Soren followed behind Sienna as she led him through the corridor once more, this ti taking the left fork and heading deeper into the discarded dungeon tunnels. Light was slowly becoming a rarity as less and less torches were lit along the narrow path. Aside from their footsteps, there was no other sound.
“Mistress Sienna,” he interrupted the silence, “about that information you obtained from the Soul Mirror, could you explain a bit of it to ? What exactly are fragnts? From what I rember, it said I had 1 insight?”
Her sleek, silver hair fluttered with every step, “Hmm…” She murmured. “Soren, do you know what astral anima is?”
Soren shook his head, “I’ve heard it being ntioned, but no. How is it different from regular anima?”
“Astral Anima you see, is anima that originates from the Beyond. Unlike anima that cos from our own wills, Astral Anima is made from the combined wills of everyone living in this world.”
“Everyone?” His eyes widened.
She chuckled, “Yes, everyone. Astral Anima is essentially the concentrated willpower of everyone combined. So call it the energy of the collective subconscious. And it is through this anima that abstract runes which govern certain concepts gain power. Our imaginations altogether give rise to the concepts that perate the Beyond.”
Soren stroked his chin, “So Abstract Runes gain their strength from people believing in their existence? Is that what you are insinuating?”
“Yes! Belief is at the core of this. Astral Anima is ford from the willpower of everyone’s subconscious collectively. That is why so concepts are stronger than others—because so things are believed in more than others. And it is also this distinction that separates Magecraft from Mysteries.
“Magecraft utilizes normal anima that is generated from a person’s True Self or inner will. That is why magi need Soul Realms to cast Magecraft. Mysteries on the other hand need Astral Anima. That is what Phantasms use whenever they utilize the abilities their Soul Weapons grant them.”
“So… [Eyes of the Fairy] utilizes Astral Anima? Sa with [Record]?”
She nodded. “Yes. Those abilities are granted to you through your connection to an Abstract Rune, and Abstract Runes need Astral Anima to exist.”
He kept following behind her. “This distinction between Mysteries and Magecraft… How far does it extend, really? And how is any of this related to the fragnts ntioned in the Soul Dive test results?”
“Great question.” The corridor split once more—she took the right entrance. “As I said before, Abstract Runes require Astral Anima to power their existence. But have you stopped to consider what this ans?”
He tried searching for an answer, but ca to nothing. Soren continued following behind her as they conversed. The corridor had beco much darker the further into the cobblestone halls they walked.
“It is actually pretty simple. Rember the Law of Mirrored Influence I spoke of earlier? For every act of influence exerted on the natural world, an equal amount of influence is exerted back into the Beyond.
“The influence we speak of here is astral anima’s origins—the collective subconscious. Think about it, when you use your Soul Weapon, you are utilizing abilities that are powered by the concepts of your Abstract Rune. And these abilities exert ‘influence’ on the natural world. Whether my Soul Weapon allows to see into Star Fate or yours allows you to extract information from the things around you, the astral anima empowering these abilities is being utilized to influence the world. And then, this influence on the world gets reflected back into the Beyond, giving your Abstract Rune more astral anima, creating a feedback loop.”
Soren crossed his arms as he continued walking. “So what you are saying is… The more a Phantasm uses their Soul Weapon, the more its Abstract Rune gains influence over astral anima inside the Beyond?”
She nodded. “Yes. The goal of every Abstract Rune, by their nature, is to grow their influence. They want the concepts they govern to be more widely recognized. The more you use your Soul Weapon, the more you are exerting influence on the natural world with those concepts. It is because of this very nature that Soul Chains are unstable. The Abstract Runes you bind within them want to exert their influence on you. They want to corrupt you. When you utilize your Soul Weapon, you spread the influence they desire on their behalf, which appeases their appetites. Hungry little critters they are… Even though they aren’t even alive.”
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Trying to imagine Abstract Runes as these attention-seeking critters hungry to spread their influence made him want to chuckle. But everything was finally clicking together for him. The reason why Soul Weapons take over the bodies of their hosts finally made sense. If you were an Abstract Rune trying to spread your concept’s influence on the world, a human binding you within a Soul Chain would go against this nature. So logically, they would go for the option of taking over the person’s body and soul. That way, they could exert their influence on the world much more quickly, rather than waiting for it to spread naturally through the collective subconscious.
In a way, humans ssing with Abstract Runes unnaturally sses with the world. You are subjugating others to concepts that may have not been popular or well understood, but have existed for a long ti.
Isn’t this basically just a popularity contest? Whoever shouts the loudest with their Soul Weapon, gains more influence for their Abstract Rune… And at the sa ti, your Abstract Rune constantly thinks it can do better than you, so it wants to take over your body and do the shouting itself…
It was a dumb analogy, but it perfectly described the situation.
“Still,” he replied. “What does this have to do with the rune fragnts I saw earlier?”
“It’s simple,” Sienna voiced while holding a torch she had snatched from earlier in the corridor. “Abstract Runes are not a monolith. They do not exist as fully configured hyper-dinsional constructs. Instead, they are usually found in fragnts or clusters. These fragnts essentially are crystalized forms of the influence you gain in the Beyond, and there are three grades us magi have devised for categorizing these fragnts. They are Insight, Expression, and Core.
“5 insight fragnts, equate to 1 Expression fragnt. And 3 Expression fragnts equate to 1 Core. From the Soul Dive Test we conducted, the result stated that you only have 1 insight fragnt currently.”
His face turned sowhat red, “Is… Is that bad?..”
She chuckled. “Getting a single fragnt is already an achievent to be proud of—becoming a Vagrant Phantasm isn’t easy, you know? And besides, you don’t need to gather more fragnts right now. That is sothing Phantasms need to consider when they start pushing themselves into the Mystic grade, which is after Tier 3! Your main focus should be on obtaining your second Abstract Rune and rging with it to reach Tier 2 Phantasm. You have to do that within one year, or else… Well, you know what will happen.”
As they continued walking deeper into the endless corridor, darkness consud them. Only the flickering light from the torch she was holding provided any warmth. An icy cold wind blew through these ancient tunnels, chilling Soren’s bones.
“Still,” he countered. “I wanna know, how exactly does one gain more fragnts? Is it through expanding the influence of the rune or sothing? And what exactly does gaining more fragnts even do?”
She raised her brows and glanced back at him, “Why do you want to know? Didn’t I tell you its useless for you to know about this now?”
“I… I am just curious. I will listen to your instructions, but I do want to know about this.”
Sienna sighed. “Yes, your number of fragnts increases with the amount of influence you spread. It happens naturally and sotis, its hard to even realize. But you must rember, these Abstract Rune fragnts are exactly as the na foretells—fragnts. They are pieces of a whole. An entire Abstract Rune can be composed of three Core Fragnts, nine Expression fragnts, or fifteen Insight fragnts. There are no more or no less pieces in existence.”
“Huh?” Soren’s eyes widened. “Are you saying there are fragnts of my Fairy Witness rune out there sowhere?” He was under the assumption that the remaining fragnts would need to be created from scratch.
Sienna nodded. “Yes. You might find that other Phantasms may have claid them, or they could be swimming around in the Beyond aimlessly, trying to increase their influence through astral anima… It is hard to say.” She sighed while walking deeper into the darkness. “Phantasms who hold the sa Abstract Rune are usually destined to face off against one another… This is why I am telling you this right now, do not even entertain the idea of trying to find the other fragnts. Continue studying and grow as a magus first and foremost.”
Soren didn’t know why, but he could sense the lancholy in her voice.
She shifted the topic, “As for your other question… Gaining Abstract Rune fragnts is very important to one’s Soul Chain stability. It can help the Abstract Rune to lessen its corruption. It's also related to Soul Chains in another way that I won’t disclose to you now—it's useless even if I said what I an. What rune fragnts are most commonly known for, however, is their ability to unlock new skills related to the rune.”
“New skills?” He glanced down at his Soul Weapon. Soren wondered—what other abilities could he gain from this Fairy Witness rune? If he had to be honest, [Eyes of the Fairy] and [Record] were already phenonal skills. Yes, they didn’t provide much in combat, but their utility will prove helpful in his journey to becoming a magus. He suppressed his smile—a part of him wanted to ignore Sienna’s warnings and try looking for other missing fragnts.
Focus, Soren… He said to himself. There was still a lot of work he needed to do before even considering this.
“Enough chatter. We’re here.” Sienna’s voice cut through his thoughts. Soren glanced up in the dim darkness. The corridor had widened into a large hall with countless cobblestone support beams scattered evenly across the grand yet lonely chamber. The path ahead led into an imposing tal gate that looked to stand at least fifteen feet tall.
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