Overworlds

After a few rushed farewells, Katania to her mother and Erik to both parents, they met up with Empress waiting near the gates.

Katania explained her plans as they walked down the long path lined with trees, it was several miles of travel before they reached a town so she had plenty of time to give them the gist of her thoughts.

"We'll be heading to the neighboring Kingdoms to train, naturally our primary goal is to get stronger."

"Master, I overheard dad saying that you've become a monster and have already reached the Heavenly realm, why is it so important for you to get stronger?" Empress snorted at this as she fought back a laugh.

"Heaven realm? you find that to be a frightening existence do you?" she mocked, Eriks face burned with embarrassment, "Well, it is!" he argued, "there's no one else at big sisters level on the Vida continent!" he shot back angrily. "Oh? what about other continents?" Erik was silent, he didn't know about other continents, "Hm? what about overworlds?" Erik's mouth was hanging open dumbly as his face began to twist in confusion, "Overworlds? what are overworlds?" at this Empress revealed a look of superiority as if she'd just won a contest, "you don't even know about overworlds? very well, this Empress won't bully you too much," she said smugly, "Overworlds are places which contain Primordial beings,"

"Primordial beings?" Erik repeated these words in confusion, Katania perked up as well as this was also the first she'd heard of this.

Empress had a smug expression on her face as she gave a small nod, acting as if her next words contained great wisdom she spoke slowly, "Primoridial beings are creatures that exist in higher realms, they are immensely powerful because they possess what you might call an..." Empress paused as she tried to find the words, "...an advanced...soul... however, we call it Anima."

Katania's interest was ignited, "What is Anima?" she asked, curiosity overcoming her despite her attempts to appear nonchalant,

"Anima is Life Force," Empress responded readily, "it is the power that allows one to exist, much like your own souls. However, there are those born with souls and there are those born with anima, but an anima is not something a soul can compare to. A soul is weak, it is the minimum requirement for a sentient being to possess life, meanwhile, higher life forms cannot support their existence with a soul, they require an anima to live and what's more, to travel through higher realms."

"So what are these higher life forms?" asked Erik, he couldn't think of anything that did not possess a soul on the Vida continent, aside from perhaps, plants.

"Well, Dragons for one," Empress smirked.

"Dragons?" laughed Erik, "they're not real!" now fully convinced she was messing with him he no longer paid her any attention and began to walk ahead.

Empress snarled low in her throat, "Brat, you'd be surprised, not only are they real- they exist in a realm so far beyond your comprehension it would shatter your perception of air if you were to breathe in its oxygen, and sever your optic nerves if you were to pass your feeble vision over a single shred of its light. It is a world where only higher beings can thrive." Empress ended her passionate rebuke.

Erik gave this some thought, and after deciding that he didn't know enough to argue the point he chose to let it drop, "Well what about other beings, surely Dragons can't be the only ones?"

Empress curled her lips slightly, "Naturally," she said with some disgust she began listing them, "Elves- Faeries-Valkyries-Archfiends, Cats-Polluks-Demons-Phoenices- and Pegasi."

Erik's mouth was wide open in wonder, this was way too complicated for a practical joke.

Seeing that she had managed to astound him Empress decided to press her advantage, "There's also the middle realms which are home to those beings weaker than high species but above lower species like yourselves. They are: Devils - Unicorns - Firebirds - Thunderbirds - Humans..."

"Humans?" Erik interrupted, I thought you said Humans were lower beings?" his eyes were filled with disbelief now. Empress curled her lip, "Humans have this strange ability to grow beyond their limits," she said disdainfully, one could see she didn't think much of these Humans, "they call it 'evolution', these humans aren't something a squishy little bag of meat like yourself can compare to." she sneered. Katania stifled a laugh.

Erik shot her a glare before saying: "so it's possible for humans to reach higher realms then?" Empress snorted, "What, you mean you?" she appraised him raking a scathing eye over his small body, "with your meager talent? you are not qualified. You might think yourself something special on the Vida continent, however, if you found yourself facing one of those great hulking beasts that call themselves human I daresay you'd find yourself as a pretty ornament to adorn their shields."

Erik was aghast, "They're that barbaric?"

"Barbaric is one of the kinder terms, they are downright primitive, bestial savages. I've not met one I'd keep as a pet." Empress had a look of revulsion at the thought.

Erik was trying to imagine humans behaving like beasts and found the idea quite difficult to grasp, Empress noticed him having difficulty accepting this so she gave him something to think about. "Everything has a primal state," she said, "before your civilization you were animals much like the rest, had it not been for your people being weak you would have remained as such. Power grants one the right to rule." after saying this much she fell silent. Katania had also been quiet for a while, having listened intently to the conversation, she found it to be reasonable and didn't think Empress said all that as a joke. They were quite close to the town now, and it wouldn't be long before they reached it.

Meanwhile, Erik's head was filled with thoughts of Dragons, Phoenices, and Humans that acted like beasts.