The smell of coffee was thick when Ava walked inside the study of Shaman Gaas.
She frowned. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
How could she smell coffee when she was not using her physical body? First the carpet and now.... She’s smelling coffee?
She never thought that she could do this.
She eyed the table full of tacked papers. On the papers were mostly symbols that she haven’t seen before. A stack of books can be seen in the corner of the room.
Slowly, the frown on her face vanished and was replaced with a smile.
"What took you so long?"
Ava flinched when she heard the old man’s voice. She turned around and her mouth almost hit the floor when she saw the old man standing behind her.
She didn’t feel his presence but she could clearly see that he was in his physical form. He was holding a steaming cup of coffee, eye bags hung in his tired eyes.
"You can see me?" she asked. No most importantly, how did he know that she was coming?
Unless...
"You knew that I am coming?" she asked when the old man ignored her.
In response, Shaman Gaas sighed and sat on the chair behind the table that was full of various stacked papers.
"You look well..." Shaman Gaas said. He chose a stack of paper and started reading them. Curious, Ava walked towards the old man, her steps careful.
She lifted her eyebrow when she saw some constellations that she didn’t recognize.
"I don’t have much time," Ava said. "My body is inside the Pits. I expected to forget everything that happened once I do this but — Is this because I am a dream walker?" She wanted to confirm.
"Yes."
"And once I leave that place my body would forget everything, including this dream?"
"Yes."
"What about my soul?" Ava asked. Right now, her soul is outside of the pits and she could clearly remember everything. The Demons and Daemons and the possibility that she is one of them. Everything that happened inside the pits!
"What do you think?"
"Can you just answer like a normal person?" she asked.
"You really hate thinking, don’t you?"
Ava rolled her eyes. "You mean... I can remember when I am in this form?" she asked.
"Yes."
"So... "
"But not in your physical form."
"Man..." That’s complicated. "So, you are saying that I can only remember these things when I am in this form but not when I am in my physical body?" Does that make sense?
Ava’s small brain tried to grasp the whole thing.
It was as if the small formula appeared in her head.
Inside the Pits= She remembers everything from Earth, including the things that happened when she astral projected.
Outside the Pits= Her body would forget everything. And she meant everything. However, her soul is different. As soon as she dream walk or Astral Project, she would remember everything that happened inside the Pits.
And once she got back to her body, she would once again forget about it!
It was so simple yet so complicated! Just thinking about it is making her head hurt!
"There are things that cannot be explained." The old man said. "Things that even the smartest man would never understand."
"Did you send me inside the pits because you suspected that I can do this?"
"Yes. My soul knew that you can do that but my body had long forgotten about it." He lifted his eyes towards her. "You see, there are things that only our soul knew."
"So confusing."
"It is not something that you can easily understand."
Ava rolled her eyes. "Are you saying that I am dumb?"
"You lack information. Thus, you lack understanding. The cosmos is full of things that you and I cannot understand."
"So... once I come back to my body inside the pits, I would still forget this conversation?"
"No. You will remember everything that your soul does. When you are inside the Pits. Or at least that’s how I see it."
Ava sighed.
’Think of it like this... witches, demons, angels, daemons, lycans even vampires, and lich are powerful creatures. The celestial beings, dragons, and other races have their own abilities. And magick has its own limitations. Without limitations then what’s going to stop them— what’s stopping US— from ruling the world?"
"I understand that part."
"Then you must keep that in your head. Everything has its own limitations. Even angels and demons die. An immortal vampire has weaknesses and dies. No one and nothing in this world or the cosmos for that matter is permanent."
"What about the Demons?" There is no point in thinking about things that she couldn’t understand. Ava chose to go direct to her point before her time would run out.
"I— I was told that I might be a Daemon or maybe even a Demon. Now that— "
"I have suspicions." The old man got up and took one book that was stashed a few feet away from his table. He opened it, scanned the pages, and then showed one page to Ava.
"The History of Demons?" Ava asked.
"Once you leave the pits, you will not remember this conversation. As long as your Physical body is inside the Pits, your soul and body are separated and you cannot remember this once you leave the pits."
Ava pursed her lips.
"But this is the reason why I am here." The Shaman said. "I will give you all the information that I have about Demons."
"All I need to do is... tell you everything."
"Precisely." Shaman Gaas said. Then he closed the book and stared at Ava. "I am assuming that you haven’t entered the Arena, yet?"
"You told me not to do that unless I finish my mission."
"The first mission was to successfully do this. The second one— "
"There’s a second one?" she asked, confused.
"Yes."
"What is that?"
"I want you to find out everything about the one who opened the portal between the Pits and the Demon World."
"Huh? But that happened a long time ago?"
"All I wanted is for you to tell me everything that you have gathered so far."
Ava pursed her lips. Then she smiled. "You silly old man."
Seeing her reaction, the old man snorted. "Take it as the fee for the training."
"You— " she shook her head, amusement laced her gaze. "You wanted to use your own student for your research?" she asked.
"Student? I always thought you are my apprentice?"
"Apprentice my ass."
"Apprentices do this all the time," the old man reason. "In the modern world, we call you a research assistant."
Ava rolled her eyes. Just what did she expect from this irritating old man?
"You forced me to be your student," Ava said.
"I don’t remember such things."
"You shameless old man!"
"This is not being shameless. Let’s just say this is a practical examination. That’s right. A practical test. Even students have practical tests too!"
"Shameless!" Ava said. Though the old man was using her as some sort of research assistant, she couldn’t really say that she hated it. After all, the old man gave her his grimoire— everything that the old man learned had been given to her. Plus, the old man taught her how to control her abilities— it was something she was so thankful for!
She couldn’t really complain, could she?
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