Capítulo 37: A GODDESS' BLESSINGS

"I shall now explain the basics of how the musical instruments work in controlling elements. Why do we call it Melody Manipulation? Why exactly has the lineage of the First Family strived to create melodies to manipulate our most innate energy signatures? These are the questions we shall answer today. " Miss Frea pushed up her arms. The stone on her earring glowed a deep brown color and a circular portion of the soil in front of her raised up.

"As you can see, I can use my affinity without having to resort to using melody manipulation. it is my inborn element after all. Of course, that is also with the help of the energy stone in my earring as it helps me channel my energy signature. However, for large scale usage of my energy signature, I cannot use my energy stone as it is." She raised up two fingers from her enclosed fist. "This is because of two reasons. Does anyone know the answer to this?"

A small smile appeared on her face when three of the students raised their hands. She picked a female who was standing in front of Lexine. Her hair was a dark blue color and fell to her mid-back. The female turned and bowed at the waist. "I am called Alara Kai from the Kai family. Since the usage of all our elements is directly linked to water, using an instrument makes us imbue the particles of water in the air, in plants, and in the ground with our energy signature."

"But ma'am," Soro raised his hand, "how isn't water simply water? How can we use different elements if it is all connected to water? Doesn't it mean that we each have an affinity to water?"

Miss Frea smiled at the question. She adored when her students asked questions. "What Miss Kai has given us is the Scientific approach to the usage of our elements. Over time, scholars of Alchemy have gone out of their way to learn more about why, despite all our elements being linked to water, some can control elements like earth and plant life."

She turned away from them and flicked her right wrist up. The ground in front of her raised up. She then lay her wrist palm down before closing it up in a fist. The ground soil closed itself together and molded itself forming something akin to a soil bench.

"We have an hour before the lecture ends, why don't you take a seat first." She made three more soil benches. Lexine followed Quira and patted the soil to remove at least some of the dust to prevent her uniform from being too dirty. Quira noticed her actions. She flicked up her finger and a grass leaf grew big enough for both her and Lexine to sit on. Lexine nodded her head in thanks before sitting.

By the time everyone had settled down, Miss Frea had formed something similar to a blackboard from the soil.

"Water is the element every Sylph is connected to. We are water creatures after all." She fluttered the glimmering brown wings on her back."I am sure you all know the story. Our ancestors evolved from flying creatures of the water. The first to gain intelligence, after leaving his pod, was blessed by the water goddess who blessed him and his companion with feet."

On the soil board there appeared two images. The first painting was of a faceless woman who was dressed in flowing clothes. The woman stood by a lake and there were two fish heads poking out from the water gazing at the human figure. The fish had fins that poked above the water and seemed more like wings than they did fins.

The second image was of the two fish getting their human legs. Two wings sprouted from their back and their eyes were slitted like a cat's. The man was significantly taller than the female and his wings were bigger, spanning over the entire length of the female's form.

Lexine frowned deeper, 'So they evolved from fish?' She sneaked a glance at her classmates. None of them looked at all like fish. They did not have gills, nor did they have scales. And where were their wings? So far she had only seen Headmaster and Miss Frea with wings. It seemed almost far fetched. However, looking at Miss Frea's wings, Lexine had to admit that they looked a lot like the fins of a Caribbean flying fish.

The image on the soil board changed to the first two blessed creatures welcoming more creatures with wings on their back into their home. "The goddess blessed the first ancestor with the affinity to water. Over time, the clan grew as the goddess blessed more water creatures with legs. This was only blessed to those who had evolved mentally of course. These blessed creatures of the water goddess were named Sylphs. However, not all the sylphs were blessed with the affinity of water. Some were able to control other elements such as earth and plant life."

The image changed once more, this time to a picture of people controlling different elements. "The sylphs thought it was a hidden blessing gifted to them by the water goddess." Miss Frea looked back at her students. They had their eyes fixated on the soil board and others had it on her form.

"This is the first theory that has been explained by those firm believers in the water goddess. For these firm believers, the reason we use Melody Manipulation is simple. Can anyone tell me?"

This time, a dark-skinned beauty was chosen. Her eyes were blue and dark freckles littered the bridge of her nose down to her cheeks. Her hair was a dark purple, some strands almost matching the tone of lilac in Quira's hair. She bowed at the waist. "I am Ciha Geldina of the First family. For the firm believers, Melody Manipulation is a method of pleasing the goddess who was known to be a lover of music. If your music is pleasing enough, she will grant you the strength to use your energy signature on a large scale. If it does not please the goddess, she will not grant you your request of having more strength."

Miss Frea smiled more deeply, revealing a shallow dimple on her left cheek. "Perfectly answered. However, it is more than that. The goddess was said to bless those with beautiful mating calls with the power to live on land. Since the day that she blessed the first ancestor, no other sylph has ever received such favor from the goddess. All firm believers believe that they will be the first to please the goddess after the many years that have passed. Of course, no one knows the original mating call song that enchanted the goddess, so no one has ever been able to perfect it. Any questions?"

A short boy with long yellow blonde hair spoke up. He had dark brown peach blossom eyes and a blue ring glinted on the helix of his ear. "What happened to those water creatures that did not evolve? Since the mating call belonged to their kind, shouldn't someone be able to listen to their call when the time for mating comes?"

Miss Frea chuckled. "Those that did not evolve and those that were not blessed all went extinct. That creature no longer exists. It is very much like the werewolves. They are thought to be the direct descendant of the wolf creature but in fact, those that were not blessed by the moon goddess also went extinct. That would mean the werewolves are not the direct descendants of wolf creatures of course."

Some of the students nodded, understanding her logic. "Are there any other questions?" Since no one spoke up, she went on. "The Scientific Approach to Melody Manipulation is quite different. Since we are all water users in one way or the other, why is it that some sylphs control other elements?"

A small smirk appeared on her face as she waited for anyone to answer. After she realized no one was going to answer this, she answered it herself. "Intellectuals over the past years have tried to explain why, despite the fact that all sylphs are born with a water affinity, some have other affinities apart from water. They realized that all users of different affinities had one thing in common."

She paused. Lexine felt that she paused for dramatic effect. She was right.

"Their energy signatures."

Lexine was confused. This was not the first time she was hearing this term. In fact, the other times she had heard it was when she was being told that her energy signature was really high.

A slug image appeared on the soil board. Next to it was an image of a male sylph.

"All creatures, down to the slime, have innate energy signatures. How high your energy signature depicts how strong you are. When conducting experiments, the Scholars discovered that those who could use other elements had their energy signature level at the same range. This depicted how much water affinity one had."