As Clyde spoke he continued focusing his aura reading, pouring djed slowly along the link to the girl, flowing through Cha and out into the world were it latched onto her essence. As more djed poured in his inspection grew ever deeper, the picture of her growing ever clearer in his mind. As she dug into her pack and took out paper and something to write with, a thought occurred to Clyde. Why hadn't he looked into her bag before? Now that she'd opened it the contents were a bit of a moot point, but the thought of looking inside before hadn't occurred. In hindsight, he supposed if he could look literally within her, to her bones and matter, he could also look within her things. His focus however had been on her, and not her equipment. A mistake he'd not likely make again. As he reached even deeper, peering down the length of her essence as a string of greyish light, he began to see a second light, spots of concentration of the light, not exactly stronger but more fresh, more extended. As he pulled this in too compare it to her body, he saw the strong glow of djed concentrated in spots. Djed residue, something he'd long ago come to understand and be able to search for. It seemed more potent in certain bits, a small smattering on bits of her skin, on her throat and tongue, even a bit loosely seeped into and effervescing from her bones, or at least certain instances of such. It was a clear sign of magic within her, or of remnants of past magic that had run through her. Comparing it to other instances that he'd seen there was not a direct match, but it seemed likely she was a mage, a personal mage. Though he could not tell how strong of one. Still though, she'd not mentioned it before, not mentioned she had magic, and so that said something in and of itself. “You misunderstand. I did not say that without good there would be no room for evil, nor that he needs good. I simply said that without it, evil would lose meaning, for without something to compare it to all is the same. Evil is only evil, or understandably so, so long as good exists to oppose and differentiate from it. Because of this they are a part of each other. That being said, the Knighthood are not the only good, so even if they were utterly wiped out good would exist still. So long as good exists, evil will. So long as evil exists, good will, even if only to differentiate from each other.” “Good and Evil... The concepts are inextricably tied. Perhaps one would be hurt if the other truly came to not exist, perhaps not, that remains to be seen. Or perhaps something new would emerge to take its place. Who can say?” “As for taking away Rhysol's power by being safe from him... I don't think so. If I have the power to burn you alive with a flick of my will, but choose not to, are you any less in my power? No. It would be by my grace that you are safe. While we are safe from Rhysol in our understanding of him, in his acceptance and protection of us, we use that safety to then extend his domain into those not under his protection. We extend his domain in thanks for his freeing us from its dangers, and for helping us excel in its power.” “Think of fire. It can be used to help, to heat and feed you, or to hurt, to burn and destroy. If you gained protection over the negative's of it, the pain and damage to yourself, would that then make its positive any less for you? No. In turn you'd be that much better able to wield its negatives against those who are not protected. Such is the protection Rhysol extends. Do you understand?” “To become a citizen, you must reside within Ravok for a time while being a helpful and productive member of society. As for gaining protection. That depends upon your uses, and who sees fit to protect you in exchange for what you can offer.” At the next bit Clyde smiled, shaking his head at the girl. “As for money... Don't be a fool. Those with the power to protect you have money, and wouldn't have their heads turned by whatever meager funds you have. No, if you want to gain protection you'll have to prove to someone of power that you are of use to them. Show them your skills, and convince them they are worth protecting you in exchange for the skills or services you'd offer.” “What of you? What do you have to offer, that would make someone interested in offering you protection? What can you do that others on the street cannot? What makes you different and special? Why should I have interest in you? What can you do for me? Convince me first, and then we'll see.” Clyde wondered if the girl would tell him of her magics, or if she'd try to keep them secret. Physically she was not impressive, so she'd be of little use in combat, at least directly. Perhaps she'd think to impress him by her powers. Though he'd be hard to impress, considering his own magical might. Of course she didn't know the information he'd gleaned from her magically, did not know of what he'd learned of her. But then, that was the point of it to a degree... To keep her talking and thinking him a fool who'd learned nothing, and testing her in her words when he already knew the answer. |