Felix activated his manalysis and examined the two. Alya had a light blue aura, it had an inviting warm feeling to it, no doubt a calming feeling for those on edge as well. But Zuri's aura was different. One of the things to note about it was that it was small. Either she was suppressing her aura intentionally, or she hadn't exercised her mana well properly, though she was definitely a Talent. But the most striking thing about her mana was that it was black, pitch black to be specific. It seemed as if the aura itself was an abyss that one could fall into if they stared too long. Felix knew about black auras. The traditional elements dictated that there were two sides to the Aether element Heavenly/Void or Darkness/Light. And while it hadn't surprised him to see a Void Aether aspect aura, as he had witnessed aura's of all colors through his studies, his own resting aura being white, it did catch him off guard to see someone have a stead black aura like that.
"Well, I suppose an explanation is in order." Felix broke the silence, "around a few months back, during a council summit, an arch-magi by the name of Thadeus suggested efforts be focused on an endeavor. This endeavor involved making sure the Arcanocracy obtain nine artifacts of devastating power named the Paragons. Thadeus had said it to be solely for the purpose of assuring the position and the safety of the Arcanocracy as a world power. Many were opposed to this motion including me, and most namely the papal-magi. After the motion was rejected... I had thought that would have been the end of the discussion. I knew better than most people that this pandora's box known as the Paragons should not be opened. So I breathed a sigh of relief when the papal-magi rejected the motion. Unfortunately three weeks ago, the papal-magi died, and a new papal-magi was voted in. The unfortunate part sadly was not only the previous papal-magi perishing, but that Thadeus's brother Cornelius was voted in as the new papal-magi. I have no way to prove this, but rumor has it they are both of the Church of the First Company... Jesuits. Needless to say a few weeks later at the next summit, the motion to search for the paragons was brought up once more, only this time the motion was not only accepted, but made top priority. That night I had a fever dream that could only be explained as a vision. In this dream I was shown the many possible endings of this world should anyone get their hands on the paragons besides a group formed by me. I awoke to find me sitting at my writing desk pen in hand, and parchment in front of me. Upon the parchment was a series of names and locations written in my handwriting." Felix explained
"I followed the names and locations, as the dream commanded me. Gathering up all the people on the list and forming a group. The groups soul purpose is to find the Paragons before anyone else does. The consequences are dire if all of them are collected by anyone else before we collect them. And that is what we were doing in these catacombs last night. We found our first Paragon. Upon returning to our headquarters, I had another dream. This dream gave me another list." Felix summoned the list from his inventory, a shroud of blue flames covered his hand for a moment before dissipating and leaving a piece of parchment in his hand."
Felix handed the list over to Alya.
"As you can see, not only is your name on there, Alya, but the name of your companion here, whom I have never met." Felix explained.
The list said, "Alya Summers: Valakite Catacombs." And under Alya's name it read, "Zuri: Accompanying Alya Summers."
"Those other names are the two others I must meet with after you. The reason I couldn't let you join or tell you very much before, Alya, is because I can't let anyone else aside from those on the list know about my dreams and the quest for Paragon's End. So I ask of you sincerely, will you two join our group. Will you join Paragon's End?" Felix finished.
"Well, I suppose an explanation is in order." Felix broke the silence, "around a few months back, during a council summit, an arch-magi by the name of Thadeus suggested efforts be focused on an endeavor. This endeavor involved making sure the Arcanocracy obtain nine artifacts of devastating power named the Paragons. Thadeus had said it to be solely for the purpose of assuring the position and the safety of the Arcanocracy as a world power. Many were opposed to this motion including me, and most namely the papal-magi. After the motion was rejected... I had thought that would have been the end of the discussion. I knew better than most people that this pandora's box known as the Paragons should not be opened. So I breathed a sigh of relief when the papal-magi rejected the motion. Unfortunately three weeks ago, the papal-magi died, and a new papal-magi was voted in. The unfortunate part sadly was not only the previous papal-magi perishing, but that Thadeus's brother Cornelius was voted in as the new papal-magi. I have no way to prove this, but rumor has it they are both of the Church of the First Company... Jesuits. Needless to say a few weeks later at the next summit, the motion to search for the paragons was brought up once more, only this time the motion was not only accepted, but made top priority. That night I had a fever dream that could only be explained as a vision. In this dream I was shown the many possible endings of this world should anyone get their hands on the paragons besides a group formed by me. I awoke to find me sitting at my writing desk pen in hand, and parchment in front of me. Upon the parchment was a series of names and locations written in my handwriting." Felix explained
"I followed the names and locations, as the dream commanded me. Gathering up all the people on the list and forming a group. The groups soul purpose is to find the Paragons before anyone else does. The consequences are dire if all of them are collected by anyone else before we collect them. And that is what we were doing in these catacombs last night. We found our first Paragon. Upon returning to our headquarters, I had another dream. This dream gave me another list." Felix summoned the list from his inventory, a shroud of blue flames covered his hand for a moment before dissipating and leaving a piece of parchment in his hand."
Felix handed the list over to Alya.
"As you can see, not only is your name on there, Alya, but the name of your companion here, whom I have never met." Felix explained.
The list said, "Alya Summers: Valakite Catacombs." And under Alya's name it read, "Zuri: Accompanying Alya Summers."
"Those other names are the two others I must meet with after you. The reason I couldn't let you join or tell you very much before, Alya, is because I can't let anyone else aside from those on the list know about my dreams and the quest for Paragon's End. So I ask of you sincerely, will you two join our group. Will you join Paragon's End?" Felix finished.
