After everyone greeted each other, it was finally time to continue Adrian's basics that had been interrupted while they were in Paris.
"How many things do you know right now?" Max asked Adrian.
"Hmm…" Adrian didn't say anything for a few seconds as he recalled all the information he had been given by Eric in the past hour.
"I know about charms, a little about mystical and dreadful relics, pathways. I've just heard the term 'uniqueness.' Basics of Aura, how one awakens their Aura, the sub-consciousness of Aura, the ranking system, and a little history. The three regions and the universal walls, and the existence of the 4 great bodies of the Aura region."
Visie nodded her head and said, "Good. You know most of the things that a new Aura user might need. Now, let's fill you in on the other information. Say, do you have any idea about sub-pathways and unofficial pathways?"
Adrian shook his head. The cherry-coloured bubble floated silently by his left shoulder. Visie opened her mouth and started to explain.
A white liquid with black particles came out of her hand and flowed on the table, She willed it into 30 thin strings on which end, a small ball forms, out of each ball, three smaller and thinner strings came out but their end wasn't with a ball. She then started to explain.
The point she explains about shines on the table.
"There are thirty pathways that exist in the universe. These pathways are called the primary or official pathways. The difference between the two can be told by the appearance of their region in the 'Layer of Natural Aura'. The primary pathways have more Auras and Aura users in their pathways, so their regions will naturally be bigger and denser. They also have their own boundaries that separate them from the rest."
"What do the boundaries represent?" Adrian asked, his hands folded.
"We don't know. We're just Lysi Novas—we can't comprehend or access knowledge regarding those boundaries. Anyway, the unofficial pathways also don't have any sub-pathways. Their regions are small, boundless, and less dense, always getting influenced by the primary pathways."
"The sub-pathways are three small specialized branches or facets of their parent primary pathway. Every pathway has three sub-pathways, categorising that pathway's powers and authorities into a facet. Every Aura user is divided in that way. For example, you have the power of the Destruction Aura and belong to the Apocalypse pathway. The Apocalypse pathway has three sub-pathways: the Luck Pathway, which includes all the Aura users of the Apocalypse pathway whose Auras have powers relating to possibilities, probabilities, misfortune, chances, and randomness; the Chaos Pathway, which includes all the Aura users whose Auras have powers relating to chaos, disorder, cataclysm, catastrophe, apocalypse, and destruction; and the Disaster Pathway, which includes all the Aura users whose Auras have powers relating to natural or man-made disasters."
Adrian's heart started to beat faster with every second she spoke. The Apocalypse Pathway surely was filled with disaster and destruction. Was he truly such a person to become an Aura user of this pathway? Was there really so much hatred hidden in the depths of his heart to cause destruction? If he—despite being so calm and normal—had become an Aura user of such a pathway, then what about the other Aura users of this pathway? Just how much destructive nature would they have? Would he also become like that?
Adrian couldn't help but imagine bloodlusted figures destroying everything around him. He subconsciously refused the thought of becoming such a person.
Adrian's silence worried Max. He quickly understood his thoughts. "Hey, Adrian, you don't have to stress it out. As far as I know, the Aura users of the Apocalypse pathway are mostly calm people who are very natural, but they have bottled-up rage that has been growing in them their whole life. They're normally not crazy lunatics. I don't know how the high-ranking Aura users of this pathway become, though. For the time being, don't overthink it."
Adrian nodded and asked, "What are the names of the sub-pathways of the other primary pathways? If we calculate the number of primary pathways by their sub-pathways—which is always three—then there are in total 120 pathways! It's quite the number."
"This number will only increase as time goes on," Eric silently commented. Despite wanting to be quiet, he spoke up when he felt the need to.
Visie also spoke up: "There are a lot of pathways and sub-pathways that are very broad and immersive. Every pathway leads a person to a different philosophy and mindset, reforming their ideologies with its own ideologies. I could sit and tell you about them all, but we don't have that much time. I will give you a book in which all the pathways' powers, philosophies, the changes it brings to its Aura users, sub-pathways, and uniquenesses are keenly explained."
Adrian nodded his head and asked another question. "So how exactly are new pathways formed?"
Visie took a deep breath and started. "There are two types of primary pathways: origin pathways and derived pathways. The origin pathways started as unofficial pathways and soon became primary pathways. As time passes, these pathways form their own sub-pathways, These are origin pathways and when a sub-pathway gets a high number of Aura users and the number of Auras it has increases till a breaking point, after that point is broken, the sub-pathway emerges as a new primary pathway. For example, the Beauty pathway is a derived primary pathway. It used to be a sub-pathway of the Deceiver pathway. This cycle keeps going on and on."
Adrian nodded his head. He was constantly thinking of what question to ask next. He wanted to get as much detailed knowledge as he could today. "I've heard Eric use the term 'uniqueness' quite often ever since we met. What does it mean?"
Visie chuckled a little. She was finding the curiosity of this boy amusing and relatable; she remembered her younger self, who was also once curious like him. She remembered how when she was just an apprentice the three of them were curious and finding out everything about the world.
She was getting a warm feeling in her chest while answering his questions. "Uniquenesses are passive enhancements that every pathway's Aura users get from their pathways. Every pathway gives a number of them to its Aura users. These uniquenesses grow both in strength and number as the Aura user grows in ranks. The most common uniqueness can be the different types of premonitions that an Aura user gains based on their pathway. For you, it would be the premonition to disaster, danger and misfortune."
Adrian nodded. His body suddenly jolted as he remembered a detail that had been pestering him for quite a while. "Eric told me that an Aura user can have two primary Auras. One is the one that they awaken naturally, and the other can be obtained through different means. Are there any more details to this?"
"Yes, there are. You're quite smart and keen for a newbie. I wouldn't have been surprised if you were an Aura user of the Knowledge Pathway," Visie complimented Adrian as she rested her chin on her right hand and smiled. Adrian didn't feel anything, but the cherry bubble by his shoulder glowed pink for a few seconds before returning to its cherry colour.
"There are 30 pathways, and between these thirty pathways, there are pathways which are synonymous, antonymous, and neutral to each other. Let's explain this with an example. Imagine a person who is an Aura user of the Apocalypse pathway like you and decided to get a second primary Aura. Which pathway would be the best for him? The most ideal Aura for him would be another Aura from the Apocalypse pathway. It would be ideal for him because the two Auras can then also buff each other and increase each other's power by fifty percent. But what if he can't get one or wants to be more versatile? Then what? Then his best options would be the Auras of pathways that the Apocalypse pathway is synonymous to, which would be the War pathway, the Time pathway, the Death pathway, and the Weapon pathway. If he were to get an Aura from one of these pathways, then he will be more versatile, but the two Auras will also give each other a twenty-five percent buff.
"What would be his worst options? It would be the Auras from the antonymous pathways of the Apocalypse pathway. That would be the Justice and Birth pathways. If he were to really get an Aura from these pathways, then the friction between the two Auras—due to the pathways they belong to being antonymous—will cause friction in each other and decrease the power of each by twenty-five percent. It can reach fifty percent if the two pathways are extreme antonyms, like the Life and Death pathways or the Light and Darkness pathways."
"All the other pathways that are neither synonymous nor antonymous to it will naturally be its neutral pathways. Getting an Aura from them won't cause any friction, but he won't get any buff either."
She took a deep breath and chugged a glass of water after speaking so much. She was getting thirsty.
"What about relics?" Adrian asked another question. This would be the last question he would ask. His head was now hurting due to getting so much information, but he was very happy inside—excited, even—to finally be able to walk in such an interesting world.