Leaves rustled, wind singing through the air–it was the same as when I first woke up in this world. Don't tell me I died and reset. After all the trouble I went through to escape, that would break my soul. Exhaustion weighed heavy as I opened my eyes, vision hazy. I expected to be naked and confronted by three lame adventurers. But no–I wore my tunic of Darcovenia's prisoners, now tattered beyond imagination, frayed threads barely clinging together. Surrounding me was a dimly lit space–not a room but a crude hut carved inside a massive tree trunk, bark walls pulsing with a faint glow–mana.
"You've finally awakened, Reed," came a voice from behind. Elias's voice, steady but strained.
"El–Elias?!" I croaked, head throbbing. "What happened? I thought I was a goner!"
He chuckled softly, laying out rations of dried meat and some water. "First, regain some fuel. Eat and drink–you haven't had anything for the whole day you were down."
A whole day? My stomach roared, an overwhelming torrent of hunger washing over me. I obliged him, tearing into the rations as Elias watched. His arm bandaged crudely, blood seeping through. After a moment, he spoke, voice softening like a lullaby for a toddler. "You and I defeated our foes–congratualations on your first battle, Reed. Then his voice turned grim. "But Aeloria was losing hers. Two great powers clashing like that was a great sight… one I haven't witnessed in a long time. She was overwhelmed, on the brink of defeat. Then you flung yourself at her opponent. In an unexpected turn, you took down the knight besting Aeloria." His voice was almost quivering. "But shortly after, you went down too."
I swallowed hard. I'd taken down a knight? Who was it? The thought felt crucial, but my mind wouldn't grasp it, like chasing fog. "What happened next?" I pressed.
Elias's eyes darkened. "Aeloria and I saw our chance. With our opponents down, we grabbed your unconscious body and headed for the eastern gate–vacated by guards aiding the riot. We had to vanish before any other knights found us or we were done. As we hiked toward the forest, guards pursued, likely nearby guards who saw suspicious men in inmate attire walking around, but Aeloria waved them off with her knightly authority, them unaware of what had transpired. We reached the outer zone of the Carboniferre Forest within twelve hours. But pursuers followed. No time to rest, we dove into the mid-zone of the forest–officially welcomed by its magnificent dangers. We're taking refuge in this tree trunk now, it's size beyond anything you'd imagine. We decided I watch you while Aeloria scouts for pursuers. Her demi-human blood speeding her recovery, unlike me."
So that was the story, but a piece felt missing. "Who was the knight Aeloria faced? The one I took down?"
Elias's gaze sharpened. "Chiara Stern."
The name hit like a jet, nausea and disorientation crashing over me. Memories flooded–Chiara's slamming into my own. I fell back, gasping for air." Chiara…am I… Chiara?"
Elias was puzzled, "Reed, what do you mean? Are you okay?"
Her life surged through me: a child freezing puddles in a marble hall, adolescent duels with curving shards, rage at Aeloria's knighthood. My past life tangled with her memories. I winced, headache splitting. "Elias," I said as I regained myself. "I absorbed her mana–thought it was the only way to stop her. Her memories, her thoughts… her whole life transferred to me, I can see it all, uncontrollably…"
He was stunned, as if this phenomena was completely beyond his theories. "That is…unprecedented. Your unique ability did this?"
I nodded, fighting to anchor myself. I am Reed, not Chiara. Her ice drills flashed–cold and precise–then my betrayal on earth. Focus. Transcending this meant mastering this power and I wouldn't let it consume me.
The tree hut's air was thick and humid, buzzing with life like static. Outside loomed the Carboniferre Forest, or at least the mid-zone. Apparently, this place was extremely dangerous and would become more so the deeper we dove. Elias helped me stand, my legs shaky as I recovered from that mental outbreak. I had swallowed Chiara's memories down for now, letting my own dominate, but I knew this would be an ongoing battle. "We need to move," he said. "The sooner we can get through this forest, the sooner we can rid ourselves of danger."
So we began. As we stepped out of our temporary safe space, Aeloria joined us, her shoulder wound bandaged but not fully recovered. The dense forest assaulted my senses: towering ferns, club mosses like spires, horsetails as thick as pillars. "The mana and oxygen density gets denser the deeper you get into this forest," Aeloria said. "With such dense air, everything is deeply infused with mana, the place is unpredictable–rich in resources but chaotic with extreme growth compared to what you'd see in a normal forest."
It finally hit me–the name of the forest had reminded me of something I'd learned in history tutoring. A period on Earth when gigantism, increased oxygen levels and chaos permeated the planet. I wondered just how similar this could be. In a world full of law-defying magic, it was possible. Anyway, the trek began.
Exploration was treacherous. We mapped a path as we moved along, simply a whim of Elias's to create for future use. He was marking trees with stones he had etched words into while documenting, storing the words with a brief description on DIY pen and paper, forest style. When we came across a swamp so wide and deep we didn't know how to pass, in case of some lingering danger beneath the muggy water, an idea came to mind. I had received Chiara's memories; though my power was slightly different than the Vis users, it was similar enough in theory, as we learned through training. I decided to try something.
I took a leap through my memories, which had incorporated integrations of Chaira's. I was manually trying to differentiate them–a weird feeling that I would never grow used to. Viewing her training, or more like reliving memories that felt like my own, I wanted to utilize her frost-like abilities. Elias had taught me that regardless of affinity, you can still learn to utilize other elements. "Wielding fire may feel natural to you but that shouldn't stop you from using wind." I trusted Elias enough now to heed his words. I began recreating the feeling and imagery I had of the memory. Then with more ease than I had expected, I pointed a hand over the swamp, conjuring enough mana to freeze a path for us. And I did just that. The mana flowing from my hand had a chill, but it worked. I had created a bridge of frozen water for us to cross the swamp.
Aeloria and Elias looked stunned, asking when I learned that; Elias seemed to internally realize how, instantly theorizing ways I could manipulate this ability for unthinkable growth. While we walked along, my headache deepened. The full memory of another person's whole life was unimaginably overwhelming. More so than any labor I had been subjected to in confinement. At hazy points, I couldn't tell if I was Chiara or myself. Though this was something I would have to overcome alone, I wouldn't burden these two as they had no way to comprehend just how bad it was.
The deeper we got, the more insane this place became. We heard a whirring—like a helicopter. I froze; that was impossible here, right? Above, a dragonfly-esque monster zipped past, wings iridescent, body hawk sized, mandibles glinting like daggers. The increased mana and oxygen levels spawned some crazy things, I thought. That's when it dove for Aeloria. "Flank me!" She shouted, drawing her sword. She swatted away the first attack, but the monster was fast. Aeloria's swing seemed lower than I recalled; her shoulder injury must be affecting her performance As its attention was trained on her, I pooled mana, but something other than my usual wind blade came to mind. A cold barrage, dozens of icicles as sharp as needles, popped into my mind—a memory of a preferred battle style. Around my hand, these icicles began shaping into reality. I was a knight of the Stern household; what was I doing here? I shot a barrage of icicles in the direction of the monster as well as Aeloria. Backlash hit me, snapping me back to my reality as myself. The difference in potency of mana felt too different from Chiara's Vis manipulation. "Aeloria, move!" I shouted. She dove towards the left as three deadly icicles planted themselves into her previous position; she shot a look of confusion in my direction. I'd have to explain the situation after we took this thing down. But we didn't have to take it down. With a barrage of icicles penetrating its body, the beast retreated, swiftly flying away. If that hadn't killed it, the monsters around here must be extremely tough, I thought.
Thus, we continued. Aeloria asked about the mishap so I explained it to her. How my powerful absorption on Chiara hadn't just pulled her mana, but her memories as well, overwhelming my mind and making it hard to differentiate our lives. She then gripped my arm. "You saved me, Reed. I will do whatever I can to help you get past this. We're here—together." Her words hit hard. Together. On Earth, I had never trusted anyone. I had anything materialistic you could possibly wish for handed to me, but never a real relationship. On Earth, I was betrayed for profit. Here, the carried my unconscious body away from the battlefield, helped me escape my shitty life which had been dumped upon me with my induction to this place, all because I fought with them in that short battle? I couldn't understand the feelings brewing in me at that moment, but Aeloria did. A tear trickled down my cheek; then she pulled me into a hug. Her eyes softening, she said, "Don't worry Reed. We are here to help you just as much as you have helped us. You brought the spark of our resolve back to life, resolves that had been crushed long ago. My path is now apart of yours."
Elias nodded along with a huge grin planted on his face. For some reason, in that moment, a memory of Chiara's came to me. A memory of her private isolation. "She didn't hate you as much as let on, you know. Chiara. Outside of her noble prejudice, she respected your will. To be labeled and isolated, just like her though in totally different ways—both of you fought to rise." Aeloria looked taken aback with emotion. But our touching moment was brought to a halt by an immense roar nearby, shaking the ferns and scattering any small creatures nearby. "We're nearing the heart of the forest," Elias explained. "From here on, things may get funky. Let's stay close and move quickly." And so we did; we pressed on, trudging forward again.
Aeloria and Elias seemed to be in pretty bad condition, Aeloria wound seemingly re-opened and Elias's arm not recovered yet. Any trouble and we may not last. "We should find somewhere to rest and recover first," I said. "I doubt any pursuers would have tailed us through this." Just as I finished, the roar we had heard moments before returned, a lot closer this time. When we turned around, we saw a giant centipede, as long as a limousine and with the width and height of a box truck. Hauling itself in our direction with endless legs. "Nevermind, let's move!" I screamed. Each of us visibly wincing at the grotesque sight that was that beast. I conjured mana throughout my body, fortifying it to resemble something Iron Man-esque. This time I wasn't as hyper, controlling my mana output to not overdo it. I began moving, picking up speeds resembling 45 mph by vehicle. Though it felt a lot different from sitting in a car. Wind fighting against me as well as making it hard to breathe. Aeloria and Elias tailed me, seemingly no issue. I'd have to ask about bypassing this later on. With a huge tree blocking our path ahead, we cut to the left—distancing ourselves from the centipede beast which seemed to be mindlessly rampaging forward rather than specifically targeting us.
Continuing forward, something caught my eye; there seemed to be something that didn't belong here up ahead. There was a dense purple, which looked to be some form of wall or barrier. "Do you guys see that purple wall?" I asked. "What wall?" Both Aeloria and Elias replied, confused at the sudden question. Ah, I get it; this was probably Chiara's memories messing with my vision. Brushing it off we continued toward, but as we got closer, the wall began pulsing, the purple glow vividly saturating. Something within my body was telling me to keep onward, my mana? Just as I hit the wall, I lost balance, tumbling forward with no control.
"Ow… are you guys okay? I asked out loud as I pulled myself up, opening my eyes. But there was no more forest. Well, there was still forest, just not the gigantically dense one as before. I was now facing a palace surrounded by tame, groomed forest. Marble spires gleamed under an unnatural twilight, columns etched with glowing runes that pulsed like living veins. The air felt lighter, less humid, as if the mana density had shifted—cleaner, but charged with something ancient and watchful. "What the—?"
I looked around. "Elias? Aeloria?" My voice echoed, swallowed by the manicured groves and blooming flowers in orderly rows. No answer. Alone again. Was this because of the wall I had just come in contact with? Or…? Chiara's memories flickered—whispers of legends and ancient folklore from her noble lore washed over. Push it down, Reed. You're not her. The headache throbbed, identities clashing, but I focused, shoving her echoes aside. I wouldn't lose myself.
The palace gates creaked open on their own, revealing a figure draped in seemingly linen garment, eyes like swirling voids. He gestured inside. Heart pounding, I stepped forward. Whatever this was, I'd face it head on.