The van they were in was like any other. Black, spacious, tires, ballistic steel and thick, laminated polycarbonate glass, just like any other. Seated in the front together with Galleon, Edric enjoyed the passing view while he drove across the dirty path out of the forest.
It was dark and raining outside. He could barely see a palm in front of him, only the silhouette of tall trees and the eventual lighting that was still persistent in the sky. Only a dim light illuminated the cockpit.
A IV needle was connected to the usual serum that was attached to the wall. Even while traveling he still needs the damn thing. If that wasn't enough, they would have to stop periodically so he could stretch his leg.
With that considered the entire trip should last about three weeks. Just a week away from the entrance ceremony at the Academy. So there was no reason to worry.
One may be wondering: Why doesn't he just take a plane? Good question, with a simple answer: They had no money for such luxury.
Leaning back on the chair, he eyed a book that Galleon had brought.
"A Study in Realms and Their Meaning." He read the title.
"That one is good," Galleon said. "It explains some things about some of the Realms and their powers, though the title is a little weird and misleading. It explains what you want to know."
"Oh, right," Edric suddenly remembered, "I forgot to ask Tina what a 'Farmer' is."
Tina was at the back, and since the back was blocked from the front by a reinforced wall, there was no way for him to ask now. He would have to wait until their stop.
"You don't know what a Farmer is?" Galleon asked, surprised.
"Is that weird?"
"It is, since you are a noble, a Farben no less."
"...Then, since you know what it is, why don't you tell me?"
"I could," he took a hand out of the steering wheel, picked up the book, and threw it on his lap. "But since you like books, why don't you read it?"
"...Are you serious?" He looked at the book. It had, at least, five hundred pages, "... Can't you just tell me?"
"Aren't you going to the Academy?" Galleon said. "May as well start studying now."
Edric sighed, looking back to the book. The author's name was missing and the cover was slightly worn down. Indeed he loved books. Exercising his mind was the only thing he could do while he had been hospitalized in the past.
But five hundred pages of pure information dump would surely be exhausting…
'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.' He thought before opening the book.
The seven realms were all but complicated. Their own names are self-explanatory, the only difficult one being Concepts with their many powers and different interpretations of the same Concept. That much he knew already.
However, there was something he had no idea that it existed. Aura.
Aura was a kind of mystical energy that Awakeners could control. They dictated how strong a person's power could be. For example: A Physical person could bust their already stupidly strong natural body even further, achieving feats that completely challenge logic.
Some Physics could use it to delve deeper into a person's mind, alter someone's personality, and truly mess up their mind. Summoners could use it to share senses with their summon, even assume their form in some cases.
Yet, it also served as a shield for these powers.
If one were fighting a Physic, they would need to rotate and coat their brain with the proper amount of Aura, just enough to counter the other person. If they were against a Physical person, coating the entire body to become a bit stronger would be good, but not even close enough to their level though. The use of Aura really was simple, but difficult to master.
Devours and Concepts were the only ones that Aura behaved differently.
Devours had no aura at all, literally none.
They possess a deep desire to eat human meat, so much so that the Kingdom ruled them as criminals at birth. Killing them as soon as they were born. Of course, no system is truly perfect. Some parents would hide their children, raise them, then be eaten, and cause an immense problem. All because, when a Devour eats someone, they will obtain their power whatever it may be, and in theory they didn't seem to have a limit either. They could eat as many as they wanted, becoming a calamity.
No cases of such a thing ever happened, but one could never be too careful.
'But how could they absorb someone's power and not have Aura? Wouldn't that weaken them? How can they use the powers then if they need Aura to work properly?' Edric thought.
Thankfully the answer was on the next page.
Devours have a natural rejection of Aura, they are naturally resistant to its intrusion. Which meant that the majority of powers were completely useless against them.
If that wasn't enough, instead of using Aura to boost their powers, Devours would use their own bodies as a mediator. They would defy while using their powers, their bodies growing frail and decaying as they used more. That's the reason they couldn't stop eating: To replenish their bodies. Not that they would stop if that didn't exist.
'Macabre.'
Unfortunately, since Aura couldn't touch them, there was no way of telling if someone's a Devour unless at birth when they will bite the umbilical cord for some reason.
The complete opposite to that was the Concepts. Aura ruled over it all.
While a person from this Realm would have a natural control over their Concept, it didn't even scratch the surface of what they could do with Aura.
The book used an example of a person who lived long ago. This person had the Concept of Distance as his powers. Without Aura he could pull small objects in his direction, shrinking the distance between them.
But as he grew stronger and mastered Aura, he suddenly was untouchable. Distance became extremely abstract for him.
He could cross entire countries with just a thought, nothing could touch him without his permission–always a few centimeters away. He could breach the distance between him and the enemy. Between the enemy and his sword. The possibilities were infinite.
'Seriously what the fuck is this? Isn't this Realm a bit too over powered?! Surely it can't be all good, right?' And indeed it wasn't.
As soon as a person awakened to this Realm they would receive immense power over reality, but at a cost. Some people call it flaw, others a weakness, but no matter what one called it, it was undeniably a Curse.
A flaw could be anything, from being unable to move to not being able to remember nothing. It all depended on what and how a person's power worked.
The book used an example about a person with the Concept over memories.
This person's weakness made him forget anything within a period of a month. Of course, he could live around it by simply writing a diary, but that wasn't the point.
For obvious reasons people kept their Curse locked behind a locked door, tied with unbreakable chains never to be leaked. Which was also why this wasn't common knowledge.
'This book really is something else. Now I understand why there is no Author. The man would surely be persecuted for revealing something like that.'
One of the ways to discover a person's Realm and Aura was through their Vibes, by concentrating Aura around one's eyes.
A person's Vibe would alter a lot. It usually depended on their Realm, their personality, and sometimes even their appearance.
A Physical person's Vibes could be a serene energy always surrounding their entire body, calm and robust. While another could be explosive, almost destructive.
A Summoner could have many strings connecting to their pets. Illusioners could…well, they vary a lot, so much so that the book gave no examples. The last example was about Devours; They had none, obviously.
One may think it made them easy to spot, but since people without Realms didn't have Vibes and it was easy to hide one's Vibes, it wasn't a guaranteed method. Concept's Vibes vary so much, in so different forms, that the book didn't even try to make an example. Just a brief notice.
'Crazy. To think such a deeper world existed inside of Realms…Seriously, how I didn't know that? Is that why my brothers and sisters are so strong? Can they all use Aura?'
If even Tina could, then surely they could too. Which was one more reason to leave the mansion.
'Now that I think about it, the book had no mentions about the Elemental and Illusion Realms. I wonder why…'
Averting his gaze from the book for an instant, Edric noticed the forest had disappeared, replaced by a highway. Surprisingly, it didn't have many cars, perhaps because it was the middle of the night and it still rained heavily. Lightnings falling from the sky in the distance while they traveled through on the side of a hill, green fields of grass stretching across the horizon.
Edric caught himself thinking if this rain was even natural. It had never rained like this before, not for as long as he could remember, and some of the lighting was a bit unnatural, always falling in the same direction.
'Perhaps someone is fighting somewhere. Some with an Element of Lighting…or perhaps, the Concept of Rain? Does this concept even exist?'
Edric still wasn't finished with the book, though. An extensive last section still waited for him. Perhaps if he read it, some of his questions would be answered, but, just like he had predicted, all that info made him tired.
But at the same time, he was too curious to sleep.
'Why am I even curious about that? I don't even have a Realm. I can't use Aura.' While true, Edric couldn't really contain his thirty for knowledge. It was…addictive.
As he was about to continue reading, though, Galleon suddenly turned off the lights and the cockpit was immersed in darkness.
"That's good enough already. You should get some sleep. These dark circles aren't fooling anyone," he said while snatching the book from Edric's hands.
"...Weren't you the one who told me to read?"
He shrugged, but didn't respond.
Left without a response Edric couldn't do anything besides sigh and sink into the chair and soon went to sleep.