Completely caught off guard by the sudden vision, Cairon tried to get a hold of himself. He turned to look at Ignis, noticing that he was staring at him.
"Care to explain what this is?"
Ignis, his voice a bit heavier than before, replied,
"This is a prayer scroll, used in sermons by the Saelithari."
Cairon, remembering the Saelith he had heard in the vision and the one Ignis had mentioned a couple of minutes ago, replied,
"A prayer to their deity, Saelith, you mean?"
"Correct. Technically, he was not their official deity, more like a guardian."
Ignis cleared his throat.
"After centuries, the texts change. At first, he was called the Esteemed Guardian, but as time went by, the later relics began depicting his name as equal to their god; the god of the seas, water, and waves."
Ignis looked down at the scroll for a moment before continuing.
"Saelith was known by many names, but the oldest surviving texts give him a title."
He slowly looked back at Cairon.
"Saelith, the Holder of the Endless Flow, the Seed of Life, the One Who Adapts, the Overseer of the Waves."
Cairon remained silent.
Ignis continued, his voice becoming quieter.
"He was not simply the god of water. Water was only the form through which his Law was understood. Think of Water as the purest form in which nature expresses his Law."
"The rivers that never stop moving."
"The oceans that endure."
"The rain that gives life."
"The blood that flows through every living thing."
"The waves that carry everything. Water, sound, and even things you wouldn't expect."
He paused for a moment.
"He represented life, healing, change, persistence, and adaptation."
Ignis looked at the blue stone resting on the table.
"Water does not need to be stronger than what stands before it."
"It simply exists and persists."
"And eventually, it finds a way through."
"So my powers are related to Saelith, or just water?" Cairon asked, completely in awe of this figure.
"Your powers are whatever you make of them. It can be just an affinity to water, or it can become much more, closer to the Law that it represents," Ignis replied.
"So I might be able to heal people?" Cairon asked skeptically, getting these ideas from imaginative stories he had heard before.
"You might, but healing is not without cost."
Ignis affirmed it with a simple nod.
"How does this explain how I can hear people even though they're far away?" Cairon asked.
"Okay, so this shows you have a bit more affinity than the average Joe. You can comprehend the waves. In this case, sound waves," Ignis said.
"This is unbelievable. I can't really believe what I'm hearing right now."
Marek stood silently nearby, his expression caught somewhere between disbelief and confusion. His eyes moved between Cairon and Ignis as if he were trying to fit everything he had just heard into a world that had suddenly become much larger than it was a few minutes ago.
"Sir, is this really the real world? Am I dreaming or hallucinating this whole thing happening to us?" Vynn asked Marek, equally dumbfounded.
Marek didn't reply. He simply kept staring at Cairon and Ignis as they continued their conversation.
"So how do I use this prayer scroll? And what exactly does it do?" Cai asked.
"Right now, you have affinity but no control. Prayers make you attuned to their corresponding Law. They enable you to control the aspects of that Law more fluidly and naturally," Ignis said.
"Any side effects?" Cai asked.
"Nope. No side effects for becoming more attuned with that boring, calm Law," Ignis said.
"But the more complicated the power you want to use, the harder it'll be. You might not even be able to use some of them. It all comes down to your aptitude," Ignis added.
"Then shouldn't I first become more accustomed to my powers and see how I can handle Aether?" Cai asked Ignis.
Ignis looked at him for a moment.
Then his eyes fell back to the ancient scroll, as if thinking about what to reply.
"From what I saw of you, you're highly in tune with Saelith's Law. Let's go into a more open area and we can go over the basics," Ignis said.
"Sure, we can go now. I need to get accustomed to using it," Cai replied.
All four of them left the base and went to the abandoned workshop on top.
"Here we can check your powers and you can practice. It's private, and usually no one comes anywhere near here." Marek said.
Cairon and Ignis walked together. They went to the middle, facing each other. Ignis asked Cairon,
"You ready?"
"I'm ready whenever you are," Cairon replied.
"All right, close your eyes."
Cairon did as he was instructed.
"Breathe deeply. Inhale slowly and then let it go, exhale. Do it as naturally as you can."
Cairon, steadying his breath, inhaled deeply and then let go, letting whatever he sucked in come out as if letting a balloon get emptied.
"Good. Now listen to me while your eyes are closed. Do you feel the air moving into your nose and out of your mouth?"
"Yes."
"Try to smell it, feel exactly how it feels, the coldness, the heaviness of it."
"Now follow it. Imagine it goes into your lungs, then it's absorbed into your blood vessels, and then into every corner of your body: head, chest, heart, stomach, toes, and your fingertips. Can you imagine it?" Ignis asked.
"Yes, I can," Cairon replied, now visibly calmer, as if falling asleep.
"This is the difficult part now. Try to feel it come into your fingertips. Try to feel your fingertips. There's a technique for this that people of the past used. Try stimulating the tips of your fingers by rubbing them together. This way, you can feel your fingertips more vividly. And remember, this power is like an extended limb from your body. In the future, if you get the hang of it, you can control it from every part of your body."
Ignis kept telling him all he knew, enthusiastic as if he had gotten a new pupil after a long time.
Cai tried as Ignis instructed him. For help, he tried the technique he had mentioned and rubbed his fingers together. As he held his palms upward and concentrated more, he didn't feel a change, so he tried once more, this time more relaxed, trying to focus more.
As a couple of seconds passed, he could feel a dampness on his fingers, followed by a sense of coolness. So he tried harder and harder, trying to make something of it. Bit by bit, he could feel drops of water forming on top of his fingertips, bit by bit.
"Oh damn, this is actually real!"
Vynn remarked, mouth wide open.
"It is real indeed," Marek affirmed, deep in thought, completely stunned.
Seeing Cairon succeeding, a smile formed on Ignis' lips.
"Good job, kid, but this is only the first step. Now imagine forming it into something small, a small rod for instance. Connect all four together in a straight line."
As Cairon did as instructed, slowly, the water droplets connected, forming a straight rod, reminiscent of a water stick.
"Now try holding it," Ignis instructed.
As Cairon reached his hand to grab it, it dissolved and lost its form, turning into nothingness.
"Now that's the second step and the first challenge."
"Try to form it again , maintain and grab it ."
Ignis instructed.
Cairon focusing once more , first created the droplets , then connected them together , then it was time for the last part , he had to maintain it ,
Thinking to himself he said " It would've been way easier if I could make it absord the aether around it without my help , and I could just then grab it"
Oddly, as if listening to Cairon's whims , the water rod started pulsating,
Cairon caught of guard just watched ,
The rod kept getting larger and larger , as if absorbing more and more aether.
"Uh…Cai?" Vynn startled.
Marek looked towards Ignis , to tell him to make Cairon stop, but he saw Ignis staring at Cairon , one eyebrow shot up as if amused and surprised.
"Oh…..that shouldn't have been possible for now " Ignis remarked.