They finally got home after a long walk, but the mood was slightly tense along the way with Nyxir silently battling with his own thoughts and Olivia trying to maintain silence so as to not disturb Nyxir.
It would have been a happy mood with Olivia jittering about her aspects and seeking guidance, but after what happened to Nyxir, she felt it was not a good time to discuss her aspects, and this had left Nyxir with a quality thinking time to sort out his problem.
Old Lu was not home by the time they got back, and after spending almost an entire day without eating, Olivia took it upon herself to prepare the food despite being tired.
The celestial lake has a different time flow, which is faster than the outside world. This had hastened the awakening process, or else it would have really taken an entire day to do that, and after all the assessments and addresses, it was already nearing evening by the time they got home and fatigue was already setting in.
Nyxir sat by the table holding the black journal in his hand; there was no other clue he could find despite flipping through it numerous times. Tired, he rested his head on the table, but his consciousness was in his soul sea, staring at twinkling specks of light dancing wildly as if mocking him.
' could an ordinary aspect do this? '
' It is like they can sense my presence which means they might be sentient '
He spent most of his time observing the light specks in his soul before Olivia came to call him for dinner.
Old Lu was already seated by the table when Nyxir got there.
"How are you feeling now?" Old Lu looked at Nyxir with a rarely seen concern on his face.
"I'm very okay; it is not as bad as Olivia might have put it," Nyxir shrugged before settling down opposite old Lu.
He knew Olivia would tell old Lu and might interpret his feelings as downcast but it did not really bother him much, as someone who had being a master venerate in his previous life he could still find way to change his supposed future not to talk of his rare aspect.
"Did you hear that Segan died?" He looked at Old Lu who did not seem surprised in the least upon hearing the news.
" I see you went to investigate yesterday when I saw you," Old Lu replied, tapping his index finger on the table, something he often does whenever he is thinking.
"I also think something else is off about his disappearance, nobody saw his corpse and only believed what the official told them. But anyway, don't investigate further, as it could be dangerous," old Lu warned Nyxir.
By then Olivia had spread the usual big plates, and trays filled with cutlery in an extravagant manner.
They enjoyed a nice dinner, and each left for their own room, leaving Olivia to finish the clean up.
Nyxir laid down on his bed with his face towards the ceiling; he was still in thought as to what he would uncover on his first night as a diviner.
After awakening, a diviner will gain aspects as well as some knowledge of their aspects and attributes, these knowledge surfaces after their first sleep as they are newly awakened and are not yet accustomed to the changes in their body but afterwards, any advancements will immediately bring about the knowledge of their acquired abilities and it will depend on their intelligence to determine their absorption rate and numerous trials to eventually master them.
" I hope it is as I thought" he muttered softly before closing his eyes.
"Where am I?" Nyxir's eyes opened slowly and he looked around him with knitted brow.
All around him was nothing but darkness, everywhere was covered in pitch black darkness with nothing else in sight.
" Is this not where I saw in the celestial lake?" His heart trembled slightly as he cautiously surveyed his surroundings. He walked around looking behind him from time to time guarded against any assault.
"I can control my body here myself, and I'm lucid which means I'm not dreaming or might not be dreaming"
"What does this place mean then ?"
He would have thought he was blind due to not seeing anything else apart from tatal darkness but strangely, he discovered he could see himself clearly even to the minor detail without any stress or effort and more importantly, he hadn't bumped into any obstacles yet.
"Does this mean I can see in the dark or is this place an exception?"
He walked on and on but could not see anything else apart from himself and the total darkness that covers the world.
After walking for a long time, he noticed he did not feel any fatigue strangely but still decided to to take a rest after all he did not know how to exit and had not seen anything in this vast space and wandering around aimlessly might not be a good idea.
"So boring" he sat down his face sour until an I idea struck him.
"Since I am lucid here, can I enter my soul sea?"
He closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling the intangible bridge that connects him to his soul.
" There," he dived forward and creases slowly form on his forehead.
"What is happening here, did I remember wrong"
"There were supposed to be only light twinkling here "
"What did I miss?"
In his soul, the twinkling specks of lights that were supposed to contain only light specks now clearly show dark specks twinkling as well.
"Could it be it was always there but I did not notice it until now because of this space or it just appear?"
He studied the pattern of the twinkling specks intently and discovered something he had missed previously. The lights tinkle in and out of existence but what if they were not actually disappearing but had been there concealed among the shadows of other specks whenever they turn dark thereby becoming invisible at a glance?
It is simple, they become like dark holes that suck light to hide themselves in the darkness and as they are very small, it is nearly impossible to detect them which is why it is a surprised Nyxir to discover he can see them now and very clearly without difficulty.
"Could it be because of this place? I can see very clearly in this place too even though it is dark, then it means there is something unique about this place."
Nyxir open his eyes and exhaled slowly, a smile plastered on his face. "I knew this aspect is not ordinary, just the way it's provokes me is enough to cast a second doubt "
He had been wondering how an aspect can sense his presence whenever he used his consciousness to observe it. Normally, an aspect is not a living thing which is why it cannot acts on it's own unless given a mental comand which is actively utilizing it and that will means it cannot detect the presence of a consciousness.
His aspect just seems to be a bit different from the ones he had seen before not laying dormant as it should and also being increasingly active as if to acknowledge his presence whenever he is watching.
Another thing he noticed while he was doing his assessment that made him confirm that his aspect might be sentient was it's behavior. It would normally increase its activity whenever he is watching but when he closed his eyes to observe it's behavior during the assessment, they just slowly shimmer unimpressively and nothing more even when he knew it must have detected his consciousness.
"Was it actively being low profiled as well? Could that be why it did not register my rank making people believe I'm a trash?"
"Since it is this impressive and has two sides does that makes it an hybrid aspects?"
Hybrid aspects are a new type of aspects born from the fusion and awakening of both light and darkness divinity in an individual, they are more rare but not necessarily powerful than regular aspects but they can be trickery to deal with and are very versatile because they have a some abilities from both classes. Alas, the difficulty in awakening a hybrid aspect is also very high and almost impossible.
The more he guessed the more his eyes brightened, he was so happy with himself that he could jump in delight if not that he had not yet figured out the real abilities his aspect could grant him.
"I will have to gradually discover my aspect ability by myself" he sighed in exersperation.
Aspects that thas been in existence have a heritage or a documentary that depicts their possible abilities and method to improve their strength but for a new unknown aspects, it is a new route entirely and will need deep exploration and trials to figure out his aspect.
"I could have been able to glimpse some information from my dream but I can't even tell if I'm dreaming or not"
Nyxir sat down feeling a little frustrated, he would have loved to have his familiar sealing aspect but there was nothing he could do apart from trying to explore what his aspect ability is.