In another part of the city...
"So, what do you think of Mane City?" (Nareen)
I blink, forcefully pulling my attention from the massive, pyramid-like stone structure in the center of the city, and temporarily ignoring my questions about whether its apparent similarity to ancient Mesopotamian architecture is just a mix of coincidence and my own ignorance.
I fix my disbelieving gaze onto the young lion-kin staring up at me with a mix of excitement and nervousness.
"Wait...you guys really named this place 'Mane' City? As in, a lion's mane?" (Mizuki)
Nareen nods proudly.
"Yup! Pretty clever, right?" (Nareen)
I give him a pained expression.
Clever? Maybe...maybe I would agree, if it was a double meaning of main/mane because this is their primary city. However, even though I instinctively reinterpret all of Azura's languages into English counterparts with my blessing, I haven't forgotten that the actual phonetics are distinct. In Azura Common, no such play on words exists in this case. Which means...their naming sense is really just that lazy.
Nevertheless, I give Nareen a strained smile, nodding dismissively.
"Uhm...yeah, totally..." (Mizuki)
I let the affirmation trail off awkwardly, though Nareen doesn't seem to notice anything strange about it. He just smiles and goes back to scouring the city excitedly, his eyes coming to rest possessively on a nearby grilled meat stand. The unexpected behavior causes me to raise my eyebrows.
"Hey Nareen, you think your mom just sent you off alone with an Elder Dragon, right? Shouldn't you be, I don't know...scared? Instead you're awfully chipper, acting like it's a vacation or something." (Mizuki)
Nareen freezes for a second, then looks at me over his shoulder sheepishly.
"I, uhm...I don't really get to do stuff like this normally. Wander around the city without supervision, participate in things my parents consider dangerous...it's fun. Besides, I don't think you'll actually hurt me. My parents are just scared because you're powerful and unfamiliar, but my Aura Vision has shown me hidden, terrifying threats since I was a kid, and most of them go completely unnoticed by everyone else. I learned pretty quickly to not worry about things just because they could be dangerous. I'd never sleep otherwise. So, I was a little scared of you at first, but I calmed down after you talked with us for a while." (Nareen)
Nareen turns back and continues scanning the food stalls around us, like nothing happened, leaving me watching him in stunned silence. He gave me a lot of information there, some of it rather personal. I'd already guessed that his ability – what he calls Aura Vision – must involve being able to gauge race and magical power level over pretty large distances. Otherwise, the lion-kin royals would have never showed up as quickly as they had, already terrified.
However, as much as I've been interested in this ability of his – the only one I've seen that can so plainly expose me – I hadn't considered how it's affected him, especially surrounded by the relatively powerful beasts of this forest. I purse my lips thoughtfully, studying him.
As for him, his thoughts seem to have already moved on. His eyes lock on something, then he turns back to me with a grin.
"Hey Mizuki, you want some sweet meat skewers? Err...as part of my princely tour, of course, so you fully experience our city." (Nareen)
The corner of my mouth twitches.
"Oh? You'll be having some, too, right? So I don't feel left out...of course." (Mizuki)
Nareen nods vigorously.
"Of course!" (Nareen)
I chuckle quietly and nod. With an extra spring in his step, Nareen leads us to the small food stall in question. He quickly acquires four meat skewers for us, still sizzling and dripping with aromatic grease...and hands me just one of them. All the while, the leopard-kin woman selling them is staring at me warily, casting questioning glances at Nareen, clearly waiting for an explanation for my presence. However, either oblivious or uncaring to her plight, Nareen just gives her a dismissive, "It's fine, he's with me," and moves on.
We move to a shaded area of the massive plaza and eat our skewers slowly, savoring them, enjoying the sights and sounds of the makeshift bazaar. Or at least, I do...Nareen just inhales his. As he's swallowing the last bite of his third skewer, I'm only halfway through my first. Not because it's bad – though it's no match for Earth food – but because I just don't feel that hungry.
Actually, now that I think about it, I haven't been eating much lately. I can't remember the last time I intentionally sought out a meal, instead of just eating with the others by coincidence. My brows start to furrow, my thoughts drifting for once towards the strange anomaly in my own behavior, before I'm derailed by the sight of Nareen staring at me intensely.
Correction...staring at the remainder of my meat skewer. When he notices me noticing him, instead of being embarrassed, he clears his throat politely.
"Ehem...say, Mizuki...how much do Elder Dragons actually eat?" (Nareen)
I feel my eye twitch, but I hand him the remainder of my skewer nonetheless.
"Here...you can have it. Anyway, I'm not sure about your question – I've only ever seen the eating habits of one Elder Dragon, and only while she's in human form. She eats a normal amount, I guess?" (Mizuki)
Nareen takes my skewer with a beaming smile, more or less ignoring my response.
"Thanks!" (Nareen)
He immediately begins tearing off meat chunks with gusto, chewing ravenously, until he freezes a few seconds later. Confusion washes over his expression, then he turns towards me slowly with a bewildered look. He speaks, his mouth still partially full.
"Wait... you said 'her'...and 'only one Elder Dragon'...are you not one yourself?" (Nareen)
I smirk at him.
"Finally stopped stuffing your face long enough to pick up on that, huh?" (Mizuki)
Nareen's eyes widen in disbelief.
"Seriously? Well...I mean...then..." (Nareen)
I cut him off with an amused grin.
"What am I?" (Mizuki)
Nareen nods slowly. I hum thoughtfully for a moment, pretending to consider whether I should tell him. He stares at me in anticipation, the rest of his meaty treat temporarily forgotten. Eventually, I relent.
"A Nephilim." (Mizuki)
Nareen blinks.
"What?" (Nareen)
I give him a small, patient smile.
"Nephilim...it's the name of my race." (Mizuki)
He stares at me skeptically for a moment.
"Never heard of them." (Nareen)
I chuckle.
"Well, that's not surprising. I'm the only Nephilim on this planet, and I prefer to keep a low profile. In the past, I've posed as a human and pretended not to have any magic. Nobody's ever questioned it, really...not until I encountered you and your Aura Vision." (Mizuki)
After several moments of stunned silence, Nareen collects himself and nods at me in understanding. I even detect a hint of pride invading his voice.
"That makes sense, I guess. Aura Vision is a bloodline spell, and even then, it's been generations since one of my ancestors had an affinity for it. I might be the only person in the world right now who can use a spell like this, and I'm glad for it, even if the damn thing might condemn me to a life of boredom." (Nareen)
I feel a mix of mild but varied emotions at his statement. Relief that the ability sounds so rare. Amusement at his ironic belief that nobody else can use what is effectively a kind of magic sense. Curiosity at what he means about the spell condemning him to boredom. However, all of this is overwhelmed by my fixation on the unfamiliar term he just used, and the implications of how he used it.
"Wait, what do you mean by that? A bloodline spell?" (Mizuki)
He raises his eyebrows.
"You don't know?" (Nareen)
I shake my head, and surprise flickers across his face.
"Wow...sorry, I just assumed. Well, a bloodline spell is exactly what it sounds like – a spell that only descendants of a certain family have the chance to be born with an affinity towards. I can't speak for other races, but they're pretty rare among the cat-kin. The lion-kin royal family is the only one with a bloodline spell, and we only have the one. Any others have been lost to time." (Nareen)
My brows furrow, both my curiosity and suspicion triggered.
"I see...and this Aura Vision of yours, this bloodline spell...can you show it to me?" (Mizuki)
Nareen gives me a strange look, a mix of surprise and suspicion. At first, I think he's going to decline, but after a moment he glances around nervously before I hear him muttering an incantation and his eyes begin to glow a golden color.
I immediately activate my magic domain, tracking the flow of mana in and around us, and I focus on Nareen's magic. However, I'm surprise to see...nothing. No altered flow of magic in or around his body. Nothing magical jumps out after several seconds of scrutinizing him. Then, I finally see something...subtle magic flow all over his skin, like water slowly evaporating and dispersing into the surrounding atmosphere. Not doing anything, not maintaining a connection to Nareen, not even concentrated on his eyes or something...the magic is just leaving, seemingly wasted.
I systematically alter my magic domain to sense every type of energy I can think of, scrutinizing Nareen's strange magic loss for an explanation, but find none. A sense of foreboding settles in my chest, and I quickly dismiss my magic domain. Not wasting another second, I speak...repeating Nareen's incantation under my breath.
And nothing at all happens.
My eyes don't glow, my perception of the world around me doesn't change, I don't feel my magic stirring...nothing. Even though I theoretically have an affinity for every class, the spell doesn't work. Just like Nareen implied it wouldn't.
I frown, my unease growing as a longstanding suspicion of mine becomes a little more credible.
As far as I know, the ability to cast any spell should essentially be a function of one's comprehension of underlying natural phenomena. I have seen zero evidence that, once someone is taught the true nature of magic and appropriate science, they can't eventually use magic spells from all three classes. Alto is living proof of that.
Of course, there seem to be very clear, race-specific limitations and trends for magic class on Azura, especially with the demi-humans. However, I've always assumed that was just because of cultural differences – the areas of early education that certain races emphasize, combined with Azura's dogma that magic class is inherent and immutable, predispose certain races to more easily comprehend certain types of spells.
Yet, I've noticed inconsistencies in this theory of purely comprehension-based spell casting, piling up since I arrived on Azura. There's only so long I can refrain from jumping to conclusions about those inconsistencies. Only so long I can tell myself that, just because I don't understand something, that doesn't mean it has no natural explanation.
Only so long until I have to admit...Azazel hasn't been as forthcoming with me as I thought.