capelclan:
  Aria was captivated. Perhaps she didnât entirely understand what Edmund was lecturing about ( and yes, Edmund, you were approaching lecturing here ), but that didnât make her any less curious about the subject. The Adephagos⊠Dad had told her about that- a great monster that spread over the very furthest stretches of the sky; heâd said that there was no where you could be that you would not have seen it. Something so vast was incomprehensible. And something like that could reappear? Dad had made it sound like they had quelled that evil forever, yet here Edmund asserted it was still a danger. She felt a shiver up her spine at the thought- they worked to hard to rid the world of it beforeâŠÂ To do it again⊠thatâd be nothing short of a miracle. But it seemed much easier to just take preventative action, which Edmund was contributing to.
  He really was amazing, wasnât he?
  She smiled, holding it up and looking at it again. âI had n-no idea aer was th-that bad.â she said wistfully. Sheâd heard stories about blastia and the technology of the past; it had all sounded so incredible. Artes were so much harder now; possible, but difficult to summon the mana for. But the way he talked- twenty years, measly? That was nearly Ariaâs entire life. But she supposed for science⊠what a marvelous world he must see- all of those who were so intelligent.Â
  And it was satisfying to see someone so enthused about it! Dad had always said that passion was beautiful, and Aria had never understood. Heâd talked about Tessa, her interest in wildlife and her odd love of all things feline; heâd told her that he could listen to her talk about it for hours. Listening to Edmund, she wondered if that was how heâd felt- aer, blastia, mana, Geraios or whatever- none of it really made her thrill. But Edmund was so excitedâŠ
  So when he stopped talking, she cant her head to the side, fitting herself with the most curious, intrigued look she could muster. âA-Are they that sim-similar? They m-manifest artes in like ways, I gu-essâŠâ Tell me moreâŠ! Maybe one day, she would understand enough to be able to discuss it instead of just listening⊠Edmund probably didnât have a lot of people interested in this; the least she could do was be a conduit for discussion.
âOh, aer is vital to Terca Lumireis, however at the same time puts it at risk. Thereâd been an incident once where the Entelexeia Gusios absorbed far too much aer and almost became an Adephagos. Since his kind are the only beings capable of regulating such raw energy, theyâve taken it upon themselves to do so. Thatâs why, given there are very few Entelexeia left, itâs never a good idea to stimulate aer more than necessary.â
Two known Entelexeia left, to be exact. Baâul, the creature that freely roamed the sky, and Krones, who swallowed an entire Krityan city. Oh, what he would give to be able to visit someday. The knowledge an ancient race could reveal. Perhaps they would be able to shed more light on the secrets of the Rizomata formula. Of course, Rita Mordio had most of it figured out studying the princess, but one could never be too careful.
He was surprised to find a living formula like Caleb, truth be told--a human who could directly manipulate aer without much thought. There had been traces of his formula being tampered with--likely the work of Rita Mordio herself. No surprise there. She and Princess Estellise were known to be close friends, of course sheâd keep a close eye on her children, as well. When he checked, he found that Rita even tampered with Renildaâs formula. Less grand than Calebâs by a large margin, but still potentially dangerous.
Careful and precise, as expected of his mentor!
Hearing the question, Edmundâs eyes practically lit up! He set his notebook rather forcefully on his lap. âVery similar! In fact, mana is actually condensed aer--a substance closer to matter more than anything else, and is therefore more stable. However, it makes handling it rather difficult. This is why spirits are essential as they are able to manipulate mana directly--theyâre basically evolved forms of Entelexeia, handling an evolved version of aer.â
Edmund smiled. It was different from the condescending smirks he showed Renilda and Donnivan, far from the timid smiles Alex and Caleb tended to squeeze out of him, and from the nonexistent ones he showed Gilbert, Meg and Leticia. It was a smile oozing freedom--passion--it crinkled his eyes and pushed up his cheeks akin to how a child would, it was a smile that said he was having fun.Â
âBut that also means there will be evolved versions of artes! Aria, do you understand what this means?!â he leaned closer to her as if punctuating his question. âIf Rita Mordio and I succeed in our research, we can perhaps introduce summoning to the world!â
Of course, they were still stuck in mere theory, but if something like that deterred him, then heâd kiss his breakthrough goodbye.
