"Mother. Stepmother. I'll be retiring early."
Helianor gave a lazy wave of her hand, while Dante's mother gave him a small nod. Dante stood up, dabbed his face with a napkin, and headed toward the dining hall doors.
Valentine fell into step behind him a few paces later. She was always somewhere in the background whenever he was around the family— Acting as a bodyguard in addition to being a maid. She'd been ready to step in the moment Nero started getting restless.
"Was it really necessary to provoke him, young master?" she asked.
There wasn't any actual scolding in her voice, only genuine curiosity. Unlike the rest of the staff, who spent their days brown-nosing or playing both sides of the fence, Valentine never bothered with either. She'd openly voiced her opinions and even distaste for Nero more than once, completely confident in Dante's ability to protect her.
Her bluntness was easily one of Dante's favorite things about her.
Dante shook his head as they reached the heavy doors of his personal training room. He turned to face her, his expression becoming more serious.
A couple of days of total isolation was necessary right now. He would have preferred a few months at least, but that was out of the question. He'd already decided to attend the Young Nobles Banquet, after all.
"Valentine. Make sure nobody disturbs me. You have permission to use force—unless it's my mother."
A slight smile touched her lips. "Understood, young master."
Dante stepped inside and shut the heavy doors behind him.
Silence settled over the room immediately.
Looking around, Dante realized he'd actually never set foot in here before, even though it was technically his. A thick layer of dust coated the stone floor, left untouched because he'd never cared enough to use the place.
'Looks like it's getting some use today.'
Dante sat cross-legged in the middle of the cold stone floor, paying no attention to the cloud of dust that rose around his trousers. He closed his eyes and let his breathing settle before turning his attention entirely inward.
◆『 Dante Lucifer 』◆
There were many different forms of power in this world. Even when two people possessed the same type of energy, the way they used it could differ greatly. Powers could mutate, evolve, or develop entirely new applications depending on the individual.
At the most basic level, however, there were two concepts that applied to almost every supernatural discipline.
Skills and Arts.
A Skill was a supernatural function engraved into a person's existence. Unlike ordinary knowledge or techniques, a Skill didn't need to be consciously reconstructed every time it was used. Once established, it became an inherent part of the user, allowing them to perform a specific function through their own existence and power.
Skills could take many forms. Some enhanced the body or senses. Others manipulated energy, produced supernatural effects, protected the user, or allowed them to perceive things that would normally be impossible to detect. More complex Skills could even contain multiple functions beneath a single Ability, with their individual applications developing as the user gained greater comprehension.
There were several ways to obtain a Skill.
Bloodline Skills, for example, were abilities that existed within one's bloodline. As the name suggested, they were inherited through one's lineage, but possessing the bloodline alone didn't guarantee that the Skill would awaken. The ability to awaken one depended heavily on the amount of Spiritual Power a person possessed.
That was why choosing an heir who had successfully awakened an inherited Skill could be so important to a bloodline.
There were also Intrinsic Skills, sometimes referred to as racial Skills. These were basic Skills that naturally appeared within members of a particular race, forming part of their innate capabilities.
Arts were different.
An Art was a method of using power.
More specifically, an Art was a practiced method of manipulating Aether and the powers derived from it. Aether was the formless energy of the world, constantly adapting and mutating into different forms of power such as Mana, Senki, Qi, and even the Aeshma of Demons.
It saturated the world itself, making it a more potent and nourishing environment for its inhabitants.
Unlike a Skill, an Art wasn't an inherent supernatural function. It was something that had to be practiced and understood.
Martial Arts, Magecraft, swordsmanship, Vasana Arts, and countless other disciplines could all be classified as Arts. They could be performed through the manipulation of one's Energy, Mind, Body, or even Skills.
A Skill was like a machine. Once established, it performed its function through an automatic and optimized process, allowing its user to produce a particular result with far less conscious effort.
With enough practice, however, the distinction between the two could become blurred.
An Art could eventually become so deeply ingrained into a person's existence that it could be converted into a Skill through the consumption of Spiritual Power. Once that happened, the technique no longer needed to be consciously reconstructed every time it was used. It had become part of the user's existence.
Of course, not every Art needed to become a Skill.
Some techniques were simply better left as techniques.
But whether one was using a Skill or an Art, there was always energy beneath them.
How someone interacted with that energy depended largely on their own existence.
The Soul was the primary vessel of consciousness and information. Very little was truly known about its deeper nature, but it was known to produce Spiritual Power.
Surrounding the Soul was the Phantasmal Body, composed of [Spirit Particles], also known as [Phantoma].
The Phantasmal Body protected the Soul from harm and translated its will outward, acting as the intermediary between the Soul and the rest of existence.
Spiritual Power was produced through the Soul and Phantasmal Body. It was fundamentally different from Aether, which existed throughout the world. Spiritual Power originated from within the individual and could be used to engrave Skills and other supernatural functions directly into their existence.
It was also what allowed a sufficiently practiced Art to eventually become a Skill.
In my previous life, I'd eventually reached a level where I could think and act as a Phantasm.
That state gave me a unique property. Most physical attacks could no longer affect me properly, and even the majority of Arts and Skills that interfered with space or time had difficulty affecting my existence.
Although... I was sadly nowhere near that level yet.
At present, I was naturally a Semi-Enlightened being, which brought me to the Mystic Ether Body.
Encasing the Phantasmal Body was the Mystic Ether Body, a structure composed of refined Aether Particles. It was the primary vessel through which most beings interacted with the energy derived from Aether.
The Mystic Ether Body absorbed, refined, circulated, and distributed energy throughout the entire existence.
Every technique ultimately had to pass through it before manifesting.
Damage to the Mystic Ether Body could therefore severely disrupt a person's energy control, even if their Soul and Phantasmal Body remained unharmed.
The existence of a Mystic Ether Body was also what separated the Mystic Races from most Humans and Demi-Human races.
Mystic Races were beings whose biology naturally intertwined the Material Body and Mystic Ether Body. Unlike Humans and Demi-Humans, whose existence was primarily anchored to the Material Body, Mystic Races possessed supernatural energy as a fundamental part of their biology.
Their bodies were naturally sustained by it, giving them greater vitality and allowing them to survive injuries that would kill an ordinary human.
Most Mystic Races were therefore naturally classified as Semi-Enlightened Beings.
Demons were one of them.
Yokai, Fae, Dragonoids, Oni, and Dryads were as well.
Of course, the degree to which the Material Body and Mystic Ether Body were intertwined varied from race to race, as did the perks that arose from it.
But the basic principle remained the same.
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A/N: Thoughts? Criticisms?