"Why can't I be a fire elent artist?"
"You'd need to have a fla elental mark instead of what you have on your wrist. Magically speaking, you won't be able to cultivate fire Qi before you reach the second step. That was when you need to find a second fate lock, but that's trouble for another ti. You need to focus on what you can do now."
I grunted in frustration. "Okay, let's stop with bad news," I said, and unwrapped the clothes from my left wrist. I laid the spiral mark bare before her as she scrutinised, though she didn't let out any words about it like most tis. "I have a few burning questions that I would need for you to answer if you can."
Saarya lifted an eyebrow. "I'll try, but don't hope to learn everything. There are many things you won't understand, many things I'm not supposed to tell you."
"How sure are you that this mark will give magical power after I reach copper?" I asked, my voice ca with unbridled hope.
"As much as I'm sure it will kill you through the process," Saarya said.
"Damn," I shouted. "I guess there's no end to the bad news for today."
"Sorry," the lady of purity said. "You should hope for the best and don't worry, I'll do my utmost best to keep you alive."
"So if I ca alive, it will give magical power?"
"Pretty much."
"What are the chances of that?"
Saarya frowned. "It's pretty hard to calculate that," she said though so deliberation. "I would say fifty-fifty. You have a better chance than most people with here."
I nodded and ca up with the next question. I showed her the nacing-looking mark on my palm that seed to bring gloom into your spirit just by looking at it. It was unnecessary attention-grabbing even though it looked nothing special if you look at it casually.
"So there are fate marks with unique elents like fire. Do you have any idea what kind of mark this is?"
"The fate mark on your wrist has two attributes in place of one," Saarya said, firm on her response. "You can guess one of them pretty easily, I think."
"Darkness?" I uttered the first word that ca to my mind.
Saarya nodded. "Darkness," she said, "and Dinsion."
"What kind of ability do you think it will give ?" I asked again, sucking in a deep breath. Although both of the elent seed pretty impressive in her tone, I couldn't get my hopes up, knowing nothing about this business.
"That is very hard to predict," Saarya said through her contemplation. "These types of fate lock are extrely rare. But there are two ways the abilities would go from here: the first is the giver's intent, and the second is the marked person's intent."
I frowned. "I'm not sure if I follow," I said. "If I'm not wrong, you interpreted as soone giving this fate mark, is that correct?"
Saarya didn't enlighten more on that topic, and to this day I'm still not aware which of the silent gods threw a lifeboat in my direction when I was drowning in misery.
"Don't worry about this much, as it isn't under your control," Saarya said. "You should focus on what you can control. The first on the list should be your spirit arts. Practise well and beco strong enough to topple all these people that made a slave out of you."
The veins in my forehead bulged in indignation as I heard her. A deep seethed fury rose in my heart. I always put the rage in check. To my rit, it helped function like a human being in this hell.
I took in deep breaths and cald the rage, as I hadn't got to the point of toppling this hell yet. Maybe soday, I swore inwardly.
"I have one last question, no two actually," I said, exhaling.
"Shoot."
"How strong can a mortal man beco, practising spirit arts?" I asked, staring at her eyes seriously.
"Spiritually speaking, you can beco an almighty God if you can traverse the twelve steps," Saarya said, her tone slow and stern. "And I ant god, in a literal sense, the Creator and Destroyer--all that business."
I whistled, never hoped for her to give the answer so causally.
"However, since ancient age, no mortal of this world had managed to step beyond the eighth step."
Saarya seed completely sure about that, though I have my suspicions. But my thoughts wandered sowhere else.
"How many steps have you taken," I asked, "if you don't mind answering?"
Saarya lifted her head to smile at . "Is that your last question?"
I was ready to say no as it was not, but I wanted to know the answer to this question so badly. As if knowing my intention, Saarya started as a sigh escaped from her lips.
"? I was a special case. At my peak, I managed to take the sixth step." Saarya paused for a second. "To put more perspective, greater teleportation was one of my agre ans before they locked in my confines.
So only two steps away from touching divinity. I sucked in a deep breath. Saarya was more impressive than I had thought previously. Her interaction with left with the impression that she was more of a healer type with various ans into the human body, mind and spirit, but it seed that was only the part of it.
pàпdá-ňᴏνêι.сóМ "How strong do I need to be to escape this hell?" I asked my last question, as anticipation rose in my chest.
"Only escape?" Saarya frowned. "I guess you can attempt at iron and succeed if you're lucky."
"Iron, what step is it again?"
"The second," Saarya answered. "Also, you asked only for escaping, not toppling this hell, for that you at least have to achieve Gold, the fourth step. Even your A'caen barely took the third step when he was at his peak."
____________
No cliff this ti.
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