Something felt different.
[Guided] had no opinion, but was never one to prevent me from following my intuition, and so let up on my waking [Exertion]s to let me plunge deeper and deeper into my communion.
[Guided] (Origin)
[Exertion] (Tier 1)
[Cycle] (Tier 1)
[Insight] (Tier 1)
[Perception] (Tier 1)
[Tempering] (Tier 1)
[Darkness] (Tier 1)
[Will] (Tier 1)
I methodically abstracted all that was irrelevant to this strange feeling of something not being like it was before I went to sleep, and before long, in the strange timelessness inherent to being in a profound state of Essence communion, I picked up a trail.
It was there, I knew it, the minutest bit out of my reach.
I pressed deeper, until finally, a burgeoning sense of pressure emanating from my [Exertion] Aspect bared itself.
I ended my communion, a faint smile having unknowingly formed on my lips.
I crossed it.
The gap between Tier 1 and Tier 2.
I finally crossed it.
Once the Aspect advancement process had started, there was no stopping it.
Whether one lost all their capabilities due to the localized Essence disorder it inherently generated.
Whether it took an hour, a day, a week, a month, or multiple years for the highest Tier 12 advancement recorded in the sanctuary.
Whether one had intended to advance or synthesize the concerned Aspect.
In Seeker terminology, over the entire duration of the advancement process, my Essence would slowly develop in unique ways to accommodate the expansion of the [Exertion] Aspect as an intrinsic part of my existence.
This expansion of my [Exertion] Aspect would render it more intricately linked with my Path, consequently enabling me to more deeply leverage the concepts of reality embodied by it.
There was also something about every advancement slowly transforming one's Aspects into their [Ideal] form according to one's Path, and yet another thing about Essence nurturing something else better...
But I hadn't really given that much of my time to studying Aspect advancements, barely mastering the fundamentals before opting to dedicate my time to more relevant Seeker fields.
Still, not understanding the ins and outs of the Aspect advancement process didn't take away any of its worth, and I momentarily reveled in the sense of achievement brought by bridging this gap that no one my age ought to have bridged.
Then [Guided] urged me to get a move on with my day as usual, the pressure stemming from [Exertion]'s advancement to Tier 2 nowhere near qualifying me for a break in my routine [Exertion]s or a visit to the infirmary yet.
I happily agreed and, after putting on my backpack, took off in the direction of the sanctuary with my first [Will] manifestation of the day.
◇ ◈ ◈ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◈ ◈ ◇
"The field of Aspect advancements is one no sound mind would ever claim to fully understand, and there are many very good reasons for that. Why don't you try to list the ones you believe are part of it?" Lorekeeper Avenorium interrogated me while we were killing time.
"Well, the first very, very, very good reason that immediately comes to my mind is that there are an infinite number of Aspects that can be formed," I answered off the top of my head before elaborating.
"So claiming to fully understand Aspect advancement would mean being capable of advising someone who, for example, formed the [Omnipotence] Aspect on how to advance it. And that brings a whole Realm of paradox."
Lorekeeper Avenorium nodded, the slightest raise of his thick eyebrow transmitting his appreciation of my words.
"Another reason could be how every Aspect, from fundamental ones like [Strength], [Balance], or [Discipline], to higher-order ones such as [Truth], [Appraisal], or [Refinement], all have proven cases of advancing through radically different means."
Lorekeeper Avenorium narrowed his deep green eyes at my finished answer, a signal I recognized as him telling me I had missed something.
"Those radically different means..."
I pursued my answer as though I hadn't finished it with a tone that had left no doubt as to it being its end.
"...being academically split into four major categories, respectively Assimilation, Conception, Utilization, and Dissemination. And irrespective of the inane rationale employed, every Aspect can be exclusively advanced through one of these means, though more often than not, a combination of all of them."
That was it. I had nothing else to give on the topic that wouldn't enter the territory of overexplanation.
"I can tell that you haven't learned one of the reasons I want to hear from you, and in view of its abstractness, I'll give you a hint," he eventually said. "Why don't you tell me how these four means can be put into advancement practices for the [Knowledge] and [Strength] Aspects?"
I could do that.
I had even learned of a quick way of doing that with any non-overly bizarre Aspect to get an overview of how it ought to be advanced.
It only required some internal wordy puzzling...
"For the [Knowledge] Aspect, Assimilation would be the practice of learning [Knowledge]. Conception would be creating [Knowledge]. Utilization would be applying [Knowledge]. And Dissemination would be... either teaching [Knowledge] or being recognized as [Knowledge]able by other Essence Entities."
I first went with [Knowledge], its exceedingly high compatibility with the four means of Aspect advancement making them easy to figure out at their most basic.
In the [Strength] Aspect's case, however...
"For the [Strength] Aspect, Assimilation would be the endeavor of growing in [Strength]. Conception... could be the practice of bending [Strength] into novel ways. Utilization would be the straightforward utilization of one's [Strength]. And Dissemination would be displaying one's [Strength] where other Essence Entities can witness it."
"Very thorough," Lorekeeper Avenorium praised me in his own way. "Now, how would you categorize someone who claims to have advanced his [Strength] Aspect purely through reinforcing his [Strength] of mind?"
I didn't even hesitate before replying.
"I would categorize the individual as a probable liar, then proceed to verify the existence of the [Strength] Aspect in his Essence, which can take many forms, from a straightforward [Strength] test to an Essence [Appraisal]."
"If the individual truly formed the [Strength] Aspect, as in the Aspect embodying the concept of [Strength] in accordance with the laws of reality, then I'll have to find a way for him to demonstrate the [Strength] of mind he claimed, which ought to be closer to ascertaining the formation of an Aspect such as [Will]."
"If the individual clears all tests, I would be skeptical of his sanity, as the [Strength] Aspect is a fundamental Aspect, and the only way I know to explain how it could diverge so profoundly from the concept it embodies is..."
"If we're talking about the likes of a Tier 10 Aspect advancement," I concluded, and noticed the smile on Lorekeeper Avenorium's sculpted face widen.
"See, you do know another very good reason why only senseless individuals would ever claim to have mastered the field of Aspect advancements," he teased me.
"And if you would be willing to hear and listen to some slivers of wisdom concerning Aspects I gathered over my short existence, it would be to never forget that Aspects aren't simply endless in meanings, they are also endless in Essence."
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
His words were too cryptic for me to truly grasp the point he was making, but I decided to nod and remember them anyway.
"Now, if that doesn't bother you, could you please open your Essence to my [Assessment]?"
In view of the fact that I was the one who had informed Lorekeeper Avenorium regarding my imminent Tier 2 Aspect advancement and that he had taken it upon himself to accompany me to a room neighboring the infirmary to ease [Guided]'s and my worries, I did as he asked.
In any case, I could feel the pressure in my Essence surging even as we were talking, meaning [Exertion]'s advancement couldn't be that far away from happening.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath to help me let go of my [Perception] load, then focused on my [Cycle], diminishing my pulling area to roughly only the surface of my skin.
Slowly, I allowed the air to filter through my bloodstream, being as precise as I could so as to further my understanding of what air should be kept and what air should be expelled based on how it reacted.
When I first attempted this, ignorant that my blood did not merely deliver "oxygen" where it was needed but also carried away the "carbon dioxide" produced by its use by my body, I gave myself a massive headache.
Those lessons, however, were far behind me.
The effect after so many [Exertion]s targeted at achieving some manner of embryonic breathing was obvious to me, and especially to my lungs, whose permanent craving for air lessened significantly at once.
I wasn't there yet, obviously, but the fundamental truth of [Exertion] had never let me down so far. What's more, with a growing understanding of exactly what it was I was attempting to do, encroaching diminishing returns or not.
With that, I slipped into a state of Essence communion, which I then opened to Lorekeeper Avenorium's [Assessment] by imagining myself surrounded by an ethereal, all-encompassing warmth that promised absolute safety.
"Perfect. Your Essence is presently in a peculiar state called an advancement disorder state. The signs that follow in the wake of such a state are an elevated formation of eddies in the outer perimeter, often accompanied by localized surges..."
I had to say, listening to a direct interpretation of my Essence by an expert on the subject while I was in the middle of communing with it was a massive opportunity to further my comprehension of many things that had until then escaped me.
From basic pattern recognition to deductive thinking so as to determine the source of the disorder in my Essence, Lorekeeper Avenorium exposed his entire line of thinking and observation for me, and I gladly took in his every word.
Until my advancement pressure surged to heights I had never felt before, and he fell silent, leaving me to experience my first Tier 2 Aspect advancement.
My Tier 1 Aspect advancements each had similarities and differences, and it was a shame I didn't remember [Exertion]'s Tier 1 advancement, otherwise I could have compared how it felt with its Tier 2 equivalent.
Thinking some more about it, however, I realized that my [Exertion] Aspect's Tier 1 advancement had been my first Aspect advancement ever, and I hadn't known Aspect advancements were a thing back then...
How my life had turned out was truly something my past self could never have anticipated, and arguably, neither could my current self if I didn't know exactly how everything had transpired.
Aspect Advanced: [Exertion] (Tier 1) ➞ [Exertion] (Tier 2)
One second, my Essence was roiling with increasing momentum.
The next, it essentially exploded.
The force was such that my communion state was forcefully terminated, and all I could subsequently do was endure the feeling of my Essence conflicting with the physical boundaries of my existence.
That was my body, thus explaining the horrifying sensation of my body feeling as though it would rip apart at any moment if I didn't hold it together.
Which factually couldn't happen, as one's Essence could not extend beyond its embodied corporality.
Unless one accrued such a high degree of Essence corruption that they would soon be wishing they were dead, that was...
Not that such knowledge was relevant when I had never practiced holding myself back from resisting what my entire being was perceiving as a vital threat to its continued existence.
Eventually, the surge of my Essence receded, and with it, the horrible sensations of impending death, leaving only the aftermath of my first Tier 2 Aspect advancement.
A fleeting glimpse of [Transcendence] was the description I liked most from what I had read about Aspect advancements' aftermaths.
I experienced it without seeking to understand it.
It was but a mirage, after all, supposedly a fleeting delusion from one's Essence bonding more deeply with the Aspect and the concepts it embodied.
In the end, just like that, my first Tier 2 Aspect advancement ended, and I entered once more into a state of communion, not forgetting to open my Essence to Lorekeeper Avenorium's [Assessment].
And before the wise, bald, green-skinned Orun with bulging muscles had the time to tell me about what the many signs I could already discern within my Essence meant, I found myself shocked to recognize one.
"I think I just perceived a minor depression in the outer boundary of my Essence, its associated sensation being a momentary localized increase in rigidity," I described what I believed I saw, followed by what it logically meant. "This sign is associated with an early Essence overdevelopment disorder."
Avenorium remained silent, and when I opened my eyes just a sliver to observe what he was doing without interrupting my communion, I saw him calmly proceeding with his [Assessment].
Right... it was my own Essence I was talking about.
"You are correct," he eventually opened his mouth to assent to what I said, sending a pulse of satisfaction coursing through my body. "You do present signs of an early Essence overdevelopment disorder, the most obvious one being the minor density elevation in your outer perimeter that you noticed, but to deepen the [Assessment] of your condition, you can estimate how many pre-depression manifestation..."
And also... I was standing in the presence of a Lorekeeper who stood near the local peak of Essence [Appraisal], and who many considered to have surpassed the Magister in the field of Essence disorders.
"...you are evidently still on course to eventually enter a state of Essence overdevelopment again. Do with that information what you will. Entering another state of Essence volatility and subsequently Essence mutation so soon could bring you great benefits, after all, as much as it could bring you horrendous consequences. Or nothing."
I shrugged indifferently before sharing the state of my research on Essence mutations.
"According to what I learned from my reading on the field of Essence mutation, I would be utterly stupid to pursue them without first forming an Aspect relevant to Essence [Control] or [Manipulation], and even then, rare are those who have formed and advanced such Aspects and ultimately benefited from them."
"In summary, my conclusion as of my present knowledge is that Essence mutations are to be avoided until they can be thoroughly [Control]ed, eliminating their randomness."
Lorekeeper Avenorium snorted lightly at my conclusion, a smile that showed all his teeth emerging. "I wonder if [Control]ed Essence mutations still belong to the field of Essence mutations, or if they bear another, much more interesting name."
He obviously knew something I didn't, but the worst was that it wasn't as though I hadn't had similar thoughts.
They had simply been passing thoughts I swiftly forgot about until he reminded me of them.
So I asked, "A name like?"
"Like... I wouldn't know... Something along the lines of Essence evolutions?" he finally said. "Not that we would have books on such a touchy subject here in such a Nexus-forsaken Sector. We barely even have a proper Prime Temple as it is."
I froze.
No books.
Not even introductory books.
Simply... no books at all.
"So that's how it finally happens..." I mumbled, a strange sense of dissonance suddenly filling me and causing the world to feel a bit more oppressive.
"Mmh?" Avenorium raised his eyebrows.
"You know how you and many others had already told me the Seeker sanctuary here was far from complete? That it only contained the necessary fundamentals to study while one ought to focus on developing their Essence? All so they can eventually move on to a more developed Sector?"
He slightly moved his head, indicating for me to continue.
"Well, this Essence evolutions thing? That marks my first time officially being interested in something and being told I wouldn't be able to learn about it by remaining in the Red Sand Sector."
"I see..." Lorekeeper Avenorium neither tried to validate nor deny my affirmation.
He simply said nothing.
An implicit agreement.
After all, if it were the case for me, how shallow would the sanctuary be for the likes of the Magister or the Lorekeepers?
My curiosity burned with the desire to ask what was keeping someone like Lorekeeper Avenorium in the Red Sand Sector, but I knew it wasn't my place to ask, nor was it relevant in any way to my own Path.
On my part, I had wings to take me anywhere, anytime, a [Cycle] to sustain myself even with only dry and poor air at my disposal, along with a late addition to an upcoming final migration of the Fairy House in a couple of years willing to take me along.
Being aware of these, I simply stopped dwelling on all my concerns for the future, reading the bare minimum required to know where to head if the Red Sand Sector's ceiling ever collapsed.
That meant I never gave due consideration to how difficult it really was for wingless beings requiring multiple times my weight in sustenance every day, without Aspects to remedy that, to escape the immensity that was a Nexus Sector.
Or rather...
The nearly decennial organization of massive convoys by the Faith to transfer personnel to neighboring Sectors to make such travel possible already provided me with a clear answer.
I simply never meditated that deeply on all the implications of that clear answer.
Because that's how I was.
Because deep inside, I never forgot where I came from.
Starvation.
Loneliness.
The [Darkness].
And I never forgot the lessons I learned there.
If the Red Sand Sector's ceiling ever collapsed, selfish as I knew it to be, I would ultimately save myself first without a care in the world for others.
Friends.
Acquaintances.
Mentors.
They wouldn't matter beyond how worthwhile keeping them by my side would be.
That was how I wanted to be [Guided] to act if things came down to it.
That was who I was.
The time to embody Solaena's heroism was still far away.
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