Eldrian paused on the question, thinking of what he knew from science, of how bacteria was defined as alive and viruses were not. 'I don't really know the reasoning behind all that, but…' Trying to recall what he had once read, Eldrian paused.

'Isn't a virus kind of similar to mana?' His thoughts were flawed and he knew this, however, he felt there was a connection and that this connection was important.

Mana was energy given form, yet formless, able to interact with the world and people, yet not physical in nature. Its true state is unstable, and thus it changed according to its environment. It can't replicate, but it can adapt and respond to its environment.

'But that is so clunky of a definition then. While it might be scientific, does it really define life?' Eldrian wondered. 'No, that isn't the problem. I connected being sentient with being alive.'

'Yet, in a way, even bacteria are sentient if you only hold that they must be able to respond to their environment… Then, is mana sentient?' He had thought of this once before but had scoffed at the idea as something impractical.

Now; now he considered it seriously.

"I think neither case would be enough. If we define, no, rather…

" Eldrian paused and sorted out his thoughts.

"We need to define the difference between being alive and living.

"

"What would the difference be?

" Athtar asked.

"I lack the right words, but… I would say whether or not something is living should be defined by a combination of whether it is sentient and whether it can experience.

"

"However, does sentient not encompass by definition the ability to experience?

" Athtar questioned.

"Yes, but to me, sentient must be a conscious act, a thought.

" Eldrian was well aware that he was using spiral logic since he had defined thoughts as experiences, but it was the only way he could put his thoughts into words.

"To be living you need to both feel your environment and also experience the feeling of your environment,

" Eldrian concluded, it was the simplest he could explain it. He assumed Athtar would be able to follow.

"I see. You are saying that it must be both physically and mentally felt?

" Athtar offered and Eldrian nodded.

"However, does this not bring in the same problem that we had in the beginning. Using this logic, how can you prove that an animal is alive?

"

"You can't, not definitely.

" Eldrian replied, this time with far more certainty.

"You can observe and theorize that they can act through more than instinct. That their actions are not just that of reacting to stimulation of the environment. However, unless there is a way to communicate, we can't prove that they are truly thinking.

"

"Is that not a problem?

"

"Why would it be?

" Eldrian countered,

"The question of if something is alive or not isn't important in the end. We kill animals for food, even though we consider them to be alive. However, we frown upon slaughtering them for fun due to the same reason.

"

"It is that distinction where the definition becomes important, and it can often be muddied. For example, it is clear that plants are alive. However, whether they are conscious is uncertain. We know they reach to their environment but we have no insight to believe that they do-

"

Eldrian paused, his basis had been from Earth's knowledge. Here, in ANW, on Gaia, the situation might be different.

"If we simply err on the side of caution then the topic is not that important whether we are correct or not. Since by erring we will always be safe.

" Eldrian closed his argument.

"But does erring not also mean that you limit yourself?

" Athtar questioned.

"Of course, which is why it is always a conscious act. It is always a choice to do something.

"

"Then, what do you think. Is mana alive or not?

" Athtar pressed, and Eldrian understood well that he didn't want a vague answer. He was looking for a yes or no. For Eldrian's personal decision on the topic, not a debate of how to get to the answer.

Eldrian had just stated that they should err on the side of caution and that the final decision was every person's personal choice. Yet, he felt like an idiot for wanting to say something that is basically only floating energy is alive.

'Wait, why do I think like that?' He paused, suddenly realizing a connection he had been missing which made that argument look completely dumb.

The AI, and in fact everyone in this world was basically just energy. No, he didn't feel it was that simple. However, at the least it had started so.

The AI did not have physical forms, not even in this world. Eldrian believed they could form ones and enter bodies, however, that was not their natural state.

Yet, there was no question in his mind over whether or not they were alive. Because he had talked with them. And he could state the same for the soul, he knew he had one.

He was still unsure if it could exist on Earth, however, it existed in ANW. And he had no doubt that a soul was living, even if the body it had inhabited was dead. A soul might not be alive, but it was living… It felt like a contradiction, but it made sense. At least to him.

'And, I've talked with mana too! They might not have answered me in words, but they did what I asked them for- kind of. Can I really say they aren't alive after that?'

Looking at the waiting elf, Eldrian resolved himself and declared;

"Mana is alive.

"

Athtar whistled in surprise while looking at Eldrian, searching if he was just saying this to side on the side of caution as he had declared before, or if he was certain. Athtar realized that Eldrian was still unsure, but he was actually leaning more to mana being alive.

"I see, can you explain why you believe so?

"

"I cannot. It is simply how I feel, I have no proof that mana can think. I actually don't think it can. However, I still think it is alive. It might be part of something much bigger, or it might only be mimicking living things, however, I feel certain that it is alive.

"

"Well, that finally explains why you were able to cause such devastating,

" Athtar said, standing up and stretching his back. Leaving Eldrian totally confused as he tried to make sense of the sentence.

Obviously, the answer was important but Eldrian couldn't connect the dots just yet.

"How does it explain anything?

" Eldrian questioned.

"Right, you don't actually have any knowledge backing you up. You're just charging forth on your intuition. A frighteningly powerful intuition.

" Athtar mumbled,

"It's like this, mana isn't alive in the classic sense of life.

"

"What?

"

"You can think of it as lifeforce without a soul.

" Seeing that even this made no sense for Eldrian, Athtar sighed as chills covered his back in a cold sweat. For Eldrian to not even know what lifeforce is and have come this far.

"Lifeforce, simply put is the absolute power of a person. It is what the devils actually feed on, and-

" Athtar paused again as he realized Eldrian didn't find the connection.

"I see, did my questions seem like random questions to you?

"

"More or less,

" Eldrian replied with a nod, causing the elf to sigh in exasperation. Turning to the other three, he shook his head. He understood where Amnur's stance came from, however, Amnur seemed to have forgotten all the help he had gotten along the way.

No person, not a single one could reach their potential without the help of countless people supporting them throughout their life.

And even stranger, Amnur had no problem guiding the other candidate, Boran, in forging. It was like Amnur was blind to the fact that it was also teaching. That it would alter Boran's path just as he feared even talking with Eldrian would alter his path.

'Amnur, friend…' Athtar sighed as he turned to Eldrian.

AN: A big thanks to everyone who continues to support the story by simply reading on NovelFull, voting for the story, or sharing comments. It is all greatly appreciated.