Hunters: The Prequel - Chapter 260

Mane sat cross-legged for about an hour. Before long, the light poring outside the window ceased its action, and the room grew dim. Mane was so lost in his meditation, he didn’t notice that the sun had gone down. Luckily for him, there was someone here who wasn’t meditating.

“I need to light the lamp huh,” Hildegarde sighed as she flew towards the lamp next to the window. She ignored the lighter that was on the table, and approached the lamp. She blew at the lamp softly, and it lit up brightly, as though fireflies were dancing in it. This strange way of lighting the lamp wasn’t seen by anyone. If anyone had seen this, they would have been gob smacked. It was a different case if Hildegarde performed a fire breath. But she only blew at the lamp, and it lit up. It was remarkable, but there was no one present to see it. No wait a minute. There was one person around to see it.

“No matter how many times I see you do that, I cannot comprehend how it happens,” Mane shook his head with a look of amazement plastered on his face. He couldn’t remember how many times he had watched Hildegarde do this, but each time he saw it, it amazed him. And this was coming from someone who was a wielder. Mane had never seen anyone do something like this. And he couldn’t see himself being capable of something like this.

“You’re done I see,” Hildegarde flew next to Mane and said. Mane was no longer cross-legged. He wasn’t even seated. He was half-lying on the ground with the cloth below him. He had a lazy look plastered across his face and slightly adjusted his posture so that Hildegarde could borrow his shoulder.

“Yeah. I opened my eyes in time to see you perform your ‘magic trick’,” Mane nodded his head and said.

“I’ve told you several times that every fairy can do this much,” Hildegarde didn’t take his compliment to heart. It wasn’t something to be pleased about. After all, every fairy was capable of this ‘trick’.

“And don’t call it a magic trick. It’s Elemental Conversion” Hildegarde said in an attempt to correct Mane, but without much conviction.

“Looks like a phony magic trick to me,” Mane said. His words and expression showed why Hildegarde’s attempt to correct him was lacking in faith. After all, when you’ve had the same conversion so many times already, you know the end results of each statement.

“I’m still not going to teach you. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Its race specific, much like glows are bloodline specific” Hildegarde ignored the sulking Mane and said. The reason why Mane called Hildegarde’s technique a magic trick was simple – jealousy. That’s right. Mane was jealous of Hildegarde. After all, he had never seen an ability like Elemental Conversion before, and he was eager to study it. But Hildegarde shot down the efforts of the enthusiastic Supreme by telling him that it wasn’t a skill that could be shared with other races. She was forbidden from doing so. Besides, some skills were race-specific, and worked similar to glows. Since Mane wasn’t a fairy, and lacked their genetic makeup, even if he did study the skill, and grasped its intricacies, he wouldn’t be able to use it.

“But even glows can be studied and comprehended,” Mane argued.

“Yes. But race-bound skills are different. Every race has a different genetic makeup. And it is because of our inherent differences, our bodies handle Edict differently. For instance; the Olympians, who are your father’s clan, have bodies that make them highly compatible with the feebler form of Edict – inner energy. And their bodies are compatible with Chaos as well, making them perfect dual wielders by virtue of birth. As for your mother’s clan, the clan headed by the Allfather filled with Asgardians, they are born with strong bodies which can withstand the harsher half of Edict – outer energy. They are also born with aptitude for rune magic. This is where they are also different. No one else can use rune magic except for them. So you can say that rune magic is race-specific to the Asgardians. Although most of their gods are born with intelligence so high that they can become scholars, they have no spiritualist since their bloodline isn’t soul-based. Well, except for ‘that’ god of course”

Hildegarde explained as she tried to convince Mane that race-specific skills couldn’t be studied like glows. She used his bloodline affiliations to prove her point.

“Which god are you referring to,” Mane’s attention had been taken away from Elemental Conversion, and was now on something else? His mind quickly tracked back to Hildegarde’s statement that there was an Asgardian who was able to become a Spiritualist regardless of his/her bloodline restriction. Mane couldn’t help but wonder who this person was.

“You know I cannot tell you that,” Hildegarde ignored his pleading expression and replied. She wasn’t about to dance to his tune just because he looked pitiful.

“You wouldn’t teach me Elemental Conversion, and now you wouldn’t tell me about my own clan,” Mane pouted. Although his expression was cute, Hildegarde wasn’t swayed.

“Elemental Conversion belongs to my race. I have no obligation to teach you. Even if I did, you wouldn’t be able to learn it, and I would lose my position as your chaperone; notwithstanding the punishment that would be awaiting me for my silly decision.”

“Secondly, why should I tell you about your own clan? If you do not know about your own clan, that’s on you.”

Mane smiled bitterly and said, “Hard to argue with that logic.”

He didn’t bother Hildegarde anymore, mainly because of the fact that she could not only lose her position if she alluded to his request, but she would also be punished. He was obsessed with studying Elemental Conversion because he was sure that understanding the concept would allow him to achieve Elemental Harmony (a state he accidentally entered after the duel with his father). It wasn’t because he thought that he would be able to study a skill that was specific to a race. He wasn’t that dense to understand that he wouldn’t be able to use it even if he comprehended it. He was mainly seeking for this skill so he could understand the principle behind it. That would help him achieve Elemental Harmony, or so he thought. But it wasn’t a pressing issue. After all, he was on a planet that had no Edict or Chaos. Even if he acquired the skill and understood it, he would have no way to confirm if his theory was correct or not.

“So you failed again huh,” Hildegarde changed the topic seeing that Mane wasn’t willing to dwell on it anymore. She only hoped that he would stop at his attempts to coerce her into teaching him Elemental Conversion.

“Yeah. You don’t sound surprised” Mane smiled and said.

“Why would I be,” Hildegarde was plain with her words? “You have failed several times already. Under the same conditions, with no difference, how would you succeed?” She stated.

“That’s true,” Mane nodded his head. “But I can’t help feeling that my hunch is right,” he continued.

“You mean your hunch that Edict exists and Chaos lurks in this planet,” Hildegarde said? It was because of this hunch that Mane continued his ‘meaningless’ pursuit.

“Yes. I feel that some conditions haven’t been met, and that I’m missing something,” Mane stroked his hairy chin and said.

“In other words, if you can find out what is missing, you would be able to wield energy once more,” Hildegarde questioned.

“Yes,” Mane nodded vehemently, feeling that his reasoning was sound.

“I see,” Hildegarde sighed and replied. “Can I ask you a question,” she turned to Mane and asked. It was a strange scenario because her position as she sat on his shoulder only made her face his chin.

“Sure. What do you want to know?” Mane wondered.

Hildegarde ignored the stray beard hairs that kept hitting her in the face and said, “Why do you believe so strongly that your assumption is correct? After all, you have no proof. And you aren’t someone that works without any evidence or logical reasoning.”

Mane smiled at Hildegarde. His bearing was filled with confidence, and his words were said with no doubt whatsoever.

“Because of you”