Hidden Magic

Chapter Twelve

Strangely enough my Shadow Manipulation class was in Sira branch, and it wasn't taught by a professor, but someone named Aspen Nox. The only thing that told the location was the Night Garden, which I had yet to even enter yet. Though when I enter it now, I am not surprised to find it pretty much empty, except for a girl that looked strangely like Alyssa from the back. "Alyssa?" The girl whips her head around to look at me, and though I can see the resemblance between them, this girl in front of me is clearly not Alyssa, though they have the same blonde hair and blue eyes, their features were slightly different.

"No, I'm her sister Aspen. I know we look similar, I assume you are Karinna Valdis? Here for your shadow manipulation course?" I nod, shifting nervously, she eyes me with a slight amount of irritation. "I've heard you're strong, that you were luring the other day without even meaning to, so what exactly do you need to be nervous for?" I shrug and she glares at me. "Don't shrug, that is a non-answer, and when I ask you a question, I except an answer, so why are you nervous?" She was looking more and more like Alyssa the longer she spoke.

"I don't really know, I've never actively tried to use shadow yet, I guess I'm nervous as to what will happen because of all the things I've been doing accidentally already." She nods, looking she was understanding what I was saying.

"That makes sense, but you should not be afraid of the power you have, it is not something to fear but to embrace. Tell me do you know why we are so despised by the other elemental branches, why Zohar's in particular dislike us?" I nod slowly, unsure as to where she was going with this.

"Because we feed our magic with sexual acts, and they can feed theirs with their element." She scoffs, rolling her eyes at me, as if that wasn't the answer.

"No, don't get me wrong, the way we replenish our magic is part of it for sure, but that isn't the mean reason. They fear us not for how we replenish our magic but for our control over our element, the skills it gives us. A weak thing like the girl I taught yesterday will never amount to much, but you, you are strong, even now, untrained as you are, and with training you will only get stronger. Tell me how did you feel after putting on our traditional dueling uniforms?" I think back to how right it felt, how it fit me perfectly, how I knew I would be able to attack easily in it.

"Right, empowered, it felt good." I was honest with her, knowing she was leading me towards some sort of point, though what I had no idea.

"Exactly, unlike the other elements, who can defend themselves very well, we in Sira branch, well most of us, are built for battle. There is a reason Professor Arcane knows we make the best duelers, or the best assassins after we graduate." My heart stopped beating, and then restarted a breath later, did she just say assassins?

"Assassins?" My voice was a whisper, as if worried someone else would hear me, but Aspen didn't seem to care.

"Yes, Assassins, information retrieval specialists, spies. Now it isn't something the professors here will tell you, but our library has books on it, did you know Sira was the first of the gods? That she was made not born? It offers her some certain advantages that the other elements don't have, because it is only after Sira was made into what she is now, that nature came up with a balance and created gods and goddesses for the other elements, she is the oldest and strongest. And though not many in Sira branch can, if you're strong enough, like I believe you to be, you can access some gifts that the other branches don't even realize exist.

Shadows are more than just the darkness that shows up when the sun appears and disappears, it can also be linked to someone's soul, the darkness tainting it through their deeds, we can sense that, sense when someone tells a lie or the truth. Which is a powerful gift for sure, but do you know why Zohar branch hates us so much, even if they themselves have forgotten the reason why? Because while they have the ability to alter what we see, it is minor, extremely limited, and stepping into even the smallest shadow will destroy the effect, but us, well we can do something better." She shows me her bare left arm, bare except for the black markings that signify she is from Sira Branch, she takes her index and middle finger from her right hand and gently runs them on the inside of her form arm, before my very eyes those very same markings waver and disappear.