Shades of the New World

Chapter 129: Switches

Evin knew exactly how powerful the effects of the World Sprites were. If he could cast the other spells like he could cast Dark spells, who knows how strong he might become.

"Now, now, read it at your leisure later. We still have some other things to discuss," Nasst cleared his throat and continued: "If you don't have questions or problems regarding these subjects, we can get to the next topic. Choose a World that you want to use more and I'll try my best to explain it to you" 

Evin didn't have much to think about and replied immediately. This matter was one of the original reasons why he chose Nasst over Deminte. 

"The Heavy World"

"Ah, I wondered why you chose me over the cold lady. So, it seems that my Horn had grasped your attention," Nasst smiled and his hands seemed to mechanically reach towards his dark-purple horn.

"Well, I'm afraid you will be disappointed by what you hear. I'm sure you've realized that I was one of the children who was offered 'the Choice', since I know so much about the topic"

Evin nodded and waited for the other to continue.

"There is actually one more secret that I usually keep to only myself and my closest. I'm actually a Child of the Empress like yourself," Nasst winked with a grin. Evin was slightly surprised, but he didn't really panic. He knew he wasn't the only special one in this World, so it wasn't that shocking to meet a Child of the Empress.

"How many Children like us do you think there are in this World?" Nasst asked after watching the boy digest the information.

"I can't imagine"

"Surprisingly little! Even though the actual number of the Children of the Empress at any point of time is less than thirty in the entirety of Alvox, practically all the mages and maybe one out of three of non-mages know of us. Some joke that the Children of the Empress try to hide this information from the rest of the World, but we both know how pointless the act is," Nasst said with an amused laugh.

'Only 30 in the World' Evin fell into thought, but judged that it was reasonable.

"I suppose it's a hot topic. Everyone wants a second chance at life, so a concept like reincarnation would catch people's attention," Evin reasoned.

"Exactly! Weirdly, I was one of these enthusiasts. Always thinking about a better next life with better circumstances. In my previous life, I was also a mage. I'll spare you the details, but I had a terrible weakness. I could never understand the intricacies of the Heavy World. I'm sure you could guess now, but a mage that can't fly is like an eagle without a wing. It's just too pitiful. As the mages that fly above your head bombard you with explosive spells, you can only grit your teeth and try to snipe them down to the ground"

"Ironically, this weakness of mine was actually the cause of my death. I was thrown off a tall cliff and even though I hoped to lessen the impact with my other magic, there's only so much that a mage can do without a proper fix. I remember swearing that if I ever become one of the Children of the Empress, I would definitely find a way to fly in the skies," Nasst narrated.

"After I was actually reincarnated, you won't be able to imagine how overjoyed I was to find myself in a family of Northerners. Discreetly, I tried out the Worlds and found that my accursed inability to cast the Heavy World still persisted even after my rebirth. At this point, I realized that staying low wasn't an option. I started to study the various different ways I could influence the Horn ceremony to grant me a Heavy Horn. Superstitions, shady ceremonies, Heavy World Shards I tried out everything I could"

"Obviously, these things cost money, which I tried my best to obtain But I started to garner too much attention on myself, which lead to some bigshot taking notice of me and offer me the Choice. Obviously, a cacophony of strings and conditions were attached to it, but I couldn't deny it. It took me the better half of my life to get rid of these strings and finally establish my own freedom," Nasst said with evident melancholy.

"Well, what happened after you got the Horn?" Evin asked.

"Nothing special. I could fly, make things heavier and make things lighter. It was barely better than other mages, but I was glad to have chosen the Heavy World. Although I could tell that I spent a bit more mana on these spells compared to others, so I've thought of ways to reduce the mana intake slightly," Nasst said and started explaining his thought process to Evin.

According to the man, most mages would apply the Heavy energy to themselves, when they attempted to fly. But Nasst reasoned that when we become heavy, the force we exert on the ground becomes bigger. So, he tried to focus on a connection with his body and the ground itself. To the man's surprise, an invisible connection that represented his connection with the ground seemed to become apparent in his mind. He couldn't see, or touch it, but he could definitely feel it.

Nasst then tried his best to study this connection and realized that it could be affected with willpower. He tried cutting it off, so he could fly freely through the sky, and to his surprise, he could very easily fly through the sky. This method cost much less mana compared to the other method. It was also much easier to make something heavier using this method. Just send more Energy to the connection between the ground and the object.

Evin, who knew a bit more about gravity, could understand it much easier. Obviously, the invisible connection that Nasst was talking about would be gravity. Or at least some kind of representation of it in the Heavy World. Evin immediately began trying out this theory.

It took him a bit of time to readjust his mind, but after he focused to feel for this invisible connection with him and the ground, a small strand of dark purple string seemed to appear in his vision. Unlike Nasst, who could only feel it, Evin had an even easier time.

'The Worlds are so convenient!' Evin happily started playing around with the string. Thickening and lessening this purple thread, he could float up or become heavier. And everything took only a fraction of the mana that it used to cost. 

"This is so magical If I'm able to perceive this thread at this point of my life, what would happen if I get the Heavy Horn on my head?" Evin muttered. 

"Wait you can perceive the thread?! Describe it for me!" Nasst could not believe the child's mutterings. Evin was startled, but he did not panic and described the dark-purple thread that filled his vision. As he was describing it, he could see that every object had a similar thread attached to it. Believing Evin, Nasst fell into deep thought. Evin also thought deeply about the situation and realized something even more crucial. 

"Do all the other Worlds have something similar to this invisible connection?" he blurted out. 

Nasst smiled at the wondering expression on Evin's face and replied.

"So they say They're called the 'World switches', since when a mage finds out about them, their control of the World climbs to a much higher level, like a switch had just been flipped. But the ones that could actually feel and see them are quite few. Some even say that certain World switches need to be heard, felt, or even tasted. From what I heard; the ones who strongly feel the emotional effects of the World have an easier time seeing these connections," Nasst said and looked at Evin thoughtfully.