In a way Professor Leraull's advice was what Cter had realized on her own, but worded a bit differently, wasn't it?

The thought had the half-asleep Monster Mage putting down her thick bind of straightened-out scrolls she had been leafing through the day after her departure from Soul's School. She wedged the bind's corner between the cushion and the backrest too in lieu of any proper paperweights in arm's reach. She could've used stasis magic to bring to her the book on Mt. Ebott's history gifted to her by Braille Script, but that didn't strike her at the thoughtful moment. Cter had to remind Braille that the romance book she tried to hand to Cter as thanks for making her realize that she didn't need it anymore was from the school library, or librarby as the wrongly made sign boasted to endless amusement among the students.

The shock in Braille's realization that she was about to just give away something from the school librarby still lingered on the cover of Mt. Ebott's history, giving it a hint of magic similar to the mountain itself. Just like human magic the unexplored, cavernous interior were full of mystery, only its surface scratched at as it was climbed up on. Even at its surface top the view was magnificent and splendid without equal. A place of religious importance for the people of Xoff, with few being allowed to climb it.

The book Braille gave Cter only mentioned that the aptly named Underground was perilous and that the rest was an unknown. Same with human magic, again. A perilous basis, death in the human magic case, to deter anyone from exploring deeper. A known secret dark enough for everyone to stop there and not go any further.

Cter knew that it went further though, and because of that it had to go further with Mt. Ebott's Underground too. Professor Leraull's advice of beginning anew was akin to Cter exploring the unknown Underground. She needed to reach the top, but from the inside. Another way to the same end, but which would teach her so much because of that. She had already realized that she couldn't enter the mountain with the lumbering baggage of her promise to Romrom. The humanity that kept her shackled. With that gone, and with Leraull putting her feelings into words, Cter was ready to explore the Underground.

But she couldn't.

There was still a keyhole of sorts preventing her. A keyhole shaped like her own magic. The problem was that she had no idea how that keyhole looked like. How would she be able to make a key without even knowing what the keyhole looked like?

She had a few loose ideas of its general shape, however anything she could do to be able to put it into form…

Cter had the motivation. She had everything inside of her that was necessary to create her own magic. That she was certain of. She had abandoned the humanity that kept her tethered to still being a human mage. With that out of the way what was left was inspiration. Something from outside which she could take and make her own. Something that wasn't ice. Anything else though was fair game.

...She thought.

It always came back to ice since it was her first magic as a human mage. Even when she received her Monster Mage sleeve that allowed her doors she had never known were even closed beforehand it came back to ice as well. Her ice cubes, while laudable in their complexity and longevity, were just her making her human magic more powerful. Even if she could just snap her sleeved fingers and create an ice cube which could paint a pattern of rainbows equivalent to the finest and complex painted glass in the most lavish of churches, it was still just what she had observed through Idyll's memories. It was the product of another human mage which Cter had added more magic to. She hadn't really changed it, that she had realized. It was magic of human origin, not Monster Mage origin. That she needed to change.

From its core, from its very inception.

That was what Leraull advised her to do.

Cter's sleeved hand came up to her chin with taps on the tip of her nose to help her think.

Would it still be inspiration if she asked herself about it? Creating a conjured mirage of herself to ask...well technically herself, but still not? Since she had to, in a way, get an answer from another part of herself, it wasn't really the worst idea in the world. If it was the best idea though she couldn't comment about.

She'd ask others afterwards, of course. The prime candidate would be the Royal Mage at Fenkeep Castle, Terri Fyed. Since he specialized himself in ice magic it would be good for Cter to ask him as much as possible about it. To try and understand his angle to it. Then perhaps she could find the similarities to how she applied her soul to ice magic and sorta isolate it. Freeze it out, if she was feeling coy about it. Maybe then she could leave him with the ice cubes as thanks and dramatic exit?

Yes, yes that would be an exit which would reach Jarasevo Castle before Cter could. Fantastic!

Despite one hand being covered with soft leather, and with her carriage interior being felt and other soft material, Cter's excited clap echoed loudly. As her hands came together she covered the soft interior and her hand with a thin layer of conjured solid to form the echo. It wasn't barricade magic akin to Sund's. It was more rudimentary. Like stacked planks held together by arms rather than a proper wall. Still, it was enough for Cter to hear an echo, and enough for a smile to thin her lips. "Oh I have been in this carriage alone for far too long," Cter said with a close-to-crazy expression taking her over while she rubbed her hands. "Screw it!" she concluded loudly with a lunge up on her feet and an exasperated huff out her nostrils.

With careful steps as to not be taken surprise by a hole in the road below or something similar, Cter walked over to the seating on other side of the carriage.

"Conjured image… Conjured image..." she mumbled to help her theorize how to best go about creating a magical copy of herself. It would look like her in shape and form only. Adding proper texture and color would be too much of her focus, if it even was remotely possible for her. It would be too much of herself, in a way. With that much of her soul sorta plucked out and placed away from her it would've been akin to an out of body experience, but most likely more unpleasant. Waking up from a dream with that was just her mind freaking out. Doing it herself, and including her soul with it too?

No, a cyan-colored, gaseous reflection of her was enough as a visual. She would have to both mentally and magically isolate a part of her mind and soul to have the faintest hint of managing a proper discussion with herself.

Wait…

What the hell was Cter thinking?

Making a magical copy of herself? Talking to it? Discussing with it?

"What?"

Didn't she already have that idea before? Didn't she rightfully dismiss it before?

With a weary sigh that heaved throughout her entire body and apparel, Cter turned to walk back to her seat. She paused for a brief moment to bring her gifted book with her. Might as well since she made the effort to walk across the carriage.

"Mt. Ebott and its tale as tall as its peak," Cter read from the book's cover depicting Mt. Ebott illuminated from behind. Mt. Ymmet slightly behind it to the side, but no Clinic Hill to be seen. The cover must've been painted from the view at Noitaidarr, albeit probably through a long looking glass. Cter opened to the first page. "Making a pebble from a mountain. This comprehensive exploration of the mountain which represents both the potential and the enigma of the human soul is written as both course material for relevant humanities and also for the hobby enthusiast."

Well at least there were more than just Cter to agree upon the parallels between Mt. Ebott and the human soul. She found some solace in that.

Next page had…

Oh! A foreword by King Asgore.

Neat.

'Mt. Ebott, while not visible from Jarasevo Castle, is still felt as I close my eyes and listen to the wind which had whistled around it to gracefully stroke at me and my people's cheeks. Visiting it for the first time made me feel like a human. To see the three countries from a single point is something that will make any heart fluster with emotions never experienced before, be it one of blood or one of dust.'

Considering the age of the book and the fact that the quote was easily legible it must have been transcribed by someone else before being put in as a foreword.

Still, King Asgore's words never failed to instill a fantastic sense of wonder, be they legible or not. How did King Asgore's emotions put into written words compare to a human author, Cter wondered. Were the Monster King's words equal to that of a human's, according to Braille?

The Fourth Monster Mage sat back down with a more positive accent to her thoughtful hum. She leafed through the introductory section of the book, skimming through its informative paragraphs with quiet interest. More of what the book told, she already knew. That it pointed up, was made out of solid rock, and that its tip was smaller than its base. Not exactly that, but close enough that it was safe to assume that anyone who'd heard more than one sentence about Mt. Ebott knew about it. Fair enough that it was detailed wholly since it was supposed to be used as course material, but it was bordering patronizing.

Maybe the following chapters had a bit more meat to the bones?

It wasn't long until Cter conjured a small candlelight to keep the pages bright enough to be easily read. The following chapters did indeed have more meat for her to chew on, loudly at times too. It was a good thing that she was alone in her carriage as otherwise she'd gotten quite the looks tossed at her for mumbling so loudly. "Theorized to be a series of convoluted chasms leading to a wide variety of environments, the climate inside the Underground might be sustained by magic." Reading the more interesting parts out loud helped Cter think. She didn't need to conjure up another of herself to have her original-self focus.

She just needed to read something that wasn't official documentation time and time again.

Funny how that worked.

"While the theory might be circular in regards to the belief that Mt. Ebott was the catalyst for human magic, backed by King Soulay's frequent visits to the mountain, even at a very young age, it is still a theory that fits the evidence gathered thus far. Exploration of the more deeper depths of the Underground have been proposed, but are not possible currently due to both logistical, political, and religious issues."

The top three ones for everything.

Cter nodded along with the paragraph. The more she read the more she became more convinced of the parallel between Mt. Ebott and the human soul. Every single piece seemed to fit. Perfectly for some, easily with some wiggling for the rest. The deeper exploration being hesitant as further understanding of the mountain and its innards required too extreme a risk at the time to be justified did mirror research deeper into the human soul. More generations of humans needed to pass before that would happen. To put it in more truer words Priestess Frioke needed to figure out an even better lie than the Cooperative Connection eventually. Not an eventually that was just around the corner though. That human magic required bending death was enough a negative for everyone.

However the real truth was different, and surely it was with Mt. Ebott too. That would have to wait until Cter traveled to the Xoff capital though. There, if anywhere, was where she would be able to find out more about the mountain, and thus the human soul too. If the Royal Court would even allow her to, that was. Most likely not as none of the Xoff mages and envoys were taught the real truth about human magic.

Did that mean that they suspected similar to what Cter did? That there was something deeper to the human soul like how there was something deeper to Mt. Ebott too? Or was it only because Cter knew about the human soul that her parallel could go as deep?

With her interest blossoming a quaint pink on her cheeks, Cter continued reading. She was very much looking for ways to confirm her parallel, and a few of the ones she drew were a bit skeptical. Maybe it wasn't really useful to conclude that the human soul must be colorful because of the colorful shimmer on the mountain face when close to it. Since she did not mean for anyone else besides her to actually know about the parallel it wasn't the worst, but it did revitalize her idea of making a magical copy of herself a few times from some of the chapters. The parallel was just for her to help her discover her own magic, after all, so taking a few too many swerves in logic was ultimately harmless in the grander scheme of things.

She would wince at some of her ideas though. Especially the one about the shape of the mountain and the human soul.

Just silly.

The book and its helpful parallels followed Cter into her sleep too, with that night's dream consisting of her holding a miniature of Mt. Ebott floating in her sleeved hand held cupped at her chest. In that dream the mountain was her soul, which she displayed for all to see. It was heavy in her hand having to show it to everyone after returning to Jarasevo Castle. Worst of all was Sir Gerson confiscating it since it was property of the Royal Guard.

Cter awoke with her arm hurting, but not from the heavy weight of her dreamed soul. She just slept on it poorly. That she dreamed of Sir Gerson confiscating her Mt. Ebott soul she had a hard time explaining though. It gave her a good chuckle thinking back at it during breakfast. The sheer ridiculousness of it had her almost spilling her tea. Thinking back at it also had her realizing that some of the parallels she made the day before were a bit too close to that level of ridiculousness for them to be true. She went through the pages in her journal where she had noted them down, crossing out some of the more out-there ideas.

There was one she struggled to decide whether to strike out or not. One that had the back of her pen tapping against the tip of her nose as she struggled with her choice.

If Mt. Ebott was indeed filled with magic, would it be habitable for monsters? Would it be habitable for humans too, albeit later? If that was the case, would that speed up the human soul to become identical to a monster one in terms of magical potential just by the sheer amount of magic exposed to it?

The first questions was probably true. While monsters needed to eat, with magic it was possible to cultivate food from places not naturally suitable for grains. That was an easy hurdle for the monsters to overcome. Answering anything more on that part depended entirely on how the Underground truly was. It wasn't enough for Cter to strike it out though. The following one though was the same, but shifted further into the future, so that one was struck.

Third one Cter didn't strike immediately afterwards though. While it did follow the second one, there was an implication born from that which had her brow furrow. If that was true, even if it was centuries, if not millennia ahead, would a monster soul be able to absorb a human one similar to how Cter did with Idyll's?

If a monster's soul was enough to influence human's to the extent which Cter had experienced, how would the much more powerful human soul influence the much weaker monster soul?

All of the color drained from Cter's face she used to strike the last question over as many times as it was needed for her breathing to not be short anymore. The following pages in her journal were ruined with the extreme amount of ink seeping through. One or two drops managed to form and fall from the edge of the page before Cter noticed and froze the rest of the potential spillage.

Cter sank down into her seat with her eyes staring at the lines on her sleeve. Her breathing heaved, and for the first time in years, there was a slight moment where she wanted to tear her sleeve off her arm. The image that flashed through her head from that third question lingered like purple smears from the sun. She didn't want to think about it! It wasn't true! It would never come to that! Not under her lifetime! Not under anyone else's!

"I refuse!" she shouted while clutching her right hand around her sleeved wrist. With a wavering exhale she pushed her balled fist up to her mouth and nose to calm herself down. "It'll never happen," she repeated. "It'll never happen."

It'll never happen.

It'll never happen…