Hearing his question caused Mána to pout, "What, was all the help I gave you back on Alfheim not good enough?"
Immediately, Kane narrowed his eyes angrily, "You mean helping me out of the situation you got me into in the first place?"
Mána sighed with exaggerated regret, "Right… I was hoping you'd forgotten about that."
But Kane wasn't in the mood, and kept staring at her, until she finally relented and became a little more serious.
"Alright, alright," she began soothingly. "Well, first of all, you obviously get my service, and you're a smart man, I doubt I need to tell you most of the reasons why that is useful."
Reluctantly, Kane nodded, "You're like a spy and messaging service in one, right? Not only can you keep an eye on everything that happens on Alfheim, but you can also relay any messages between the volfar there, and me. But I'm sure that's not all you can do, especially considering what you did to Ella on that cliff."
"Hehehe, that's right!" Mána chuckled pridefully. "I can also create a rift between you and Alfheim whenever you want!"
Kane pursed his lips and nodded a little half-heartedly. 'That will definitely come in handy someday, but right now it's entirely useless,' he grumbled inwardly. 'I just got away from that place.'
Mána grinned mischievously, "I suppose I expected that reaction. But perhaps you'll find this more interesting: for every patron spirit you form a bond with, you increase the speed by which you nurture your cores."
This time, Kane's eyes shone with far more interest. Suddenly, images of him collecting patron spirits like they were stamps flashed through his mind. "What about that burst of power after we had sex?" he asked, greed shining in his eyes.
Mána giggled suggestively, "Although I would love to repeat what happened before that, I'm afraid the power up is a one-time thing upon forming a bond"
Kane's eyes dimmed a little, but he quickly recovered from the disappointment, and reaffirmed his plans to start collecting patron spirits. Assuming he could.
Seeing Mána was smirking at him with amusement at his clear greed, Kane shook his head to clear his thoughts, and decided to move on.
His gaze became serious again, "Alright, next question. Tell me more about these sin shards."
Having expected this question, Mána wiped away her smirk and became somewhat more serious. She frowned thoughtfully, as if thinking about what she wanted to say.
"Sin shards are… a law of the universe," she began, a little hesitantly. "Admittedly, I don't actually know too much about them. Patron spirits are born with an immense amount of general information about the universe and its laws, but it's actually quite stingy with information about the shards."
Kane gained a thoughtful frown of his own, "Alright, so just tell me what you can."
Mána nodded obediently, "Sin shards are divided in two categories: domination, including lust, wrath, and pride; and desire, including sloth, gluttony, greed, and envy."
Kane nodded along, remembering that Mána had mentioned his shard fell under the domination category.
The patron spirit continued, "Every shard has their own special abilities, and every time you collect a shard belonging to one of the categories, the shards become more powerful, and you gain extra abilities, based on the category."
Mána cocked her head as she continued, "But no one can host both categories of sin shards. Since you already have a domination shard, it is impossible for you to also start hosting desire shards."
Kane raised an eyebrow, "Alright, so is there no way for me to get any benefits from desire shards?"
Mána shook her head, "Yes, and no. You need a partner. Someone who can take on the desire shards and become 'your desire'. It is a symbiotic relationship, because having more than one desire shard will quickly drive someone insane. Even a single shard will cause some quirks."
Then she shrugged, "That is where someone like you comes in. You can temper and control the desire host to keep them sane, and in return, you get a powerful subordinate to wield the powers of desire for you."
Kane grew a little concerned, "So what are the dangers for domination shard wielders?"
Mána pursed her lips playfully, "You mean besides the fact that everyone who knows about it will try to kill you for it? Not to mention that other shard wielders can sense your shard and will try to hunt you for it?"
Kane groaned and rubbed his nose bridge in exasperation. This was new information, 'But I suppose I should have expected something like that.' Then, he nodded reluctantly, "Yes, besides that."
Seeing his discomfort, Mána giggled, before making it even worse, "Well, you have basically the same dangers as a desire shard wielder. You'll have one less shard to try and drive you insane, but you will only have your own willpower to help you keep them under control."
"Wonderful," Kane sighed, immediately deciding to ponder if he actually wanted to keep this thing, despite its obvious advantages. Assuming he even could get rid of it.
"Oh, don't look so glum," Mána smiled confidently. "No power comes free, but based on what I've seen, you have the willpower and discipline to keep it under control. If I were you, I'd worry more about finding someone you trust enough to take up the mantle of your desire…"
As soon as Mána mentioned someone he could trust, it was naturally Luna's face that swam in front of his eyes. 'But do I want to ask that of her?' he thought to himself doubtfully. 'I know Luna would jump at the chance, and I don't really want to keep this from her…'
Before his thoughts could continue, Mána completed her sentence, "…because there is a desire shard right here on the world you are on now."
Kane blinked, "There's what?"
Grinning, Mána nodded, "There's a desire shard on this world. Unfortunately, that's all I can say through the occasional glimpses I feel when an unstable rift opens. I don't know what kind of desire shard, and certainly not where it is."
A little alarmed, Kane frowned, "Wait, you said sin shard holder can detect each other. Am I going to be hunted here? Would a desire shard host even want anything from me?"
Mána smiled proudly, "You don't have to worry! Although I can only affect your soul when you're not on Alfheim, I can easily hide your sin shard from anyone else! So long as they're not much more powerful than you, anyway. Your soul only has so much power for me to work with, after all."
That caused him to sigh a little from relief.
But then she frowned more seriously and continued, "But desire shard hosts definitely want something from you as well. Occasionally they may actually want you to subjugate them to prevent them from going insane, but usually, they'll want to kill you."
Kane nodded wryly. He didn't need an explanation for why. Fact was, even if he couldn't use the desire shard himself, he'd either try to subjugate the current desire shard host or kill them so he could give the shard to someone of his own choosing.
Then, his brows furrowed, "So how do I use my domination shard to find this person?"
Although he still had a few reservations about getting involved in this whole thing, he did feel some temptation. He still remembered the addictive power of pride streaming through his body. Besides, he should at least know who this person is.