Aran flicked his ears at the notion that he had no purpose. Of course he did! He just needed to figure out what it was! There was so much talk of this magic, that Aran wanted to figure out how to use it! At the flick of a finger on his soon-to-be antlers, the young Barasingha backed up a tad, his tail flicking behind him. The flick didn't hurt, but it certainly made his head feel funny.

Focus on the crystal on his head to use magic? Was that what Vargas was telling him to do? His thoughts and questions were cut off when the creature in front of him seemed to disappear. Aran would have been extremely confused for not they were talking about magic before. Of course he could still see the light that came off of the creature, so Aran knew slightly that Vargas was still there. Magic.. Many things that it could do... Maybe Aran could try!

So he did what Vargas mentioned before, and focused.

@Vargas

Had he not been very familiar with the magic of the caves, and powerfully-infused with it, Vargas would not have sensed the faint tingle of prokaryotic energy whispering through him. It felt, to him, like a promise: a reassurance, the faintest strengthening.

He reappeared fully--his magic fading away--and gave Aran a stern nod. "Good. Good! They call this prokaryotic. It is to do with sicknesses and health. There are many things that you can learn with this," he went on. He didn't pause to consider why he was teaching this new child. He wasn't in a rush; he had nowhere to be, his hunger wasn't pressing, yet. So, he had nothing better to do. And anyway, the strengthening and testing of these creatures was his priority.

This was both, in a sense: teaching, and testing.

"Given time, and practice, you will find that you can sense others through what they carry in their bodies. Bacteria, it is called, and we are all full of them. Others with your magic can create sicknesses and plagues and spread them, causing swathes of death!" (For whatever reason, Vargas sounded enthusiastic about this.) "Others can tend the ill, and heal them of their sicknesses, and so forth." This wasn't nearly as exciting to the Overseer. After all, if someone fell ill, wasn't it a weakness? Why shouldn't they be left to die?

That didn't apply to proven Masters and their Overseers, though--so perhaps there was some use to these things after all. He'd never really valued the menders, much, perhaps less than they deserved.

@Aran

Aran had only known he'd used the spell when he felt it himself, as if he was powering up something and directing it somewhere. As if he had caused something to happen. Aran really wasn't sure what he did... Maybe he could experiment with that more! Not on Vargas, of course! That could be rather rude, especially seeing as Aran had no idea what he did.

Healing? And Sickness? Does that mean he could help others that were injured? Sickness... Hurting others? He didn't want to do that. Prokaryotic? "What does Prokaryotic mean?" He asked. Aran could assume some things from what the other creature said, and he was curious. Though at the next words of Vargas, he understood. Bacteria... he could hurt and heal. Aran didn't want to hurt. He wanted to heal! Death? Like what Hecate told him before! He didn't want that! No blood and bones and all of the bad things!

"I don't wanna hurt!" He exclaimed.

@Vargas

Vargas gave a soft 'harrumph,' of sorts. He hoped that his explanation had been enough. But when Aran said that he "didn't want to hurt," Vargas misunderstood. Rather than take it to mean 'harm others,' he assumed that the youth did not want to 'be in pain.'

He responded as such.

"Well, don't be a fool, and you won't be. But pain comes in many guises; what is important is to survive it," he said wisely. Or rather, it sounded wise, at least. Maybe it was more along the lines of common sense.

"But that is what pain is for. To tell you when you have made a mistake... or to tell you that you are pushing your own boundaries! To survive that is key. Survival is all that matters, in the end; the dead hold no sway over the living." He growled this, then looked to Aran, eyes narrowing some.

Perhaps the child would understand; perhaps not. Perhaps he would survive. Maybe he would die--only time would tell.

"Do you have other questions, Titanite, before I go on the hunt?"

@Aran

Aran listened to the words of the bigger creature. It was clear that Vargas had been around for a long time... At least, long enough to know a lot about magic and the world around them. Of course, Aran had not meant hurting himself, he had meant hurting others, but he had not made that clear enough when he spoke before.

Vargas seemed to push survival more than anything else. Surviving one's own powers, other creature's clutches, that pain taught him something. Maybe he would learn what that would be in the future, but right now, he didn't understand what Vargas meant by it.

Maybe he would learn when he explored the many alveolate caves and caverns that were in this place. Some of them held extremely deep rooms and holes that he so dearly wanted to see.

Questions? Aran had many. Though they were things he could find out on his own, now. Aran didn't understand the word titanite, either, but Vargas had been using it like a name. So maybe it was Vargas' own name for the Barasingha? "No. I don't." He replied. It looked like it would be time to go, soon.

@Vargas

Vargas grunted, pushing up.

"Hrmph. Just remember-" (he pointed one six-clawed forelimb toward Aran and extended what might have equated to an index finger, to point at the deer) "-you are not limited to one sort of magic. Bacteria cannot hide you--but shadows can. Be cunning, Titanite, and perhaps you will not die."

The Overseer offered a great and grinning leer before stepping back, for the trees. He tried to cast himself into shadows, but magic had never been his strong point, and he was neither particularly surprised nor overly disappointed when it didn't work.

He'd have liked his dramatic exit, but that mattered very little. Perhaps he'd look for this Titanite again, another time, and test how far he'd come.

For now he slipped off, his bulk surprisingly graceful as it parted the damp foliage. He had hunting to attend to.

exit Vargas; @Aran

Aran was pointed at by a rather sharp looking claw. He wasn't scared, however. Vargas had been deemed alright to him when they met and the large creature didn't try to immediately eat him. He could have more than just one kind of magic? How would he learn to get those other kinds? Aran wanted to know, but wasn't going to take up any more time than he needed to of that creature. He could ask others, or figure it out himself by trial and error. Either way, he'd figure it out eventually.

Cunning... He could try that. Backteria can't hide him... That's true. Maybe he would just have to figure out how to hold his own against anything that could come to him. Aran turned to leave when Vargas did the same.

Exit