The mont Zeke ca into contact with Jaihar’s Soul, it was as if a dam had broken. Images and impressions stread into him like an unending flood. It was a strange sensation, distinctly different from observing one’s own mories.
All of a sudden, Zeke rembered why he had wanted to avoid doing this again after the last ti. The mories streaming into him were not just information but a lifeti’s worth of experiences. In those mories, he saw what Jaihar saw, felt what Jaihar felt, and thought what Jaihar thought—decades of living condensed into a scant few monts. Zeke wasn’t just seeing Jaihar’s life; he was Jaihar.
Worse, he felt that he was being changed by this.
Zeke had long suspected that one’s personality was predominantly made up of experiences. By adding such an overwhelming amount, he would no longer be wholly himself but an amalgamation of Zeke and Jaihar—a fact he had not fully considered during his impulsive decision to destroy Jaihar’s Soul.
The thought disgusted him to no end.
Zeke fought back. He noticed that he could largely prevent the mories from influencing him if he digested them thoroughly enough, one at a ti. However, his initial efforts bore little fruit, as he was unable to stem the tide. No matter how many mories he digested, a dozen others took their place. This didn’t an that it was hopeless, though.
Zeke called upon his Mind Magic, once again entering the wonderous state of increased perception. Ti slowed down, and the torrent of information ebbed. Even so, the amount wasn’t sothing he could deal with. Fortunately, he wasn’t alone—or, at least, he thought he wasn’t.
“Akasha?” Zeke called out ntally while doing his best to fight off the intruding mories.
There was no reply, but Zeke was certain that she had heard him. Their connection was intact, but for so reason, Akasha didn’t seem to be able to respond. It was almost as if… as if she was frozen. Zeke could have slapped himself upon realizing the problem. Of course, Akasha couldn’t respond; after all, ti was passing many, many tis slower for him. By the ti she responded, ages would have passed.
Fortunately, that was a problem he could solve. Akasha’s mind wasn’t human and followed its own set of rules. For her, the only bottleneck to the speed of her thought process was the amount of Mana available.
Zeke flooded their connection with Mana. Gradually, he could feel Akasha acclimate to his own perception of ti. Her drawn-out words beca more fluid until her voice sounded just the sa as it did normally.
[Answer]
I am here, Host.
Zeke was glad that had worked, but there was a clear drawback. He had underestimated the amount of Mana this required. The combination of his increased perception and Akasha’s massively boosted state put a substantial burden on his Core. In fact, he felt like he would run completely dry in a few monts.
The realization put a wry smile on his face. He had once thought that his high Magic affinities would an that he would never run out of Mana. Now, however, he was going to burn through his reserves in seconds. For soone with lesser affinities, this would be all but impossible.
Zeke eliminated all distracting thoughts. Now wasn’t the ti for this, not when he burned Mana for every passing mont. “Akasha, I need you to help sort through these mories.”
[Answer]
What criteria does Host want to sort them by?
Zeke considered this for a mont. His first impulse was to reject all Jaihar’s mories, but that would have honestly been a waste. Even though he had no intention of taking on any of Jaihar’s character traits, not all his mories were equally toxic.
“I want you to filter out any mories of training, studying, or fighting while discarding the rest,” he instructed, hoping that this was sothing Akasha could do. After a mont's delay, the spirit gave her reply.
[Answer]
Affirmative.
Zeke felt the pressure lessen the mont Akasha went to work. The Spirit was many tis more efficient when it ca to the processing of information. For her, the flood might as well have been a light read. Soon, the only mories that reached Zeke were those he had requested. Relieved, he imrsed himself in the experiences.
In those mories, Zeke spent hours in the yard, arena, or study, practicing, training, or studying new spells. It was an endless repetition, years’ worth of progress and insights. Even though Jaihar was far from a prodigy, he wasn’t helpless by any ans. The pressure of his overachieving older brother had driven him to practice that much harder.
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Zeke saw himself learning his first spell, advancing to beco a True Mage, then, years later, a Grand Mage. He practiced and practiced, fought and fought. Ti passed slowly; each minute of his grueling practice stretched into infinity. Yet, at the sa ti, years flew by in the blink of an eye.
He absorbed everything about the Firebrand School, from its secrets to its techniques, gaining insight into every significant discovery of the past few decades. At the sa ti, he skipped over Jaihar's nefarious deeds. It felt as though Zeke was devouring all the valuable knowledge and achievents of the man's life while excising the rotten parts of his experiences. If Zeke had a Fire affinity, he was absolutely certain that he could cast a half dozen spells without ever practicing them himself. The realization sent his mind reeling.
Zeke saw the day Jaihar escaped from the battle in Undercity after his father died. He was fleeing aimlessly, with nowhere left to run. A ssenger of the Varun family approached him, promising safety and… revenge.
Jaihar didn’t realize it at the ti, but Zeke saw the thinly veiled contempt in their eyes as they made their promises. They clearly never cared about him. To them, he was nothing more than a tool that they would discard the mont it outlived its usefulness.
Then, eventually, he arrived at the present day.
On the opposite side of the arena stood a brown-haired man riding a Dragon. Zeke could feel Jaihar’s desperation and hopelessness as he realized the Dragon wasn’t even taking him seriously. And then, his final gamble and the disastrous consequences.
Suddenly, he was lying on the ground, the brown-haired man whispering in his ear—a promise of annihilation.
His body shuddered; the thought of death suddenly a whole lot scarier. Even so, there was nothing he could do. His last attempts at resistance were rcilessly squashed as the young man stepped on his hand. His glowing golden eyes never left his own. Ti passed, and he felt his broken body slowly giving out. All the while, his rciless opponent just stood there and watched him die…
With a shuddering breath, Zeke's real eyes blinked open to the world around him. His mind spun, a peculiar sensation of detachnt enveloping him as his body and soul seed out of sync. Disoriented and disjointed, he struggled to regain his bearings, the roaring of the crowd a muted whisper in the background. Vaguely, he could hear sobody speak, but Zeke wasn’t listening. It all seed so distant. He just stood there, motionless.
One breath at a ti, Zeke reacquainted himself with his body. He couldn’t be sure if it were seconds, minutes, or hours, but eventually, his mind settled, and the usual sensations returned to him. He was himself again.
Zeke blinked repeatedly, trying to moisten his dry eyes. Gradually, his vision sharpened, and he could make out the faces in the crowd. Most were looking at him with either fear, respect, or a mixture of the two. Soon, his gaze found Snow’s. She smiled widely. Close by, Zeke noticed Aisha and the Chiroi, their expressions those of relief.
Next, he t Veer's eyes. As usual, the man’s face was a blank canvas, his thoughts a mystery. Even so, Zeke thought he could see a hint of annoyance behind the well-curated facade. Zeke smirked at that.
“This should settle the Yuddha?” Zeke asked, his voice coming out far hoarser than he expected.
Veer nodded, his fake smile returning. “Indeed. You have proven yourself.”
“And my price?”
“…The girl is yours,” Veer said after a mont’s hesitation. Zeke nodded, pleased with this attitude. He had not expected the man to go back on his word, especially in public, but it was good to have confirmation.
He quickly smiled at Snow before returning his attention to their host. “Thank you for your assistance in this matter, Mr. Varun. I don’t want to overstay my welco, so I think it’s ti for us to leave.”
Veer stared at him for a long mont, and Zeke could almost see the murderous thoughts going through the man’s head. However, he wasn’t worried. With so many eyes on them, Veer could do nothing, and Zeke had no plans of staying in Korrovan for much longer.
“Very well,” Veer said slowly. “This certainly won’t be the last ti we et, young friend, especially given your… business ventures below ground.”
Zeke nodded amicably, not at all surprised by the man’s knowledge. He had already suspected that the Varun family had so idea of what he was doing in Undercity, but they clearly didn’t know everything. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let him be for so long. It was far too late to stop him at this point.
He bowed at the crowd, eliciting another round of cheers before making his way back to the entrance. By the ti he finished changing his clothes, his group was already waiting for him. Gravitas, Vulcanos, and Ash were standing protectively around a girl with white hair and red eyes.
This was only the second ti Zeke had t Snow in person. The last ti, she had been locked in a cage, huddled together with a dozen other frightened faces. Yet now, a shy smile adorned her features, and the dimples on her cheeks added to her cute appearance.
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