"Oh uh, I mean it's not really tied to my magical studies. Actually there are quite a few who are Wizards like me but aren't spiritual at all. I had a roommate at the Institute who was actually weirded out by my altar. Some people think it's archaic and not necessary, magic comes from the Anima and is just a natural occurring thing. It doesn't come from gods or anything, at least that's what some people believe. Kind of hard to use science to study magic though, right?" He shrugs, leaning forward to dip his hands into the water and scoop some up to rub over his face. It felt nice.

"But some people do still pray to various gods and tie it to their practice. It's...complicated I guess. But then I feel like that is just people in general. We tend to be pretty complicated being individuals and all that."

Glancing over again, Hayden's ears flick back before turning forward. "I mean, everyone fucks up. We make mistakes and do things we regret. But regretting means we can learn from them and change. At least that's how I feel, but then again you haven't done anything to me so maybe I'm biased." He laughs quietly. "But you're right, it can be a hard world for people like us. Not even the gender or sexuality stuff. Back home there are people...they're trying to...cut people off from their Anima. Trying to take magic away because they think it's evil or corruption. It's been common practice for hundreds of years, there are schools all over the world. But there's always gotta be some assholes who don't like something and have to make it everyone else's problem, huh?"