Noble felt it the following day like she never had before.
It was her third day of being a Transcendant, yet she was failing to adjust to the new status quo as quickly as expected.
In fact, being a Saint was more draining than Noble could have ever imagined.
She was more in tune with the people around her than ever before. On top of that, her range was astounding!
That was the problem. Processing her Nightmare trial in a healthy manner was enough to occupy all her emotional space.
Now added to that were thousands upon thousands of other souls who also had struggles. The pain and sadness of two worlds weighed heavily on her shoulders far more than they ever had before. With Noble's heightened senses and enhanced Kingdom Crafter Attribute, the pressure was becoming unbearable.
There were moments over the past couple of days when Noble had to stop and hold her head. Tears formed in her eyes from the astounding amount of input. Shaking it off, she had gone back to what she was doing, but always with the vague sensation that a weaker mind would have cracked.
It was not that she wasn't capable. Her brain could process it, sure, but did she want to?
No, she most definitely did not.
Noble was tempted to wrap her emotional sense tightly around her at all times, but it simply wasn't feasible. It was like trying to trap a creature in a box. It worked for a while, but it was work to keep it contained.
On top of that, her own emotions were leaking out to others around her. Noble had noticed a couple of instances where her influence had been particularly persuasive. It was frightening to think how easily she could manipulate others.
Even if they were aware of her outside influence, most of them were powerless to resist her. If she couldn't be trusted to be around people, then she shouldn't be around humanity at all.
'I can't let it come to that. I won't! I'll learn to control my senses and limit my influence over others. There is no other choice!'
The internal battle was a difficult one. Noble had suffered silently, determined to find a solution that didn't alert anyone to her new Transcendent status.
She had put on a brave face for two days now, but her resolve was wearing thin.
Noble sighed as she drew near to the gate of the Dreamer Academy. The director glanced at the students on the lawn.
'I appreciate their enthusiasm, but I just can't handle it right now.'
She turned toward her office, forcing a smile when a fellow faculty member greeted her.
"Good morning, Director! Bring more of your daughter's delicious jerky today for lunch?"
Noble was overwhelmed with the fervor that the mundane secretary felt when looking at the small sack in her hand.
Her head began to throb.
"Here." She thrust the bag into the man's arms and quickened her pace into the building.
She wasn't hungry anyway.
'I suppose I could go to a therapist and pretend like my Aspect is acting funny to try and get advice, but that might put me on a watchlist…'
No, there was no getting around it. She would have to talk to Fort about it tonight.
Noble had hoped to wait until she had a solution before telling him about her struggle. While he wouldn't be able to understand what she was going through, his support would mean she wasn't struggling alone.
Making it down the hall, Noble placed her hand on the doorknob to her office when she gasped.
A sharp pain gripped her from the inside. One of the many connections made by her Ability burned like it was on fire. Noble's heart ached.
Unconsciously, she cried out, gripping the handle until it bent.
The director didn't have to guess which connection pulled at her consciousness so earnestly.
She knew immediately that it was Rain.
Unlike Fort and the boys, who had emotions that Noble could sense as well, Rain's feelings had always been particularly intense. Now with Noble's sensitivity heightened, the sudden fear had been like a bolt of lightning penetrating her soul.
Noble pulled on the connection between herself and he daughter, ready to run to her rescue. Rain was outside the walls of Ravenheart, far enough beyond it them Noble could not use her second sight to locate the young woman.
'She's out hunting.'
Releasing the handle, Noble turned to head to the fields of ash, where she knew her daughter often went to be alone and train.
'I am coming, Rainy!'
However, the girl's fear abated a moment later, replaced by anger and annoyance. Noble paused, gauged the situation, then shook her head.
'Saint Sunless...he must have played a trick on her. Ah, those two...'
It made the most sense. What else would make a Rain afraid and then angry except a prank from the man who was supposed to be training her?
From what Noble could tell, the pair bickered often.
They were not only siblings but also a teacher and a student. Noble had experienced personally what tutoring Rain was like. While Rain didn't recognize the man as her brother, she must have felt some kinship with him deep down. The more time Noble spent around Sunny, the more she saw the resemblance between them.
'Surely Rainy sees it too.'
That thought had been enough to quell Noble's compulsion to leave the Dreamer Academy. She returned to her office and frowned. 'I'll need a new doorknob.'
Shrugging, she pushed her way into the room.
'I hope their hunt goes well.'
Noble had only ever been on a proper hunt a few times outside Crestfall. But those parties were made up of multiple people and designed to take out very specific targets. Few things dared to go too close to the edge of the chasm, so the citadels there had been mostly sheltered during her stay.
In contrast, Rain hunted alone…well, mostly. While Sunny had made it very clear that he wouldn't let Rain die, the many injuries she incurred regularly suggested that he didn't intervene just because things got hard.
Natural Awakening was not an easy task, but Rain was tenacious.
And intense!
Noble had barely gotten to the first item on her desk when another wave of emotion hit her from afar.
This one went beyond frustration. Rain was in the mood to murder.
'Hopefully it's a Nightmare Creature and not her tutor.'
Noble tried to lighten the mood in her soul. But then her emotions leaked out of her. At least this time, no one was in the room to be affected by them.
Focusing on the invisible source of the leak, Noble tried to stop its flow. It wasn't easy.
It became even harder as the day wore on. All of her family, not just Rain, was affecting her consciousness and causing her to lose focus.
This hadn't happened at the Academy. Even Julius, whom she loved as a father, hadn't caused anything like this.
It was maddening!
No, it was too much! Happy, sad, angry, fine…couldn't everyone stop feeling something for like five minutes!
Unfortunately, they couldn't, and Noble couldn't either.
About the time she had decided to take a nap on her desk to give her mind a break, it happened.
A cry came to Noble's soul that she could not help but answer.