章 95: Mind's Eye
Michael turned to Veronica with curiosity, for a moment she looked confused and even a bit distressed, but it soon ended. She spent a few minutes in silence contemplating whatever she saw.
Eventually though she turned to him and began to recount everything she heard from Floyd.
"They are called Earrings of Dissociation." She said while holding up the pair of golden jewelry. Michael stared at them with curiosity and Veronica even handed them to him for closer examination.
They were very unique and beautiful in a strange, chaotic way. The two different colored gems were weird, but they somehow fit together perfectly.
"That's an ominous name." He said after a few seconds of silence. Veronica chuckled a bit as she responded.
"Yeah, but also quite fitting. I don't fully understand everything, but this is what I learnt... It gives the user the Mind's Eye ability, the person can cast a spell called Moon's Magnificence, it also provides the user with anti-divination strong enough to protect you from even gods!"
Hearing all this Michael turned thoughtful. This all sounded great, and it was in fact a powerful Relic for it only being of the 5th Order. It almost seemed too good to be true, and he began to fear what the Relic's side effect could be.
"Did you managed to learn about its drawback?" He asked. Veronica glanced down at the pair and she became a bit conflicted. Her expression soured as she spoke.
"I don't know how sever it is. I learnt that they caused the previous users' spirit to be able to communicate with current user. It is said that if your mental fortitude is good enough there wouldn't be any problems, but if you have a weak mind, they will slowly drive you insane."
Michael was really surprised hearing that. For a Relic this powerful there should've been a much worse drawback. But he knew that the downsides on Items and Relics weren't consistent. Some had crippling side effects, while others could be basically ignored.
"Is that it? But wouldn't taking them out solve the problem with the spirits?" He asked hopefully, but Veronica quickly destroyed that hope.
"No, it wouldn't... The earrings once placed can't be removed. Even if you cut down your ear, the jewelry will just appear in the scar tissue... If I put it on, I will have to live with it or die by it!"
After saying that they both turned silent. In the background a creepy tune sounded, which kind of ruined the serious atmosphere. Veronica was about to say something, but decided against it.
They stared at each other for a few more seconds, before Michael turned away and sighed.
"Before you make any decision, you should probably know what that spell and ability does... Why do you look so surprised?" He asked upon seeing Veronica's wide eyes.
"It-its nothing... I just... Don't you want to persuade me against using it? This is a very serious choice that would alter me in a permanent way... Don't you think that it's dangerous?" Michael just chuckled a bit after hearing that.
"I think I know more about danger levels than you. But if you truly want to know my opinion, you shouldn't use it. It doesn't sound too dangerous, but its description is too arbitrary and not specific enough... It can be much more treacherous than we know, but..."
After saying that he took a few steps until he stood in front of Veronica. He reached out and lifted her hands, holding onto them gently. Her skin was warm and soft, without any imperfections or callouses. A true lady's hand.
"But I also believe in you. And I think you know yourself more than I do, so while I wouldn't use the earrings, the situation might require you to put them on... I can't and won't make this decision for you. What I can do is help you get more information to make the educated choice, which ignores my personal preference..."
As he finished speaking, he lifted her hands and planted one small kiss on each. Veronica blushed at the affectionate display, but didn't pull her hands back.
"Thank you. For letting me make the choice, and not try to change me!" She said with a small smile, which Michael reflected tenfold.
They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment. Unknowingly their faces began closing in the distance, but just before anything could happen the previous piano slam happened again.
Both Veronica and Michael jumped in surprise, then they laughed a bit when they remembered they weren't really alone.
The silence lasted for a while, but Michael quickly tried to salvage the awkward atmosphere.
"Anyways, let's start with the Moon's Magnificence since that's much easier to explain than Mind's Eye..." He spoke a bit embarrassed at first, but he slowly shook of the previous moment and concentrated on the now.
"It's a spell that the Knowledge Pursuer's 7th Order has. If I remember correctly its name is Starborn, and they learn all sorts of magics related to space, or as they like to call it... 'Outer'. This particular one causes every nearby projectile to be absorbed by it. It's very useful in a scenario where you are severely outgunned!"
Veronica nodded along, imagining how the spell actually worked. It would be really great to have something like that, but this alone wouldn't make her choose to use the earrings.
"What does the ability, that 'Mind's Eye' do?" She asked curiously, but Michael didn't answer her immediately.
He spent the next few minutes gathering all his thoughts on the subject. It begged the question, just how complicated was this ability?
Eventually he took a deep breath and began the thorough explanation of the Mind's Eye.
"This ability is not path specific, in fact every path gets it at some point. What's different between paths is its strength. Since you probably gained it from the Knowledge Pursuer path's 7th Order, its strength should be equivalent to that..."
Veronica didn't say anything, she just looked extremely focused.
"Before I talk about the strength differences, I warn you that using it could be very dangerous. The ability has two forms, active and passive. The passive gives the same thing to everyone, spiritual perception. It's like a hidden sensor for anything that has Ethereal Property."
"Okay, and I assume its strength is dependent on one's path and order?" Asked Veronica, when Michael stayed silent for a few seconds.
He became thoughtful for a moment, then turned towards Veronica and made a wobbling move with his hand.
"Kind of, but also not really. The strength of the Mind's Eye depends on the user's soul strength. That's why some paths unlock it sooner than others. Their souls can handle more, which gives them the ability to use it without issue." He said while Veronica nodded with understanding.
"So its not that other paths can't use it, but its dangerous for them to use it before reaching a specific order!" Michael made a firm nod before continuing.
"Exactly. But this danger aspect won't be a problem for you since the ability comes from a powerful Relic instead of your own body."
"Okay, but you still haven't talked about the active form. Why is it so dangerous?"
"That's very simple. With its active form you gain the ability to pierce the veil and see into the Ethereal Plain..." He turned silent for a moment, his expression turning grim.
"There are things in there that causes corruption just by witnessing their existence. I suggest never using it, even Billie haven't dared to activate it."
The atmosphere stayed like that for a long time. Michael stayed silent, while Veronica didn't know what to say to that. Her knowledge of the Ethereal Plain was very surface level, so she planned on trying to learn more about it from the mysticism book Suze had given to her.
"Billie has Mind's Eye too? I thought she was only Order 8 like me?" Asked Veronica after she had enough of the uncomfortable silence.
"Yes, she has it, and yes she is only Order 8. This is a specialty of the Knowledge Pursuer, Outlaw and Oracle paths. Their soul bodies are the strongest and they unlock Mind's Eye in the 8th Order. These are the three strongest paths, spiritually speaking."
Veronica thought about this for a few seconds, then eventually came to the conclusion that Mind's Eye wasn't too great.
"Is there anything useful about Mind's Eye, because what you described so far is kind of lack luster. Ethereal Perception seems great, but not good enough, and seeing the Ethereal Plain is way too dangerous for me. Is there something else it can do that would make it a good choice?"
Michael seemed confused by this, but he soon realized his mistake when describing the ability... He left out the most important part.
"Yes, there is. While the active can see into the Ethereal Plain, it also has another use, which is much safer. It can see different aspects of other people..." Seeing Veronica's confused expression, Michael rolled his eyes and muttered something about her 'failed education'.
"There are five aspects every human has. The Physical Outlook, which is a person's physical body. The Heart Outlook, which shows one's emotional body. The Mind Outlook, which reveals a person's Body of Thought. The Ethereal Outlook, which shows someone's Ethereal Projection. And the most important... The Soul Outlook!"
Before he could've continued Veronica cut in.
"What's an Ethereal Projection?" Michael groaned in annoyance. This was all very basic information that she should've already learnt about!
"Everyone has one. It's basically your projection, which moves within the Ethereal Plain in sync with the rest of the Outlooks. This projection is dependent on one's path and order. The higher your order the more convoluted and enormous this projection becomes!"
The implications of what he said finally dawned on Veronica.
"Wait, so if someone can perceive other people's Ethereal Outlook, that means they can determine what's that person's path and order?"
Michael looked surprised for a moment, then just laughed a bit. He always forgot how smart Veronica actually was, but it was always great to get reminded.
"Exactly, but that's not the most powerful and useful Outlook. The Soul Outlook gives one the ability to stare into someone's soul, which roughly translates to being able to perceive anything and everything about a person. You can see what they think, every past experiences they had, literally everything you can think of!"
Veronica's eyes widened. "Does this mean that if I have Mind's Eye, I can see into other people's souls?"
She was really hopeful and excited about this, but her fantasy quickly got crushed.
"What? No, of course not! Since the Relic contains probably a Starborn characteristic you will only be able to see someone's Physical and Heart Outlook. But even then, people can hide them from you if they concentrate... You also probably should learn how to do that!"
Veronica groaned in exasperation, then asked a few more questions about Mind's Eye and the Outlooks. After that she placed the earrings back inside the box and took out the knife for divination.
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