"You will have to leave for Nephtis very soon, after having breakfast of course, but I have to tell you a few important things before that."
"Leave for Nephtis? Then where are we right now?" Dorian asked in surprised. He thought that they were already in Nephtis, after disappearing from that alley.
"Just a place that I acquired in the mundane world. I had prepared appropriate barriers ahead of time, so it is fine for now, but we cannot stay here for long. It is only a matter of time before someone detects your mana." Nox answered. Dorian noticed that whenever Nox spoke, the black smoke around his face moved, but it never dissipated, giving it a curious, otherworldly quality.
'That smoke must be part of his Aspect, right? So he can teleport people and food, kill strong Awakeners almost instantly and a strange smoke covers him all the time. And who knows what else? Just how many abilities does an S ranked Aspect gives to an Awakener?' Dorian wondered.
Trying to suppress his curiosity and to focus on the conversation, he asked, "Won't they be able to detect my mana in Nephtis?"
"It would be extremely difficult. Concentrated mana is extremely rare in the mundane world, and therefore, much easier to pinpoint. But in Nephtis, it is present in overwhelming abundance. This creates a lot of interference, making it extremely difficult to single out and locate a particular Awakener, unless the Awakener is powerful enough to have a tremendous presence. But currently, you are not strong enough to worry about that." whispered Nox. " And besides, we will have to take a few precautions. For instance, you will have to shorten your name to just Dorian, to hide your true identity."
"Wouldn't it be better if I change my name completely?" Dorian asked.
"It is extremely difficult to outright lie about things in Nephtis. There are Awakeners whose Aspects allow them to detect lies and even if we prepare a countermeasure, it won't work because every Aspect works differently, some detect lies through words, some do it mentally before the words are even spoken, through changes in the state of your emotions and some can outright read your mind when you are telling a lie. It is always better to omit facts instead.
And for the same reason, you will have to register yourself as someone with a low ranked Aspect at the Academy, preferably C or B ranked, as D rank would take away too many opportunities to grow stronger. Because Awakeners with high ranked Aspects are interviewed separately, usually under the observation of one of those Awakeners with Aspects related to detection of lies or if they don't have such an Awakener available there are always magical potions or items. Also, the Awakeners with high ranked Aspects are kept under more scrutiny, which would only complicate things for you." Nox explained.
"How do you know that I don't actually have a low ranked Aspect?" Dorian asked.
'It would've been awesome if instead of that useless third Aspect I had a lie-detecting Aspect too.' he sighed.
"Simply because no son of Stormsky has ever received an Aspect below A rank. It would be quite odd, and unfortunate for you to be the first one." Nox replied simply.
"Oh..And wait! what about Lily? Will she be able to come with me?"