CH832 Mora's Perspective

Delair was humming as she pulled him through the streets, the young dryad as full of energy as ever while Mora looked at her, filled with his own curiosity from the bits in her soul that were standing out, forcing a question to the front of his mind.

Just what is Ben doing to her?

He’d been there for all of her last levels, crafting and enchanting and plant magic as well, and while he’d helped her along a bit with each of them he could already see she was getting close to getting new ones again at a speed that couldn’t be chalked up to his own involvement meddling with her soul. Compared to the people he’d see walking through town or at any of the places Thera would bring him while she worked, the growth benefits she’d get from working under a master seemed incomparable. Not just making her better faster but also building her foundation for the future.

…Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.

He liked Delair, almost as much as he liked Thera and Ben. It had taken a bit to understand that and he was well aware he wasn’t doing the best job of showing it but despite that, all three of them had been doing their best to shower him with nothing but kindness, talking to and playing with him and trying to make sure he felt comfortable in everything he did and it all felt just so nice. Incomparable to the life he’d had when he’d first been born.

His mind flashed to it against his will, memories of orders he didn’t want to follow and expectations he didn’t want to meet. Day after day after day of feeling the crushing disappointment of both the great life and death spirits, two he understood to be his parents who themselves didn’t see each other as such. Spirits weren’t parental beings, their race held no such instinct so he didn’t blame them either but at the same time, he knew he was different from a normal spirit too. He hadn’t even realized he’d been craving that sort of love until he’d actually started to get it.

He hadn’t meant to give any of that away either but just the thought had brought a lull to his step, enough that it made Delair stop dragging him and turn back to make sure he was okay.

“Sorry, was I too fast?”

“No, you’re fine.”

How could she be too fast when he had perfect control over his speed thanks to the power he had over the mana that made up his body? If anything, he was the one always needing to take things slower for the mortals of the world, even if he didn’t see it that way. He had his preferred pace and it was enough to just wander peacefully, even if it did mean he’d be pulled along by the girl to keep up any time they were together.

Despite what he’d said though, she slowed down, walking more his speed even if she didn’t let go of his arm. Young but empathetic enough to see there was something in his thoughts, she tried to actually talk instead of just dragging him off as fast as she could to play.

“So, what have you been doing with Thera when you go out, anyway?”

“Nothing really. I’m just with her while she works so I’m not left alone at home. I guess she and Ben aren’t comfortable with the idea, even if I’d be fine.”

That wasn’t all entirely true, he wouldn’t just do nothing, even if that was what he wanted them all to think. He liked healers. He enjoyed the very concept of them. People who spent their time and energy helping others, could there be anything more valuable in that or any other world? And feeling that, how could he not help them in turn? Every one he could see was constantly putting in their full efforts but it never seemed to be enough which was where he came in, discreetly giving them the benefits of his own power where he could, even if every bit of growth they got from it typically just meant they had more work to do. Still, they were all happy each time they got a level and that couldn’t help but make him feel good as well, knowing that he could be more than what his creators had wanted of him.

It was all a secret of course, he didn’t want people to know and start placing their expectations of what else he should be doing on them but more and more he was wondering if it was something he could talk about, at least a little. He knew Ben would try to do the same and he liked that, even if that particular guardian of his seemed to be a lot less efficient at it. Transferring knowledge to make it happen was always going to be harder on the recipient than just building up their souls with mana but despite the differences in technique, Mora found himself wanting to talk about it and more, if he was being honest with himself he wanted to be praised. Every time he had been before had been wonderful and he wanted it again. He wanted him and Thera to be proud of him.

…Maybe one day.

He still wasn’t sure. He didn’t know what sort of expectations would be placed on him if he revealed himself like that and he wasn’t so ready to find out. As things were he loved his life, he didn’t want to risk losing the happiness he’d found.

“Well, if you’re not doing anything you should work with me some more!” Delair told him, oblivious to all of the thoughts he had swirling inside of him. “It was fun before, wasn’t it?”

“...It was.”

“So you should come back sometime and learn more, it will be even more fun!”

“...Maybe, but there’s only so much I can get from it.”

“Huh, what do you mean?”

“I can’t enchant.”

When it came to the crafting Ben would teach there were no real issues. He could memorize instructions and had no problem when it came to perfectly moving his body to his will but he couldn’t bind any magic to his creations which seemed like one of the bigger parts of the work there, even if it just made Delair laugh.

“So what? I couldn’t either when I started trying to learn this stuff.”

“Yeah, but I’ll never be able to.”

It was a limit within himself he didn’t expect to bother him and it never would have before he had been left there but now it felt like a sore spot. He wanted to be able to do more things, unbound by the limits of what he was but for all of his strength there were some things he couldn’t escape, even if Delair just laughed and patted his back.

“So you can’t use magic then? So what? You can rely on me,” She said confidently. “Enchanting and plant magic, I’m great at both. Even if you can’t do anything, I can do plenty.”

“It’s not like I can’t do anything,” He muttered, getting another laugh from her.

“But can you do this?” She asked him as she walked over to a nearby garden at a passing house and, holding out a hand and concentrating deeply, made the flowers there bloom while looking both tired and smug. “Betcha can’t.”

He knew she just wanted to show off but despite any maturity he might have had, he was still young and the display combined with her attitude made him feel only one thing, a sense of provocation that made him want to boast and brag a bit too, one he normally would have been able to squash if it was with any of the adults around but not with her. He knew she wouldn’t have the same expectation of his power and he wanted to show that even if he couldn’t do the same things she could, he could still do plenty.

And I can just make her promise not to tell anyone after. He told himself as he looked at the flowerbed before shaking his head. As the holder of a power that combined life and death, he did have some power over the physical forms that held souls as well, even if they were weaker compared to the soul spells he could do, but if he was going to show off he wanted to do it in a way that aligned with who he was so he instead directed his focus to the world around him beyond the purely physical, speaking out as he did.

“Can all of you help me for a minute?” He called out, not with his voice but with his mana, getting a particular mix of spirits to join him when he did, with one speaking up for the rest.

“What is it, great one?” It asked, sounding as unsure as it said it as any of them did. They understood that he was a great spirit but they were unable to understand him beyond that, his nature a mystery to him. Not only was he something that existed beyond the regular bounds of their kind but he was alone, no normal soul spirits in existence for him to represent. It was yet another thing that separated him but one he could mostly ignore, instead focusing on the ones around him.

“I’m going to help you all get a bit stronger so after I’m going to get you to cast a spell for me in exchange, okay?”

“Hmm? We don’t understand.”

“That’s okay, you will.”

He may have been limited in flexibility but when it came to the domain under which he ruled he was practically a god and reaching out with his mana he touched the souls of the spirits around him, feeling the locks that existed within each and opening them in a way that no other being could have done, thinking little of that choice until it was too late to undo it.

The mana filling the world carried a scream as the earth shook beneath their feet, the garden they were by exploding in its growth to unnatural proportions with all of the other plant life around it with it in a way that forced everyone else walking the streets to flee and themselves as well, with Mora scooping up Delair to rush back to the shop, terrified of what he’d done and what consequences it would bring.