It took too long to activate — at least three or four seconds of focus while touching his eyes. And it drained so much soul and mental strength that he could only maintain it for maybe five seconds before the pain became unbearable.

Five seconds of seeing enemy weaknesses, followed by incapacitation from blood loss and soul strain.

It wasn't worth it… at least not in its current form.

He needed proficiency. Needed to practice until the effect became smoother, faster, and less costly. Until he could activate it instantly and maintain it for minutes instead of seconds.

But the thought of experiencing that soul-piercing pain repeatedly...

No way I'm going through that repeatedly… he thought with a shiver

Finn wasn't willing to raw-dog it through repeated agonizing practice sessions. Not when each attempt felt like hot knives carving through his eyeballs directly into his soul.

But there was no other option except that if he wanted to increase his proficiency… Not unless he could gain more insight into Arros' spell by experiencing it again…

But that would require another dive into a memory.

And for that, he'd need a Mind-Cephalon of his own. Not Osmund's, but his own soul mass, under his complete control, that could put him in dreams and show him more memories — or at least help him process and integrate what he'd already learned faster.

Osmund had mentioned that the Mind-Cephalon species were extinct on the outside world, but here inside this lost-age world, they still existed.

Now he only hoped their existence extended to this island in particular…

If Osmund has one as a summon, there must be more somewhere, he mused. The question is how to find one without asking Osmund directly?

Finn barely knew anything about the creatures beyond the brief explanation Osmund had given. Their habitat, their behavior, and their weaknesses were all unknown.

And exploring the island on his own wasn't smart either. He didn't know where Osmund's territory ended. He could easily wander into another fragment bearer's domain while trying to hunt Mind-Cephalons, and then he'd be at their mercy instead.

I need information, Finn realized. And to get it, I'm going to have to give Osmund something…

The thought made him grimace. His instinct was to hoard secrets, keep everything close to his chest. But that approach had limits.

He was protecting too many things. And some of them... maybe they weren't worth protecting. Maybe revealing certain information would actually help him more than hiding it.

I'll give him something concrete, Finn decided. Test the waters. See what I get in return.

Of course, his deepest secrets like the adaptations, the divine essence, and his title, were not even on the table for consideration. But he needed to give Osmund something significant enough to seem like trust.

I'll tell him about the memory. That I saw my original fragment bearer…

It was risky. Osmund would have questions. He would want details Finn couldn't or wouldn't provide. But it might also make the short man more willing to share information in return.

And right now, Finn needed information more than he needed complete secrecy.

He stood, testing his balance. The soul strain was still there, but manageable. He could walk, at least.

Tomorrow, he thought. I'll talk to Osmund tomorrow. After I've recovered and can think clearly about how to phrase things.

Tonight, he just needed rest.

Finn moved to the bed properly this time, lying down with a groan. His eyes still ached, and he was careful not to touch them as he settled into the mattress…

.

.

.

The next morning, Uxio was waiting outside his door when Finn emerged, which meant Osmund had sent for him specifically rather than expecting Finn to arrive on his own schedule. The tall Anaelle said nothing, just gestured for Finn to follow.

The walk to the clearing felt longer than usual. Or maybe that was just Finn's reluctance about what he was about to do manifesting as stretched time. By the time they emerged from the treeline, the sun had risen past the horizon, casting sharp shadows across the training platform.

Osmund was already there, standing at the center of the platform rather than lounging in his tower gazebo. His posture was rigid as his pale gray eyes tracked Finn's approach with an intensity that made it clear this wasn't going to be a casual conversation.

Uxio departed without a word, disappearing back into the forest.

Finn climbed the platform steps, maintaining eye contact with Osmund the entire time. Neither spoke until Finn stood a few paces away.

"Don't lie to me about what happened yesterday," Osmund said flatly.

Finn had anticipated this. Expected the directness, the attempt to establish control over the conversation from the start.

"I won't," he replied simply.

Osmund's eyes narrowed fractionally, as if trying to detect deception in those two words. After a moment, he gestured to the platform.

"What did you see?" Osmund asked. His tone was carefully neutral, but Finn could see the burning curiosity barely restrained behind his controlled expression.

Finn took a slow breath, organizing his thoughts one final time.

"A memory," he said. "Or something like it. I experienced what I can only describe as a memory from my fragment's original bearer."

Osmund's face remained stoic. Unreadable. He waited for Finn to continue without interrupting.

"I was in a town," Finn continued carefully. "A medieval-style settlement called Brambleton. There was a festival happening — a celebration of Transcendent heroes..."

He watched Osmund's face for any reaction to that detail. A flicker of surprise, perhaps, or recognition. But the short man's expression gave nothing away.

"I wasn't myself in the memory. I was... someone else. Experiencing their thoughts, their perceptions, as if I were them entirely." Finn paused, choosing his next words with care. "This person — the original bearer — was walking through the festival. And then a Calamity-class magical beast attacked the town."

Now Osmund's eyebrow raised slightly. The first crack in his stoic mask.

"The beast was enormous," Finn said. "A serpentine creature that flew through the air. The kind of threat that would require multiple Archon-level Arcanists to even slow down, let alone kill."

"And?" Osmund prompted when Finn paused.

"The bearer ended it in one strike." Finn met Osmund's eyes directly. "Then I was jarred out of the memory suddenly. That's when I woke up on the platform after only three seconds."

Silence settled between them. Finn could see Osmund processing this information, turning it over in his mind despite how brief he had been with it.

Finn could definitely tell that Osmund was aware of the fact that he had left out a lot. But the man tacitly didn't point it out at all.

Perhaps he was respecting the contract terms about Finn's fragment's confidentiality. Or maybe just smart enough not to push when the young man was actually volunteering information for once.

He looked up after digesting the brief information for a bit and finally spoke:

"Having memories surface from the fragment within you is normal," he said slowly, as if choosing each word carefully. "Most fragment bearers experience it to some degree. Flashes of recognition. Deja vu. Sometimes dreams or visions during meditation.

But I haven't seen or heard of one actualizing in quite that manner. Not with such... specificity and immersion."

"What do you mean?" Finn asked.

"Typically, fragment memories are tied to the bearer of the Core Fragment," Osmund explained. "The complete embodiment of the concept. They act as a sort of... nexus point. When something significant happens to them — when they exert their full power, or lose control, or die and disperse — it creates ripples through all bearers of that concept path."

He gestured vaguely, as if trying to illustrate an invisible connection.

"Take Space, for example. I didn't know about you until recently. None of us did." Osmund's eyes grew more intense. "Not until that change occurred to Egon in that Mausoleum."

Finn frowned slightly.

"It wasn't until the Transcendent consciousness within him fully took over his body that a moment of synchronization between all Space fragment bearers occurred. We were all briefly connected through the main consciousness residing in the Core Fragment."

His expression darkened slightly.

"That's how the three of us on this island knew about you… and your friend. And that something big was about to begin…"

Finn processed this with a frown on his face, and he couldn't help the memory that kept surfacing in his mind…

But if that's how it is, then…

"The Husk," Finn said abruptly.

"What?" Osmund locked his eyes on him in confusion.

"The Husk leader," Finn started to explain. "There was a weird creature that tried to kill me before I crossed the stagnant sea…"

Finn raised his head and met Osmund's eyes.

"It also had control over space magic…"

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