[Job] Dragon Rose (Akeya/Leila Vergious)

Job Details:

On an island without an official name, away from any trading routes and populated by wyverns, Akeya was training in tandem with Leila. The two of them each had their own issues to deal with on a magical level: Leila was struggling to gain control of the magic she inherited from a rose dragon, and Akeya was working hard to finally achieve the balance between light and dark which had been eluding her for so long.

Originally she'd come here to track down Leila, but given that they'd put their fight to rest there wasn't actually much left to do for Akeya. While she was a dragon and Leila was practising to gain control over dragon magic the silver-haired goddess seemed to be doing fine learning at her own pace, so the best Akeya could do was give some tips and then mind her own business unless Leila asked her a question regarding the fine details of dragon magic. Of course the fact that Leila's dragon magic was rose-themed and Akeya's was a mixture of light and dark also somewhat got in the way, but not as much as one might think: dragons tended to use magic in similar ways even if their elements differed.

Which begged the question why the dragoness was still here.

The simple answer was that she'd learned that Leila could summon the spirit Libra, who amongst other things was a master of balance. For the twilight dragon that was a major asset, since she had to admit that despite her best efforts light and dark didn't play well together. She hoped that with Libra's aid/tutelage she'd be able to get rid of those last hurdles that were keeping her from mastering her own powers. Of course she'd attempt to do that with or without Libra's help, but Akeya thought herself pragmatic enough that she could swallow her pride and ask someone for help with something she was struggling with.

Another answer was that she didn't really have a need to be anywhere else, so she might as well use the opportunity of visiting a remote island to practice somewhere out of sight from practically everyone. While she'd loosened up a bit regarding treating the mortal species as potential threats she still would rather not show them all her tricks. She might be willing to live alongside them but that didn't mean she didn't want to be prepared for the possible future where they'd become enemies. Dragons just weren't the most social or the most amiable of creatures: even friendly dragons tended to experience friction with others.

The third answer, which she kept to herself, was that she felt like she needed to do something about Leila. Akeya definitely wasn't the easiest to get along with: even amongst dragons she had a rather distant attitude. She was perfectly aware of this and didn't think it worth worrying about, since she was fine being on her own. However she'd thought that with Leila at least she'd built something of a stable connection. The goddess was amiable, cooperative and competent, and she didn't bother Akeya. It might be because she was a goddess but Akeya couldn't remember Leila complaining about concepts like honour or fairness or any of that. The dragoness could appreciate a working relationship were the two sides didn't try to tell the other how to do their thing. It suited her individualistic mindset were cooperation was about smoothlessly complementing one another's talents and perspectives.

However she was becoming sharply aware that for Leila things weren't that solid. The goddess seemed to think that Akeya's austere attitude was an indication of her not caring. The annoying thing was that while that was usually true the dragoness was pretty certain that this time around she did care. And she was rather annoyed that she couldn't convey that convincingly. Even dragons, individualistic, territorial and proud as they were, could still have entities they cared for and wished to look after (children were an obvious example). Their desire and capability for bonds was significantly lower than for social creatures like humans but it wasn't non-existent.

So even as the dragoness was trying to smoothly and rapidly switch between light and dark to make it easier for her to use them in tandem she was thinking about how she could make it clear to Leila that the goddess was actually important to the dragoness. Being open and warm just wasn't something she was good at. Having taken in the element of light might have helped with her opening up a bit compared to before, but she still was overall rather stoic and didn't show much emotion.

It was frustrating to have a trait she was usually rather proud of, given how it helped her remain rational and level-headed even under stressful circumstances, get in the way of her objective. She looked over towards where Leila was working on her rose dragon magic, light and dark still rapidly switching between her hands. Her emerald eyes searched for the form of her partner while another part of her was still focused on that tricky task. She could use both light and dark proficiently at this point, but it was when she tried to combine them that things became difficult. The two elements didn't want to mix and most of the time forcefully putting them together resulted in either nullification or a rapid exhaustion of energy, which in simpler terms would be called an explosion.

She couldn't tell if she was missing a key piece of understanding or if this was just something which remained inherently difficult no matter how much you knew about it. She could understand both light and dark, but that understanding just helped underline how much these two essences were in conflict with one another. Even as she was looking for Leila the dark and the light that were emitting from her claws suddenly flickered out of existence as they got into contact with each other and nullified each other.

WC: 1,001
TWC: 1,001/25,000

Akeya stopped trying to rapidly switch between light and dark with a mildly annoyed huff, returning her attention back to the actual conversation at hand. "It might be that your nature as a goddess is causing a stronger reaction. Humans are relatively neutral in their essence so they have an easy time taking in and adapting to foreign types of magic." That and their entire field of proficiency was taking what the world offered and making it their own. Expanionism was one of humanity's strongest traits, after all.

"Regardless of whether your... parent... were still alive, they'd probably be difficult to find. And there would be good odds that they don't know any more about this power than you do. There's not even any guarantee of them having awakened it for themselves." Foresight was usually in the blood, but it wasn't always inherited as powerfully. Just like with every other trait several generations could be skipped before it once again manifested itself strongly enough for it to be noticed.

With Leila moving away for her own training Akeya nodded and turned towards Libra, who remained with her. She assumed that was partially because she didn't want to interrupt the goddess now that she had a clear purpose in mind. Akeya just hoped that Leila would learn from her demonstration and not try to use dragon magic like something which required complex seals and spells. While possible it was largely unnecessary and would get in the way of getting a natural feel for using it.

"Foresight is definitely a useful ability, although I'm wondering whether it'll develop beyond short-term foresight or not. Although either way it's not something to sneeze at." If Leila could develop it into seeing things days or weeks (or even further) ahead she would be capable of amazing things, but even if it was only short-term it'd already give her a major edge in nearly any situation where reaction time was essential.

The knowledge that spirits could observe the world through their summoner was useful. Also quite dangerous. It meant that Akeya had to assume that if she showed something to Leila then every spirit her friend could summon could also know of it, which meant horrible things for the concept of information hygiene. That there was only ever one key for every zodiac spirit was at least a blessing, since it reduced the chances of Libra specifically sharing information with others... although the dragoness was pretty sure information could also spread from spirit to spirit.

She wasn't looking forward to figuring out how to balance keeping things secret with not making Leila feel like Akeya couldn't trust her with anything.

"For someone who knows you and was aware of your arrival Leila didn't appear to be very prepared for what I assume was the inevitable act of you tackling her to the ground." Of course it might be that Leila liked being tackled to the ground but Akeya somewhat doubted that, if only because even if it didn't hurt it rarely felt very comfortable. "That said, if you're not worried about the consequences of startling me I guess I'm not threatening enough yet." It was perfectly sensible for the celestial spirit to not care much for Akeya's feelings on the matter. However Akeya's priorities were different.

The comment that celestial summoners were naturally drawn to the golden keys elicited a raised eyebrow and a folding of the dragoness's arms. "While understandable that doesn't exactly explain how it happened. If you don't know I'll just ask her later. For now..." Her words trailed off as she registered something Libra had said. "You didn't immediately register her as being non-human?" That at the very least was surprising to the assassin. She didn't doubt that Libra was strong, which also meant that she had assumed that the two-haired girl would have no issue spotting Leila as something much different from the average mortal. "That's... interesting."

While she was genuine when she said that it was interesting she still shook her head to put it aside. They (or she at least) could focus on the finer details of Libra's bond and history with Leila another time. For now she wanted to focus on something more productive.

Although productivity would have to wait a bit longer as the sound of two objects colliding with a lot of force drew her attention. Looking over at Leila she noticed that the goddess appeared to have tried copying Akeya's demonstration exactly, with good results. Due to Leila having made some distance to practice Akeya had to raise her voice to comment on it. "That's a good start at least. You might also want to try seeing how long you can keep the claw stable around your hand." With that piece of advice out in the open she turned towards Libra once more, her tail sweeping from side to side behind her. "You haven't answered my request though. Are you willing to help me improve my balance between light and dark?" She pointed over towards Leila with a thumb. "She looks like she won't need our help much at all except for when her magic grows unstable, so we both have plenty of free time. I'm Leila's partner so helping me improve helps her as well, and you're definitely the best choice when it comes to improving balance... although I do have to wonder if you'd be good at teaching it to someone who doesn't have it as a natural trait?"

Akeya was a twilight dragon, but her status as one was a bit of a headscratcher. She started out as a dark dragon and only turned into her current form by forcefully taking in the essence of light and managing to survive the process through sheer luck and grit. She had three hatchlings being taken care of by Korikami who were natural twilight dragons and who'd most likely have a lot easier a time mastering the balance between the two elements, but as it was Akeya's control was nowhere close to where she wanted it to be.

WC: 1,013
TWC: 3,114 / 25,000

Akeya rolled her eyes as she felt like Libra was stating the obvious a bit. As a goddess she didn't doubt that Leila was capable of amazing feats with or without foresight, although she was quite confident that foresight could only serve to increase the amount of amazing feats and the level of amazingness. As for sticking around to learn... "That's what I was planning yes. Given what happened before today I feel like I'm too ignorant around the exact workings of Leila herself and the Garden of Eden." It was definitely something that she was planning to do something about given half the chance.

Although it seemed like Libra was enjoying this a lot which made Akeya wonder what the celestial spirit knew which made this entire scenario so amusing. Was she just entertained by watching Akeya stumble about in a setting she knew little about? Given the spirit's behaviour so far she wouldn't put it past Libra. Which was mildly annoying, true, but she didn't feel like starting a fight over something like that right now, especially since Libra actually had something the twilight dragon wanted. A lot of mortals would have it a lot easier if they were better at applying the concept of leverage.

When Libra leaned in and began to speak in suggestive tones Akeya's expression became one of surprise and confusion, her sharp emerald eyes switching from the two-haired girl's face to her fingers and back up. "That... actually wasn't what I was thinking about, but I guess that's good to know..." She left it ambigious whether that last part was regarding that Leila could shut the spirits out or that Libra apparently wasn't opposed to being invited to moments of intimacy. She was confident that even if she'd clarified the cheeky spirit in front of her would have taken whatever interpretation suited her best.

Glancing over towards Leila her own expression also became neutral once more. While Libra was switching her moods rather quickly the assassin assumed that had something to do with her being the spirit of balance. If the spirit of balance had hair divided into two colours that was a clear giveaway that it was the kind of balance which could be maintained between two extremes, and not the kind of balance which is only achieved through neutrality. Passion against apathy, joy against sorrow, hot against cold...

"I'm getting the distinct impression part of the reason she didn't complain was because she's used to it by now." She pointed this out rather dryly as she folded her arms. "Well, now that I've seen your arrival once I should be able to recognize it in the future, so the entire point is moot anyway. As for the importance of skinship..." Looking over towards where Leila was practising the dragoness seemed to be ruminating on something before nodding. "From what I've been told summoners rely a lot on establishing a strong bond with those they summon, so knock yourself out with that." Of course even though she could recognize Libra's arrival now didn't mean that other summoned creatures might not be in for a nasty surprise if they were too daring with startling Akeya.

Given Libra's response the dragoness took her time answering, curling a finger underneath her mouth as she looked up with a thoughtful expression. "Maybe not... I wasn't there when it happened, so I wouldn't be able to judge. If you hadn't realized it immediately in the present day I might actually have laughed at you for it." It's true that Leila's nature was more strongly present than it used to be. The encounter was long enough ago that not all the details were sharp but Akeya was quite certain her friend had appeared less extraordinary back then.

When she was called violent she blinked, glaring at Libra for a moment before sighing and shrugging. "I guess you could call it violent. I'm by nature a predator, I stalk prey and take it down silently and swiftly. I can't deny being a killer but I'm nowhere as violent as many of those creatures which go around destroying things because they enjoy it." Predators didn't hunt for the joy of it, they hunted because that was what they did. Because hunting served a purpose more tangible and worthwhile than mere entertainment. While this made her a merciless killer she still didn't think of herself as poorly as she'd think of those crazy folk who'd burn down entire villages while laughing because they like the way the flames dance.

"I'm interested in magic as a subject, but I want to be able to use it for practical purposes." The display of black and white freely mixing and separating was something to behold, although Akeya's expression grew mildly annoyed as Libra talked about destruction. "I'm not some senseless brute who only thinks about breaking things. I use whatever method is suitable for the situation, regardless of whether that's destruction or creation." She wasn't amused by how she was being described by the celestial spirit, given that she'd always thought herself above those impulse-driven idiots.

She observed as the big orb of grey first swirled before being dispersed as Libra apparently decided that her demonstration had been thorough enough. The dragoness formed a sphere of light and a sphere of dark in each claw, holding the two apart for now as she looked at Libra. "I've been able to force them to combine, but it takes a lot of effort and it never lasts for long. As it stands I feel like I understand the basics of using them but am lacking something that would help make the entire process easier. If you're saying that I need to be less 'violent'..." Akeya's nature wasn't that of a flame, greedily devouring and destroying everything in its path. Her nature was that of a dagger, sharp and hard as it aimed for whatever happened to be its target without compassion or malice. She understood what Libra was saying, but she wasn't sure whether she agreed with it or could accept it if it was true.

"When you say that I might have to sacrifice something, are you talking about my nature? Would the only way to master this to become someone different than I am now?" If that was the price... that would be a tough decision. Mastering dark and light and the combination thereof was definitely worth some pain, but this was more than just pain. Akeya valued who she was rather highly and would have difficulty parting with it.

WC: 1,096
TWC: 5,221‬/25,000

Akeya had cut open enough living things and read enough scrolls to be aware of just how complex biology was. Every single creature was a machine infinitely more complex than any construct devised by intelligent minds. It was awe inspiring but also quite frustrating to work with. Libra's warning that she needed to know more about what she was dealing with to avoid causing damage was affirmation of what the dragoness had already been aware of, and which admittedly was worrying her. Given what happened before they arrived here the Garden of Eden clearly had thorns. She needed to know more but at the same time she also needed to avoid stepping on any metaphorical traps that would cause damage to either herself or Leila. And by extension she supposed that also meant avoiding harm to the Garden itself.

"I'm known for being cautious. As it stands that's the best I can do." No reckless predator survived for long... unless insanely lucky, and Akeya didn't like to rely on luck.

She was startled by Libra's rather sudden laughter, but listened anyway as the two-haired spirit declared that she'd tell Akeya something valuable. The information itself was... "Depressingly so." Was her answer to the observation that most creatures, or at least most intelligent creatures, were socially inclined. That answer was accompanied by a rather exasperated sigh and a shaking of the dragoness's head. She could see the virtues of working together but too often it seemed to result in traits that she herself would consider undesirable. The big one was that social creatures were dependent on the group, and Akeya very much wanted to be capable of sustaining herself.

Following Libra's gaze towards Leila she frowned, her expression now somewhat frustrated. "Would have been easier if she'd been raised like a dragon." She muttered almost under her breath. If there was one trait Leila had that Akeya thought was problematic it was how she was rather susceptible to heavy emotions. Although she wasn't sure whether being raised as a dragon would really have changed much about that other than that it might have made Leila even more inclined to keep such things to herself.

"So if I want Leila to be at ease around me I need to show a willingness to touch her? I'm pretty sure most people are more comfortable if I don't get too close." She wasn't entirely sure whether she was saying that as a joke or not, given that it was not that inaccurate an observation. Well, regardless of what that was she just shrugged and shook her head before returning her attention to something a bit less problematic than emotions and relationships. Such as the fine details of interdimensional portals and the wide variety of creatures that can pass through them.

"There's strong similarities yes, but I'm very good at picking up minute details. Especially when it comes to magic. But yes, one advantage is the fact that the portals through which you come forth are anything but subtle." Akeya had been caught off guard because she hadn't been expecting it, but it was true that even this time around had she wanted to react she did have enough time to try something. One of the reasons why she hadn't actually reacted with violence was the fact that the summoning hadn't been so quick as to put her reflexes to the limit. Hostile action almost always came with the attempt at catching you before you could react.

Given that there were plenty of examples of a powerful entity being useless in the hands of a novice there was nothing Akeya could say to Libra's frustrations but agreement. "I think you're lucky with Leila then. At the very least it'll take a while before your key ends up in the hands of someone you can't bond with, if it happens at all." Infinity was big, but so was the lifespan of a goddess. Unless something truly world-rending happened the only way Libra could separate from Leila was if Leila lost the key or purposefully got rid of it.

The argument that violent didn't necessarily mean impulsive or brutish did little to get rid of Akeya's annoyance. She still considered herself a lot less violent than a lot of other creatures given how she only committed to it when necessary rather than seeking it out at every opportunity. "I see your point, but I have tried to let it happen naturally and, well..." It hadn't gone very well, to say the least. It'd been an exceedingly annoying experience.

Her long raven hair danced as the gust of wind that accompanied Leila getting blown backwards by her own magic. Akeya's head turned to watch the flight of her friend, followed by what would have been a painful landing for any mortal. Leila however was all right, so the dragoness just nodded at her before looking back towards Libra. "I understand that what I'm doing is difficult and dangerous, and that it could bring disaster if I messed it up. However you won't find me lacking in caution."

She hadn't addressed the part about how magic shouldn't be seen as a tool, mostly because she was pretty sure that branch of conversation would quickly turn into a dead end. Magic was a part of yourself and the world around you, but it was also a tool. For Akeya her hands were a part of herself, but also tools. She didn't see why something couldn't both be an extension of herself and a tool for her purposes. Her body was a part of herself but she definitely used it to achieve her objectives. But that was the kind of thing which you couldn't really argue about because that argument would quickly turn into a bunch of twisted words as you tried to make sense of concepts and philosophical thoughts.

Instead she just brought the two spheres together to show Libra what happens when she tries to let them combine naturally. At first nothing happened, but then from the point of contact outwards both spheres began to weak and fall apart. "If I don't force them together they negate one another, returning to the natural lighting of the area. With some more force they won't dissipate but they'll repell one another. With yet more force they'll merge but under great strain. I can understand that I need to find a way to make them combine more naturally but I don't think relaxing alone is going to be enough."

WC: 1,087
TWC: 7,360‬/25,000

"Hmmm... Maybe so. Of course I wouldn't know the exact details around her upbringing." Akeya shrugged. "And I'm naturally biased because I feel like I'm a lot better off being a dragon than if I were any of those mortal species. Although now you've got me thinking about what she would be like if she'd actually been raised by a dragon." What Akeya didn't say out loud is that she suspected it would actually have been easier for her to interact with Leila if the goddess had been raised by a dragon. Even if the circumstances would most likely be entirely different.

Once the two spheres had completely nullified each other Akeya closed her claws and placed them at her sides, looking at Libra as the celestial spirit offered a suggestion as to what the problem was. Pondering the suggestion Akeya frowned slightly and tilted her head to the side. "Are you sure about that? I can understand the line of reasoning, but... it seems pretty natural for light and dark to negate one another if not forced together, so to say that larger amounts would change the reaction..." It wasn't complete nonsense, but the assassin had some trouble accepting it at face value. For all she knew using larger samples would just result in more energy being wasted.

That said she didn't think Libra had the intention of weakening her with the suggestion... at least, she didn't find it very likely. So far the self-summoned balance spirit had given the impression that she put a great deal of importance on what was good for Leila, and Akeya found it somewhat doubtful that Libra would immediately jump to the conclusion that the twilight dragon had to be eliminated.

So it wasn't so much suspicion as overall uncertainty regarding whether Libra's plan would work. It might be worth trying out, but she'd want to prepare a bit beforehand. Maybe try to put up some kind of defence in case she put too much force into it and the entire thing exploded in her face. She considered also ensuring some additional food sources, but frankly ever since she became a twilight dragon regaining lost energy had become ridiculously easy. There was always either dark or light or some combination of the two.

Nevertheless, the uncertainty still remained... The dragoness was clearly considering it as she folded her arms again, the tip of her tail twitching behind her as her frown slowly deepened before nodding. "Given that I asked for your help on this I might as well follow your suggestion. There is a logic behind it, so if your reasoning is correct the main challenge is to increase the merge value. Which might mean there's no deeper trick behind it..." She was used to rigid control. Her body, her magic, her mind, she always trained to make every part of her do exactly what she wanted it to. Even if she didn't always succeed, that was always the goal she aimed for. To now try and master this new ability through relaxing her grip was going to be difficult to say the least.

She put aside those thoughts when Leila returned from her training to observe what to Akeya was blatantly obvious. Then again, she'd never been linked to some giant power source. The closest her experiences came was that the element of dark and light were almost always accessible for aid in regeneration. "...Hmmm. Maybe this training will also have the benefit of making you more aware of how much mana you're using for your spells. Of course while connected to the Garden of Eden you might not have much need for efficient expenditure but it's something I would encourage nonetheless."

Motioning with her tail for Libra to follow if she wanted to stay in the conversation Akeya walked over to Leila's new seat, remaining standing as she cocked her head to the side. "Fun... Not exactly. Libra is helping me figure out how to improve my balance of light and dark, but it's a slow process so far. Mostly because it's just a difficult task no matter how you approach it." Unless you were born with the ability balancing light and dark like this just seemed to be one of those things which you couldn't take for granted.

"That aside, it looks like your training is going pretty well so far, with only one minor explosion. Can you feel the magic behaving itself better now that you're using it in tandem with your body?" Of course for Akeya using dragon magic came naturally so she might also not be the best at knowing what it's like for someone who's new at it. Looking down at Leila the dragoness raised her eyebrows, then coughed and pointed at her own chest once she got Leila's attention. "By the way, you might want to change clothes if you've got any with you. It looks like your shirt is a bit too thin for training like this."

Of course Akeya herself wouldn't have given a damn, but she was at the very least aware that most social creatures were a bit more picky about how much they showed of themselves to others. It most likely had to do with hierarchy and stuff like that. As it was the dragoness just alerted Leila of it in case the goddess decided that she didn't want to be walking around with her nipples essentially visible for those who had sharp eyes. Like Akeya. And possibly Libra.

WC: 919
TWC: 9,284‬‬/25,000

Akeya nodded once more as Libra explained in more detail how while the dragoness's suspicions were correct there were factors involved which would make the spirit's suggestion still work. Of course having a mage controlling an element messed with the traits of the element a little, at least for as long as the mage was directly using their magic to manipulate it. With some luck Libra would turn out to be correct and that little difference would be enough for Akeya to achieve what she set out to do. The dragoness was certainly willing to try, given that her usual approach of enforcing absolute control wasn't working so well.

At least Libra was correct in assuming that Akeya wasn't the kind of person who gave up easily. This was a dragon who had at some point decided that she was going to keep improving herself for as long as it took until she could feel like she could take care of any threats that came her way. And ever since she'd decided on that she'd stayed true to it, training and researching and refining her techniques, so her body movement with a firmness of purpose that would leave many athletes embarrassed and her magic was as sharp as the dagger that was her mind.

Meanwhile Akeya was considering Leila's words. The goddess had absurd amounts of mana available and never seemed to get even close to running out. Then again, neither did Akeya but that was because she tended to be relatively conservative with how much she was actually using compared to how much she did with it. Efficiency was one of her main talents, as it was something which could be achieved with lots of training and cunning. However the way Leila was talking about how much the usage of the rose dragon's magic was draining her led her to believe that her friend's body wasn't used to having a much more limited amount of energy available, and because of that was reacting rather heavily to a lot of energy being expended in quick succession.

"Practice will take care of that. For now I'd just suggest pushing yourself to the limit... although once you hit the limit you should immediately stop and rest until you've recovered. Aside from it being the fastest way to perfect your spells you also adapt faster to the rapid spellcasting if you tax yourself with it. A lot like training your muscles." If you pushed yourself and then rested afterwards your body and mind adapted themselves to the idea that you might have to exert yourself to that extent in the future as well. The core principle for building muscles, and it could be surprising how often it applied to something entirely different from muscles.

When Leila called her usage to dragon magic external Akeya raised her eyebrows, then looked at one of her own claws. Her magic often felt both internal and external, depending on what exactly she was doing with it. Forming a claw barely felt like casting a spell and more like just extending a part of herself and lashing out with it. "If you think it's working you should definitely keep it up. However you should also alert me if you feel the dragon magic affecting yourself. We dragons are notoriously stubborn and that stubbornness extends into our magic, which is why others who try to use our magic often find themselves turning into dragons as our essence overwhelms theirs." Akeya didn't actually see the problem with that, since she considered being a dragon pretty amazing, but she was aware that non-dragons tended to feel differently for some reason.

Seeing Leila jump up and run into the nearest cave to hide was actually rather amusing, and Akeya couldn't help but nod when Libra called it cute. "Adorable, really." When it wasn't tied to some serious problem at least. But even Leila would have to admit that her shirt being see-through wasn't that big of a disaster, even if she was the one who had to endure it.

With Leila and Libra both inside the cave Akeya decided that she might as well try out the celestial's suggestion. On a smaller scale... Although she wasn't sure what kind of scale would be appropriate for this. Too big and it might explode, too small and it'd just fall apart without doing anything. Scratching one forearm with the claw from the other arm she tilted her head, then walked a bit further away towards a spot where nothing was in the way. Raising both claws she planted her feet wide and stabbed the ground with her tail, preparing herself for any possible blowback as she took a deep breath. In... out... in... out... Once she was about as stable as she was going to be she let her dual essences flow out of her claws, once again forming a sphere of dark and a sphere of light. But rather than letting them remain small she poured more and more energy into them, the spheres growing bigger and bigger.

Akeya narrowed her eyes as she tried to judge how big would be too big. She could make them huge, but she'd rather not make a crater big enough for the edge to reach Leila's cave. She stopped once she had two spheres the size of a cottage. Pushing the two spheres higher up into the air with her will she hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was the right idea, but then slowly made the two giant balls of essence move towards once another.

At first nothing happened, but when the two touched she could feel more energy being drained from her. The air around the point of collision began to flicker between dark and light, causing visual distortions as dark and light were annihilating one another at a rapid pace with more to come. She was no longer letting the two spheres move towards one another, instead holding them in place as the contact surface was a battlefield between two of the most ancient forcecs in existence. Light banished dark, and dark swallowed light, and so on and so on. The dragoness strained herself trying to sense anything like a point where her magic influence caused dark and light to merge in a natural way rather than repelling or annihilating, but it took over a whole minute before she felt the first occurrence.

Luckily once it had happened once it looked like a certain threshold had been reached, because rather quickly more merging events occurred. However the spheres were also annhilating each other at a rapid pace so it still looked like there wouldn't be a lot left at the end of it.

By the time that Leila and Libra got out of the cave with the goddess wearing a new set of clothes Akeya waws holding a rather small orb of mysterious appearance between her claws. The orb was about the size of a golf ball and had a silvery grey colouration to it, with hints of blue and orange at the edges.

Looking up from the product of her efforts Akeya looked at Libra and Leila, her emerald gaze quickly inspecting Leila's new clothes. "Good choice. Also, it looks like you were right Libra, although I doubt you'll be surprised by that."

WC: 1,222
TWC: 11,550/25,000

Akeya gave a slight shrug when Leila told her that she already knew how training worked. She wasn't doubting the goddess's understanding, a part of her just wanted to offer some advice since she was here anyway. That said given how much her friend seemed to rely on her connection to the Garden of Eden she was somewhat curious what she'd consider strange and what not. In a way this was an opportunity to see how Leila approached the subject of magic training from a different angle, even if so far it didn't look like her perspective was that different from normal.

When Leila stated that she believed her magic was safe because it didn't want to hurt her the twilight dragon became very quiet for a moment, her gaze becoming distant before she turned her attention back to Leila. "Lack of malice is a good start, but even without malice there can be accidents." She wasn't entirely sure why, but for some reason thinking about that bothered her a little.

Although Libra's confident claim that she only ever made the right decisions earned her a questioning expression from Akeya, one eyebrow raised as if doubting the truth of that statement without actually voicing it. However her words were entirely different, as she dismissed the conversation about the choice of clothing entirely to instead focus on the other bit. "One should always try to verify for themselves if possible. Even if you're talking to an expert there's no proof better than the one you see for yourself." There was no disdain or doubt in Akeya's voice. She simply stated it as fact, even if in the mouths of others her words could easily have come from a more negative source.

She looked down at the orb which was hovering between her claws, that globule of silver with vague hues of orange and blue. Carefully she lifted it above her head and studied it against the backdrop of the clear skies, her emerald eyes narrow as she strained to see more of the magic within. It was certainly similar to the twilight she formed forcefully, although she had to admit it had a much smoother sensation to it. It also had already lasted quite a bit longer than her previous attempts. Now she could maybe create something different than a short-lasting cutting attack with it.

"I was thinking of the Equinox myself. And I'm aware of how powerful this thing is... I've managed to use twilight before, and it was quite effective." It hadn't been anything that could be called mastery, but Akeya certainly was at the level where she could at least use the combination of light and dark to wreak havoc. Her main goal right now was to move beyond that to the point where she could do other things than wholesale destruction, which was a lot more difficult given that it required a lot more care for the state things were in after you invoked your magic.

Studying the orb for a bit longer she finally nodded in agreement to Libra's next statement, then brought the orb to her mouth where she effectively inhaled it. It wasn't so much consuming it as just pulling back in the mana she'd emitted to create it in the first place. "Indeed. I think that more practice will definitely yield fruit." She hadn't managed to learn much from this first attempt, other than that it worked. However the next time she'd have a better idea what to look for, and she'd be able to use that to accelerate her learning process even further. Not to mention the benefit of becoming familiar with the process on an instinctive level.

Hesitating for a moment she gave Libra a small bow, then quickly straightened up and looked around for Leila. Seeing the rose dragon working on something on the ground the twilight dragon approached silently, her claws not even leaving marks on the ground as her predatory instincts kicked in. While she wasn't trying to hunt Leila or anything she'd become so used to the idea of approaching people silently that it was second nature to her. Or first nature.

Given that Leila seemed entirely focused on what was in front of her Akeya gave herself good odds that her friend didn't notice her as she watched the process from over the girl's shoulder. Seeing the rose bloom from a crack in the stone ground the dragoness's emerald eyes became more intent, more focused even than usual. Just like Leila she could tell that this flower wasn't a construct of magic, and would persist even after Leila's magic had faded away from the area. While it wasn't that unusual for a nature mage to be able to create lasting life in the form of plants it was curious to see it done by a dragon's magic. Given how a dragon's magic, just like practically every other part of the dragon, was rather focused on the dragon itself it generally wasn't geared towards forming other lifeforms, at least not ones that weren't dependent on the dragon's magic.

"Your dragon was definitely different from me." Given how silent she'd been up until now her voice might come as a bit of a surprise, but Akeya went on without pause. "I think this is the first time I've seen dragon magic be used to create lasting life. There aren't a lot of dragons whose domain involves life in the first place." She figured it was because dragons were generally bound to elemental forces, and life was... Well, it was also an elemental force, but it definitely wasn't as commonly used as a power source as for example fire or darkness.

"That said, I think this rose dragon's magic suits you." Given that Leila was a goddess who was intimately connected to the Garden of Eden, dragon magic which was suited for the creation of life was probably the best fit for her. In fact it just helped reaffirm that part of Leila's problem had been that this magic resonated too strongly with her innate magic.

For some reason Akeya felt the urge to do something in response to the creation of the rose. Holding up two talons on one claw she channelled some light and dark magic, weak enough that someone a meter away from her probably wouldn't have sensed it. A bundle of warm light shone down on the rose at an angle in accordance with the position of the sun high up in the skies, while at the same time the shadows that light threw grew darker and sharper. The result was the rose becoming a display of sharp contrasts, the vibrant red of the petals almost glowing while curving into a deep black.

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Akeya herself didn't consider her growth that abnormal. She'd spent a long time training, refining her techniques and expanding her arsenal of abilities. While that training hadn't done a lot to increase her raw energy reserves it had certainly helped build solid foundations, and now in recent times those foundations had been used to help built a pool of power which she could use to wipe out most adversaries with force if she wished to. Of course after having put so much effort into not needing to brute force things Akeya wasn't the type to rely on it, but it was quite convenient to have so much raw energy at her disposal, since it meant she could use even more tricks and techniques without exhausting herself.

That said if she had to form a hypothesis for why her power had grown so rapidly it might actually be the fact that she'd been working together with Leila. While she didn't have anything remotely like nature magic being the constant companion of a goddess still most likely had rubbed off on her in some way. Her friend was constantly walking around with near infinite mana thanks to the Garden of Eden, and she wasn't shy in using that power for grand spells either. Constant exposure might actually be a big factor in the unusual rate of Akeya's growth, although the dragoness was pretty confident that she could have achieved this level of power eventually anyway.

At the comment regarding her artistic side the dragoness snorted. "I may not act like it, but I do find aesthetics important. That said this particular trick isn't very difficult. I'm just amplifying the already present light and dark." She did think it looked rather good, but she wasn't going to claim credit for the fact that the rose had a good shape and colour combination. As Leila stood up Akeya made herself comfortable on the ground, entering a squat with her tail flat on the ground behind her to serve as the third support of her body. This both made it significantly easier to remain balance and allowed her to put less weight on her claws, making it a much more comfortable position than it'd have been for a human. Especially since in addition to this her clawed toes were actually meant to be capable of taking her entire weight for prolonged periods of time.

Squatting there close to the sunbasking rose she listened as Leila gave her insights on rose dragons, although when the goddess called rose dragons the most beautiful and elegant she raised an eyebrow. "Present company excepted I hope." While she wasn't actually offended she did put great stock in being aesthetically pleasing. She definitely wasn't above the sin of vanity, as few dragons truly were. Even those who could find it in themselves to not fight over who was the most attractive would still at the very least consider themselves nice to look at. The rose dragons didn't sound like an exception to that either so far as the twilight dragon could tell, given how much they cared about roses and the like.

"Well, they definitely sound like dragons, even if their behaviour might be even more focused on being alone than most. Most dragons at the very least see some value in knowing the other dragons in the area so they have some idea of what's going on with the biggest potential threats." Although one could argue that twilight dragons were also more solitary than most... Given that she started out as a dark dragon Akeya wasn't entirely sure about it, but she did know that she felt at home high up in the heavens, where there was enough space that even territorial dragons had little need for bothering with one another.

Watching the wave of energy wash over the area, followed by a surge of life, Akeya stopped amplifying the light around the single rose as she waited for the rest of the plants to finish growing. Only once she was sure that the plants were done growing did she create a larger variant of what she'd been doing for the rose so far, the entire area basking in sunlight akin to the solar noon during the summer solstice. And at the same time the shadows turned into pools of darkness, the effect having a much greater impact now the entire area was covered in it. Akeya's own scales seemed to react to it as well, the scales that were exposed to the enhanced sunlight turning into a glimmering gold while those cast in darkness became a more vivid variant of their usual midnight blue.

While she was enjoying the sight of Leila's field of life looking more vivid due to the amplified light intensities she didn't fail to notice when Leila decided to lay down and make a light complaint about the difficulties of life. The twilight dragoness thought about the comment, scratching her chin before shrugging. "It can be a struggle yes, but it certainly beats the alternative." She may be a pessimist, a cynic, a scepticist and pretty much always focused on the negative, but so far as Akeya was concerned there was no question about whether the difficulties of life were worth it. There were too many things to gain from being alive for her to let herself be slowed down by the unpleasantness that sometimes came along with it.

Standing up she walked over to where Leila was laying on the ground, sitting down next to the goddess even as with every move the patterns of light and dark on her body twisted and shifted as shadows fell in different places. "Of course I don't know why you're thinking about that now of all times. It looks like you're getting the hang of the rose dragon's magic rather quickly and you also seem to enjoy being able to use it to create things like this field." She used one claw to indicate the plants that covered their surroundings. "Is there something different on your mind right now?"

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While Akeya was definitely pragmatic to the point of frustration for anyone who tried to interact with her in any meaningful way beyond work, training or research it was very difficult to find a dragon who didn't have some level of vanity. Especially amongst the females, who could often be considered to have even greater egos than the males. Akeya's own theory was that it was because female dragons were more likely to look after the brood while with the males there was a good chance that at some point between conception and the hatching of the eggs they'd consider their part done.

Seated next to the relaxed goddess Akeya listened as Leila explained how sometimes she was attracted to the idea of not having to do anything. The dragoness snorted and shook her head, the tip of her tail slapping against the ground behind her. "That doesn't sound like much of a life. You'd end up falling into the pit of complacency, which has been the grave for many entities who could have been great if they'd kept pushing themselves." Akeya had heard of the term villainous valour, which came down to admitting that even if someone was evil and dangerous and all of that they still could possess admirable qualities. And she was pretty sure that one of the more admirable qualities that villains tended to possess was that they were more motivated to get things done, much like herself. "Of course unlike some pitfalls I could name complacency is something which occurs in all types of entity, regardless of whether it's a mortal, a dragon or even a deity. Actually it's easier for dragons and deities to fall for it since we're usually strong enough that we think we can get away with it." It was like underestimating your opponent, except your opponent was the entire rest of reality.

In the short silence that followed Akeya looked at the field of plants around them, not sure if there really was much else to say at this point. She was putting some real effort into making Leila feel like she did matter to the dragoness, but just because she was trying didn't mean she was very good at it. People often forgot that one of the most important requirements to become good at something complicated was to be invested in it, and Akeya definitely wasn't invested in being a highly socially active dragon. Communication was also tricky business. The only silver lining was that if you didn't care about something you also generally didn't mind much that you weren't very good at it.

She turned her head to look at Leila when her friend began to explain another thing which had been on her mind. This was the first time she'd said anything about this, so Akeya listened attentively as the goddess revealed that part of the reason she'd strived to become powerful was because of a promise she made someone. The dragoness was admittedly rather surprised, her eyebrows lifted slightly. Libra had explained that in the past Leila had been a lot more human, but it was still somewhat bemusing to hear a goddess explain that she needed to get stronger.

"I imagine you made that promise before becoming aware of your true nature." Akeya's eyes seemed to shift focus before returning to Leila's face. "I'd say that if they aren't satisfied with how far you've come their standards might be a bit too high, and I don't say that lightly." If Akeya knew of a level of power where you should be satisfied with yourself she hadn't found it yet. While you could be confident of how far you'd come there was always further to climb, and she wasn't planning on stopping any time soon. She was glad that Leila agreed that there was always room for improvement.

"You should be able to return to whoever you made that promise to without worry, but if you're having trouble shaking it off you could hold it off for a little longer. At least long enough for you to master the rose dragon's magic." That was why Leila was on this island after all. "If only because demonstrating how strong you've become would be difficult in your current state." While Leila's progress in mastering the rose dragon magic was good she was still only starting out, and an expert would see that her control could use some work.

Her gaze turned upwards towards those blue skies, the dragoness studying the formation of the clouds as she thought about the current situation. It was actually a relief that Leila no longer seemed to have difficulties talking to her, although the effort she had to put into this social stuff was still rather tiring. She'd hoped that she could just do the same thing as she always did and have it work out, but apparently that was too optimistic a thought. Maybe in the future Leila would be familiar enough with her that the twilight dragon wouldn't have to put as much effort into it... or maybe she'd have become more used to putting effort into it so it didn't bother her as much.

Thinking back on Libra's words her gaze flitted back towards Leila before turning to the skies once more. The spirit of balance had said that physical contact was important, but... Honestly Akeya wasn't sure how you were supposed to make that kind of thing appear casual. It wasn't like she never touched people but usually she did so without putting much thought into it. Now that she was actively thinking about it she found that every course of action she could take here would most likely appear rather forced.

"I have to admit though, I wouldn't have pegged you for the type who'd make a promise to become stronger to someone else. You don't appear to be that focused on strength in the first place. Although I guess if strength actually matters to you that helps explain why you're so attracted to dragons." So far as Akeya was concerned even gods had to respect the power of dragons. In actual ability most deities still came out on top but the power of dragons was iconic, to the point that some of the strongest mortals in history achieved that level of strength by imitating dragons.

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"Even when we first met you already had the aura of a non-human, so for me that time before you realized what you were is a mystery." Akeya observed while looking at Leila. Of course back then part of the reason why she looked distinctly non-human back then was because she'd been sporting the features of a canine, instead of being a full-blown goddess. Although the dragoness was pretty certain the two were related.

She raised one eyebrow as Leila explained that the issue wasn't how strong she was, but rather the method of departure. The twilight dragon was reminded of another memory as the goddess admitted to essentially having run away after an argument. That certainly was different from the memory Akeya was thinking of... but there was some similarity as well. Of course that was a memory from what could best be considered another life, another existence. It had little to do with who she was right now and nothing would change if nobody knew about it.

"From what I've heard lots of mortals start out that way once they seek independence. I'm guessing that for such social creatures the transition from child to adult is a hectic one for both parties. While dragons definitely have a strong bond with their offspring it is in our nature for the young to explore the world and slowly return less and less." She snorted and made a flicking gesture with one clawed hand. "Of course two big factors there are that mortals with their societies make life a lot more complicated and that even at a young age a dragon can rip most threats apart. Unless a dragon made their territory somewhere with unusually powerful creatures around the only real danger the younglings would have to face is other dragons."

She wouldn't deny that society had a lot of advantages: it drastically increased the odds of survival for the inhabitants and allowed the group to be more than a bunch of hunters and gatherers. Without society and civilization species such as humans and elves and dwarves would never have developed as far as they did. It was a question for scholars whether that meant their system was better than that of dragons, although Akeya would fervently argue that a single dragon can often achieve more than town of mortals, or even a nation depending on the dragon.

"Although it's rather amusing that the story of a goddess begins with her having an argument with her caretaker and running away." She showed a light smirk at that. "You wouldn't find a story like that in most mythos." She did appear to be genuinely amused by this, although there wasn't any malice in her mild mockery.

In reaction to Leila's argument that she didn't have to worry about the merging of her two magics any longer the dragoness shrugged. She had to admit that her friend had adapted to the dragon magic faster than she'd anticipated, but that was only a good thing all things considered. "It does seem like your control has improved drastically in what little time you've spent refining it. And if your caretaker wouldn't actually care about how strong you've become you wouldn't need to worry about giving a good demonstration either. So with that line of reasoning you could go visit him today and it would be fine."

She blinked and the tip of her tail curled when Leila explained to her the motivation to become strong. She then gave a smirk bigger than the first one. "I doubt I need the desire for power explained to me. Of course being who I am I didn't start out as weak as most mortals do, but the same principle applies." She then gave a shrug and her smirk faded back into her usual rather neutral expression. "Although I'll readily admit that the desire to protect others is less familiar. I have experienced it, but rarely so." There weren't that many creatures she felt the desire to protect. Although those that she did feel the urge to protect she tended to get rather possessive with.

After having said that she didn't really have much more to add, instead just sitting there thinking to herself while her emerald gaze looked out over the green field that surrounded them and the blue skies above. She could be using this time to train, to practice, but she guessed that a little bit of downtime might be more fruitful here. It was only when her friend made a rather sudden comment that the dragoness looked back towards the white-haired maiden, her reptilian eyes focusing on the hands and widening when she spotted the scales.

"Let me see that." She held out a claw, waiting for Leila to offer hers. Once so she gently took hold of it and brought it closer to her face, studying the goddess's hand carefully while tracing the shape of one of the scales with a single talon, making sure not to harm her friend even if she was pretty sure that it'd take some force for her talon to pierce Leila's now-scaled hand.

"Hmmm... It might be because you're also a creature of magic, but..." As she peered at the scales Akeya saw no sign of activated magic, which meant that Leila hadn't unknowingly cast a spell to form scales on her hand. "It might be temporary, but it seems you're undergoing some form of dragonfication. But it's happening a lot faster than with humans..." Letting go of the hand Akeya curled a finger under her mouth as she considered this development. "Your body seems to be responsing very favourably towards the rose dragon's magic and essence. Although I'm guessing that unlike a human you won't turn into a full-fledged dragon, given that you already carry the essence of something just as powerful if not more. That said if you're worried that a dragon's essence would have a bad influence on the Garden of Eden you might not want to remain disconnected for too long, because with your link to the Garden broken there's little opposing the dragon's magic spreading throughout your form."

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The claim that Leila wasn't truly a goddess earned her a rather surprised and confused look from the dragoness, followed by Akeya shrugging. "If you say so. Granted there'd be those who'd argue that as long as you take the place of a god you are a kind of god, but I'll keep your words in mind." While Akeya had done her best to research the nature of the gods at some point in case she'd ever have to treat them as enemies the rather disappointing result of that research was that while there were a thousand theories on what defined a god there wasn't a single one which could be trusted to be fully correct. As such to the annoyance of the assassin who planned to one day be capable of killing the gods themselves the question of what exactly constituted a god still remained. A powerful spirit? A special type of creature which gains power from prayer? Belief given shape? There were many possibilities.

Well, it didn't really change much for Akeya. She might have been mocking Leila's story of running away from home a bit, but what Leila was wasn't that important as long as it wasn't a threat for practical reasons. That didn't mean that Akeya wasn't interested in the fine details, since she was a glutton for knowledge, but it wasn't a very high priority.

More important was the possible issue of Leila's body being highly receptive to the changes the dragon magic made to those who used it. Of course under normal circumstances Akeya would protest it being considered an issue since turning into a dragon was an upgrade from pretty much every other kind of creature you could start out as, but Leila did have a point that dragon magic was neither inherently good nor harmless, and if she was closely linked to the Garden of Eden then that could have devastating effects on the realm of life. Akeya might put high stock in how awesome dragons were but she wouldn't blind herself to the idea that dragons could also be a great source of trouble.

Standing up as well she quickly took a step back when Leila's void orbs reappeared. While she was no longer thinking that her friend was in constant danger of being taken over by Aurora that hadn't convinced her that the void wasn't something to be wary of. The fact that it carried no magical presence despite so clearly not being a natural occurrence was already reason for caution, since it meant it wasn't any normal form of magic, and certainly no normal type of dark magic or whatever else you could compare it to.

"I'd assume that the void powers are not directly linked to the Garden, given that there's no relation between the absence of concept and either life or spirit." Of course one would be hard pressed to find a relation between the void and anything else, given how one of the void's primary traits should be the absence of everything, or maybe just the will of nothingness.

Folding her arms Akeya watched as Leila showed off how she could control the influences of dragon magic, combining it with her own ability to take on the aspects of creatures to turn into a humanoid variant of a rose dragon. Rather similar to Akeya's own humanoid form, admittedly.

"Hmmm..." The dragoness slowly circled around Leila, inspecting her from every direction with curious and watchful eyes. For the moment the void orbs were forgotten as instead she studied this new appearance, as well as considering the implications. Finally she came to a halt about a meter or so in front of Leila, one finger under her lips and looking intrigued. "If you're correct in the assertation that this is simply a combining of your ability to take on aspects with the rose dragon's magic then it should be fine. I have to admit that I was curious about those wolf traits you sometimes carry about. If we're lucky this means dragonfication won't be a threat in the future either and you won't have to fear the dragon's essence messing up the Garden."

Taking a couple of steps further away she pointed at Leila, then at their surroundings. "Given that part of the aspect of a dragon is their magic, does taking on this form also improve upon how you draw on and control the rose dragon's magic? As an addendum, does this dragon's magic allow you to control plants which already exist or only to grow and control new plants?" How elementalists and dragons interacted with the world around them could be curious. Some dragons (and elementalists) could only control that which they themselves had produced and some could treat their surroundings as a source of ammunition. The type of element seemed to have an influence but Akeya suspected that the individual also mattered. She herself could also control shadow and light which she hadn't produced herself although she found that what she produced to use was more flexible in what it could do.

"...It does look pretty good, but I'm biased." Looking like a dragon was a good way to grab Akeya's attention, although in Leila's case it helped a lot that the base was already something she found worth looking at. An ugly dragon was still ugly (as rare as that was).

Snapping her fingers she dismissed the amplification of light and dark which had been hanging over their surroundings. Looking over towards where Libra was Akeya gave a mild snort before her gaze travelled back towards Leila. "I'd ask Libra to confirm it for me but where I'm biased because of the dracon motif I'm guessing she'd be biased because of you being you. Having talked to her I got the strong impression that she is rather smitten with you, or at the very least has a strong affection for you." Even a fool could have seen that whenever Leila was directly involved Libra became a lot more cheerful and lively. While part of that could be explained as the spirit of balance being able to switch between different states of mind it was rather persistent and consistent.

Holding out one claw Akeya summoned a sphere of pure black, letting it linger for a moment before letting it naturally dissipate. "On a different topic, could you explain some more about your void powers? Every other ability you have makes sense but the ability to control void seems rather out of place."

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So Leila didn't consider her void powers to be a part of the Garden of Eden. That made sense, since there didn't seem to be any link to be made between the two. Of course given how careful her friend had been regarding the possibility of external influences messing up the Garden this left the question of whether the powers of void could have that kind of effect as well, but Akeya rather doubted it. For one thing Leila would most likely be on pins and needles if she wasn't sure whether using the power of void was safe for the Garden or not. And beyond that, while the void could be used for some interesting tricks, the core concept was still nothingness... The most likely answer was that the void couldn't have a strong influence on the Garden because technically the void wasn't something that could affect anything.

Then again powers related to the void and oblivion tended to be rather confusing and paradoxical. Maybe it was better if the dragoness left that can of worms alone for now. Records on the usage of void magic were rare and often weren't in agreement with each other, which just showed that it wasn't an easy subject even for those with personal experience. You could find texts claiming that the void had some kind of awareness or at least the desire to consume all existence, and other texts saying that the void just was and it couldn't be called evil or good. Texts which said that the influence of the void could corrupt things and texts saying that the power of the void could only invoke the concept of not existing on things, making it an effective way to get rid of something in a very thorough manner. And texts saying that the void was completely useless, but those were most likely written by folk who were too confident in their knowledge of what was real and what wasn't.

The safer topic was how Leila had apparently found her own way to ensure the dragon essence wouldn't influence her beyond what she allowed it to do. "Using one power to contain and control the other could be called a form of combination. Although regardless of what you'd call it the important part is that it'll help with keeping the dragon essence from messing up the Garden." Of course Akeya still wasn't completely convinced that it'd be a bad thing if the Garden of Eden got some dragon essence in it, but that wasn't her field of expertise and she'd defer to Leila on that. Especially since it was Leila's home (so far as she understood that) and she would be the one to suffer if things went wrong. It was easier to leave something alone if there was little risk of it coming back to haunt you.

Although she'd probably not phrase it like that out loud, because Leila would most likely consider that an example of Akeya being callous and cold-hearted. Which wasn't necessarily wrong, but... The dragoness would have frowned and sighed if that hadn't given away that she was thinking about something annoying. Finding someone's opinion important really was making a mess of rationality. She found herself wishing she could just find a way to help her friend understand that Akeya's self-centred approach to life was perfectly natural for a non-social creature and neither sign of malice nor lack of feeling.

"So if we're lucky it'll serve as an overall improvement of all your abilities which relate to the rose dragon's magic. That does make sense and agrees with the idea that the closer to a dragon you are the better you can use dragon magic." The idea that Leila might be able to create a form which combined the power of the Garden of Eden with the rose dragon's magic was an intriguing one, Akeya pondering that with a hand on her hip. "That would be interesting to see... but probably better to not push that. You'll probably find a way to make it work in due time." Given that the Garden's magic was natural for Leila the dragoness couldn't imagine her ever facing difficulties using it. At least, now that she was aware of her true nature. So the only challenge would be making the rose dragon's magic play nice, which should also be within Leila's capabilities.

She nodded when the silver-haired maiden pointed out that there wasn't a lot of natural-occurring flora around here for her to test whether she could control things she hadn't created herself. There wasn't any argument to bring into that. "True. You'll have to try it out once you've returned to a place with plenty of vegetation. Although I'd encourage you to find out sooner rather than later." That was mostly Akeya's curiosity at play. She wanted to see if rose dragons had the capability of reshaping the world around them or if they just imposed their own plants upon their surroundings to shape things to their liking.

Ignoring Leila's rather embarrassed reaction to the compliment the twilight dragon instead responded to the answer regarding Libra. She knew that the spirit was close enough to overhear, but she doubted that the zodiac spirit was the kind of person to be bothered or insulted by this kind of thing. "Given her behaviour many would assume it was more than just close. But yes, it's true that it's important for summoners and their summoned entities to have a strong bond. I talked with Libra about that as well, which included her complaining that she can feel rather silly when a spirit as powerful is left unable to do much because they were summoned by someone with little ability and no real connection." Akeya wasn't some kind of entity who could normally be summoned, but she could perfectly well sympathize with the idea that it'd be frustrating to learn you were in a weakened state because of someone else or your relation with someone else.

The explanation of the void powers was... straightforward, but somewhat disappointingly lacking in detail. It boiled down to it being a result of Aurora having been born of the void, which only resulted in more questions. "It sounds as if even to you the void powers are something of a mystery." Were other gods also born from the void or was Aurora a special case? Given that Leila didn't have any reason to know much about gods other than those linked to the Garden of Eden Akeya didn't think asking that question would help much. Instead she shrugged and looked towards the cave. "So, how long do you think you'll remain here to train? You've already made more progress than I imagined you would, so you could probably return to what you'd otherwise do before long. As for me... Well, I'll stick around at least for a while."

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