"Wait, Thrane? YEHMA?! What?!"

 

Elvira jumps to her feet, staring intently down at me. I notice the blanket the humans are under shift slightly, one of them peering out to see what all the noise is about before settling back down.

 

"Where did you hear those names? You can't actually have a- why would they bless you? No, it has to- it can't..." Elvira seems to realize that she's speaking too fast and cutting herself off, taking a deep breath before asking, "Where did you learn those names?"

 

Understanding, providing information on me. My skills. Who are Thrane and Yehma?

 

"You... really don't know?" Elvira falls back to a sitting position, a distant look on her face. "If you don't know who they are you'd have no reason to lie about the blessings. So, you really are... Right. Ok. Thrane is the Great Spirit of Darkness, while Yehma is the Great Spirit of Light. Or goddesses, as most races call them. Thrane has dominion over the Void, darkness, and the body; Yehma has the Aether, light, and the mind. They say that's why Void creatures tend to be strong but lacking in intelligence, whereas those from the Aether are weak but smart. But, if you have blessings from both..."

 

Lacking intelligence?

 

The elf winces, seemly only realizing what she said now that I've pointed it out. "Yes, that's what people say. Creatures of the Void tend to be cunning but not particularly intelligent. Bad at thinking long term or considering anything but what's directly in front of them, and with little creativity. Clearly that isn't the case for you, I doubt most Void creatures would bother reading books like you do. Maybe that's an effect from Yehma's blessing?"

 

That is rather interesting. I try to remember what I was live before I first heard from Understanding, when I was in the Void. My memories are hazy, indistinct, but I can remember times when I came across other creatures and fought them. There was no planning, no tricks, I would just grab them and squeeze until they stopped moving. The rest of the time I would just sit and wait, barely even conscious as I floated aimlessly through the endless darkness.

 

I think I used to be different. Less capable of thinking, more reliant on instinct.

 

"That makes some sense. So, you have Yehma's blessing making you smarter and more creative, and Thrane's blessing probably increases your strength and durability. There also tends to be some unique element to it, some ability that comes along with it."

 

You know about them? Others have them?

 

"Others?" Elvira pauses for a moment to think. "I haven't heard of anyone alive that has blessings, but maybe there's one out there somewhere? If Lux had one they'd have named them a hero by now, but other countries might keep it a secret. And it's always possible someone has a blessing but doesn't know about it.  However, there are plenty of stories about them. The Shadowed Lord, the Shining Hero, the Great Sage of the Woods, the Wanderer Between Worlds, and a dozen others. All of those are long dead, though. All of them were of the Races, and most of them only got a blessing from one of the two."

 

Not rare, then.

 

The elf laughs grimly. "They're rare. It's not often that you see more than one person a generation get a blessing, and it's been more than a century since the last one. It's always a huge deal when someone gets blessed, they almost always cause massive change in the world, for  better or worse. And now there's a Voidspawn with both blessings..."

 

That sounds worrying. If everyone that gets blessed accomplishes that much, are there responsibilities or requirements that come along with the blessings? And if so, what are the consequences for failing to live up to them? I don't have any long term plans or goals to accomplish at the moment but that doesn't mean that I want to be following the whims of some Spirits or Goddesses. On the other tendril, it's not as if I can just give up the blessings I've been given, they're far too useful for that. Perhaps I need to-

 

User Umbra Has No Required Duties To Preform

 

Really? It seems like if everyone that gets a blessing has such great accomplishments there must be some sort o-

 

User Umbra Has No Required Duties To Preform

 

Alright then. Understanding hasn't lied to me yet, so I'll assume I can trust it here as well. However, how would it know what Thrane and Yehma expect of me?... What, not going to answer that question? Understanding certainly seems to be selective about what it tells me. I'm starting to wonder just why it doesn't answer some questions, does it have some sort of agenda or is it just lacking information? Well, even if I trust its answers there's no reason not to get a second opinion.

 

Do blessings come with responsibilities? Something I have to do?

 

"I've heard that blessings are only given to those with great destinies and those that can best use them, so I'd say it's the opposite," Elvira replies. "You get the blessing because the Great Spirits think you can do something great with it, but it's still up to you how you use the power you've been granted. I've also never heard of a blessing being revoked, so I don't think there's any rules that you can break or anything like that."

 

Good, if that's the case there's nothing to worry about for the moment. I'll be sure to look into the subject more in the future, but for now I'm satisfied with the answers I have. Blessings... I wonder what I can use them for? The fact that they're marked as Hidden Skills makes me think nobody else will be able to confirm that I have them, which means I won't be showing them off as a way to gain respect. If I had visible ability of some kind that clearly connected to them, perhaps I could show that off, but I don't have anything like that... Or do I?

 

Elvira, can Void creatures cast light magic?

 

The elf cocks her head to the side and looks at me like I've gone insane before she answers. "No? That's like asking if a fire can produce shadow. They're diametrically opposed, light and dark don't mix..." She trails off before giving me an almost accusatory look and asking, "You can cast light magic, can't you?"

 

No, but I have the Light Magic 0 skill.

 

Elvira cups her face in her hands, her voice slightly muffled as she speaks. "Of course you do. Of course, why not! A creature born of darkness that wields the power of the light, makes perfect sense. I shouldn't even be surprised any more." She sits still for a few moments before looking back up at me and continuing, "'Light Magic 0,' huh? So you can't actually cast any light spells yet?

 

No. Couldn't find any books about it.

 

"Well, do you want to give it a try? I'm a bit curious about how it'll go for you."

 

You know light magic?

 

"Well, just a simple spell for providing light. Just repeat after me and try to cast the spell, 'Oh light, I call upon you to reveal my path and chase away the dark. Illuminate."

 

A small ball of light appears over Elvira's outstretched hand, shining with a pure white brilliance. It's only barely brighter than the campfire, but somehow it bothers me even more than the sun did. I really, really don't want to cast that. It's unpleasant. But, if I can learn light magic that's one more ability I have in case I need it. There's only one problem...

 

I can't speak.

 

Elvira blinks at me, dropping her hand back to her side and allowing the light to fade. "Uh, right, of course you can't. Well, the chant isn't really necessary to cast the spell, it just helps to get the right feeling for it. I guess just do whatever you normally do for dark magic, but picture creating light and think the chant?"

 

Just like dark magic... That doesn't seem right to me. They're opposites, right? It feels like they should be different in some way, but Elvira's the expert here. I reach up five tendrils, winding them around each other and splaying out the ends in a crude mimicry of a hand, focusing on the area above it and imagining the bright, annoying light that appeared as I repeat the chant to myself. And... nothing. Not even a flicker of light.

 

After a moment of silence Elvira says, "Not working, huh? If I'm not wrong... You can see in the dark, right?"

 

Yes. Can't you?

 

"No," the elf replies. "I can't. I know of some races that can, though, and I've heard that they can have trouble with light magic. This spell relies on the feeling of being unable to see, and instinctive fear of the dark. Since you don't have that, you don't have any basis for the spell and it's going to be harder for you to cast. That's probably why you learned dark magic so quickly, you feel comfortable hiding in shadows."

 

Fear of the dark? Elves have such strange ideas. Although, if they can't see in the dark I suppose I can understand it. It's the same as when I was blinded by the light when I first left the lair, I couldn't see anything at all. If they see something like that any time they look at dark corners... Yeah, I can understand why they want a bit of light to see with. If I imagine something like Shadow's Mark, but even darker, dark enough that I can't see anything at all within its area of effect, just a hint of movement visible within it...

 

There's a sudden flare of blinding light, so bright that it rivals even that of the sun. I instinctively recoil from it, but it follows after me, chasing me. I can hear Elvira shouting nearby but that doesn't matter, the light is still right on top of me. In desperation I flail a few tendrils at it, trying to strike it out of the air, but it bobs away before I can touch it. The light begins to dim, and I can make out a small ball of light floating just above my tendrils that quickly fades into nothing. Was that... the spell Elvira was trying to teach me?