Chapter 382 Mind, Body, Essence, and Soul.

"You can make me use my powers? Is that true Asty?"

Asteria's bid to redeem herself seemed to have worked, as the disgust and weariness on Kiera's eyes disappeared. Hope lit up her face once more as she looked back at Asteria.

"Yes, I can make you awaken your powers!" Asteria hurriedly said as she waved her hands around her. "Just trust me and let the process happen!"

"The process? What are you talking about?" Suspicion returned on Kiera's eyes as she began to regard Asteria with wariness. "Asty, are you sure that you are not fooling me?"

"Oi Kiera, why are you saying that? Do you still doubt me?"

"Asty, Big Brother Alex told me to always be wary of you."

"He said what?"

"Big Brother Alex said that every good action that you did always had a hidden agenda. He said that you are not the type of person to help others easily. If you said that you want to help someone, that was because you can get something beneficial from them…"

"What the h.e.l.l?"

"Big brother Alex said that you're like that witch who fed Snow White the poisoned apple. At first, it looked like she was helping Snow White, but the truth was that the witch only wanted Snow White to fall asleep for her own agendas…"

"That ingrown hooman! He actually compared me to an old hag? Argh!!! Just you wait hooman. Once I see you, I will show you what's worse than a witch!"

"Asty, does that mean that you are worse than a witch?"

"Hah? No Kiera, that was just a figure of speech! Don't take that to heart!"

"Ok?"

"Hey, why are we even talking about Alex? We are talking here about my offer to you! Do you want to accept it or not?"

"Asty…. I am not sure if I can trust you with your offer. What if you are just scamming me here?"

"Scam? No, I am not scamming you! I swear!" Asteria thumped her chest at this point, as if she was trying to show her sincerity. "I really have a way to awaken your powers, and you can use this power to help Annie! Why can't you just believe me for now?"

"…"

"…"

"…If you really have a way to awaken my power, then can you tell me what my power really is?" The naïve Kiera from earlier seemed to have disappeared as her face only displayed seriousness. "Ever since Big Brother Alex took me in, he never explained to me what my power really is. If you can explain my power to me, then I might believe your claims…"

"That hooman never told you about your power? Not even a single bit?" Asteria asked with surprise apparent on her face. "He did not tell you anything at all?"

"Um… Big Brother Alex only told me that he knew what my power is, but for my safety, he said that he will not tell more about it." Kiera replied as she looked down on the floor. "He told me that its dangerous for me to know, since I still have no way to control it. He said that… I can only know my real power once I have a way to control or awaken it."

"Oh… I see I see." Asteria only nodded her head after hearing Kiera's reply, as if she was in agreement on what she just heard. "I think Alex is right there. If you have no way to control your power, it is better for you to now know it. Yes, Alex did the right thing with his silence."

This reply by Asteria made Kiera frown, as she seemed to have noticed something wrong with what Asteria just said.

"Asty, if you are saying that Alex was right, then doesn't that mean that you are also not allowed to tell me anything about my power too?"

"Hah? That will be the case if you still have no way to control your power. But I have a way to make you awaken and control your power, so it will be fine for me to tell everything about your real power!" Asteria smugly replied, as she appeared to be happy on saying these. "So how about it Annie, are you in or out?"

"Asty, are you sure that you can really awaken my power?"

"Yes, I am sure!"

"Asty, if something bad happens to me, Big Brother Alex will punish you heavily. Are you still sure on doing this to me?"

"He will punish me? Heh, let him try that later! I have nothing to be scared of! I am sincere on awakening your power, so you should not worry about anything!"

"Asty… you're actually serious about this. Okay, I am in."

"Hehehe, that's good answer Annie. Good answer!"

"…"

"Hey Kiera, don't look at me like I am a tras.h.!.+ Hey! You little- Okay, okay. I will stop laughing like a creep already, are you happy now?"

"…"

Asteria had no choice but to look serious at this point, as Kiera appeared to be focused right now.

"So Kiera… just like we had agreed earlier, I will first tell you about your power, and then I will awaken it. Are you ready to hear the truth?"

"Yes Asty, I am ready. Whatever you will say to me, I will accept it, as everything that I do now is for Annie!"

"Oh… what a pure love between friends. Will it evolve to something romantic in the future?"

"H-hey Asty! What are you talking about! Shouldn't we discuss about my power?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, my bad. "

"…."

******************

"So in your world, there are people like the Symbolists, the Celestials, and the Devourers. Everyone of them had their own special ability, and they came from some kind of source." Asteria said as she started her lecture. "The power of the Symbolists came from a Blue-Skinned Divine Being, while the powers of the Celestials came from an angel itself."

"An angel? That's cute!"

"Shut up. Let me talk."

"…"

"As for the Devourers, their powers came from a Green-Skinned Divine Being. You can see a pattern here, right? Every power that appeared in your world came from powerful beings, and without them, the powers would not appear." Asteria then cleared her throat as she gave Kiera a pointed look. "And that's where your power arrives in the story. If the other powers have their own source, yours have its own source too. Do you get that, Kiera?"

"Yes, I get it Asty. So where did my power came from?"

"It came from a Demon." Asteria replied in a normal tone as she ignored Kiera's choking sounds. "A powerful Demon had its power stripped, and then portions of it were given to people like you. Pretty bizarre in my opinion, if you asked me."

"A Demon? But-"

"Don't complain anymore, Kiera. That is the truth." Asteria replied as she waved her hand. "A demon was the real source of your power. Just accept it."

"Ah ok…"

"Now that I have told you that, its time for me to go to the exciting part…" Asteria said as she rubbed her hands in an energetic manner. "It's time for me to tell you about the characteristics of your power."

"I'm listening, Asty."

"Ehem, so the power that you got from this Demon was a simple, yet effective one." Asteria started to say as she tried to avoid Kiera's burning gaze. "Simply speaking, your power should have been Soul Manifestation."

"Soul… Manifestation?"

"Out of all the beings that lived in the Multiverse, it was the Demons that can be considered to be the most selfish." Asteria suddenly said as her voice sounded solemn. "They were originally a part of the Holy Order, but due to their selfishness, they were kicked out."

"…"

"After they were kicked out, the Demons had their entire bodies and souls warped by their desires in an extreme manner. This made them lose their original ability, which led to them gaining a new ability. And this new ability was the one that we were just talking about: Soul Manifestation."

"…"

"In simple terms, Soul Manifestation allows a demon to manifest their desires as a usable power." Asteria said as she started clapping her hands. "Each demon that has this ability needs to have a powerful soul, as the soul will be the medium for the manifestation of their desire. Without a powerful soul, the manifestation of the desire will fail."

"…"

"Now, a demon with Soul Manifestation can only manifest one usable power. This means that even if a demon has many desires in its life, it can only manifest one power to represent these desires. It cannot just manifest 7 powers at a time. It can only manifest one, and only one alone."

"…"

"As for what this power could be, that will depend on the individual itself." Asteria then let out a cough as she appeared to be sorting out her memories. "Okay... so the example that I can use here was the Demon that Alex fought before. That Demon appeared to be a war-aligned being, so his desires were aligned with weapons. This desire, combined with Soul Manifestation, made him manifest a power that allows him to create or summon powerful and exotic weapons."

"…"

"That's the gist of Soul Manifestation. Each one demon had their own unique desires, which means that the power that they will get from Soul Manifestation will be different too." After saying these words, Asteria looked deeply at Kiera, as if she was trying to tell the little girl something.

"So Kiera, once you have the ability to use Soul Manifestation, you will have your own power too, which will reflect your desires. Just make sure… that your desires are the right desires. Because if you have wicked desires inside you, the power that you will manifest will be wicked too. "

"Asty… that was deep." This was all that Kiera could say as she appeared to be overwhelmed by Asteria's explanation. "So is this why you are saying that I can save Annie? Are you saying that as long as I can use Soul Manifestation, I can manifest an ability that can help Annie?"

"Exactly." Asteria replied as she nodded at Kiera. "If I can awaken your Soul Manifestation ability right now, saving Kiera will be a piece of cake."

"In that case, awaken my power now, Asty!"

"Hold up. Before I do that, let me say something important to you first." Asteria said as raised her hands, which stopped the little girl from talking. "Do you know why you and the others in your world were unable to awaken your powers even now? Aren't you curious by that?'

"Well Asty, I am curious before, but now I don't care anymore. Just awaken my power already!"

"Kiera, I don't care if you don't care. I will still tell you the reason why."

"…"

Kiera appeared to be put-off by Asteria's comment, which led to her sending an impatient glare at Asteria's direction. Asteria naturally ignored it as she continued talking.

"The reason for your inability to use Soul Manifesatoin was because of your soul." Asteria said as she crossed her arms. "It was mainly your soul that was preventing you from accessing the power of the Demon."

"My soul?"

"Soul Manifestation is an ability that was only meant to be used by Demons." Asteria said as she tapped the side of her head. "After all, Soul Manifestation was a created ability by the Demons. This means that Soul Manifestation was only tailored for the soul of the Demons. If you don't have the soul of the Demon, then you are not worthy to use Soul Manifestation. It's just as simple as that."

"Hey Asty, if that was true, then why did I gain Soul Manifestation ability?" Kiera asked, as she seemed to not believe Asteria. "Why would I have this power if I am not meant to use it?"

"Kiera, just like what I said to you earlier, your power was taken away from a Demon. Who knows, maybe you were just used as a vessel to hide a portion that Demon's power." Asteria replied as she shrugged her shoulders. "Of course there might be a different reason, but the case still stands. Someone placed the Soul Manifestation ability inside you, and that someone does not care if you can activate this power or not."

"That-"

"Yes, that sounds unfair, but we're not talking about fairness here!" Asteria blurted out as she interrupted Kiera. "We are talking about awakening your supposedly 'unusable' ability, so you should stop sulking right now!"

"But Asty, if my soul is the problem, then isn't it impossible for me to use Soul Manifestation?" Kiera replied as she appeared to be desolate again. "After all, my soul is not of a demon…"

"Then we will just change your soul make-up." Asteria said as she let out a huff. "So what if the problem is your soul? If your ability requires you to have a demon soul, then we shall turn your soul into a demon soul! That's just as simple as that!"

"!!!"