Hearing the question, Amis couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, and reasonably so. It couldn't be helped since she had decided to take this route. Helice had never taken the liberty to ask any question regarding magic or anything surrounding it.
Amis wasn't stupid; he knew clearly what Helice really wanted to know. Unlike him, who had once studied under a mage, Helices' situation was vastly different; she had almost no knowledge of magical principles.
It would be a lie if he did not observe some notable changes in Helice since that incident; after all, Helice had been bedridden for close to a year. However, he thought nothing of it. The thought of his wife's body being hijacked by another person never occurred to him. He just thought that given enough time she would naturally return to normal if he cared for her enough.
Amis pulled Helice out of his embrace and looked her deep in her eyes; the moment gradually trickled by. After what felt like an eternity, Amis spoke.
"Snake Face is only a rank 1 acolyte of the magi path; he's not a real magus yet." Amis said, almost with a shrug, compared to other powerful magi practitioners, Snake Face was actually nothing, but still, he was still stronger than him.
After pausing for a moment, he then continues, "He still has two more ranks to go before he becomes a real Magi."
Helice, however, nodded intensely; from what Amis had spoken, it would seem that there are different paths to practice, and it all leads the same way: the manipulation of planar energy. Although these were her thoughts, she still waited for Amis to continue.
"However, even if he is only a rank 1 acolyte, he is still incredibly strong, especially to people like us."
"What most people don't understand is common sense is thrown out of the window when dealing with magi," Amis said almost in awe. After all, becoming an adept was once his most desired dream before he gave it all up to live with a slave girl.
"Even though a rank one acolyte is not a real magi, they can still use the most basic runes, since their psychic scale is twice the amount of humans."
At this moment, Helice naturally had a lot of questions, but she would refrain from asking then. But still she couldn't resist; the curiosity was killing her.
"What psychic scale?" Helice couldn't help but ask in a completely clueless manner. No matter how he searched her memories, there wasn't any information on psychic scaling. 'Just how clueless was this bitch?" she mused.
Amis, however, just smiles for a bit as though enjoying the time and the look on her face. This was the moment he missed the most, the times when they could just relax and enjoy the moment.
Wanting to keep the moment flowing, Amis didn't hesitate to answer, "Every living thing is born with a strand of psychic power, and it measures their intelligent health and basically everything between."
As Amis spoke, he couldn't help but reminisce about his time in the adept tower; actually, this was basic knowledge taught to all acolytes, and he had once been just as awed as Helice when he first heard it.
Amis then assumed the posture of a sage, then a smug expression covered his face as he tried to mimic the attitude of his instructors back then as he tried to explain what psychic powers were in the simplest way possible and to the best of his understanding.
"Psychic scale is the measurement of that power; the difference between planar masters and ordinary humans is that they possess a much higher psychic scale than ordinary."
Helice nodded with understanding but still waited for Amis to continue.
"Most people who are not practitioners would often remain clueless of this power. However, for planar masters, it meant being able to manipulate planar laws and planar energies."
"Humans from birth possess a psychic of 1, and as they mature and grow in intelligence, it will slowly increase, but will never cross the threshold of 3; this is usually when they hit puberty, and then it stops growing."
"Being a Rank 1 acolyte, Snake Face has a psychic scale of 6; this is one of the requirements for becoming a Rank 1 acolyte, along with mastering a single rune, at least with the magi path." Amis then paused for a bit, as though deep in thought; after a few moments, he started to speak again.
"In fact, I suspect that snake tattoo on his face is actually a mastered rune, and if I'm to guess, it's probably an attack type."
At this moment Helice is short of words; she didn't think Amis would share this much information. From what she's learned so far, she naturally began formulating her theories; silence prevailed.
After a moment, she suddenly released a deep, disappointing sigh; coming up with theories would not help her situation. Since she had no way to test them, she wasn't willing to give up.
She naturally had more questions, but she didn't ask them; in fact, she would refrain from asking questions with regard to this topic for now in order not to arouse his suspicion. It was only logical to keep a low profile.
However, after thinking about her situation for a moment, she decided to ask one more key question regardless.
"If after hitting puberty psychic powers stop increasing, how then do the magi increase their psychic power?" It makes sense for her to ask this question.
From his earlier explanation, it seems like from birth, psychic power increases automatically on its own naturally before hitting puberty, before the process comes to a stop.
Planar masters have to have a way to increase their psychic power; of course, it would be great if it were something she could get her hands on, but she doubts if she is that lucky.
"While I don't know much about other paths, the magi practitioners increase their psychic powers by studying magical principles and theories," Amis spoke; after a moment, he continued.
"Of course this method only works with acolytes, not real magi. As for their method, I don't know since I had never been one." Amis, before he had his psychic sea destroyed, was a rank 1 acolyte.
Hearing this, Helice wasn't the least bit disappointed; the information she had gained was a lot compared to what the original Helice had known.
"Ok, that's enough for today; it's getting cold, it will be dark soon, better come inside, I will make us supper." Amis had ended the conversation before she had a chance to ask any more question. And Helice had no intention to ask any questions for now.