahlia and Julius were to find any clues.
(Ana: Te~he :})