"Why can't I be a fire element artist?"

"You'd need to have a flame elemental mark instead of what you have on your wrist. Magically speaking, you won't be able to cultivate fire Qi before you reach the second step. That was when you need to find a second fate lock, but that's trouble for another time. You need to focus on what you can do now."

I grunted in frustration. "Okay, let's stop with bad news," I said, and unwrapped the clothes from my left wrist. I laid the spiral mark bare before her as she scrutinised, though she didn't let out any words about it like most times. "I have a few burning questions that I would need for you to answer if you can."

Saarya lifted an eyebrow. "I'll try, but don't hope to learn everything. There are many things you won't understand, many things I'm not supposed to tell you."

"How sure are you that this mark will give me magical power after I reach copper?" I asked, my voice came with unbridled hope.

"As much as I'm sure it will kill you through the process," Saarya said.

"Damn," I shouted. "I guess there's no end to the bad news for today."

"Sorry," the lady of purity said. "You should hope for the best and don't worry, I'll do my utmost best to keep you alive."

"So if I came alive, it will give me magical power?"

"Pretty much."

"What are the chances of that?"

Saarya frowned. "It's pretty hard to calculate that," she said though some deliberation. "I would say fifty-fifty. You have a better chance than most people with me here."

I nodded and came up with the next question. I showed her the menacing-looking mark on my palm that seemed to bring gloom into your spirit just by looking at it. It was unnecessary attention-grabbing even though it looked nothing special if you look at it casually.

"So there are fate marks with unique elements like fire. Do you have any idea what kind of mark this is?"

"The fate mark on your wrist has two attributes in place of one," Saarya said, firm on her response. "You can guess one of them pretty easily, I think."

"Darkness?" I uttered the first word that came to my mind.

Saarya nodded. "Darkness," she said, "and Dimension."

"What kind of ability do you think it will give me?" I asked again, sucking in a deep breath. Although both of the element seemed pretty impressive in her tone, I couldn't get my hopes up, knowing nothing about this business.

"That is very hard to predict," Saarya said through her contemplation. "These types of fate lock are extremely rare. But there are two ways the abilities would go from here: the first is the giver's intent, and the second is the marked person's intent."

I frowned. "I'm not sure if I follow," I said. "If I'm not wrong, you interpreted as someone giving me this fate mark, is that correct?"

Saarya didn't enlighten me more on that topic, and to this day I'm still not aware which of the silent gods threw a lifeboat in my direction when I was drowning in misery.

"Don't worry about this much, as it isn't under your control," Saarya said. "You should focus on what you can control. The first on the list should be your spirit arts. Practise well and become strong enough to topple all these people that made a slave out of you."

The veins in my forehead bulged in indignation as I heard her. A deep seethed fury rose in my heart. I always put the rage in check. To my merit, it helped me function like a human being in this hell.

I took in deep breaths and calmed the rage, as I hadn't got to the point of toppling this hell yet. Maybe someday, I swore inwardly.historical

"I have one last question, no two actually," I said, exhaling.

"Shoot."

"How strong can a mortal man become, practising spirit arts?" I asked, staring at her eyes seriously.

"Spiritually speaking, you can become an almighty God if you can traverse the twelve steps," Saarya said, her tone slow and stern. "And I meant god, in a literal sense, the Creator and Destroyer--all that business."

I whistled, never hoped for her to give the answer so causally.

"However, since ancient age, no mortal of this world had managed to step beyond the eighth step."

Saarya seemed completely sure about that, though I have my suspicions. But my thoughts wandered somewhere else.

"How many steps have you taken," I asked, "if you don't mind answering?"

Saarya lifted her head to smile at me. "Is that your last question?"

I was ready to say no as it was not, but I wanted to know the answer to this question so badly. As if knowing my intention, Saarya started as a sigh escaped from her lips.

"Me? I was a special case. At my peak, I managed to take the sixth step." Saarya paused for a second. "To put more perspective, greater teleportation was one of my meagre means before they locked me in my confines.

So only two steps away from touching divinity. I sucked in a deep breath. Saarya was more impressive than I had thought previously. Her interaction with me left me with the impression that she was more of a healer type with various means into the human body, mind and spirit, but it seemed that was only the part of it.

pàпdá-ň?νêι.сóМ "How strong do I need to be to escape this hell?" I asked my last question, as anticipation rose in my chest.

"Only escape?" Saarya frowned. "I guess you can attempt at iron and succeed if you're lucky."

"Iron, what step is it again?"

"The second," Saarya answered. "Also, you asked only for escaping, not toppling this hell, for that you at least have to achieve Gold, the fourth step. Even your A'caen barely took the third step when he was at his peak."

____________

No cliff this time.