Afternoon Tea & Sushi

The walk to the tea shop would be filled with light conversation, we would ask more about each other's people and the general area. Primarily, it would be keep pretty light until I could get some food in my system! Approaching the restaurant, the smell is tea leaves being brewed rides on the wind towards our nostrils. Now that is a pleasant aroma. Continuing forward, I'd lead my new companion inside and the old man that runs the place smiles at me. He gestures for us to follow him. When I come here, I generally sit in the same location every time. It has easy access to the side exit of the restaurant so that I can avoid damaging the place should an altercation arise, which has happened in the past. He asks me if I want to try the special of the day and I nod to him. That was another thing that I always did. I rarely ordered the same thing even when I really liked it. I always let him surprise me with the meal. It... keeps life interesting I must say. I give him feedback as to my preferences with each one so that he can tailor the meals he prepares for me to what I like. He tells us that he has a new wine in and a new tea leaf that he has been waiting for me to try. He tells me that he wanted me to be the first one to try it out. I ask him to bring two cups of this new tea for us to try and he nods to me. He jokingly asks me before walking to have his son the cook prepare the food, "You're not working right now are you?" I smile and shake my head negatively. "I told you that I wouldn't let that happen again. I meant it. I have to protect my favorite restaurant in the Coastal Regions." He smiles and tells me that he will have his son prepare my food right away. I nod to him before turning my attention back to Ashurei. "This is one of the few places that I can just relax and not have to worry about someone with a grudge wanting my attention."

EXP: 379

The walk down to the tea shop was casual, relaxing, and quite enjoyable. I had completely forgotten what my purpose was for being down here. Everything seemed like a dream. There was little conflict, no one was working hard for a greater purpose, we were just doing whatever we wanted. Some things were just nice, and I really liked to go with the flow. It was impressive that there was another individual on this plane of existence who was capable of that as well. Once we neared it, an interesting new feeling came across my body. It was a sensation of smell, of something fresh and pure. It was a smell that gave me a smile, like a child with a new toy. Moving inside, I would take a seat across from the white haired individual after putting my neatly folded cloak over the arm of the chair. . My stature would be simple, clean, and using proper etiquette that is trained into us from birth. It wouldn’t take long before an elder being graced us, and the two began a discussion leading me to the conclusion that this white haired mail really did some great things for this society. When his attention turned back to me, I smiled gently at his comment. So, this place was under attack and had been saved as one of his favorite locations for entertainment and relaxation. I was rather looking forward to the wine and tea of this place. I had high hopes that their drinks would not interfere with my own physical form. Then again, at this point I didn’t really care, the risk was well worth it. I had many more questions for this one, but there was one plaguing my mind that I would get to later.
“If one of those people were to show up right now, what would you do?”

334

Sitting across from the Sky Man, he was refreshing to just hang out with. This concept had actually become somewhat foreign to me over the last couple of years. Loss was becoming far too common to me so instead, I realized that it was easier to simply not get close to others, but this one was a kindred spirit. There were no pretenses between us as we were basically still strangers so if we started this way, there would be no need to act differently later. His next question is one that causes me to pause for a moment. The delay would be no longer than that tho as I respond, "At first, nothing. If they showed aggression, I would teleport outside and neutralize all threats against me. Whatever valuables they have would be donated to the restaurant. The owner never let's the poor children who don't have anything to trade go hungry. If you are wondering whether or not I would kill them, that all depends on them to be honest. If they are a target of my employer that is wanted dead, then yes, I would carry out the order swiftly. What would you do if you ecountered an enemy in a similar situation?" It wouldn't be long before the Owner's daughter would be bringing out the tea. I just realized that I forgot to get somthing from the beach! I'll go after he answers as I am more curious as to his answer than my pending "task".

EXP: 268/647

He had posed an interesting question and basically flipped it around on me. What would I do if someone were to enter this establishment, right now, and show hostilities towards myself or even himself. I had to think about it for a moment, as I had no enemies. In the upper realm, we were all equal, and all worked for the common good of our people. The only darkness were the tainted dark spirits, and they were hunted and destroyed when discovered. How they even made it up there was a good question to have answered one day. I had a few different thoughts on it, but each course of action really only left me a half destroyed restaurant and possible chaos.
“You pose an interesting question. I would simply touch them, then have their bodies removed from this place.”
I didn’t know if he would get my words, as they were kind of vague, but they were also exactly what I would do in a best case scenario. I could disrupt their entire internal energy, paralyzing them. Then I would have them removed with a fair warning to never enter this place again. After that, I would return to what I was doing, whatever that was. Bringing my eyes to the young one who brought us our tea, I would slowly lift the cup off the table before taking a sip. It held a smooth flavor, like none I had ever tasted before. It was rather enjoyable.

266 / 600

His answer was far less confrontational than my own unless he meant that he could kill them with a single touch. That would be kinda cool to see in action! Before the young lady, who is in her late teens to early twenties walks out. By the time she arrives, I would actually not be present which would confuse her as to why she had brought two cups if there's only one person here. She sits the serving tray adorned with more cups with "condiments" for the tea and a couple of sweet syrups down on the table. After pouring the first cup of tea for Ashurei, she gasps as she turns to return to the back and I inquire if she is going to forget about me. She scolds, "I really hate it when you do that. Where were you anyway?" She pours my tea then adds a single spoonful of each syrup. I tell her that I had dropped something earlier during a swim. She asks what and a necklace made out of sea shells appears around her neck. I smile at her and tell her that I did not forget.

To bring Ashurei into the loop, I explain, "The incident that her father was talking about was the result of a mercenary not being able to control their drinking and broke a necklace that she had, so after my asking him to apologize turned into him bleeding profusely, I promised her that I would replace the necklace, so that one is the replacement." I hadn't noticed that she is basically glowing with happiness from the present. One thing would become clear if Ashurei remained around me long enough... I am both a villain and a "hero". It all depends on circumstances.

EXP: 313

I would sip another drink of the tea before watching him reappear. After seeing what I had today, the ability to come and go at will like that really didn’t surprise me anymore. I felt like I had a solid understanding over the void and how it functioned. Whether or not I could control it was a different story. This tea was really good, but I felt like it needed something more. Sitting the glass down on the table, I would hover my hand over it for a moment before inserting a single finger into the center of its steamy contents. A light breath in, and my finger would spark, negatively charging the tea. To the others, a blue glow would appear for a split second before I removed my finger.
“now, lets try this again…”
Pulling the glass up to my lips, I would take a sip of the now electrically charged tea. It’s flavor was, for the most part, exactly the same. However, it reacted differently with my body now that it has a specific charge to it. I was curious to how it would react with normal land walkers, but I wasn’t really willing to take that chance right now. Bottom line, things had to be done carefully as to not really have a great influence down here. I had to tread lightly for fear of bringing more destruction to my own people. The mere fact that I had ventured into the forbidden land was enough to get me in some deep shit, so it might be best if no one really knew that I was here. I would continue to sip the tea while he told me the story of what had happened. He had strange sense of justice it seemed. I was already enjoying his company, no need to worry about anything else.
“So, that’s how it all went down.. “


330 / 930

She nods to him and smiles. "He is actually quite modest about what all happened. Dravec tends to help out a lot around the neighboring villages. As you can imagine, his abilities make him feared by those who do not take the time to learn about the Operatives. I will admit, when he first came to this village, he was on a mission or a hunt as he calls them and it was a rather terrifying sight to behold since his target actually was hiding out here. Afterwards, a lot of restaurants were afraid to have him around, but my father is the type to see people for people before seeing a title or role. Well enjoy your tea."

I smile at her as she leaves to check on the other patrons. When I get to take a sip of the new cup of hot tea. That first jolt given from the heat of the drink awakens my senses as the flavor comes thru clearly. There citrus notes to it, but it was unique because at moments it had the sweet citrus tastes while at others, there was a tart bite to it that also entices my tongue. This is definitely something that I am not expecting, but enjoying. After enjoying a couple of sips, I inquire, "That blue light and spark... I gather that is part of your power?"

EXP: 239/1199

Even a moment would give the other curiosity. It was only fair that since he shared his ability with me, that I in turn share mine with him. I was confident that he had given me a basic understanding of what I could learn through my own time and work. With that in mind, it would make sense that sooner or later he began to inquire about mine. The smooth taste of the tea, now charged, was rather delicious. So far so good, nothing bad was happening to my body. I was satisfied with how it had turned out while I listened to the young lady speak of his acts of kindness and near barbarism. At least, that was what I was going to call it. A bounty hunter who helped people, that was an interesting concept to me. Thinking about his question, I could almost answer no, since I didn’t complete any part of the process to use my powers, I just did a half way step.
“Yes.. and no. While you control the void, I control the natural energy inside of our bodies. We generate an exceptional amount of energy that we ninety nine percent of people will never get to tap into. For most, it is a muddy, unrefined energy that allows their bodies to operate. However, by circulating it through pressurized energy points that are naturally found in the body, you can purify it, turning it into highly stable, and highly refined energy. Just a small amount of it is capable of great power. What I just did was a half-step of the process. If I had completed it, I probably would have burned a hole into the floor. ”

300 / 1,230

Energy manipulation generated from within our own bodies? Now that is an interesting concept. I begin to wonder if one is able to control the energy in another's body in order to manipulate them or to neutralize them. If I could learn to do that then it would make not killing my targets so much easier. Taking another sip of my tea, I nod to him. "So your raw energy is blue and illuminates peacefully. I wonder what my raw energy looks like. I have never ventured out to dabbling in other magic disciplines. This line of conversation drifts off as the food is brought out.

Atop the main plate that the father is carrying out would be a hard shell fish called armor fish (crab) with the top of its shell opened up similar to how a clam opens up to reveal a pearl. The meat is white, but has a sort of pale or whitish orange glaze over it. Under the large hard shell preparation is a bed of rice with crisp, lightly seasoned asparagus stalks and a small bowl of edamame. There is another small plate brought out with an assortment of small slivers of varying colors and textures each wrapped in a green edible paper like shell with rice packed inside of it (hand rolled sushi platter). I look at the feast and just pause for a moment. Attention shifts to Ashurei to provide an open invitation, "Should you decide to try our food, by all means, help yourself." With the invitation given, I take another sip of tea before the daughter returns to refill it and is told to see to another table when her mother catches her gaze lingering too long upon me. I myself do not notice her gaze linger because I am focused on the pending devouring of this feast. Taking in a deep breath, I can smell different spices and the lime juice used in the glaze. I lick my lips briefly like an animal stalking prey. I don't know what to try first!

The smells were something to behold. A light laugh would emerge for a split second before I regained myself. There was nothing peaceful about my energy type. Raw lightning was something that was not to be used carelessly. In fact, the greater force you could create inside of your body, the greater the risk there was to the user. It was a great hazard to do things like what I was going to show him later. I had been practicing, and learning to master the technique at hand while increasing the capacity for my body to hold more energy. The body was essentially a shell for this, and knowing that, I could gauge whether or not the other being could actually hold the power within him. If he could, then there may be hope for him to learn the base structure of our art.
“help yourself, it looks like will enjoy it as much as the young girl enjoys you..”

180 / 1,410

The more Ashurei & I chatted, the more I found myself enjoying his company, it was nice to openly discuss magic & energy and those sorts of topics. Having a Sky Man ally was very different and thankfully so. Now I do find myself caught slightly unaware when he tells me that the owner's daughter had inclinations towards me. Honestly, I don't know what gives him that impression, so I in turn chuckle at the comment. "I think you are mistaken. She is just being nice & courteous since I come here often." You ask me about battle and I can tell you how to overcome damn near any enemy or how to successfully escape from a losing or lost battle, but ask me about matters of the heart & attraction and alas, I am lost. I dig into the food starting with sushi first. I eat once of the first pieces and decide that it needs a litte more bite to it. The daughter walks towards the back to place a new order. I ask her if they have more of that spicy sauce she made me try last time. The color looked hoorible but it tasted delicious as she mixes the dark brown liquid (soy sauce) & the green paste (wasabi) together in a very small saucer like dish. I thank her and smile before returning my attention to my food. She looks at Ashurei as if to enlist his help in her endeavor since I seem to be so oblivious.

Was he really completely oblivious to something that the rest of us were able to see? Sometimes, it’s better to be blind to the heart, for harm can come to those you may love. That would always be an issue for a being like him, where his life could bring great enemies. I had wondered if that may happen to myself one day, but I had no intention of gaining great enemies. Even if I became involved down in this realm, it was highly improbable that something like that may occur. There was still the possibility, even if slight, that it may though. This led me to my current actions, where I explored without bringing her with me. She was close, and that meant enough for me to value her safety over my own.
“It may be better that she not have you. Regardless of the beauty which her life holds, the lifestyle you currently walk may bring harm to those close to you if you succeed at it more than you wish. That alone should push you to always acquire new strength when you can. It is why I am down here, exploring for the benefit of all of my people.”
I would smell the new stuff as it came to the table. It smelled of some strange spice. Looking curiously at what he called rolled fish. It had a strange paper and the mixture he created seemed odd as well. Lifting my hand across, I would take a piece, dip it into the sauce like mixture, then stick the entire thing into my mouth without second thought. I hated when my curiosity got the better of me. This time was exceptionally unfortunate, as the wasabi was far stronger than anything I had ever had the displeasure of tasting.

317 / 1,727

What was he talking about? Someone close to me? No such person exists. Even in all the jobs I've taken, I have not found him. Nor heard from him or of him. He has made sure that he would not be found. The Master is still missing as well. Skilled had I become at masking my emotions & feelings. I would remark coldly almost like a switch had been hit, "I am alone in this world & I am stronger because of it. I have no intentions of giving up my life to settle down for family life or anything of that nature. She should abandon all futile thoughts to such." It has come to be my true nature to be so cold. I don't know what caused the switch to trigger but once it did, that generally meant it was time for business. A darker nature was abound within me again. Strangely enough, it is not suppressed by disciplined breathing or mditation techniques but by humor as I try to stop him from dipping the sushi roll into the mixed sauce as it is... oh damn. Normally this is a prank played on new operatives as a sort of rite of passage but he was a Sky Man and new to our realm as he called it. I signal for the daughter to get some water and she does with much haste. "Drink the water, Ashurei. That adds a major bite to the sushi to really accent the flavor." The humor in the situation is visually restrained. Still,it was pretty damn funny.

It was my first taste of the food down here, and it was not a good one. I ignored the words he spoke, since my attention was not really on anything else in this realm. The food was, to say the least, not very enjoyable. The amount of burning inside of my mouth was like I had swallowed some form of poisonous acid. Whether or not it was the actual food or an effect of the food I didn’t really know. As soon as the young girl came back with the water, I snatched it from her, rather quickly on accident, and pulled the cold contents into my mouth. I would not stop drinking it until the sting subsided, leaving me with a rather frustrated demeanor now towards any food of this realm.
“bite my ass, that’s a hazard that should not be consumed. ”
I was, to say the least, not impressed with their food. That could be considered a weapon in some of our eyes. That amount of pain in such a small quantity was not something that I wanted to experience ever again. I would remember to bring sustenance from my realm next time I came down here. After all, I had taken a risk and completely missed on getting a good part of something. Food here was dangerous, that was for damn sure.

237

I chuckle out loud and dip another piece of sushi into the mixture with my chopsticks before turning it over and dipping the other side as well. When I pull it back up, it would have a light brown coat with green specks sticking to the rice. I move it to my mouth and place the entire piece inside at once. I bite down and chew with a smile. "I view it in a similar manner to our powers. There is no hazard in using the green paste as it exists naturally in this world. The hazard only arises if you rush too quickly. Try another piece, but this time without the mixture. As you can see it is not harmful as I am able to eat it both with and without the mixture added. But first, you might want to eat a sliver of the pink herb (ginger). It counters the wasabi." I wanted to both prove a point now that I saw that his curiosity could get the better of the Sky man, but also to try and improve his experience of our food. All of the rest of the pieces were safe and quite popular amongst the sushi lovers in this area, so I feel confident about encouraging him to try those.

I listened to his explanation while I finished the water. It made sense, but I wasn’t about to risk trying another piece. It was bad enough that my mouth was still on fire, and that alone would keep my curiosity in check. He said it was like our powers, that could be controlled and uncontrollable at the same time. While I agreed, there was also a third power that he was forgetting.
“even our powers are uncontrollable if we press ourselves to a new limit. The winds of magic are unforgiving to those who lack the constitution and fortitude to grasp it. There are things that exist in this world that are not meant to be controlled, and those who try to control it are swallowed by it.”
I had been speaking about the dark arts in their entirety. That was a force of energy that was uncontrollable, and no kami would dare ever attempt to learn them. Whether or not we could was out of the question. There was something in our blood that kept us from partaking in that task. Thinking back to it, I brought my focus to his void techniques. It was a rather interesting ability and I was curious to what it could possibly accomplish if used in the method that I was thinking.
“Say.. do you have to be still, or can you be doing something, say drinking this glass of water, while moving into, through, and out of the void?”

265 /

Now that was something difficult for me to comprehend. What could there possibly be that I could control with proper discipline, his concept of constitution & fortitude, and diligent training. Master could practically do whatever he wanted & he told me that I had the capacity to surpass him if I could find a way to access and awaken something he called my true blood. Once I can discover something more about that, that will become my primary goal. "Powers that should not be accessed? Much caution is given to the use of dark magic and any powers that can unbalance the scales of Lady Life & Lord Death, but that does not mean that one cannot control that balance. I have always been taught that anything is possible if I have the will to accomplish it." I fall silent again before I grin at his question. With my chopsticks in hand, I point to the sushi before I would answer anything. "Or you can try some of this fish."

Listening to his response, I figured it would be easiest to just agree to disagree. The winds of magic were strong, and becoming too eager and attempting to learn everything would destroy the wielder of that level of power. I was rather curious to what type of fish it was that he pointed at. Looking at it for a moment, I would take it without dipping it in anything at all and stick it in my mouth. The taste seemed to help counter the still stinging feeling from that nasty green stuff. I wondered if he could use the void to directly attack an enemy. If you could open up a spatial distortion of some kind inside of an enemy, and expand that area, you could effectively negate parts of bodies, and kill someone from the inside out. It was a rather disturbing power and it made me wonder if there was a way to counteract it using the same fundamental principles of its own style.
“Connect the space between two points to move between them. I understand the concept in absolute spectrum. Now, what if you take that concept and apply it to a different form of energy. If the void can move through a space, what if you concentrated energy between you and the space, filling it? Effectively, you could create a barrier of energy. I guess, to explain it simpler, you could focus your internal energy to balance the incoming energy of an enemy. By rotating that to counterbalance it, you may be able to reflect their own energy back at them. Whatcha think?”

291

I move some of the armor fish and rice to my plate while he responds to my position. I could tell by his body language that we were of a differing mind on the matter which actually makes me like him a bit more. A differing opinion always sharpens the mind further b/c you have to defend your position and consider the valid and invalid points of the other position. I pick up several stalks of asparagus and the way they steam cook them is amazing because the asparagus stays crunchy and doesn't turn all mushy. I don't like mushy asparagus. I take a bite of the armor fish followed by a helping of rice and smile. Simply delicious!

When he speaks on the matter, I am tempted to erect a Disruptive Shield in order to actually show him, but I resist that urge. It was still too soon for such displays. Should the circumstance arise then that would be another story, but not so freely. My response would simply be, "I believe that is possible to use the Void to protect oneself." There is a lot more than just connecting the space of two points. The fun, at least to me it's fun, is when you disconnect the space between two points thus creating a spatial distortion that can erupt if violently disconnected and used to damage enemies. That would be saved for another conversation later down the road. "Oh and as to your previous question. With practice, you can open a Void on the move. Though the trick isn't really the opening of the Void, it is more so, the sustaining of the portal that you open and also not missing it if you attempt to dive thru a closing portal. That can definitely be tricky for sure."

He had answered my questions truthfully, but he skipped one part of it. I had asked about whether or not you could use your internal energy to do the same. Would I be able to extend my lightning through a void, and behind an enemy? What about using it to disrupt the function of a void. I wanted to assume that the basis for energy was the same, regardless of the energy type used. Thinking about it for a few moments, I pondered upon asking him for a demonstration of what he meant. That, however, would require a form of technique directed at him. It was too bad that this place was peaceful, I was rather interested in the full abilities of this being. There were still many questions to be asked, but now they could wait. Too much business could ruin a good meal, and that last taste of fish was quite enjoyable now that the stinging had completely subsided. Taking another piece, I would put it into my mouth and chew it slowly as to enjoy the flavors of this realms cuisine. I had waited long enough to see that there were no ill effects by it, and that was quite a good thing to know.
“I’ve asked you many questions today and you have answered them all. Are you curious?”

236

Being an operative, my communication is typically with employers or other operatives, the extent of said interaction is generally reports and answering questions, so I typically didn't have many questions to ask of others that weren't specifics of a mission or something of that nature. Looking up I stop for a moment taking on an inquisitive look upon my face that had I been attentive to, I would have removed, but there was one thing that I was quite curious about. Something that greatly interested me. I wanted to ask, but hold back and eat more armor fish in order to stall. After I eat more of the fish dipped in the brownish mixture, I take a sip of the tea and finally sigh before asking, "How do Sky People fly? I am greatly fascinated by flying creatures like the birds and winged spirits that I have encountered in the forests to the far west of the... realm." I smiled using my newly learned word and even pause for a moment to make sure that I used the word correctly, "That is the proper placement of the term, yes?" I wanted to be free to fly like the birds, but I know that humans cannot do such things. A foolish possibility pops into my head, "Is there a special food or something that you all eat that allows you to fly?" I continue eating after posing my questions to him. This was really delicious with a nice chile lime glaze to the taste.

How could we fly? I leaned back while thinking about it. To us, flying was like walking, so it really wasn’t a one step process. From the time we were born, we knew how to fly. Mostly, it was about controlling the energy inside your body, and using it to lift yourself up. For most of us it was second nature. I felt like I wanted to give him a solid answer, since that was what he came up with for a question. Flight, to me, was just like walking was to him. It was how you moved in the spirit realm, and how we conducted every day business. We wouldn’t walk around, we flew. That was how things were, and always were as far as I could tell. Giving a light laugh at his last comment, I formulated my answer to give it to him.
“why can’t you fly? For us, some have wings. For those like me, we take our energy, and focus it between us and the ground. Using an inverse of our own energy, it repels it, and allows us to move upwards. It took me a while to figure it out, but down here I can use the magnetic force of your realm with my electricity, and that allows me to fly. Up in the higher realm, we have no physical bodies, we exist in a spiritual form. This form allows everyone to fly. Its strange to think of a place where you couldn’t fly..”


250

The reverse of my question is one that I legitimately don't have an answer to. I did not know why I couldn't fly. Then again, having the Void since childhood, I also had never really tried to fly before. It was "natural" to travel within the Void and even further than that, it was natural to jump off of a cliff and teleport to the water or beach beneath. Thinking about his explanation makes me wonder about so much more. They did not have physical bodies. "Spirit Realm. So that is the name of the Sky People's home. So then is this the Physical Realm? Use our internal energy to fly. How do I know what kind of energy I have inside? Sky People are interesting. You guys have energy inside of you and both spiritual and physical bodies. Wait, is it possible that it is still your spiritual body that is able to fly and that your physical is kind of like armor or how does your whole spiritual and physical body thing work. Do you find a human host to inhabit while you're here. I have seen one case of that happening. A dark spirit was exorcised from the host's body and then Master locked it in a pocket realm that he used to use for trapping targets that needed to be returned alive." The concepts of the Sky People's physiology and natural abilities fascinates me.

EXP: 258/3344

He had misinterpreted the entire thing, which I guess was an acceptable answer. I figured as much, but I did feel like correcting him on one part of it. The spirit realm was just what I would call it to give him an informal name of it. We had a name, just like this Terra place had a formal name. Caelestis was a beautiful land of crystalline cities. It was far more beautiful than this land which was inhabited by walkers who couldn’t fly, and large trees and forests. Beginning a re-explanation of it, I would start off casually and simply.
“Our land is called Caelestis. We do not possess other beings while we are down here. Our spiritual bodies are fully capable of maintaining a physical one. Only weaker spirits who can’t hold a physical body will take the physical body of another. I don’t really know how it works, but I came down here and after focusing on interacting with the physical environment, my spiritual energy compressed itself, kind of like a shell. I hope that makes sense at least. I figure, if you have the ability to control the void then you already know the basics of exerting energy from inside of you. Every piece of magical power comes from your internal energy. You could probably learn how to fly rather easily.”

250

"Caelestis..." I repeat the name a couple more times before nodding. Caelestis equals the home of the Sky People. Got it. Wait, ALL magic comes from internal energy? How would that work? I always thought the only energy that I could muster from inside was the Void b/c my body was infused with it. Perhaps, that is why. The Void can absorb other forms of energy, so it would stand to reason that if I could absorb different types of energy with the Void and I could also harness and encase the Void within me, then sure, why couldn't I develop other forms of energy from within my own power. "So different types of magic are simply the understanding of how to manipulate one's internal energy as you call it into producing different effects. Interesting concept indeed. Hmm... I wonder if flight would then be a static manipulation of the Void to allow me to basically move a portal underneath to transport me wherever I want to go. I will have to test this out soon.

Looking down at the plate, I just noticed that the armor fih, rice, and asparagus was all gone. Now I knew that I had been eating while listening and he was doing the same, but I didn't notice that we, or possibly really just I, had eaten all the food except for the sushi already. I drink more of the tea, which is giving a really nice complement to the fish right now. I knew that wine had that sort of effect, but this tea was working its way into becoming a favorite of mine already.

EXP: 294/3638

“Pretty much. Each spirit is naturally in tune with a certain type of energy. Each of our bodies gives off a different kind, and that allows us a particularly high level of control over the elements. For example, my body generally carried a high amount of purified inner energy that allows me to compose lightning. Maybe one day I will show you the true extent of lightning.”
It made me wonder if they even had electricity down here. That concept was kind of foreign to me since we didn’t need any type of energy source in the spiritual realm. All of our stuff was powered by spirit energy, which was nice. Down here though, it looked like everything turned into an ancient civilization where each group was fighting for its own survival. There was no unity or modern governments. I wasn’t surprised by this fact, since we didn’t even have anything like that established. What I was surprised by however was the lack of unity across their people. Looking down, I noticed that all of the food had been consumed. Taking the glass of tea, I would join him in having a drink. It was rather delightful, and something that I preferred over much anything else that I had tried so far while being down here.

240 /3,496

This had definitely been one of the most enjoyable afternoons that I had had that didn't involve hunting, killing or aything of that nature. I was just able to sit down with a complete stranger and just relax. We talked about our cultures and our powers which I can rarely do since my powers are often deemed unnatural by those who witness them. Ashurei did not possess such. Misconception or prejudice being one of the Sky People. That meant that I could just relax & be me. I also realize that both of us could learn a great deal about our powers and new powers from talking with one another. I would also have to make sure that he gets to try non-spicy cuisine. I often forget that a lot of people's palettes are not as spice friendly as my own. I wanted to show him other parts of the region, but that would have to wait for another time. A black paper bird flies towards me. I snatch it out of the air and sigh. "Forgive me, Ashurei, but I must go. Duty calls. Unfortunately. I'm normally along the coast when I'm not on an assignment or the owner's daughter knows how to get word to me if you need me." I would wait for a moment so that he could say anything I would shimmer out of sight.

EXP: 239/3877

I would casually finish the last bit of tea when the paper bird appeared. That was a strange thing to see, and I was curious to how it was constructed. It had to be magic of some sort, but I wasn’t going to ask. I would simply watch a minor demeanor change. Duty? That sounded like something that I wanted to observe. After all, my entire objective down here was to observe the different cultures and how people inside of them interacted. I was rather interested in watching this particular walker perform his duty. Was he going to end the existence of another being? Either way, I had time to spare.
“Your duty? If you do not mind, my objective here is to observe how your kind works and interacts. I would rather much enjoy joining you, as a spectator of course. You are the only one who knows that I am not from this realm, so it would easier for me to learn by observing someone with similar abilities.”
I had a feeling this would be a fifty/fifty issue. On one hand, it was his work. Then again, this was mine as well. Right now, I was pretty much representing an entire realm, even though they didn’t know I had entered the forbidden land. One day, we would be able to freely work and communicate with the people down here, and assist them in their difficult lives. I had no doubt that we could work to better both worlds. Standing up, I would either walk out of the small tea shop, or follow him into the voided portal depending on his answer.

291 / 3,787

Now that was certainly unexpected. He wanted to observe the performance of my duties. Hmm... I personally did not hold much qualm with it which I probably should considering that he is a stranger still. Albeit a comfortable one, still a stranger to me and my employer. I am pretty sure that I sould refuse said offer & take a raincheck since I don't even know what my mission will be. I certainly cannot have witnesses if this is a neutralization mission. I would simply respond in a joking manner, "If I brought you along, I'd have to kill you by the end of the mission and then we couldn't have anymore conversations like today's. If a bird of another color ever arrives while we are traveling together, you can come along then." Time was of the essence, so I would be vanishing around this point.

- EXIT RP -

EXP: 160/4037