Flittering Humanity

"Their official name, is Asclepius." Noctis said, "And only a few of them remain."

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked. 

"They went against Kezess during one of his genocidal bouts, and he destroyed most of their clan. As far as I know, only a handful remain to this day." Noctis explained, "Do not ask for any specifics, I cannot tell you that."

"Why?" Fayden asked.

"I am under oath," Noctis said simply. 

A pool of shadows concentrated beside him, and Ashton shot out of it, a black and red gauntlet wrapping around his left arm. 

Ashton glanced between the three and asked, "So what did I miss?" 

"Nothing much," Fayden said, "other than the fact that Nathan is s member of a nigh extinct clan of phoenix asuras."

Ashton's face shifted to surprise. "So I was right. Wait, what the hell happened to them all?" He asked as he turned to Noctis.

"Kezess," Noctis said, "Kezess happened."

"Ah, that makes sense," Ashton said. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that Nathan."

Nathan shrugged, he didn't have reason to feel bad about any of it, except…

"What of my father?"

Noctis stared at Nathan for a while, before answering, "I'm afraid I can't tell you much other than he's alive."

Nathan sighed, strangely relieved at the news, "That's good."

"Asuras… secretive as always…" Ashton muttered to himself.

"That is one of the traits we share with the lessers, yes," Noctis said, having heard him. "Moving on, it is time we begin the second part of your training here : Mana control."

He snapped his fingers, and the metallic pillar in the middle of the room opened up, allowing the mana to fill the area. The sudden increase in the density surprised them, and Ashton stumbled.

"I want you to split into two teams. Nathan and Elijah will be one team, and you two will be the other." He said, unbothered by the density of mana and aether in the room, "I want you to each occupy the two halves of this room."

As they followed his instructions, Noctis went to Nathan and Elijah first, "I want you to conjure a ball of concentrated fire," 

They did as he told, and a ball of pure white flames materialized between them.

"Now try to gain full control on it, denying the other." 

Nathan and Elijah glanced at each other.

"Begin." 

The ball of fire began moving towards Nathan, before stopping and returning to it's original position. The two kept their gazes focused on the spell. 

Satisfied, Noctis headed for the other two. "Now for you two," He held out an arm, and a ball of coalescing fire, earth, wind, and water materialized. "Try to gain control."

The ball moved a few inches towards Fayden and stopped as Ashton forced his will on it. Mana melded around his arm and extended towards the sphere as he wrenched back control over it. 

Fayden raised an eyebrow and glanced at Noctis, but he didn't seem to mind. Shrugging, Fayden activated his first phase, and the ball shot out of Ashtons grasp and into Faydens. 

"Oh, we're playing like that?" Ashton said, his left eye transforming to match his right. Black runes and circuits crawled out of his sternum and over his body. The sphere began struggling in Fayden's hands, and he had to focus to keep it on him. 

Ashton narrowed his eyes, and the runes began growing and entangling together. His eyes began glowing and his hair darkened to an abyssal black, reaching just below his shoulder blades. 

The orb shot out of Fayden's hand and stopped in the middle again. 

On the other side, Nathan and Elijah saw that happen, and activated their respective 'beast wills' 

Elijah's eyes switched to red, and two horns grew out of his head, wrapping around it like a crown. His skin turned pale white, and his hold on the fireball grew exponentially stronger. 

Black flames shot out of Nathans back in the shape of wings, and his hair gained an ethereal flame-like look. With his complete control over fire, and the superior core, the fireball shot to his arm, breaking free of Elijah's control. 

Back on the other side, Fayden whispered the words of release. Silver runes materialized on his body, and his hair grew past his back and darkened to a matte black. 

Before the orb could move towards him, Ashton activated his third phase, holding it back. Fayden furrowed his brows, and nacht flowed out of his body, covering the room. The orb finally breaking free of Ashton's control and into Faydens. 

He grinned, opening his mouth to say something, but the words died in his throat. All sound was blotted out, and he could only hear his own heartbeat. His runes began moving and morphing into something else. He could hear them start to crack. He saw Noctis moving towards him, but something was wrong. He was moving too slowly for someone of his race. 

Instead of flowing out of him, the black began flowing over him, covering his body in it. Soon he was completely submerged in the stuff, unable to breath, unable to see. He could only think. 

When the black receded, and he could breathe again, time resumed. Noctis was on his side the next instant, "Are you alright?"

Fayden blinked and looked down at his body. His runes had changed, the silver writings now cracked. He felt different, like he was in a different realm than before. His senses had gotten better, he felt stronger than before, faster than before. He remembered the form he had entered briefly in his spar against Ashton, perhaps this was a lesser, more toned-down version of it?

"Fayden." Noctis called again, gaining his attention, "How do you feel?"

"I'm alright, my beast will evolved I think?" He said, standing up, "It's like it reached a point between integrate phase and the berserker phase I was in before."

"You're changing," Noctis said somberly. 

"What now?"

He sighed, "The will that I gave you, it is not a normal beast will."

"Kinda figured that out myself," He commented, "So what it is then?"

"It is complicated, but to summarize it. It is not my will, in fact it is not a singular beast will, but a convergence of hundreds of Marchosian beast wills. And because of that, a mortal, or even an asura, is hard-pressed to properly utilize it. It's power is too much." He sighed again, "We tried it with one of our kind, but the result was…less than satisfactory. So we changed it, sealed it so that a mortal could use it."

"So, instead of having just one beast will he has the equivalent of hundreds, and how many of those are still sealed away?" Ashton asked, now back to his normal form. 

"Most of them," Noctis said, "He only has access to one of them."

"That's great, but what did you mean when you said that I'm changing?" Fayden asked impatiently.

"I'm getting there," He said, "Beast wills generally strengthen their users body to be able to properly handle them. That's why most beast will users are stronger than mages at their own level even without using their wills. And because of the nature of your 'will', the change is far more consequential. Since no mortal, nor asura can handle that much power, it is forcing your body to evolve further than its limits, and in time, further than an asuras limits."

"It's going to turn me into an asura," Fayden whispered as the meaning behind Noctis' words dawned on him. 

"And then into something superior to us." He confirmed. 

"Welcome to the halfling club," Ashton said, then turned to Noctis, "Will this have some adverse effect like my own transformation?"

He shook his head, "Nothing as severe, he will only have to..shed his current body for a new one when his transformation reaches a certain point." 

"Well, that sounds positively disgusting." Ashton shivered at the idea of losing his body for another.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up," Fayden raised an arm, "what do you mean shed my body?"

"It means that you will gain an asuran body at the cost of your own." Noctis said.

"Will my asuran body look like my mortal body?" 

"Doubtful," He said, "Your asuran body will be similar to a Marchosian body in looks. Considering your hair is already silver, there is a chance it will look somewhat similar, but not the same."

"..." Fayden took a moment to process it all. He sighed, "I see."

I've changed bodies before, I can do it again. 

"When does that happen?" He asked, "How much have I turned?"

"You are around halfway there," Noctis answered, "And if you keep using it like you, you should turn within the next three years."

"Most of which will be spent here," He said, "Well, there's nothing I can do. And it'll help in the war." 

He glanced towards Elijah, 'And with this, it might just be enough to bring her back.'

"At least you won't need to worry about it causing major issues," Ashton said, trying to keep Fayden from worrying about it. 

Fayden grimaced, "Yeah, it's not as bad yet." 

"Anyway," Noctis said, clapping his hands, "That's it for today. You have given me enough information to work with, and I'll have everything ready by tomorrow. You're free to do what you want for the rest of the day."

Fayden shrugged, "That's fine by me."

"We do not know where our rooms are," Elijah said.

"Your rooms are on the third floor, and the dining area is on the second. You're free to go anywhere but the fifth floor." Noctis said, "Unless you prefer to be put into an all out brawl between hundreds of Asuras."

Nathan gulped, "Stay clear off the fifth floor, got it."

"That'd be fun to watch." Ashton chuckled. 

"Let's go get something to eat then," Nathan said, walking out the door. 

Elijah looked at them as Nathan left, "We need to have a talk."

"Yes," Fayden agreed, "And we need to let Nathan know about the whole reincarnation thing."

He turned to Nico, "No time like the present as they say."

Nico raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "If you think he can handle it."

"I'm alright with it, it won't affect me too harshly." Ashton shrugged. 

"You guys coming?" Nathan asked from beyond the door.

"Yeah," Fayden yelled back. "Well, let's go give him the truth about what comes after death shall we?"