Chapter 344: Calm Mind

Lyra Starweaver immediately opened her mouth to speak first, but Zara cut her off harshly, a cold glare on her face.

"It’s just like the name implies," Zara said after a beat, returning her focus to Uhtred. "It’s a skill that calms the mind. It grounds you whenever you’re in the face of an Esoteric Guile. Not many people have figured it out yet. Among us human Champions, I think I’m the only one with the skill."

"And how does it work?" Uhtred asked, interested.

"I don’t know about other affinities, but for me, I simply use my space magic to create a sort of ’base state of mind’ beforehand. It’s always running passively, which means I will immediately notice a change when I’m being influenced and shut it down," Zara explained.

"Shut it down how?"

"Well, that’s different..."

Both Uhtred and Lyra Starweaver spoke at the same time.

Uhtred paused, a frown coloring his face at Lyra’s interruption. For someone who was basically their prisoner of battle, she was way too casual and overly eager to talk.

Still, Uhtred allowed her to speak. From what she said, it seemed what knew didn’t align with Zara’s explanation.

"Yours must be some higher version, then, because that’s not how mine works." Lyra Starweaver said. "In fact, that’s not how anyone I’ve met with the skill uses it. Calm Mind is a general-use skill, one of the few even I currently know. General-use skills are not limited by your affinity, everyone can create them in their own way, with their own affinities."

She paused then nodded toward Zara.

"You create yours with space magic... though how you do it differs greatly from mine," Lyra Starweaver said. "A normal Calm Mind skill uses your affinity like a constant shock. It jolts your mind when you’re under the influence of an Esoteric Guile. That’s all it is. But you seem to have taken it to another level... A constant base state of mind..."

Lyra Starweaver hummed in thought, her expression turning distant for a second as if she was filing away the information for when she would need to develop her own Calm Mind skill further.

"...It does solve the flaw of having to spot the Esoteric Guile yourself before jolting your mind," she continued. "Though I still don’t see how that’ll work in the first place? How do you ’create a base state of mind’ with your space affinity when you do not possess an affinity for mind magic?"

She had a puzzled expression on her face, her eyes locking onto Zara curiously.

Zara showed no reaction whatsoever, she simply shrugged. "I guess I’m just a natural."

Behind her, Uhtred looked on thoughtfully. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that she can create a domain? Some sort of trickle down due to some similarities?

"...Either way, Zara," Uhtred suddenly spoke, drawing Zara’s attention back to himself. "I need to learn it too... Calm Mind. I need to learn that skill."

"It takes time, and it’s not easy," Zara warned. "Do you really want to learn it now?"

"It’s either that or staying away from the Elf entirely," Uhtred said. "I don’t wanna have to tiptoe around anyone on our island."

Lyra Starweaver’s pointed ears twitched at Uhtred’s words. She was once again reminded that she’d just lost her Floating Island and her Race Shard — several Race Shards, in fact. The Race Shard Uhtred and Zara had taken was the combined race shards of Theron, the four Trolls, and hers.

Still, there was nothing she could do. Zara was a literal space magic queen who also possessed a higher version of the Calm Mind skill — a skill that nullified most of Lyra’s Enchantment magic. Even if she chose to focus on Uhtred, he’d demonstrated his ability to block out sound from reaching his ears. Not to mention, Lyra still couldn’t track the movement art he used to appear on her island.

For the foreseeable future, she was basically their prisoner... at least until an opportunity to escape or turn the situation around presented itself.

***

For the next hour, Zara tried to teach Uhtred the basics of the Calm Mind skill. At the same time, their new conquered island was merged with their original islands, enlarging its total size significantly.

It was still nowhere near the Faeries’ in size, but it now commanded attention in the skies. Any Floating Island would think twice before approaching them — though that wasn’t the exact outcome Uhtred and Zara wanted.

On one hand, it meant that any Floating Island that spotted them from a distance and still chose to attack likely had powerful Champions on it — saving them the trouble of looking for powerful foes.

And on the other hand, it also meant they would have a hard time finding the small fries — the easy-picks among the surviving Champions who still somehow had Race Shards in their possession.

On two separate occasions, two of such islands appeared on the horizon, spotted them, and turned tail immediately. Uhtred and Zara didn’t give chase, though. They continued along a specific path, following the directions Lyra Starweaver had revealed to Zara earlier.

Apparently, there really was an area where Floating Islands were rampant — a hotspot of several islands belonging to Dragonkin, Half-Dragonkin Half-Elves, and Champions of other races who were especially daring.

Of course, Uhtred and Zara recognized that heading there would likely mean losing Lyra Starweaver — it was already a hassle to keep watch over her as is, not to mention when they arrived at such a hotspot. But neither Uhtred nor Zara really cared whether she escaped or not.

So long as the hotspot she described was real, and so long as she didn’t try to do anything funny like stealing her Race Shard back, they both couldn’t give a rat’s ass where she ran off to.

In the meantime, as they journeyed to the location in question, Uhtred diligently tried to grasp the Calm Mind skill...

But Zara’s initial attempt to explain her method only left Uhtred staring into the open air, a deep crease between his brows.