Scene #6152: Mysteries of the Soul

Owner	Pose
Nie Li	If the First of the Concord wants to learn more of the power she has and how it can be improved, some personalized tests and lessons are in order. That was the results of the aptitude tests from earlier. And now is that time. A corner of the Shrine of Adversity has been configured exactly as before - a clearing which, before, was green and lush, surrounded by forests and mist-shrouded mountains on the far horizon, and a simple open air pavilion in the center. Well, it's the same area, but now winter has come. The ground is covered by a fine layer of snow, with a very fine and slow snowfall adding to it. The air is crisp and clear. It seems that Nie Li figures Priscilla might favor this clime, based on her test results...? Whatever the reasoning, Nie Li is here waiting. He's sitting in front of the pavilion, without caring that his rump might be getting rather damp. That's probably because he's seated in a quarter lotus position, hands touching in simple meditation mudra. And he's surrounded by a thin but bright layer of softly burning energies. A brilliant blue-white aura that blazes about an inch around him, rising upwards. Not energy from within moving outwards, but energy of the world being drawn towards him in such a concentration that it's visible to the naked eye. His eyes are closed as he awaits his guest.
Priscilla	Nie Li is indeed correct that this environment is more Priscilla's style. It may not have been once, very very long ago, but a thousand years in a fabricated world that is so elementally cold and dark at its core would have eventually painted over that nature one way or the other. It's clear from the second she enters that she doesn't feel the cold here. Bare feet in the snow, it's as if walking over a plush carpet. Her breath doesn't fog in the air crisp enough to permit diamond dust, which oddly stirs not at all in her presence, as if there is no air disturbed by her movements when it comes to snow. She even showed up in her 'casual' outfit; her old, white and silver furs in a thick, comfy, layered dress with long sleeves. She doesn't immediately disturb him when she arrives. Priscilla is actually familiar with the meaning of various grades of the lotus position, for coincidental but strangely related reasons. Besides, the visible flow of energy is interesting enough, and quite probably a direct visual aid that may be helpful later. He probably knows she's there, despite her weirdly subdued and faint presence, but she watches quietly for a couple of minutes before speaking out. "Well met, Sir Li. Mine thanks for taking time out of thine schedule for something so specific. I understandeth thine time is valuable in terms of how directly it correlates to how long and often thou art able to cultivate thine power." she says.
Nie Li	It's quite probable that Nie Li would've spoken up after a minute or two more if Priscilla hadn't, but the moment she does the aura dies down and fades away and he smoothly rises to stand. It's a smooth and efficient maneuver, not the overly enthusiastic scrabbling of the kid he looks to be. Or the childish mischief that seems to gleam in his eyes as he takes in the sight of Priscilla against the snowy backdrop. "First Priscilla, it is I who should be thanking you and the Concord for simply existing. We are sworn allies now! If it means my home will survive what the future holds, a little time is nothing." Of course, the implication there is pretty obvious. He's not doing this for free. He'll want help in return later. But then, deals like these are part of what the Concord is all about. He shifts left and right, looking from different angles, and then exclaims a bit mischeviously, "The shift in clime was perfect. The hints of Snow Wind attribute in your aptitude test were no fluke. This clime suits you, doesn't it?"
Priscilla	Priscilla is used to the idea that few people do things for free. Especially powerful people. Nobody gets a shortcut to power without the bounds of a Covenant, as her life experience goes. The idea of any pursuit having to justify itself in terms of worth is a line she strongly holds in overseeing the Concord as well. "Indeed we art. I wouldst be remiss to taketh no interest nor hand in that of obvious value to a Partner of the Concord in good standing. Mutual collaboration of talents is a cornerstone of our organization, after all." she says. "Thou art correct twice as well. This is, for all there is to be said, much moreso what I am used to. It is the land I see whence I close mine eyes and drift." she concurs, taking on a slightly cryptic tone, but probably understood by a guy given to meditation and introspection. "If thou hast such confidence in the accuracy of thine initial assessments, and indeed they art so far correct in these small ways, then praytell, what is it that thou must do next?"
Nie Li	"That crystal test wasn't enough." Nie Li exclaims with a shake of his head. "And even if I got my hands on the highest grade there is, I bet it would shatter. So your nature's still something of a mystery. There's another method, but it requires physical contact." He sounds a little sheepish at this, but then holds out a hand. A single finger's extended, though not entirely so as to rudely point. The index finger ignites with a soul-blue blaze. "Just a finger is enough!" After a deep breath he explains, "All that's left is to try things. Your physique has more in common with Demon Beasts than humanity, and that's being generous. And since you say you don't know anything about circulating Soul Force, there's plenty of questions left. Such as, does your body even have what I'd call meridians? So with this touch, I'll have to try and push some of my spirit into yours and hopefully learn enough to tailor something for your nature. It's a little dangerous for me and a little invasive for you. It's the best I have to offer though. Are you interested?"
Priscilla	Admittedly, Priscilla isn't much for physical contact. It's not out of a sense of cultural modesty or anything, but a deeply ingrained sort of instinct that she has improved on, but likely won't ever entire kick. Being completely alone for so long makes it mentally equate to something going wrong, which is always something threatening. She used to react very poorly to it, especially unexpectedly. Now she just looks visibly hesitant, before sucking it up and extending her own hand to make contact, though not before faintly lofting an ivory-studded brow at the comparison to 'Demon Beasts'. She understands where it's coming from, but it's hardly verbally flattering. The circuit completes without issue. Nie Li is dropped into the vast sea of powerful soul-stuff that he had seen through the window of the spiritual crystal right away. Except, it isn't really a sea. Not quite. Most of the sensation is very much familiar to him. His bearings are fine. His sense of what he is examining is fine. His power works as it should. There is little glaringly unusual or confusing or disorienting, at least at first. The world of soul energy feels very familiar in its scope, but there is a key structural difference that sets it apart. It's inside out, in a sense. Rather than dropped into a sea, Nie Lie is put into the periphery of a blaze; he is not submersed inside of something, so much as beholding something before him. He describes the 'soul sea', and Cultivation in particular, as the soul being a container, filled with a realm of soulforce that it draws from for power. The Cultivator increases the size and strength of their soul, so that it grows larger and sturdier, and thus expanding to accommodate greater quantities of more potent soulforce. This is like the inverse. The boundaries of the capital S Soul he senses are inside the nebulous bonfire of soul-stuff before him. It's like a solid 'core' to the whole thing --the dense heart of a sun with its own gravitational pull. Rather than containing spiritual essentia within, it draws it into its well, resulting in a larger and brighter blaze, as the soul grows stronger, increases its 'gravity' and 'heat', creates a greater spiritual 'weight' and 'pull', and attracts and contains a greater quantity of soul-stuff within its radius, and the powers that be draw from its heat rather than its waters. It's probably a real oddity for him, but as far as he can tell, it otherwise should work the same. Bigger and reinforced soul, larger capacity for permanent soul energy, more spiritual reinforcement, more power to draw on. Same mechanics. For all the comparisons to a bonfire though, it is anything but hot. The 'Snow Wind' element, as he describes it, is in full force here. Even at the periphery, he is shrouded in a ghostly veil of impenetrable diamond dust and frozen fog, the space around him nebulously defined by a web of latticed frost. The real churning of the stuff comparable to soulforce is a stiff, glittering blizzard, blurry and ethereal and hauntingly glittering, more than it is thick and blinding and fierce.
Priscilla	It is, of course, of gargantuan size, as to be expected from such an old being that has absorbed so many souls. Just like the crystal, he can see flecks of hot, golden fire dancing in the winds, like sizzling holy sparks playing scattered fireflies in the snow --the clear, lingering marks of some kind of extremely powerful soul fusion or transmutation or procedure, to have left a permanent imprint. The form of it all is fuzzy and uncertain though, not undefined or formless so much as it has a kind of mild, dreamlike warp to it. It more or less /seems/ like Priscilla has channels to circulate, or at least project, this kind of power, but as he expected, they aren't in the same arrangement as a human's. She doesn't have the same number or placement of points or channels, and conspicuously lacks any real gathering of vital energy around a heart or brain location. Rather than being used to circulate refined energy around her body though, they're not being actively used. The size and power of her soul is enough to more or less 'suffuse' her with its radiated energy, filling everything that matters with a sort of passive level of energy stained into her corporeal form. It's a little unrefined and inefficient, comparatively. There's no real technique to it; she doesn't channel or marshal or direct anything to perform superhuman feats efficiently, she just kind of has a casual capacity for it at all times due to having so much soul that it would eventually be impossible not to. It's like someone Cultivated extremely hard for an unfathomable length of time, but never actually learned jack about the flow of energy, /somehow/. It takes longer than usual -longer than comfortable- to find a form to it though. It seems lost in the blizzard, rather than apparent and integral to its shape. After long enough that it starts to border on unsafe to stay much longer, Nie Li will spot the dragon again. The thing that looks and reads as a flighted dragon, but different. Stranger. Older. The dragon that predates a dragon. Four wings. Crowning horns. A third eye. Here, he can see something like a mouth within a mouth --teeth within teeth, breath within breath. Of all things, the dragon itself seems to exist in some sort of vague, draconic approximation of a lotus posture. Once again, it ceases to be ice quickly. Its Snow Wind form is dyed black with the swirling of ink; the steady death of frozen flesh; the flickering blackness of failing consciousness. It is a thing made of countless, more fundamental things, without true form, bringing to mind only something hungry and alien. The ice bleeds, quite literally. Scarlet blood stains the snow and flows through the lattice of frost, spreading outward --forward, towards Nie Li, rushing through intricate junctions and webs of ice crystals. He won't read any change in element. 'Blood' is not a part of Priscilla's form or attribute. Blood is not filling the ice or coming after him, so much as the Essence of Making Him /Bleed/ is streaking towards him, impossible to truly see, and so mentally interpreted as visual bleeding. No doubt it'd be really fucking bad if it touched him, but he has enough time to bail out. It took a while to notice he was there, but once it did, it was Going To Do Something Very Bad to another soul --another consciousness but itself. Whatever is in there though, deep under familiar, comprehensible, understandable attributes and quantities and some sort of vaguely comparable dragon form, it is something slow to rouse, even if quick to multiply. There is a momentum to it that a skilled Spiritualist can no doubt easily escape. Considering Priscilla presumably doesn't get to see any of this, she doesn't look all that different when Nie Li is done.
Nie Li	Nie Li can only give Priscilla a somewhat apologetic look at her reluctance. It's the best idea he's got right now! But what follows is a heck of an adventure, the moment their fingers touch. Everything becomes a swirl of brilliant colors and a feeling of being sent on a rollercoaster both down and upwards at the same time! ... All of which leads into the most freakish soul-scape that the blue-eyed youth has likely ever seen! He does have a presence, an infinitesimally tiny presence that Priscilla would be able to see floating in the chaotic sea of her soul. A tiny being that's doing his best to remain stalwart. That's a nearly hopeless endeavor. He's blown around like a bird in a hurricane at first, and only gains some stability with a slightly stronger pulse of power surging from his finger into Priscilla's 'Soul Realm.' "This...!" There's just no words. But there don't have to be, past that. The 'projection' of Nie Li resumes the meditative posture (if now sitting while floating) from before, but his eyes remain open for the roller coaster ride. If his eyes being wide and strained with something between awe and terror weren't telling enough? In this pure soul form, Priscilla will have no trouble at all feeling the sheer, stupefied amazement rolling off of him. No amount of mental discipline will keep his thoughts and feelings fully hidden in this moment! Nevertheless, as the chaotic and roiling experience of being pulled and tossed about every which way continues, little pulses of light spear out from the boy, touching the unused equivalent of meridians. Each point of contact is like a tiny candle being lit in a snowstorm, but the flickers of radiating warmth should create a sensation of motion WITHIN HER, something that Priscilla can feel. A part of her body that she's never considered before. Perhaps never felt before. Something very like a muscle that one could have moved if only they knew they had it. It may well be that some of those channels remain closed or difficult to properly feel out though. Of course, the moment that the 'dragon' appears, his efforts to probe freeze. His presence shrinks back and away from it. For all his discipline and experience, something about THAT THING remains intimidating and ominous, so much that even he is rattled. Being 'rattled' quickly turns to BARELY CONTROLLED PANIC when the dreaded void, the darkness he'd been most worried about finally rears its head. The boy's not going to take ANY chances here. All of a sudden, the shared astral projection comes to a stop and awareness of REALITY PROPER returns. Just in time for Nie Li, his hand basically sizzling with the colors of Priscilla's Soul Realm and arcs of black lightning, to be simply picked up and SLAPPED backwards and slam HARD into one of the pavilion's pillars with a THUMP and a choked yelp before he collapses to the ground. It's quite eerily like the point of contact had been like a spring being coiled up... and him getting flung away from Priscilla is what happens when all that power kicks back! "Unnnnghhhhhhhhh...." The boy's still conscious though, thankfully! The energies lingering on his hand are dispersed with a simple wringing motion, but he remains on the ground, breathing hard. Inhaaaaaaale. Exhale. "WHAT THE SHIT WAS THAT?!" He finally screams out towards the fake horizon, finally showing some actual emotion instead of his usual composure. Frankly, that was a little bit TERRIFYING.
Priscilla	As it turns out, Priscilla can witness this unfolding for herself. Of course, some of it she already knew to expect from seeing it in the crystal, but being able to view it in its full, unfiltered form, is an interesting experience to say the least. Of course, it's her soul. She may be from a culture that has developed very little in terms of theories and practises involving 'meridians' and similar, but she is very familiar with the 'shape and size' of the thing that is the root of her being, as her world revolves around so greatly. It's not mystefying or shocking to her, but it is fascinating. Her tail tip twitches where Nie Li finds those strange points that cause their corresponding tingling pricks, raising a bit of its fur as the incredibly weird sensation in places she wasn't entirely aware of causes her some small amount of discomfort, though more from the unfamiliarity than a seriously unpleasant feeling. It makes her close her eyes a little tighter, her expression becoming more tense as she tries to get a grip on the weird and winding things taking place. She is less surprised to see that blackness -that blood- than Ni Lie is, but still not quite pleased. She hadn't called upon it. Hadn't directed it or used it. It was perhaps still inevitable, though. In the same way those in past who have tried to use the Lifehunt Scythe find its latent power turning upon them and devouring them, body and soul, if her own is the conduit through which it is directed, it might just be unavoidable that it isn't safe for anyone to handle directly. After the brief start of disconnecting, she exhales a long, deep, chest-emptying sigh, taking a little too long to be natural before breathing back in. "An interesting experience." she says, a little flatly, evidently at a loss for more specific words. It's glacially steady compared to the Spiritualist's understandable alarm, remaining even and consistent, even if not particularly soothing, as an anchor point to reel the conversation back to. "Mine apologies, Sir Li. I had some suspicions of the danger of such, but as they were not entirely founded, I assumed thou wouldst be best left to thine own devices." She leans down, one hand on her knee, the other extended to him to pick him up. "Thou hast made some form of near-contact with the Lifehunt. It is . . . a . . . 'unique' ability. An inextricable part of mineself. It is not of this world of souls and men and monsters. It is not a matter that can be Cultivated, nor handled by any other than I, so put it from thine mind. It is irrelevant to the matters thou art skilled in, and which thou art invested." she pauses. "Simply knoweth that there art reasons I am here, at this summit of many things. As much as a climb up a mountain of effort, I hath scaled to a peak twice as high built of corpses. There art titles I do not use in civil discussion. Godhunter. Lifebane. White Lady of Disaster. Queen of the End of Fire." When Nie Li seems sufficiently calm, Priscilla goes back to physically examining herself, moving her fingers, turning back and forth to check behind her, wiggling her tail, and the sorts of things around where she'd felt the weird little pricks. "I assumeth thou were able to find something of use. What is thine assessment, abberration aside?"
Nie Li	"Ngggggghhhh." Fighting through the pain, discomfort, and dizziness, Nie Li rises while Priscilla explains things. He proceeds to rub his temples and breath slowly and calmly and quickly regains his composure despite an experience that would probably give most people a splitting headache, if not actual nightmares. "I expected SOMETHING like that to happen." He admits a little reluctantly. "Knew it could be a bit dangerous." Indeed he'd even said so beforehand. But still he rubs the back of his head awkwardly. "... But to think it would be THAT intense. This... Lifehunt as you call it, is a mystery I'm quite against investigating. Doesn't seem too fond of me." This is said frankly and with clear disgust, even a little fear showing. It's all he can do not shiver again. "Ooooof. I've seen a lot, but today was a reminder of just how vast and strange existence can be." ... at least he can be humble about it though! With another deep breath, a more cheery and composed demeanor emerges. He even smirks a bit! "Heh. It's true that you've reached a lofty plateau with a mountain of power behind it. That power... I'm not even able to measure it all, as I am now. It's far beyond Legend rank. Only one other being I know of is anything like you." Another shudder runs through him then. "In sheer power, it's off the charts, but... your foundations are LOUSY. That Soul Realm is a chaotic, uncontrolled storm. Way too unstable for any of the normal Cultivation Techniques... in fact, forget trying to reach for MORE power... gaining more control over what you already have and gaining a proper foundation for it would be a much better investment of your efforts. The good news is, your... spiritual system, I think we can work with it. You felt those points right? Those will be key to everything."
Priscilla	"I hath never known it to be fond of anything, in any sense the word applies." Priscilla says, giving a helplessly little shrug. "I appreciate that thou art intact and with thine sense about thee." Her eyes briefly glint when Nie Li mentions 'one other being', but reading the lines of his face, she decides not to continue. The rest is what she paid -metaphorically and literally- to hear. Even if she already knows that she knows jack squat about Nie Li's entire deal, anything about her being called 'lousy' stings a little bit, eliciting a twitch which she controls as best as she can. Taking another bracing breath, she clears her throat, straightens her shoulders, and continues. "I supposeth I shalt be disposed to trust thee on such matters then. After all, thou art the expert to consult. I didst indeed feel . . . something, yes." A beat. "A foundation to what, if I may enquire? I understandeth the value of control and fundamental masteries in any pursuit, of course, but consider that I hath no formal education previously, and hath witnessed no useful examples. I wish to knoweth what exactly to practise, and towards what ends." The best that comes to mind to try and demonstrate is something is motioning to some snow nearby and stirring it into a small vortex, contained in scope, but more or less a random whirling of wind and sleet, like the kind she lets off when opening up with combat invisibility. As far as Nie Li's assessment, he'd easily be able to tell that she is, in fact, tapping into and using her soulforce equivalent, but pretty much just pushing it out and into the environment where it naturally manifests in a 'Snow Wind' capacity. She has some control over it, indeed having practised in the past, but clearly just off of what she can see it doing, manipulating the flow of it within the tiny blizzard by eyeballing it. Though far ahead of Seifer's recent, dangerous experiments with just throwing explosions around via brute force of will, it's using a lot of energy to accomplish something pretty basic. The fact that Priscilla isn't really aware it is can only be due to the fact that she has so much of it that she doesn't feel the loss. The rare situation that would demand enough of it to make a difference would be a situation she'd be physically exhausted in anyways.
Nie Li	Nie Li can only respond with a somewhat wry smirk regarding the Lifehunt's views on anything. It did scare the hell out of him, after all. He's in no way keen on provoking it again! "This is where we have to depart from tradition and be a little adventurous." Says the man, after witnessing Priscilla's attempt at a technique. Effective... but wasteful. "Sadly I cannot perform Snow Wind techniques without using Inscriptions. That defeats the point of demonstrating anything! My Cultivation Technique's early stages focuses heavily on internal techniques. No Attributes to show off yet." But whatever he's practicing, it must be something stellar, right? "As I explained before, the basics of Cultivation is strengthening your Soul Realm and body. Over time both your Soul and body become finer, more refined. Impurities are driven out. You can liken it to a craftsman taking lumps of ore, driving out the slag and leaving polished steel behind. This process isn't haphazard. Cultivation Techniques are a combination of meditative practices, martial arts, ways of life. They are a guide along the path, they bring structure to it. Each chapter covers a different stage of Cultivation, each one building on the last. Since everyone's different though, no two people will have the same experience even if they practice the same techniques. Everyone will run into their own problems and develop their own solutions. This path we walk is more about journeying inwards to the depths of your own self than reaching out and grasping the heavens. Self-mastery. Self-discipline. Self-discovery. Learning who you are and staying true to it, goes hand in hand with refining more Soul Force. A person who hasn't grasped such things might end up stuck and unable to progress. Their path is their own." As he speaks, existence grows a little fuzzy. Unless Priscilla really tries to AVOID it, her awareness is once again drawn towards something that isn't quite reality. The view darkens and shapes appear in the air against distant, dark winter stormclouds. A swirling, raging snow storm appears, like her soul in miniature. "Some of those challenges people face are also physical. Not being strong enough to support the intense energy in your body is one pitfall. There's plenty of others. You're already past such things, but... because of that, your Soul Realm has grown into this chaotic, uncontrolled mess. It's wild and unrefined. But if that weren't the case..." The swirling snows are siphoned slowly to the right, and funneled into a point. The snowflakes and ice begin to coaelesce into blocks. More and more blocks, forming a vast base.. for a ziggurat that grows, and grows, and grows into something that soon resembles a mighty fortress with a tower in the middle, made of shining, shimmering ice. The remaining snowstorm whirls around the middle of the tower in a controlled ring, and a great eye that resembles that of the dragon in Priscilla's soul realm gazes out upon the world, floating over the tower spire. The ice castle is transluscent enough that Priscilla can see a great yawning darkness within it, no doubt representing the Lifehunt. A cartoonist caricature of an army approaches the projected ice castle, and the dragon-eye locks onto it. In no time at all, what can only be described as ICE LASERS lance out from the eye in finely controlled bursts, and the darkness emerges in tendrils from arrow slits in the castle to scythe at the army. And then all the fancy depictions fade. It's reality proper again. "Showing it like this makes it look way easier than it really is."
Priscilla	As much as Priscilla subtly bristles at the idea of needing refinement -of being of lower quality in any regard- she stays her pride and listens. That's the point, after all. This is an arena of skill she'd never even heard of being, yet directly applies to her. It opens vistas of potential power she hadn't conceived of until now, and she is little if not eager to reach them. The illusory prop demonstration is elaborate and drenched in symbolism, but effective. Ni Lie clearly has her undivided attention by the end of it, even if having Priscilla's undivided attention is always slightly unsettling. "Very well then." she seems to accept the Spiritualist's claims about himself without question. "I am open to the possibilities of exploring what thou speaketh of, at least for a time. Thou shalt provideth concrete material to work with. Exercises. Texts. Whatever thou believest best. I cannot guarantee I may spend even a fraction of Sir Almasy's admirable dedication of time to the task, for I am essentially a busy woman, thus that which can be practised on and off, or in short periods, wouldst theoretically be ideal. I am not concerned by difficulty. Adversity is what proves that one is still alive, or else dead and simply unaware of it. A blade that wishes not to be sharpened is worthless." "Asides, there is that which I wouldst show thee as well, perhaps of some significant use towards thine own ends, if I see results in pursuing this." %
Nie Li	Nie Li's quick to nod at these demands. No doubt he expected them, because he doesn't seem at all surprised by the directions. "I will have those to you before the week is over with. The starting material is, by necessity, going to cover learning the properties of your different meridians. They're different from human ones so I have NO idea what they do... but these materials will be a starting point. You must be very gentle and calm while doing these exercises. Don't force ANYTHING. Trust your instincts if anything starts to feel dangerous or stressed and stop immediately. The last thing you want to do is damage your meridians or Soul Realm, and permanent damage is possible." His tone grows sharp at the end there. A fierce warning against bold bravado. He heaves a sigh after that. "Once you can control a fair amount of meridians properly, we'll move on to circulating Soul Force through them and basic techniques. From there, with any luck, we'll be clear to move on to taming that Soul Realm. Don't expect instant results though. This will probably take weeks or months of your free time. Still, I suspect you'll grasp the basics quickly. Nobody reaches the height you have unless they're already gifted." Well, he's praising her for clearly being gifted.... but didn't he earlier call such gifts or being special 'totally meaningless' in less flattering terms? Perhaps best demonstrated though in the fact that... here is this youth, who's managing to lecture Priscilla, after evading the Lifehunt, all because of intense study and training.