All the other races in the Primordial Expanse were able to use magic freely! The dragonborns were born with fire-based magic, but they were able to develop various skills and techniques using their fire-magic! The elves might have been born with wind magic, but they were able to use that magic to develop various skills and techniques as well!
Jason knew that humans were also meant to be able to do this, but for some reason, there was some sort of limiter placed on humans that prevented them from realizing thier full potential! The reason Jason was so sure of this was because he had seen Gina break through the limiter herself! When she first gained her powers, Gina could only create Wind Arrows. That had been her Gift, and there was nothing else she could use wind magic for. But as she got stronger, Gina broke through her limiter, and now she can create any skill or technique she wants using her wind magic! Jason was glad that Cerci was also able to figure out that humans were capable of becoming stronger.
"You want to help humans break through their limits?"
Cerci nodded when Jason said this, and he spoke:
"That has been one of Gaia’s main goals for as long as I can remember. Gaia has existed for close to a century, but we’ve only truly begun involving ourselves with humanity in the past decade, since humans gained abilities. I know that humans are capable of so much more, but we haven’t been able to discover a way to achieve that just yet. At the end of the day, Gaia’s primary objective is to develop humanity up to the point where our involvement will no longer be necessary."
Cerci had a look of absolute seriousness on his face when he said this, and Jason couldn’t help but feel like Cerci was telling the truth. Although Gaia had done a lot of questionable things in their history, the end goal of all these things had always been to ensure the safety of humans. By allowing humanity to break through their limits, Jason knew that humans would be able to grow far faster than they could right now, and once humans got strong enough, then Gaia would no longer need to exist.
But even though the entire idea sounded nice and innovative on the surface, Jason knew that this was Gaia, and he had to be careful when dealing with them because they were led by a man who wasn’t afraid of making a deal with the devil himself if it would help him advance his goals. Jason turned away from Cerci and spoke in a calm, threatening tone.
"That’s nice and all, Cerci, but just make sure you don’t do anything stupid to achieve this goal. If I hear you’re doing something crazy, like kidnapping kids to experiment on them, you and I are going to have problems."
Cerci’s smile grew tighter when he heard this, and Cerci nodded to Jason’s warning. Cerci knew that Jason was being unreasonable right now. Did Jason think that advancing the human race could happen without a few sacrifices? The only reason humanity had been able to get so far in this world was because a few people were sacrificed along the way. Antivenom was developed by injecting venom into people. Gold was acquired by subjecting people to inhumane conditions in the mines! All the greatest countries in the world only became so great because they were willing to sacrifice millions of men on the battlefield! The greatest achievements in human society always came about thanks to sacrifice!
But Cerci was smart enough not to say such a thing to Jason. Jason’s ideologies were different from Cerci’s, and unlike Richard, who was willing to allow Cerci to do whatever he wanted, even though Richard had the strength to stop him, Jason was not the same. Cerci knew that if he tried to do anything out of line, Jason would kill him on the spot. Cerci let out a silent sigh as he and Jason finally reached a large door at the other end of the room, and Cerci knocked on it.
A small blue dot appeared on the door before a retina scanner shone a bright light into Cerci’s eyes. Once the door was certain that it was Cerci, it opened to reveal a smaller room with three people in it. At one side of the room was a young woman who looked like she hadn’t slept in years. There were extreme dark circles under her eyes, and her skin was pale and pasty. She was wearing a lab coat over some pyjamas, and she had a clipboard in one hand. Jason looked her over, and he could tell that she was somewhere around his age. She probably hadn’t even graduated high school yet!
"Jason, this is Devon, our resident neural surgeon. She had a PhD from Yale and a gift that allows her to connect with the minds of the people around her telepathically."
Devon reached out for a handshake, and Jason took her hand. Devon then spoke in a serious voice.
"Hi, Mr. Jason. I’m Devon. Twenty-eight years old. Unmarried. In case you were wondering."
Jason blinked at the weird introduction, and he was a little put off by the intense stare Devon was giving him! It felt like Devon wanted to burn a hole through his skull or something!
"Wait, you’re twenty-eight?"
Devon flinched when Jason said this, and Jason watched as Devon slowly moved towards one of the corners of the room and sat down with her legs tucked against her chest! A gloomy aura surrounded her, and Jason realised that her age must be a delicate subject for her.
"Devon, please don’t burden our guest with your midlife crisis. Jason, this over here is Oswald. He’s one of the youngest recruits in Gaia, but he is an invaluable member of the team. He has a gift named [Hypnosis] that allows him to manipulate people’s minds remotely."
Cerci introduced another person on the other side of the room. It was a young boy with short black hair and rainbow-like kaleidoscopic eyes. The boy was looking up at Jason with a blank look on his face, and Jason hummed as he realised something.
"He’s the one you use to make people forget about the interworld travellers, isn’t he?"
Cerci nodded to Jason’s question. Oswald wasn’t very physically gifted, but his mental abilities were very strong, and it would be difficult for anyone below SS class to overcome them. Whenever Gaia fights against interworld travellers, the fight would sometimes spill into residential or populated areas, and people would see them. Oswald was the one responsible for making sure no one remembered what happened. Jason gave Oswald a curious look, like he was trying to see through him. Oswald was still just a little kid, but he had such a serious look on his face that it almost made Jason uncomfortable. But Jason suddenly raised a brow and brought up a completely unexpected topic.
"My girlfriend told me you were staring at her chest the other day."
For the first time since they met, Jason saw Oswald’s expression break! Oswald’s cheeks grew red in embarrassment, and Oswald turned away from Jason shyly!
"S-Sorry, mister."
Oswald’s voice came out in a low whisper as he apologised. Oswald still remembered the time that he had met Gina a few months ago, and Oswald couldn’t explain what came over him back then. Gina was just so beautiful, and Oswald wasn’t able to stop himself from staring. Oswald didn’t think Gina would actually tell Jason about that! It was so embarrassing! Jason reached out and ruffled Oswald’s hair playfully, and Oswald looked up at Jason in surprise to see Jason giving him a kind smile.
"That’s a better look on your face. Kids shouldn’t be so serious all the time."