Panda Novel
Chapter 369 I've figured it out
"Guys, I would like to ask you something."
Despite my great desire to ask around about other people's opinions on the question Irene left me with, I opted to hold this desire back for as long as there was a realistic risk of Leon listening in on it.
I couldn't tell how much this question was related to my growth and my growth alone and how much Leon could learn from just hearing it. And so, to avoid any doubts, I simply waited the entire, prolonged meeting out, only opening my mouth once we got back to Makary's car and then drove off for a while.
"Before I ask it, though, I want you to wipe out all the preconceptions, expectations, and other thoughts that could influence your thoughts. What I want, is your first, instinctive response."
I took a moment to look both Makary and Fay in the eyes for a short moment.
Seeing the two of them focus, I took a deep breath and calmed my heart a bit.
"The first level of awareness is all about understanding one's own needs. The second level of awareness focuses on realizing that others have their own needs too. The third level of awareness is all about considering the needs of others while the fourth focuses on one's role within the group of people the needs of which they can understand."
I started with the short version of the knowledge Irene passed to me.
"In that setting, what would be the next level of awareness?"
The silent driving mode of the car made the atmosphere within the limousine's passenger compartment all the more profound.
"The perspective grows bigger," Fay suggested while cutely leaning her head to the side and casting the storm of her long, white hair to cascade down her shoulder.
"With every level, you add complexity that goes beyond the prior level," Makary came up with a slightly different approach, "so if the fourth level is all about recognizing the group as a whole then the fifth would be…"
Makary turned silent for a little longer, rubbing his chin as he fell into a doubt thought.
"Looking beyond the needs of your group?" Makary laid down his own interpretation of my question. "Or maybe acknowledging, growing aware of how the needs of other groups might be different?"
Listening to those suggestions, I had to resist the desire to sigh.
Those suggestions were nearly perfectly aligned with my own thoughts on the matter.
"Hmm?" I moaned a little while pulling back into my seat and raising my eyes, making it seem as if I was staring into the depths of space with my vision somewhat passing through the car's ceiling.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Do you happen to have a blanket here?" Fay turned towards Makary and asked.
"I… think so?" Makary guessed, taken aback by the sudden turn from a deep, philosophical ask.
"Can I borrow it for a moment?"
As much as I wanted to focus on my thoughts, I couldn't help but feel curious about what Fay was cooking.
Yet, mere moments later, she slid closer on the car's back couch before throwing her legs over my lap and resting herself atop my shoulder while pulling Makary's blanket all over the two of us.
"He really needs to think right now," Fay announced with utmost confidence while her hands moved forth and cradled all over my head. "Wake us up when we get back to the gate."
Paying no attention to the face Makary made when she dropped her shoes onto the expensive leather of the car's seats, Fay cuddled up to my side, cloaking me in the soothing sense of her warm, soft weight.
Pressed down into my seat, I felt as if my consciousness lifted from my body, released from the mortal shackles by the comfort Fay brought me with just a simple hug.
And with Makary respecting Fay's unvoiced request for peace and silence, I fell right back into a deep thought.
Soon, Fay's comforting presence allowed me to grease the gears of my mind and arrive at what was still far from conclusion but offered a better perspective on Irene's question.
'Those levels of consciousness and whatnot, how do they relate to aura?'
Up until now, I've only considered Irene's hints at their face value. But upon deeper thought, those levels of consciousness were allegedly strictly related to my personal growth.
And save for a level, there was only one statistic within my system that, more or less accurately, tracked my growth.
There was one thing that permeated through every aspect of personal growth in Fay's world.
And it was all aura.
Aura based on light, aura based on beastly inheritance, aura based on origin, aura based on darkness…
The source of it didn't matter. It was merely a flavor of the aura, its innermost nature, a quality of aura that didn't affect the phenomana's right to be considered an aura whatsoever.
It didn't matter whether I sourced my aura to the darkness element Irene mastered or the source that Madam or Etaria or any other supreme followed.
Just like the interpretations to my question, everyone had their own.
But the true answer remained the same, regardless of the interpretation.
'How does this all connect, though?' I thought, heaving a deep sigh as I allowed Fay's delicate weight to press me down into my seat, her warmth, and softness cutting away all the unnecessary filler of the real world.
And then… I've realized just how simple it could possibly be.
The first level of consciousness was all about one's own desires, while the first level of magic awareness was all about one's own aura needs.
The second level of consciousness was all about perceiving the needs of others, and the second level of aura perception was all about noticing the auras of others.
The third level was all about thinking about what others are thinking, or in terms of aura, noticing how the aura of others affected or influenced the flow of one's own aura.
The fourth level was all about belonging to a group; adhering to the rules created on the basis of the needs of everyone within the group. And when translating this level of awareness to aura, it was all about seeing the whole picture, of how one's own aura and the auras of others combined to create a local flow.
Someone tugging it at the natural, world's aura from one place would affect how fast someone else could pull it from the other side. And Madam trying to absorb the world's aura to restore the aura she used would change how the aura in the air would react if I was the one trying to feed on it.
And with all of that said, the fifth level of using aura, when translating both my own thoughts and Fay and Makary's suggestions… With those thoughts in mind, being aware of aura on the fifth level would be akin to realizing the limits of the influence of one's local group, acknowledging the presence of other groups, and recognizing the status quo created between them all.
It was so simple. So simple, that it was hard for me to believe this could be an actual explanation to the issue. After all, if that's what was really the case, then what would stop me from drawing even further guesses over what tier sixth and seventh of consciousness and then mana control was?
If level four of consciousness was all about group, then level fifth, just as Fay and Makary mentioned, would be about overcoming the shackles of perceiving the world through just the values active within one's own group. And with that in mind, level six of consciousness would be all about…
Transcending the limits imposed by any given group one was inside of, and understanding the true individuality that hid underneath all of the posing and grandstanding.
Or, in terms of aura, the fifth level would be all about understanding the complex symmetry between all kinds of groups, where the combined effect on the aura flow of each of the groups would vary…
And then, on level sixth, the understanding of aura would transcend the level of one's own group and the groups around them, reverting one's perception back to their individual self…
But hidden in the tapestry of endless and varying flows.
'I think I've got it,' I thought, my eyebrows moving up so far and fast on my forehead, I ended up opening my eyes right in time to see our car arrive at Makary's compound and park right beyond the massive construction zone stretching from the edge of the hangar all the way to the other buildings beyond the flat, concrete perimeter and towards the other buildings in the distance.
And open my eyes I did, for with my new understanding of how I should even go around perceiving mana, it seemingly tore off the filter off my eyes, allowing me to finally experience the world as it was, instead of the simplified view my mortal eyes provided me with thus far.
"I think I've got it," I muttered while squeezing down on Fay's waist and looking up at Makary. "It feels weird… But I think I've figured it out."