"So what are you going to teach me, teacher?" I asked excitedly and leaned forward. My hand held my chin as I could see Morgana's eyes go wide open upon hearing the word 'teacher.'
"Teacher… teacher… hmm." She muttered under her breath, then nodded.
"Fair enough, that sounds appropriate… I also had many teachers in the past, so getting a student myself should be natural." She said.
'No, I said that to lighten the mood…'
I pressed my lips together, unsure if I should tell this to her or not. But seeing her enjoying this, I let it go.
Morgana's shoulders relaxed as she tilted her head before asking.
"Are you not going to take notes?"
"Okay…" I stood up and went to the upper floor in the office. Taking an empty notebook, I soon returned and sat down.
I had [Kairosflow] to change my perception of time, but keeping a record would be much better and beneficial for the future.
"I am ready."
With nonchalance I took a seat beside her and answered with a small smile. I had been trying not to let our previous banter or even small arguments come in the way, but I was still tense and had not let go of [Kairosflow] till now.
Morgana looked at Asher for a second, then turned her head away from him in deep thought.
For a while the room fell silent; Asher, realizing she was trying to gather her thoughts together, kept his silence and waited for her to finish.
Then, with a bored expression, she turned to face Asher and spoke in a small voice. "Let's start with 'origin'... What do you know about it?"
"Not much actually, just the bare minimum with my own experience, that's it… It's the main source of energy, correct?"
Morgana nodded and then added, Follow my lead.
"It's the source of all energy, not just for us, but every kind of energy you know comes from it… and its amount and density vary at every place. When you ascend and become a transcendent, you will come to realize how the world truly looks and feels."
"Telling you much about it right now won't make a difference for you right now, but when you face a different environment, you will come to understand how to use it… The density of origin in Atlas is normal, neither low nor high… just average."
I listened carefully, not letting any word she said slip from my grasp.
"Is it due to our recovery that if the amount is denser, our recovery will be faster? Or is there a different reason as well?" I asked.
"Origin comes in different types as well. The origin you currently speak of is pure origin, untouched by anything and the source of everything. But the origin we use for ability is different. It's not pure; it's being tainted by us and converted into something different based on our source element. For example, a person with a fire-related source element will need to have the essence of fire to use his ability."
"This is also the reason why our origin reserves take time to fill up, since we are constantly tainting the origin to get our source element's needed essence."
I frowned as my brows furrowed up in doubt.
"How much time does it normally take for an awakened to, um, recover his reserves, I mean?"
Morgana thought for a moment, then spoke with a tone of uncertainty. "Everyone takes a different amount of time since everyone's reserves are different; some have vast reserves, and some have small ones… But generally speaking, an awakened person who, let's say, has zero essence right now will recover in half a day at the very least."
'I can recover half of my essence in fifteen minutes.'
Once again I realized how weird and abnormal my abilities and source element truly were. I don't know if it's due to my source element or another passive effect of [Kairosflow], but it also won't be wrong to assume both of them can be the reasons as well.
"I see. Well, if you don't mind me asking, how much time do you take to recover your essence?" I asked, changing the subject.
She, upon hearing my question, frowned and then answered with a hint of curiosity as well. "My essence reserve after becoming a transcendent has always felt as vast as a lake, a big one at that… under the right conditions I can recover in minutes or even hours. But there's also the fact that upon each ascent you become more efficient with tainting origin, so speed can depend on every other person you meet."
I pursed my lips upon hearing her answer. So many questions came out of my mind that I couldn't understand what I should even ask now.
'What kind of source element does she even have that can fill her reserves in minutes under the right conditions? Should I ask her? No, if I did that, I would also need to tell mine… No, wait, if she has reserves as vast as lakes, then why did she take the recovery potion from me in the first place?'
"Thanks, but why did you take the recovery potion from me if you had such large reserves? Is your ability cost very high?" I asked, hoping not to get probed back in return.
Morgana thought for a moment; her eyes went to see that Asher, even while talking, was somehow noting down what she had said till now.
"I was not fighting… It was one-sided; actually, Jacob was attacking, and I was defending most of the time to stop him from destroying this city. His last attack was the only thing I couldn't stop on time." She said, but there was no shame or embarrassment, as if she could have won easily if not for those reasons.
"I see, makes sense… Please continue with your lecture, teacher." I said with a gentle smile.
Morgana's lips twitched and threatened to curve upward into a smile, but with an embarrassed cough to regain her composure, she said coldly. "Asher, don't be mistaken. I am not going to tell anything about myself for free… You need to pay the price and earn it."
Seeing her tricking me like this, I felt a sense of betrayal hit me from the inside.
'Is she smirking? How childish! I can do much better; just you watch!'
Touching my heart dramatically, I asked with a clenched fist and my head lowered at the table. "Lady Morgana, your treachery knows no bounds. Fooling an innocent young man like me…"
"Tell me, what's the price of knowing about you? Even if it takes forever, I will pay you back, I promise." I whispered.
Left speechless at such drama, Morgana sincerely thought that if someone were to enter this room right now, she would be the one getting accused of wronging him.
And she might even believe it herself!
With her cheeks reddened in shame, Morgana pressed her lips tightly to regain her composure.
Then, with a cold and cynical voice answered back to Asher childishly. "If you are done with it, let me tell you the price now… And don't worry, it's not something unreasonable; I am not going to ask something you can't answer. Just tell me what happened in the mansion. Franz is obviously hiding things at Lord Elias's orders. You also don't need to tell exactly what he said not to tell; just say what you think should be known to me or what you have witnessed."
Hearing her say all of this in a single breath, I could only agree with her now. And I knew exactly what I needed to tell her.
"In the dream I saw the orchestrator and the reason for those children suffering… they had been cursed by someone… And I believe she might be related to the followers of Kaizer, the ones you previously spoke of." I said.
Morgana's head slowly moved in a small nod, then she waited for me to continue with her face remaining expressionless.
"The Saint of Paths had addressed her as the witch, a zenith who seems to have existed for quite some time now and is still active somewhere in this world. She was the one behind the demise of the House of Pristel fifty years ago. Her abilities had been centered around curses, and she possessed an otherworldly beauty that was hard to describe with words alone."
I thought for a moment, then quietly added a hint to Morgana about what's to come next.
"If I had to summarize what happened, I would say that the witch had instigated Owen, the head of Pristel, to participate in some kind of secret ritual that had brought catastrophe not only on Owen himself but on the world as well… The ritual brought unholy flames that fed on despair… and consumed everyone and everything."
"Ritual… You don't mean the Enlightenment one, do you?" She asked in a heartbeat.
I shook my head, then gently corrected her. "No, I am sure you know what type of ritual I am speaking of right now, and I hope to learn about them as well."
Morgana stayed silent, then in a small whisper muttered. "The truth… it's much deeper than I already have imagined. Yet the world turned even more bizarre than I had ever known."
"Shall we take a small break?" I suggested this was not only for her but for myself as well.
Using [Kairosflow] was slowly building up its toll on my mental state, and I needed to rearrange my thoughts as well.
Morgana touched her hair and softly patted the orange-tinted color at the end of it. Tugging the small locks behind her ears, she sighed.
"Yes, let's take a small break… Shall we go out for a walk then?"
I glanced outside the window; the sun was setting. The moon would soon be high up in the air along with stars.
"Alright, we can go to my restaurant. It's not very far if we ride a carriage." I nodded and suggested.
"Mn, I don't mind." Morgana nodded, making a small gesture to get up from her seat.
Coming outside the house, I locked the main door.
Seeing Morgana waiting silently once again in deep thoughts, I also found myself getting lost in my own world.
We walked in silence; there was no conversation or any hint of even starting one. It wasn't an awkward silence but one filled with comfort as we walked through the pedestrian streets.
The night lamps had started to light up one by one as carriages passed through the road. People would throw their glances at us, but Morgana would ignore them with a gaze of nonchalance.
As we exited the Merchants district, Morgana's eyes moved to a small cafe at the side of the road.
Seeing this, I asked softly.
"Should we just go there?"
Morgana thought for a moment, then nodded.
"It would be better to stay somewhere not with much attention; we still need to continue your lesson…"
I nodded.
"Let's have something to eat and then talk about it."
Entering the small place, which was considerably filled with people, I swept my gaze all over it trying to find some empty seats.
"I don't think this place has any seats… Should we go somewhere else?" I asked.
Morgana sighed heavily.
"Today is not a good day…" She muttered under her breath. She turned to face me as she took a step back.
"Let's just roam outside and buy something on the street." She told me with a stoic face and stepped out of the cafe, leaving me behind.
"Today is truly not a good day…" I repeated her words, as she didn't turn back.