How do I get out of this situation?
Where is Leon??
Artemis grimaced, posturing himself to rush forward.
Let's try one more time!
As he exited the creature's shadow in a mad dash, he instantly looked internally, towards his Mind Core. He saw the fog seep into it, although his perception remained somewhat clear for a few seconds before all he could seem to focus on was the Core itself.
He felt pain in his arm, but having been paying attention to the Mind Core, the sudden feeling sent a tremor through one of the Cognitive Tethers, echoing through his Internal World before reaching the Daemonic Core in the center of his body. Slowly, this putrid essence rushed to the wounds on his arm that had been created by one of the monsters.
My arm?
As soon as he focused on the pain, he noticed the monster biting into his arm once more. His entire train of thought collapsed on itself, and he instinctively whipped his hand forward, sending it crashing into the ash below. He glanced around, spotting dozens of other creatures which were steadily approaching. Only a few seconds from now, they would reach him...
His finger twitched. Artemis's focus snapped towards this, but realising that he had lost it when fear gripped his heart, he instinctively shrank back into the putrid monster's shadow.
That strange fog seeped out of his Mind Core once more, prompting a return of his racing thoughts.
Damn it!
Although his attempt had failed, it been an enlightening test.
Many theories swirled around in his head. In a moment of what he perceived as the most terrible brilliance, the most genius he had ever felt corrupt his soul, he began his preliminary theory surrounding his escape.
Can the Cognitive Tether carry more than just my thoughts? If intention from the mind is a command to the body, carrying out what I perceive to be my intention to move my muscles, limbs, and fingers, then isn't this a 'thought' that the Cognitive Tether can distribute?
But the black tethers are only connected to the Daemonic Core...
There were very few possibilities as to how this could be used, he imagined. After all, what did he have at his disposal? Better physicality, better regeneration, and the ability to see things for what they were. However, he was very hesitant to use the [Eyes of Discernment] on the fog, considering it was capable of corrupting his mind to this extent. It would have to be his last option.
There was a line amidst the description of Lark's Boon that opened up a bit more possibility, however.
He will experience a vastly improved control over each aspect of his body...
This was a line that had been uttered to him when he had first observed the Boon. It was ascribed to his improved physicality. But paired with [Eyes of Discernment], could this be taken further? This was the next thing he wanted to try.
Artemis willed himself to reach out inside of this Internal World like he was moving his body with his mind, feeling an illusory hand sweep past each of his Cores. Of course, he was not really reaching inside of his own body, this was simply a manifestation of some kind... as if he was trying to feel what he imagined. These Daemonic traits really allowed him far more control of his own body than he had first anticipated... but it was also likely a biproduct of [Eyes of Discernment].
His eyes widened suddenly.
My abilities were always activated with intention, which circulated essence through my body as if I were moving one of my limbs. This was accentuated and improved with Leon's help. The Cognitive Tether seems to function similar to this in that it carries the intention of my spoken thoughts to the Daemon Core, which Leon is bound to by Lark's contract, same as I, effectively communicating between us without the need to speak.
However, if I apply the intention of activating an ability as I normally would, but focus on diverting it and transferring it through the Cognitive Tether rather than freely throughout my body, it not only reaches the specific Core quicker, but also instantly causes it to activate.
What if I were to create more of these Cognitive Tethers? I could connect my Mind Core to my Soul Core and Lifeforce Core using them, perhaps even connecting them to various parts of my body, like an interwoven system all monitored by my instant intentions. Wouldn't I improve my capability to act quicker, react quicker, and monitor myself internally for sustained damage?
And if I only had to focus on a single thing, like in this situation, I could issue commands from inside my Mind Core and have them play out instantly without the need to focus on them, bypassing this strange fog's effects!
But I don't exactly know how to create these tethers... it's clearly something that can be done without using any distinct magical abilities, Leon herself said that she doesn't have access to her near-godlike abilities. But I don't have the knowledge as to how to do it.
And neither do I have the time! Cia was grabbed by that beast!
He grinned, rubbing his fingers against his chin from within the shadow.
What if I can repurpose them instead?
He had read about classical ritualism in ancient, dust-ridden textbooks. This was a simple practice of occultism that had fallen out of traditional uses once the people of the Blackbaast had cultivated a method of Contracting themselves with Spirits.
Of course, he had never practiced any of these rituals.
However, there was a specific rule of these rituals that had intrigued him when he had first read about them. It was the practice of reuse. Practitioners of these rituals would often leave the conduit behind for those who would soon follow. The main example of this was in the early days of fishing, where fishermen would employ ritualistic magicians to conduct small rituals on the bank, clearing out a divot of water that would allow the fishermen to walk out into the emptied river and pluck out writhing fish.
They would leave these rituals set up, so that the next day, the magician who had been hired could perform the same ritual without setting it up from scratch...
And while Lark's essence had been used as a conduit to bridge the gap between him and Leon's minds due to their similar Contracts, there was no need for something like that when bridging his Mind Core and his physical body parts. After all, they both originated from him!
There are six laces in total...
He reached out and grabbed one of the black laces, yanking it away from the Daemonic Core, then readily observed its end. It writhed, like little tendrils at its edge trying desperately to grasp at something. But they weren't black, they were a bright crimson, fluid, without shape.
Is this the blood that Leon took from me?
Blood is a proper medium, she said...
Will it be enough to attach it somewhere else...?
Artemis reached forward with the black lace and began to look around his interior. He first directed his attention towards his left arm.
F-ck it!
He interwove the grasping tendrils with the majour muscles. As soon as they touched upon the muscles, they took a tight hold of them, refusing to let go, before the crimson seeped straight into them. Soon, the black laces became an extension of each of the muscles in his only arm, connected straight to his Mind Core.
Then, he ran a preliminary test. Focusing his thoughts only through the Mind Core, he instinctively 'imagined' raising his hand. And in the depths of the cold shadow, he felt his arm slowly raise, his palm turned upwards.
His maniacal grin, which no one could see from his hiding spot in the shadow, was vile, like a Daemon's.
Of course, it was still to be discovered whether or not this method of escape would actually aid him in escaping. The fog had seeped into his Mind Core, which seemed to be the origin of his thoughts and actions. Because it only allowed him to focus on one thing at a time, Artemis imagined he would be able to bypass this restriction by using his Internal World and his command of it through [Eye of Discernment] to focus on only his Mind Core, executing command of his body through it, escaping the fog a step at a time.
Of course, this had to happen in quick succession. He was surrounded by monsters. Without practice, he might be able to manage running. But fighting? That was a far more complex set of commands.
There were two strands left connected between his Mind Core and the Daemon Core. The other three were on the other side, stretching off into the distant darkness of his Internal World, where he suspected that Leon had disappeared to. He was hesitant to touch these, fearing that he would lose the connection to Leon, and so he focused himself on the remaining two still connected to his Mind.
After pulling them away from the Daemon Core, he watched as twelve crimson tendrils sprouted from the ends of each, six per Tether. He connected ten of these tendrils to the majour muscles in his legs, and the remaining two to his optic nerves.
This was the culmination of his first plot-- he would use [Eyes of Discernment] to focus only on his Mind Core, executing commands of bodily movement through the Cognitive Tethers which had been connected to his arm and legs, and would view the situation through his eyes.
Of course, there weren't enough Tethers to connect to his lungs, as well.
So he would have to escape the fog before he ran out of breath.
Now, the final decision was how he would carry out such actions.
If I chain together a set of actions, will I be able to focus on that single memory? I focus on a string of intentional commands that drives me forward. Following those steps instinctively without focusing on them... is this even something possible?
He grimaced, straightening himself up before preparing to exit the shadow.
The only thing left to do was to test his handiwork...