Chapter 559: Zach

Chapter 559: Zach

Sage of Mind

The Mind room was small, a rectangular room with a marble obelisk in its center. From it, Mind Essence flowed out, filling the entire room. The sensation was strange to explain. It was as if just stepping into the room opened ones mind.

It gave Zach’s thoughts a substance that he had only ever encountered inside of Hastur’s Mind Prison. Time seemed to slow down, and reality beyond the room, beyond his own mind, slowly faded away.

Zach was powerful enough to know and understand what was happening. His perks and willpower prevented him from succumbing to any of the Mind Essences more harmful effects, but even without them he was confident that he would’ve been able to control the effects.

The obelisk itself was the Source of the Essence, which in turn meant that it was connected to the Plane of Mind. Zach had spent a lot of time over the last year in this place, absorbing and contemplating on the Essence.

In a way, he was conflicted. He understood Mind intimately, perhaps on the same level as he understood Time, or at least his version of it. What had halted his process in acquiring the understanding worthy of being called a Sage was the nature of the Plane of Mind.

Like all Essence Planes, it was shaped and guided by the will of all those that utilized it. And Mind, far more than Time, was used by more people. It was a vast plane filled with so many different understandings.

For some it was about twisting the thoughts of others, about reading their thoughts. For others, it was about discipline and self-reflection. And for many it was an escape into a fantasy.

There were too many differing ideas for most people to grasp them. Zach was one of few that probably could. He understood now why there were so few Sages around. Most people followed Aspects that were common, used by many. Understanding such an Aspect would’ve taken a long time for even the most talented in the world, or a level comprehension that was unmatched.

Or just a pressure and guidance unlike what most could even imagine.

Zach was an old soul and mind in a young body. His memory was an ocean filled with self-reflection and meditation, of time spent only with his own thoughts. He had lived out fantasies, he had suffered, he had glimpsed at the things that had lurked within his mind.

Ever since then, he had been carefully keeping his thoughts under control. He had skills that utilized his mental prowess, that allowed him to think faster to note details and analyze. Yet still he struggled at times. His memory was too long, held too much weight.

It was why he had picked up another Mind related skill, to help him organize his thoughts and memories. Through his training in the Mind room, he had been able to quickly advance it into its current form, |Perfect Memory Vault: My Thoughts, Organized|.

It had helped a lot, allowing him to enter an area within his mind and review memories and thoughts. Even repair old ones. Coupled with his new passive skill which made everything he learned perfectly clear, it made his new memories nearly perfectly preserved. His memories of the life before the Mind Prison had been vague, remembered as if they were a hazy dream. He had repaired most of them by now. And he was getting ready to evolve his skill again. But first, he wanted to become a Sage.

He took a seat in front of the obelisk and opened his mind, reaching into the Aspect’s Plane through it. He sunk into a dreamy landscape, filled with worlds. They shifted all around him constantly, voices echoed and images flashed. Thoughts of the people that utilized the Mind Essence, in other word every thinking being in the world. Most of the things around him were just impressions of people and beasts. They were unfocused, fleeting daily thoughts.

There were dark and light pockets too, places where intense thoughts resided, fueled by emotions. Places that brought the boundary of the Mind Plane close to the planes of emotions.

But ultimately, those scapes were unimportant. They were the background of the Mind Plane. What mattered were the more structured areas. Where those who truly devoted themselves to the Aspect of the Mind left their imprint on the plane.

Grim pockets existed, where those who used the Mind to do terrible things. More than Zach thought there should be. It was disappointing, but just as there was the dark, there was also the light. Places where people who devoted their lives to healing minds dwelled.

Zach’s own understanding differed than the norm. For him the Mind was an anchor for his being. It helped him carry the weight of his life.

He knew that creating the Way of Mind according to his own understanding would’ve changed a lot about the nature of the Aspect. It would cut off to many people, cripple some even.

And if he was being honest with himself, Zach didn’t think that he would be able to do it even if he seriously tried. There were too many influences for someone who had such a singular vision of the Aspect like Zach did.

But not being able to force the entire plane into his mold did not mean that he couldn’t understand it.

He let himself drift across the plane, the Mind Essence flowed through his thoughts, shifting from idea to idea, not really registering them just going along for the ride.

He understood the darker aspects of it. Knew how it could be used to hurt, he had gone through such torture before. He had felt the touch of Hastur upon his thoughts.

And he knew the lighter ones too. He only had to think about Naha and feel love, happiness. Know loyalty and understanding.

Over the last year he had slowly been solidifying his knowledge about all the different voices of the Mind Plane, and he understood the most basic principle upon which the entire Aspect was built—imagination.

The Mind Plane was whatever you wanted it to be. You could create worlds within your own mind, or in the minds of others. You could live entire lives within them, lose yourself. You could use it to create masterpieces, to train yourself, to imagine everything and anything that you wanted.

He felt that knowledge slowly expand out of him, reaching out to the plane, and he awaited its response.

The Mind Plane knew his mind, just as he knew all of its facets. It accepted him, and it granted him that title that anointed him as one who knew it fully, who understood it.

As the notification pinged in his head, Zach smiled and pulled back from the Mind Plane, leaving the fantasy and horrors behind.

Zach and Naha sat on their bed, in their bedroom, high in the corner of the School building of the Academy. The top floor they had reserved for themselves, as their home, while the one below was designated as one for administrative purposes.

Their room was spacious and decorated with almost lavish decor. Naha had done all the decorating, and he’d encouraged her to go wild. To indulge herself and not worry about anything. Their lives had been filled with too much dark, they deserved more.

The bed was gigantic, and they had two large dressers and nearby. Two tables in the corners of the room, one for each of them, in case they wanted to work from home. Not that they had much cause to spend time at the tables, but it might be useful in the future.

They’ve started coming back here every night even though they didn’t need much sleep. Just taking the opportunity to spend time together. Living their life in the best way they knew how.

That connection, intimacy, it was what made life worth living. It fueled Zach, made him want to try more.

“What do you think about the latest proposal?” Naha asked as they sat leaned back against the headrest, their shoulders touching.

“I’m not sure that anyone would be able to afford it,” Zach answered. “Bera wants too much.”

“Running the Academy is going to be expensive, you know that,” Naha added.

Zach grimaced. “I do, but I want to help as many as possible. Her suggestion would see only the most elite and wealthy able to attend.”

“We could always go with the previous proposal, have a quota, half and half, and use the funds gained from the wealthy to cover for the not so fortunate.”

Once this information spread, there was only one way he saw this going. Another war.

“What is Ryun planning to do?” Zach asked finally.

“The Sect Head intends to inform the Sects, beyond that I do not know his thoughts.”

The matters of the Core didn’t impact Zach too much. His Academy was on the other side of the Twilight Melody Sect territory. Far west, close to the western ocean. There wasn’t anyone around him, the Core was far away. But Zach knew better than to think that he could avoid the world at large.

But regardless, he knew better than to think that the distance would keep him isolated. He had power, and with that power came responsibility. Regardless of his own desires, he would be drawn into any conflicts between the powerful. It was inevitable.

It seemed that no matter how much he tried, the world always conspired to throw obstacles in his path.

“Thank you for relaying the message, Lesamitrius,” Zach said finally.

He had a lot to think about.

Power.

It was the only thing that seemed to matter in the Infinite Realm. Without power, one could not live freely, one could not make their dreams a reality. Could not live up to their ideals.

Zach had learned that lesson well. It made him sad, but he knew that trying to change that singular truth of the Infinite Realm was a fools bargain.

He could try to be better, to teach others to be better. But ultimately, power mattered. His plan was always to ensure that that power found a home with the right people. Those who understood and wanted to help protect those that were weaker than themselves. Those who would do good.

But he also knew that he himself lacked power. Fight against Ra’azel had shown him just how far he still had to go.

Zach focused as he sat on the floor of a very special chamber. There were two Time related rooms within the Academy. One was the room with the source of Aspect of Time. And the other was a much more powerful one.

A room in which time passed at a slower rate than it did on the outside. For every day inside, only three hours passed on the outside. He and Naha had spent a lot of time inside, training together over the last year.

He had evolved one more tier 9 skill, merging his sight related skill with his parry into |I Saw and Parried|.

It still gave him vision in most types of environments and light levels, but it also made his body react incredibly fast to attacks. Coupled with his other skills, he was rarely surprised by attacks, even when Naha attacked from stealth. The Skill Perk allowed him to pierce to parry one fully invisible attack against him a day, which was an incredible boon.

Now, he had only two more skill slots left, two more skills to evolve and merge. One of those was his |Perfect Memory Vault: My Thoughts, Organized|

The last slot he had picked with the future evolution in mind. |Perfect Knowledge Retention: My Memory, Perfect| served as a way to prevent what had happened in the past.

He focused, pulling on his willpower to evolve his skills. He had accomplished their skill quests long ago, now they needed just a little push. With an effort of will, the two skills merged and then evolved. He didn’t stop at tier 8 though, he had been preparing this for a while, he pushed further.

The skill trembled and then grew, becoming something more. He focused on his desires, his wish for the future of his Academy of what he wanted to do. To disseminate Knowledge, to elevate and help make people better. The skill solidified, pressing into shape a part of his Soul. His last tier 9 skill was a passive one, |I Remembered and Stored|.

A skill for a person that never wanted to forget again. It fit him, and he already knew the drawback, it was the exact thing that he had made the skill for in the first place. Remembering everything was both a boon and a curse.

The Skill Perk was useful as well. He could see that it allowed him to bring another person into his Memory Vault, show them his memories.

He took a deep breath as new notifications appeared, a title and a something that he had been expecting for a long while.

Total Understanding

Achieve nine tier 9 skills

+100 to all base stats, +10% to all base stats, Image, 50,000 Immortal Essence

Congratulations!

You’ve achieved the pinnacle of your focus! And you have gained great power.

Image formation unlocked.

Skill synchronization — 100%

Image formation — Advent

Image: The Master of Aspects

Your skills and path are those of one who masters the Aspects. The image of the Master of Aspects surrounds you and based on your will can influence the reality around you.

Current Image formation grade: Advent

Zach had wondered if he would reach the same synchronization as Naha had. She had the benefit of having her Image before reaching the peak of skills. The two of them had speculated that the synchronization was related to how well one embodied their being, their Soul’s meaning. Zach’s Class was Lord of Aspects, his goal and meaning was the pursuit of Knowledge, mastering Aspects was part of that. Each of his skills was a mixture of the Aspects that he possessed, the ones that were within his Arsenal.

Instinctively, he knew what his Image was, what it did. He could feel it shrouding him as he called on it. The Aspects within him sharpened, and he felt as if with just a thought he could connect to their Aspect Planes, pull on their power and improve it.

Like Naha’s Image, it empowered what he already had, but also added versatility by allowing him to reach the planes. It was a powerful tool.

He spent some time familiarizing himself with it, and then turned his attention to what came next. He looked at his Class, and prepared to level up once more.