The three teammates talked some more to get acquainted.
After about an hour of conversation about different personal topics, they started to talk about Seeker-relevant topics.
"If you are also open, I am willing to share my Affinities and Laws," Swamp Dragon spoke. "I believe it would help us with coordinating our strategies."
"Sure," Kyle said before looking at Warp Space.
"Talking about your abilities gives your enemies the chance to plan around them," Warp Space said.
Then, she smiled without adding anything else, obviously insinuating that she wasn't willing.
"It is a sign of trust," Swamp Dragon said before looking at Kyle. "Meteor Hammer, because of you, I am willing to talk about my abilities. You could have easily fled and gotten a new teammate without endangering your Momentum. However, you have stayed."
Kyle shrugged. "I expect you to have my back, but I can't exactly expect that without doing the same thing, right? I can only expect you to have my back when I have yours."
"That is an interesting viewpoint," Warp Space said. "What if a hypothetical teammate doesn't reciprocate?"
"Hasn't happened yet," Kyle said casually, "and I can't just make decisions based on hypotheticals. I mean, we talked a lot, but I still don't really know you guys. It could totally be that you will try to kill me in secret."
"But what if you didn't?" Kyle added. "I can't be sure. Either you do, or you don't."
"Why wouldn't you make a decision based on a hypothetical?" Warp Space asked. "Trusting others doesn't give you any benefit while leaving you open to devastating consequences. It sounds to me like trusting others will only leave you open."
"That's not true," Kyle said.
"Why not?" Warp Space asked.
"People aren't stupid," Kyle said. "Even though they might not show it, most people notice when you're not completely honest. They might not be angry with you, but they will also be less likely to be honest with you."
"It essentially creates distance between you and them. During the right circumstances, this distance can be the difference between loyalty and betrayal."
"For example, assuming you had a family, and I were offered a significant sum to betray you, my decision might be swayed based on our closeness. Betraying a distant colleague isn't hard on the conscience, but if I know your family and we spend a lot of time together, I might not be able to do it."
"As for how this is related to my decision of trusting others, I believe a team should work together and trust each other with their lives, and how can I expect you to trust me with your life if I'm not doing the same thing?"
"Not trusting you guys might increase the chances of my survival, but it will also decrease the chances that all of us survive."
"I might be able to save myself from an individual betrayal, but I will definitely decrease our survival chances in the fights against outside forces we will definitely have in the future."
"There's a chance that we might be enemies, but there is a 99% chance that we will be fighting others as a team."
Warp Space furrowed her brows. "But what if you get betrayed?"
"What if, what if?" Kyle asked with a roll of his eyes. "Both decisions have risks, and I have just explained to you why I believe trusting my teammates brings less risk. I have to choose one of the risks, and I have to make a decision. Thinking about it too much is a waste of time."
"Just make a choice."
Warp Space looked to the side for a bit, lost in thought.
The other two waited for her answer.
"I'm willing to try your method," she said after a bit.
"Thank you," Swamp Dragon said from the side. "Now, since I have made the suggestion, I will start."
"I have a Primal Enhancement. I assume you know what that means," he said.
Warp Space nodded.
Kyle smiled. "Hey, same as me!"
Swamp Dragon threw a nod at Kyle before continuing. "I have two natural Affinities and one artificial one."
"Same as me again!" Kyle said with a smile.
Kyle also had two natural Affinities and an artificial one.
It was more than clear that he had a great affinity for violence, which fit fire very well, but he was also very casual and spontaneous, which fit wind very well.
One had to remember that Theodor had granted Kyle his Metal Affinity during the Aristocrat's Body Ritual.
Kyle had learned a lot more about Affinities after he had studied the Supreme World for a couple of years under Lady Arrowstrife.
Usually, an Affinity came from someone's innate personality. Most of the time, people fit pretty well into one Element, but it was also not unusual to fit into two categories.
It was a bit like being raised unilingual and bilingual. It was more common to be raised with one language, but bilingual kids were also not rare.
Naturally, the body adapted to the mind, and the way the body was made up could be seen as a sort of physical realization of Affinities.
However, by influencing and changing the body to work better with a third Affinity, the person could "learn" a third Affinity.
This Affinity didn't come naturally or easily, but it could be used.
Getting an artificial Affinity was like learning a new language after one had already become a teenager or adult.
With enough practice, the person would be able to speak just as well in this language as others.
But there was a limit to how many artificial Affinities a person could have.
Since the body worked on instinct, the pathways that the artificial Affinities used had to be clear and simple.
The person didn't have an instinctual way to use the artificial Affinity, which was why the pathways essentially couldn't have forks, choices, or multiple channels.
As the person grew stronger and sent more Energy through the channel, their mind would learn the logic behind this Affinity and create new instincts based on it.
However, that took a while, and with time, the channels would grow and change again. After all, during every breakthrough, the body changed tremendously, and it wouldn't just keep the altered pathways.
Everything would eventually return to normal.
But when that happened, the person with the artificial Affinity would have already cultivated a new instinct for this Affinity.
Kyle had a natural Affinity for fire and wind, and an artificial Affinity for metal.
And Swamp Dragon?
Well, it was kind of obvious.
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