Devourer Of Destiny - Chapter 154

“A what?”

Everything still felt a bit hazy to Albus at the moment, and so he hadn’t quite heard what Miss Sable had said. Or so he told himself.

“An incubus, Albus,” Miss Sable replied, peering up at him with those sea-green eyes that had become flinty at his pretense. “It’s not exactly unheard of, but not all demons are beasts or plants or even living things. Some way or another, one of your forebears came into being as a creature of lust personified. It’s exceeding rare for a demon of that type to procreate, but it isn’t uncommon for it to skip a few generations before cropping up in full bloom.”

The entire visit to Harmony Sable’s office had been a surreal experience. Even right now Albus couldn’t quite fathom all that she was saying. A voice in him insisted that if anybody was related to a lust demon, it was the woman in front of him. Was that how she knew all of this, then? Was she in fact creating some kind of cover story to hide that she had just converted him?

Albus thrust aside those stupid thoughts as quickly as they surfaced. As if someone like her needed to resort to converting a total dork like him. He had seen her other students, a handsome man with the air of a playboy and the woman with her darkly exotic beauty. Either of them would’ve been a lot easier if it was something she did.

“So does that mean I’m going to, uh, well…” Albus felt a flush creep up his face as he tried to voice the first concern that came to mind.

“To be honest, I don’t know how it’ll affect your personality,” Miss Sable answered, “or what kind of drive it’ll give you. The change is, however, very very noticeable, even if people won’t know what it is.”

Albus glanced over at the water mirror again with the weird surreality of looking at a total stranger in the mirror. Everything about that guy was just so much better that one might think it was a practical joke, but as he looked down at himself he could verify it all, including–

“Yes, very nice, you should probably throw on some clothing now though, dear,” Miss Sable said, snidely breaking Albus out of his thoughts.

Flushing badly enough that he imagined it probably was extending to his shoulders, Albus turned and retrieved his discarded underclothes and robes, doing his best to fit back into them. Everything was decidedly tight, but it wasn’t as though he had another change of clothes to resort to. His ever-loose robes now felt like they were about to burst off his shoulders, and he really felt the small part about his smallclothes now.

His shoes, however, were a completely lost cause. There was no way those would fit now.

“Hm, yes, I think I’ll have to introduce you to Martin,” Miss Sable said from behind him with a sigh. “He might have some idea on how to dress you, and I guess I can pay for some of it since I imagine none of your wardrobe is going to work after this.”

“Thank you, Miss Sable,” he replied, trying to sound as gracious as possible while continuing to adjust his clothing. He turned and gave a bow from the waist.

Miss Sable gave a slight nod in response to the bow. “Let’s check something. If you could float in the air for me, just a bit off the ground, that would be good.”

Albus frowned, a bit confused. He hadn’t reestablished his foundation, and if Miss Sable were to be believed he wouldn’t, so why ask him to float now? With a shrug, he attempted to motivate the essence around him, although it would respond whisper-like at best without his foundation.

“Not like that,” Miss Sable barked. “Let go of all essence and don’t use a single bit of it. Close your eyes and just… ignore gravity a little bit.”

Albus shrugged again but didn’t argue. Setting his meridians to rest, he closed his eyes.

“For a body tempering expert of the right level, gravity is merely the body clinging to the earth,” Miss Sable’s voice penetrated into the darkness soothingly. “Release your grip, relax the hold you have on the world, and it will relax its hold on you. Just as the ground no longer binds the tiers of the Academy, it also now no longer binds you. Let go.”

The last words echoed inside his mind. “Let go.”

Albus was having difficulty believing it could be that simple.

“Let go.”

If just forgetting gravity was all it took to fly, what kind of world would it be?

“It’s just a little gravity. Let. Go.”

Albus let out an explosive sigh. “Fine, I’m letting go, are you happy now?!”

“Open your eyes, Albus.”

Albus’ eyes snapped open. Looking down, he gasped.

The floor was a good half of his height below his bare feet. “I, I, I’m…”

“Congratulations on smoothly transitioning into the Sky Realm in addition to having awoken your heritage, Albus,” Miss Sable announced. “If you want to get back down, just gently bring the ground to you. Your entire perspective of the world has to change now; this isn’t like using the power of essence to propel yourself. In a way, by changing yourself, you are changing the entire world.”

Albus nodded, but changing his concept of everything was a tall order. It took a minute or two, but he managed to finally lower himself to the floor and allow a somewhat normal pull of gravity to exert itself over him again.

“Your assignment right now is to practice that principle, Albus. It extends beyond the concept of flight.” With a flick of a hand, a ball of lightning hovered in the air in front of Miss Sable. “Allow me to demonstrate since I’m more practiced at this. As you should be able to sense, this ball lighting is something that could injure a Foundation Building expert, yes?”

Albus nodded. He could confirm that much with his cultivation. “Yes, Miss Sable.”

“Watch.” Slowly, deliberately, Miss Sable’s delicate right hand cupped the ball and then she began to squeeze it, the arcs of electricity flowing between her fingers as she crushed it utterly. Then she opened her hand and showed him her unblemished palm. “See that? Not a single burn. That isn’t because of some iron hardness or anything like that,” she stroked the palm with a finger, and the supple skin rippled under the pressure.

“So then you ignored the damage?” Albus asked, puzzled.

“Not quite,” Miss Sable replied. “It’s not precisely that simple, although it isn’t that complex either, really. The strength of my body is enough to suppress the strength of that ball of lightning. What you need to think about, Albus, is the true nature of strength.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes. Do you still have your student-teacher connection with your old teacher?” Miss Sable asked.

“Oh, um… yeah,” Albus replied. “I guess I should do something about that, right?”

Miss Sable frowned, tapping her lower lip with a finger as she was visibly considering the matter. “Here’s the concern: if your teacher sees you in your current state, there is no predicting what could happen. As long as you are connected to him, he can find you on campus, so even relying on your changed appearance won’t be enough to think he won’t know it’s you.”

“That’s easy enough to fix, I guess,” Albus said, pulling his student token out of his storage pouch. “Unilateral severing is part of the rules, and explanation is only a courtesy.”

“Yes, but if you do that, you may have trouble returning to the Fourth Tier right now,” Miss Sable replied.

Albus paused for a moment, thinking about it. “Okay. I imagine you’ll be heading up there again anyway, Miss Sable, so I guess I’ll put my trust in that.”

Miss Sable’s eyelashes fluttered as Albus was discovering they did whenever he made one of these snap decisions. “Okay. Is there any business you need to handle there first, though?”

Albus shrugged. “I’m not exactly the type to make friends, so I don’t know whether anything except a sigh of relief would accompany my disappearance anyway, Miss Sable.”

Miss Sable smiled in that predatory manner of hers. “Very well. How about we handle the matter of the tokens now and then I’ll treat you to a visit with my tailor while the school handles the quartering issue with their ever-so-efficient system?”

——–

It was late in the evening when Albus returned to the campus and Miss Sable dropped him off near the transit center for students on the Fifth Tier. His token had conveyed the information that his few belongings had already been moved to his new residence on the level, and he was now following the mind-projected route to his new quarters.

The visit with Miss Sable’s tailor, Martin, had been a bizarre affair, but after the day’s events so far Albus was getting very used to “bizarre” and “Miss Sable” cohabiting the same neighborhood. The colorful little man had very efficiently produced a set of clothing for him, including a pair of shoes, and had promised several more would be ready in a couple of days.

Albus’ entire world had changed in a meeting, and his whole view of what to be concerned about was shifting alongside it all. Strangely enough, the urge to run to his old teacher and speak to him had vanished entirely. The young man had a very distinct feeling that although Miss Sable had said little on the subject, she wholly intended to deal with the matter herself. For himself, he couldn’t even muster anger or rage at the betrayal, just indifference.

Walking along the lane to the student housing, Albus took in the fresh night air and let go of everything that weighed on him. For the briefest moment, he felt the world drunkenly lurch around him, but he quickly reined in his thoughts. On second thought, perhaps letting go of “everything” wasn’t the right choice in this circumstance, or he might soon find himself thousands of feet in the air.

Looking around, Albus saw several students around his age also making their way along the lanes. He had been a bit of a prodigy and so he was used to everybody else being a bit older, but now he was feeling more like he fit in. He had lost his rights to the Fourth Tier, but perhaps he belonged here instead after all.

Walking along, Albus felt a pang of hunger. He probably should step it up in getting to his new digs so he could sit down to a meal; it had been a long day. As he looked around, though, he realized that hunger felt a little different from normal.

Glancing at the other students, Albus realized what he was feeling. The young, lithe bodies, full of vigor, were looking inviting. Female, male, it didn’t matter, they all promised their own flavors. A few noticed his gaze and blushed, looking away, but he felt the distinct possibility that if he wanted them to keep looking, they would.

Albus’ steps quickened. He had to get indoors, alone, and soon, before the lure of discovering more overtook him. Miss Sable had herself been uncertain of the extent of the changes, so he tried to focus his attention on recording all of his thoughts at that moment.

Slamming the dormitory door behind him, Albus gulped in the air as he directed the lights on. He realized he hadn’t even checked if his arrangements were single, double, or more, but thankfully in the light of the freshly ignited glowcrystals he could see that this was a residence for one; he didn’t know what he would have done had he arrived to another student also in residence here.

Things were changing for the better, Albus believed. There were just a few snags he had to untangle before it all worked out.