Azaelia stared at me, amused. "You're eagerness to learn fascinates me. You would've learned this at the academy when you're enrolled, but I guess there's no harm in a head start."
Turning around, she walked towards the steps of the large bath. When her foot touched the first step, she looked over her shoulder.
"Aren't you coming out?" She wondered, since I haven't moved from my spot yet.
"Oh," I stood quickly, causing a splash around me. "Uh, yeah."
As I followed Azaelia out of the bath and took the final step, I felt a burning behind me and the water glowing a bright yellow.
"Oh shit," I jumped up and away from the sudden heat on my back, holding my chest, feeling my fast-beating heart.
"The hell just happened?!" I yelled, turning to look at Azaelia, who was covering her mouth and looking away with her shoulders bobbing up and down, laughing.
"Why are you laughing? Was I going to be set ablaze if you didn't tell me to get out?!"
Once she stopped laughing, she responded,
"No, you're fine. That's just the bath getting rid of the medicinal properties and purifying the bath to be used again."
"Jeez, tell me that ahead of time," I added, trying to calm down the fast rhythm of my heart.
"Yeah, yeah." She said, flapping her right hand at me.
I crossed my arms around my body while pouting, not out of anger, but to keep myself warm, since the water on my skin had begun to feel cool.
"Is there a towel or something I can use?"
"Towel? No, step right there." Azaelia said, pointing at a sigil design on the floor that was a mix between a fire symbol and an air symbol overlapping each other.
I looked at the sigil skeptically. "That's not gonna turn into fire and burn me into a crisp, is it?"
Azaelia looked back and forth at the sigil and me, and said with a straight face. "Not exactly."
I frowned and walked towards the door, my body still drenched in water, trying to cover up what needed to be covered.
"Wet floors, it is."
Azaelia grabbed my shoulder. "Wet my floors and you will die and join your family."
Her eyes flashed red, sending a chill down my spine. Weirdly, I felt like she wasn't joking.
I pointed at the sigil. "Then what does that thing do?"
Azaelia rolled her eyes and stepped on the sigil to demonstrate. The sigil glowed, and not even a second passed before all the water that was on her body evaporated.
"Now it's your turn," Azaelia said, stepping out of the sigil.
I sighed in relief, knowing it wasn't dangerous, and stepped on it. When the sigil began to glow, a warm feeling fell upon my skin. I could feel the water droplets on my drenched hair drying at an incredible rate.
Once the sigil stopped glowing, I touched my long hair, amazed. This thing worked way better than a hair dryer. My hair wasn't even slightly damp. It was completely dry.
"This thing is cool," I said, stepping out, examining my body.
"Hmph," Azaelia began, while a black misty aura with a violet glow to it surrounded her body. "I know."
"Is that sin energy?" I asked curiously when I saw the misty aura on her body. However, it quickly disappeared when I asked my question. "Why was it violet colored?"
"Yes, that was the sin energy of Pride," Azaelia said, looking at her right palm. Flexing it open and closed a couple of times.
She raised a finger to tell me to wait. "Hold that question," she began, and snapped her fingers, making a pair of clothes and indoor slippers appear on her hands, along with a paste of sorts and bandages.
"Here, put these on after I put this bandage on for you. These are Mika'Ella's, but she shouldn't mind."
"Who's Mika'Ella?" I asked, accepting the clothes and putting on the underwear and black shorts that stopped around the middle of my thighs.
"My daughter and your cousin," Azaelia answered, and I stared back, surprised.
"You have a daughter? You don't look a day over 30."
Azaelia looked at me and smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment. I guess in human years I'll be 41."
"Hmm," I hummed out a response.
"Now turn around and kneel so that I can put this paste on your wound, followed by the bandage," Azaelia instructed. I got down on my knees so that my back was to her. I moved my hair to the side so that it was bare and accessible for her.
"How in the…," Azaelia muttered, kneeling behind me and gently touching the space between my shoulder blades. She then began to trace around the wounds that remained. I shivered at the touch as the urge to scratch the tingle of the wound increased.
"What is it?" I wondered, "Is there something wrong?"
"No, the complete opposite. Nothings wrong." Azaelia answered and grabbed a bit of the aromatic paste, and gently applied it to the wound."
I grabbed onto the hems of the black shorts and gripped the fabric tightly as I gritted my teeth. Luckily, it didn't take long for Azaelia to apply the paste, which gave a slight burning feeling.
"Augere," Azaelia muttered, and the burning sensation increased and felt stronger. The burning sensation lasted for 30 more seconds and then subsided. She took that moment to put two pieces of gauze on each wound and wrapped the bandage around my chest and back.
"Here," she said, giving me the white t-shirt to put on. As I put it on, I groaned in pain as the wound was constantly agitated with the slightest movement of my arms, so it was a bit of a struggle to put on.
It took slightly longer, but I was eventually able to get the shirt on.
When I was ready to go, she removed the black bathing suit she had been wearing and, in a flash of flames, changed into an off-the-shoulder black dress with flared sleeves and a lace-up front, accompanied by a slightly transparent chiffon floral skirt that stopped just above her ankles.
"Follow me, I'm going to show you to your room," Azaelia said, opening the door to the bath and walking out of it. I took that time to put on the indoor slippers and follow her.
Azaelia took a right at the door and kept walking down a hallway full of doors made of mahogany. Up ahead were large double doors. I could already tell that was the master bedroom. There was a door on the right and another adjacent to it.
"The room with the double doors is mine, if that's not obvious. The one to the right is Mika'Ella's. Yours will be the one adjacent to it. Got it?"
"Got it," I affirmed as she opened up the door to the room that was going to be mine. Walking in the gothic-style room, it was pretty plain but nice.
The first visible thing was the queen-size bed, located in front of a large Gothic window to the left, as soon as you walked in, with a black headboard, black pillows, and a red and black duvet cover.
Next to the bed, on either side, were nightstands with lamps on them. On the front of the bed was a trunk of sorts that could also serve as a bench to sit on.
The eye-catching feature in the room was the large windows, which brightened up the space with the perfect amount of sunlight. In front of the large window was a chair and sofa in case a guest was over.
Adjacent to the bed was the walk-in closet.
"Very nice," I began as I looked around the room, and pointed to a door on the wall beside the bed. "Where does that door lead to?"
"That leads to the bathroom," Azaelia answered, crossing her arms and leaning on the wall beside the walk-in closet.
"Cool," I said as I walked over to the trunk-like bench in front of the bed and sat on it. "So…how do I use the energy of sin?" I asked intrigued, sounding almost impatient.
Azaelia sighs, "This is going to be a whole spill, so try to keep up and ask anything if something doesn't make sense."
"Alright," I nodded my head.
She walks over and sits in the middle of the floor. Looking at me, she shows her index finger and bends it twice towards herself and then points towards the area in front of her.
Essentially, she was telling me to come and sit in front of her with just a gesture.
I rolled my eyes, getting up from the bench, and sat down in front of her.
Azaelia extends both palms in front of her almost as if she is getting ready to catch a ball.
Eight faint misty orbs began to form above her palms. Each with a faint undertone of a different color consisting of deep blue, red, gold, green, purple, silver, orange, and black.
However, the other orbs, besides the black, purple, and blue ones, seem a bit smaller and less stable.
"There are seven primary forms of sin energy," Azaelia begins, slightly struggling a bit with multitasking, so her voice sounded a bit strained, almost like trying to juggle eight balls and giving an explanation.
"Each is born from the core desires and flaws of mortals and immortals alike. And each one behaves…uniquely. The 7 sins aren't just emotions, but also weapons and keys to unlocking deeper powers.
She made 7 of the orbs disappear and kept the one with a blue undertone.
"Let's start with the sin energy I'm more attuned with.
Lust. It isn't just about attraction. It's magnetism, temptation, persuasion. Sin wielders of lust like myself can charm, confuse, or even manipulate emotions and desires. At higher levels, it's possible to drain life force or restore your own body using someone else's cravings.
Unfortunately, you have to understand that every sin has a consequence after using it. For example, to replenish Lust energy, the fastest way is through sex or deep emotional pleasure. Others resort to…*cough* *cough* self-stimulation, but it's a diluted recharge."
Azaelia's face saddened after that explanation. "My daughter hates me for choosing this sin due to the repercussions of using it."
I nodded my head, understanding the reason why. "Is it because you have to fuck to replenish your Sin. I can understand her."
Azaelia smiled a smile that didn't reach her eyes, and it sent a chill down my back.
"Anyways, moving on…," Azaelia made the blue undertone orb change to a red undertone. This one shrank significantly and seemed unstable for her to control.
"Next is Wrath, sin of fury and destruction.
Wrath is raw power. It burns, strikes, and destroys. Most demons rely on wrath to fuel their attacks or physical strengths.
Wrath's flaw is that it burns you from the inside out. Many wrath users die not from their enemies…but from their uncontrolled power. You can combust if you don't have control."
I audibly gulp at the consequence of using the sin of Wrath.
Azaelia switches the undertone to gold. This one remained the same size as the orb of Wrath. Also looking a bit unstable.
"Greed, the sin of taking and hoarding.
It's used by those who hoard magic or bend matter to their will. But it's addicting. The more you take, the more you'll crave.
Its flaw is that greed corrupts the soul. The more you take, the less satisfied you feel. You'll always want more. Some greed demons can forget their name…consumed by the hunger to possess."
The undertone of the orb this time switches to green.
"Fourth on the list, we have Envy. The sin of mimicry and sabotage.
Envy allows imitation and disruption. Users can copy techniques temporarily or weaken those they're envious of. The perfect sin for demons that focus on stealth.
Envy's flaw is that it fractures identity. You become so focused on others' strengths that you lose touch with your own. Long-term users become empty hollow mirrors reflecting everything but themselves. Worst of all…envy can backfire if you copy something you can't handle."
The undertone of the orb flickers to purple. A color I briefly watched emerge from Azaelia's body while we were in the bath. Ironically, this one seemed more stable and a bit bigger compared to the last couple of sins demonstrated.
"The Sin energy of pride," I said, and Azaelia nodded her head.
"Correct. Pride, sin of supremacy and willpower.
Pride strengthens your presence, aura, and willpower. High-ranking demons to command legions, silence others, or resist spells. It can act as a barrier or amplify Sin Energy based on your confidence or dominance. Additionally, this sin becomes a sub-sin of sorts once you become a high-ranked demon.
The flaw of Pride is self-doubt. It feeds on self-image, so if your confidence shatters, your power does as well."
That was five sins so far, and two more remain.
The orb floating above Azaelia's palms transitioned to silver.
"The sixth sin to cover is Sloth. The sin of stillness and drain.
It slows time perception, dulls enemy senses, and preserves energy. Powerful users of sloth can enter the state of statis, regenerate, or sap the speed and will from opponents.
The flaw of sloth is known as Sleeping Beauty syndrome. It tempts you to stop moving, to delay, to wait. The more you rely on it, the more you lose momentum. You can fall asleep and not wake for centuries if misused."
"Last but not least," Azaelia begins to say as the orb changes to an orange undertone. " Gluttony, the sin of consumption and absorption.
Gluttony devours. You can consume magic, energy, and in rare cases knowledge itself. It's a terrifying sin to master because it can unravel the very fabric of spells and creatures.
Some might say the strongest sins are pride or Wrath. But in all honesty. I think it's Gluttony.
However, because it might just be the strongest, its flaw is also the worst.
Overuse of gluttony makes your form…unstable, and your hunger never ends. Some gluttony users lose control and start feeding on friends, allies, and sometimes even themselves."
"Now, you may think that that was all the sin energy types, but there is a bonus Sin."
"A bonus sin?"
Azaelia nods her head. "It's the Sin energy that every demon starts with before picking a specialty sin."
The orb this time didn't have an undertone, but it remained jet black and misty, like condensed black smoke.
"This right here is the Basic Sin. Also termed the dormant sin.
Despite this sin being basic, it can also be dangerous. It can corrupt, or it can evolve…but it always reflects your most authentic self. If you don't guide it, it'll choose for you."
"Wow… that's a lot to take in," I said after the information dump on sin energy and its consequences.
"It sure is, but now we're going to step into learning how to use that energy.
Most demons are attuned to one dominant sin, which tends to be the sin they awakened with. But some decide to restart and wipe out their awakened Sin, and choose to focus on a desired sin."
"But wait…before we continue. There is a question that I have." I said, putting my right hand up
Azaelia motions for me to continue with my question before saying, "Ask away."
"Is there a way to bypass these flaws down the line, or do demons just risk perishing to their sin the stronger they become?"
Azaelia pauses, her eyes flickering and her face darkening as if she is remembering an awful memory that flashes through her mind.
"That's the question every demon asks…right before they fall."