Everyone shifted their seating positions to hear Gabriel better.
"Femi seems to have been chosen by a bond," Gabriel shared.
Femi didn't show any reaction to that, instead, Arwan stroked his chin as he said, "So he really is one of the blessed. I guess I was right after all." Looking at Gabriel intently, a question came up, "But how do you know? Aren't you just meeting him like… tonight?"
"Hmmm…" Gabriel pointed at his eyes, "My eyes are really good at 'seeing' Tether Energy. Around him, there's a unique type of energy around him. That's how I know he has been chosen by a bond."
"Is that so? Eyes fitting a researcher…" Arwan said.
"What about you?" Gabriel asked.
"Eh?"
Seeing he wasn't precise enough, Gabriel rephrased his question. "How did you know, or rather, guess that he was chosen by a bond?"
"Well, over the past few days, Femi has exhibited supernatural features," Arwan explained, and Eina, who had been spectating, nodded in agreement. Femi just tilted his head trying to understand what was supernatural about himself.
"Hold on. You say Femi has been chosen and there's a bond around him waiting to enter his core…" Gabriel nodded to Arwan's words, making him proceed with his thoughts, "Since there is no bond within him, Femi can't exhibit his bond's ability yet. That means he shouldn't have any ability and my insinuation that he had an ability was wrong. Tsk, I was really sure I hit the nail on the head."
Not giving Femi and Eina time to understand, Arwan and Gabriel continued their discussion.
"No, you're not wrong." Gabriel chimed in.
"What do you mean?" Arwan questioned.
A smile formed on Gabriel's face. "This matter is fascinating. I'm telling you you're not wrong. It's possible Femi is using his abilities because part of that unique energy is also within Femi's core. The bond that has chosen Femi exists both as an energy in the atmosphere and within his core!"
Arwan furrowed his brow. "Wait, wait. With what you said and the knowledge I have, I believe it doesn't work that way. Bonds are only supposed to be able to exist either as part of the Tether Energy in the atmosphere or as part of the Tether Energy within a Tether Core, not as both."
Gabriel showed his engrossment on the topic. He stated enthusiastically, "Yes. Research has proved it to be like that. With what I've hypothesized, the reason why these otherworldly entities don't slowly and gradually enter their chosen host's core, and choose to only enter as a whole when their various conditions are met is because if they do it slowly, the connection they'll have with their other 'parts' will decrease considerably.
"This way the mental strength the bond has on its host will weaken and the influence they have on the host body will also weaken. If they aren't careful enough, before all the energy that exists completely becomes one with the one within the core, the host can completely overpower the bond, therefore having complete control over its ability!
"These entities are the kind who will wait until they are sure they aren't at a disadvantage. That's when they forcefully try to converge themselves within their hosts.
"After this occurs, the mental influence they have on their host is at its weakest because they went against the natural way they are supposed to exist, using their strength to forcefully condense to a very concentrated amount of Tether Energy. The aftermath is them being weakened for a short period!"
Gabriel exhaled as he concluded his rant, with his pierced lips forming a smile, he looked at Arwan.
Arwan began understanding why the topic was interesting. After grabbing some things, he mumbled, "If you're right, the bond that has chosen Femi is taking a brave move!"
"Bingo," Gabriel smirked, acknowledging they were on the same page.
"Is this Entity so confident that Femi isn't going to overpower him? If it's Femi, I don't believe that weirdo would lose to something so arcane! Does it really want to grant itself to Femi just like that?! Femi's bond is crazy!" Arwan said, understanding how complex Femi's bond really was.
Gabriel shed more light on the matter as he spoke, "Although, there are some bonds that get affected by their hosts and become less parasitic. Before that, all their natures are still parasitic! I want you to remember one thing, Bonds only make an official move when they're sure they aren't at a disadvantage." He ended his statement, wanting Arwan to piece the rest.
Arwan thought… With hints of enlightenment in his eyes he then shared his thoughts:
"Since it's not possible for Femi to be weaker than less than half of the bond, the other option is that a part of the bond has a strong mental influence that's enough to substitute for the mental influence for a whole bond! Then what mental influence does the whole bond have? It will overwhelm Femi instantly!"
Hearing what Arwan said, Gabriel nodded, "That's it. I can't even imagine what abilities this bond will have! If it overwhelms Femi and uses Femi body, it will become the strongest Tethered Abomination we've seen…"
"Kick me in the ass. No wonder he had such a cheat-like ability!"Arwan tensed. It was truly possible that the bond ability held crazy abilities. Femi's "hunch" that was suspected to be a part of this Bond's ability was already notable and that was an ability he could use without awareness!
Remembering that Arwan had said Femi had displayed a part of his supernatural abilities, Gabriel gulped, "Has he really exhibited something supernatural?!"
Arwan nodded. "I think it is best you ask him about it yourself. Till date, I don't get how it really works."
Turning to Femi who stopped paying attention a long while ago, Gabriel asked, "Mind telling me about your ability?"
Femi tilted his head again, "What abilities? I don't have any bonds or anything granting me abilities."
Gabriel pressed, "Really, nothing at all? C'mon, there should be something you can do that no one else should be able to?"
"Ehhh… Well, my old man once told me that the trait I had was out of the ordinary." Femi said.
With everyone's attention now focused on Femi, he tilted his head slightly and said, "So what about it?"
Arwan blurted, "So tell us about it!"
"Mhm, alright." Femi didn't have a problem with it as he began sharing, "I have a trait or an ability as you call it. I named it… the Lagged Planes."