Matter of Perspective [Closed Training]

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~ 1933: Matter of Perspective ~

Learning: Mirada que Revela (Revealing Gaze)
Training: Reiatsu/Reishi Proficiency

Since they had devoured the one known as Gilgamesh and his partner Enkidu, Loki had experienced the most disconcerting sensation, whenever he had become hungry he had been able to break down the very matter around him – particularly easy to do so was the sand – this he then drew towards himself and consumed. In return he felt full, well fed and rested; their appetite for souls was still there, however whenever he consumed the world around him – their hunger was sated for a time, just as if he had eaten another hollow or powerful soul.

Recalling the memories of the Bount and it's Doll, Loki knew that the phenomenon was called Reishi consumption, that the spiritual matter around him – reishi was being converted into Reiryoku for his own use. For Loki, the idea was rather astounding – not only because it meant that they had less need to hunt others for their continued survival, but also because it meant that they were acutely reminded that the world in which they lived was ephemeral, impermanent. That everything around them could be broken down into tiny little pieces, pulled apart and used for something else – at the whim of others.

Yet as he looked around, it all seemed so very real, solid, it seemed to give lie to what he had experienced, all he saw, heard, smelled, tasted even touched, was all but a dream?

Loki looked down at a rock near his feet, in the sands of Huecco Mundo, there were some areas where small stones were scattered about, not all was unrelieved sand after all. Picking it up he turned it over and over in his hands, searching for some blemish, some floor, a hair line crack or something that would reveal the rock's true nature – that of a massive collection of minute particles. Yet there was nothing. However Loki had long relied on more than just his physical senses to be aware of Verlassen's surroundings, attuning his reiatsu towards the rock he slowly, carefully, probed at it. Instead of resisting, Loki felt an unusual sensation as the reiatsu slowly entered the rock, pulsing through the relatively simple quartz structure in a few moments, as he examined the tock with his energy he noted that there was a depression on the other side, a small concave shape, as if it had been worn smooth there once, it was a flaw he had overlooked with his eyes for it was all but unnoticeable – indeed, even running the gel humanoid fingers over the surface the difference was barely perceptible.

Casting their eyes about for another stone to examine, Loki spotted one a few yards away, yet even as he began walking over towards it he began casting his reiatsu sense around, searching for danger – as he did so he momentarily alighted his concentration upon the rock in case it were some sort of trap left for the unsuspecting.

He could feel no energy from nearby so he assumed that was not the case, however as his energy permeated the rock he felt a faint pulse and he realised something strange. The small rock he saw was actually nearly ten times the size he had thought, instead of being about the size of his hand it was about the size of a large watermelon; however most of it was buried in sand. However without picking up the rock – or brushing away the sand how would he know such a thing? As he considered the thought he continued to observe the rock, looking for some sort of clue. The longer he pondered it, the clearer his understanding of the rock grew, like the first it too was made of quartz, however this one had been badly scorched at some stage and had a large section melted clean off.

Loki walked the final yards between himself and the rock, nearly shaking now as he knelt down to pick it up, as his fingers surrounded the outside of the shape revealed on the top of the sand he realised that the shape grew larger beneath the surface. Reverently brushing the sand out of the way, Loki carefully extracted the large rock - turning it over as he examined the blackened and misshapen surface – at some stage it had been exposed to some extraordinary temperatures. Allowing the rock to drop to the sands, Loki sat back on their heels, his eyes unfocused as he realised the incredible implications of what this might mean.

Even smaller than the scorch marks and liquefied quartz had been the underlying sensation that the rock itself had given him, even without having dug it up he was confident that had he attempted it he could have drawn the shape exactly right, even the fine lattice of the quartz itself seemed clear as day to him and the energy within – only moments away with the abilities he had obtained from the Bount and his Doll.

'This may only be because we are not in the real world though,' Loki conceded. On their travels to the Human Realm, Loki had quickly confirmed the Bount's knowledge that their consumption would not affect the world of the living in the same way as it did Huecco Mundo.

'Is it not worth a try though?' Gertrude asked quietly, 'consuming the matter around us may not have worked, but this idea of examining it, of understanding it, this could be very useful in the Human Realm too.' Loki had to agree, such a thing would be of incredible use to them; and so it was that they travelled to the human realm.