Chapter 430: Threads Of Connection (First Bonus)
But just as he made the second jump, Eduardo had already caught up.
The hybrid crashed into him from behind and drove him straight into the ground.
The impact cratered the area, and at that exact moment, the effects of Rage finally disappeared.
The changes in Olaf’s body became immediately visible as his expanded physique gradually returned to normal.
Eduardo went on with a flurry of fists, pushing out gushes of blood that covered the agent’s face and gave his blonde hair a new dye-job.
His vision began to blur, then everything faded into darkness.
And just like that, the Western Coalition agent had been subdued.
__
About an hour later, the lights in the dark room suddenly came on.
The brightness struck Olaf’s eyes which made him narrow them as he instinctively averted his gaze in an attempt to shield his face from the light while his vision slowly adjusted.
A figure stepped forward from the other side of the room with a nasty smile.
It was Ethan.
Only then did Olaf begin to properly take in his surroundings; the concrete walls, a single chair.
This was a basement; to be precise, it was the one inside the Stark Manor.
And judging from the dull ache spreading through his entire body, he had been there for quite some time already.
Ethan stopped directly in front of him, with that grin still on his face. "Hello"
—
Somewhere else...
Nathan was sitting in perfect balance atop the currents of the Astral Sea, with his eyes closed in meditation before a near-endless expanse of luminous figures standing in every direction.
Each of the countless figures scattered across that vast space, represented an individual mind and consciousness.
And between them, were innumerable threads extending outward like an intricate web.
Some threads were bright, and others were faint.
These threads represented the interconnecting relationships between one and another; the memories, emotions, relationships and countless mental associations that connected one consciousness to another.
For several hours now, Nathan had been observing certain minds within this sea of collective consciousness, especially since after his conversation with Ethan.
Although they were different minds before him, he actually wasn’t observing them all.
As he explained to Ethan, unless he knew their names specifically, it would’ve been a gross waste of time to search for the many blessed spread throughout the city.
So currently, his focus was narrowed down to only two people; Beatrice Morgenstein and Seraph Finnerty.
They were the only two names he had been given; they were both part of the blessed and ofcourse shared the same purpose at this time.
Although, Madam Seraph wasn’t currently in Grayforte city, but she was still within Gritnia, which meant her consciousness still existed within the collective expanse before him.
When Nathan specifically observe a certain person, the luminous figure which represented them would be isolated before him.
The different threads of connection around them became more visible, revealing even additional ones.
And for these two; Beatrice and Madam Seraph, they bore a certain unique thread, different from the vast majority.
Unlike the others spreading horizontally through the Sea of Collective Consciousness, this particular thread rose upwards from them.
This particular thread represented the connection that existed between a deity and their Blessed.
This particular thread of connection did not represent power being transferred from the god to their blessed, No. The Astral Sea didn’t concern itself with the transfer of divine authority or the flow of abilities between a deity and a Blessed.
Instead, this thread represented awareness, communication, shared thoughts, interaction and conscious engagement between them.
And if Nathan chose to follow that thread upward, he would eventually cross into another region of the Astral Sea entirely.
A region occupied by the consciousness of the gods themselves, which was a place he had no intention of entering.
--
In the hours of observing, Nathan had come to realize that there was a certain disparity between Madam Seraph and Beatrice’s connection to the gods.
For Madam Seraph, that upward thread was always there. He had never observed a moment when it disappeared.
Of course, Nathan didn’t know the exact reason for it.
And the reason was that Madam Seraph had already reached a complete state of resonance with her goddess; The Matron Of Written Stars, Lady Morrigan.
Because of that, the connection between them never truly faded; and so therefore it was safe to assume that they were always in conscious engagement of each other.
-
For Beatrice, however, the thread wasn’t always present.
The connection appeared sometimes, faded afterwards, then reappeared again at any given time.
And that was how, Ethan’s theory was proven; where there really were moments when a Blessed wasn’t actively engaged with their deity.
These moments which was the window of opportunity they were looking for.
However, in as much as Ethan’s plan was possibly, it wasn’t easily done either.
Nathan could invade her mind right now if he wanted to but doing so carried its own risks because Beatrice was far from weak.
Her status as a Blessed had strengthened her mind as well, and so attempting to force his way into her consciousness while she was awake wouldn’t be simple.
He would eventually succeed, but it wouldn’t be subtle. And subtlety was exactly what they needed.
Because if Beatrice sensed something was wrong, she might instinctively reach out to her goddess. And the very moment that happened, his presence would be discovered.
That was the outcome he was trying to avoid.
Sleeping hours presented a much better opportunity, for it was the time when the mind was in the state of tranquility.
The chaotic thoughts of the human mind that was active during the day, went into stillness at night. At that point, entering her mind would become significantly easier.
Unfortunately, there was another complication..
It was the Danger Precognition of the Morgenstein family.
Nathan knew of this. After all, he had once lived in this part of the world, knowing the Morgensteins were particularly infamous for their ability to perceive danger before it arrived.
The problem was that he had no way of knowing how that trait would react to an intrusion into her mind.
Would it remain dormant? Would it activate? Would attempting to enter her mind trigger that early warning?
He didn’t know. And that uncertainty the other problem he still wasn’t sure on how to overcome.