“So, that’s about it.” Alex finished retelling his encounter with Arhat Gatebreaker, Pahan, and the rest of his newly formed party.

“And are you sure you’re allowed to tell me all this?” Jane asked, slightly lifting her head off the silken pillow.

“Well, since you’re so bent on taking the Legion’s Trial, you will either succeed, making you a part of the Legion, or you’ll fail, and become mad. Either way, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with telling you this.” Alex answered her.

“Wow, you sure know how to inspire confidence, eh? Going mad sounds like a blast.” Jane’s voice flowed with sarcasm towards Alex.

During the last couple of days, the relationship between Alex and Jane deepened to such a point that Jane felt comfortable around Alex, while he felt he could start dropping the veneer of politeness and calculated interactions around her, allowing himself to speak his mind more often. This, of course, led to some seemingly harsh or candid words from him, though Jane didn’t seem to mind and always retaliated with wit, sarcasm, and charm.

“Sorry.” Alex apologized with a small frown on his face.

“Don’t be. It’s the truth, after all.” Jane replied, “Better tell me what Pahan said after you left the chamber.”

“Not much, he simply explained some of the finer points of our little operation,” Alex answered, “It seems that I will have to infiltrate the base as a straggler and investigate from the inside. The other three will provide support from outside that base. What support though, I don’t know.”

Having said that, Alex took a small stack of square papers out of his pocket and laid it on the table.

“Pahan said this paper is made from Twinsoul Birch, whatever they are. Apparently, every Twinsoul Birch has a ‘partner’ somewhere out there, with which it shares an intricate connection. Paper made from these Twinsoul Birches is also connected, making it so that when something is written on one paper, the writing appears on the other, and vice-versa.” Alex explained, “This is how I’ll keep the others updated on the situation inside that base.”

“Umm…” Jane hesitated, “I hate to burst your bubble, but these translator rings we get only work on verbal communication. Even while wearing it, I couldn’t read some of the signs among the market stands. So, unless there’s someone else who can write and read English among the other three, your little plan won’t work.”

“That’s what the blue one is for. Apparently, the Knowledge Seekers join these uplifts for one reason and one reason only, recording and preserving all knowledge of the native populations, which in this case, is us.” Alex continued,” Interestingly enough, this is also how they acquire their wealth. They pick whatever is new and innovative from the native populations of uplifted worlds, repurpose it for intergalactic consumption, and monetize it.”

“Wow, that’s some business-oriented cultivators alright,” Jane commented, still amazed by what she learned.

“Yeah, it seems that the seeking of knowledge is a costly endeavour, and they have to earn it somehow,” Alex commented as well.

“Anyway, Mindforger is going to be responsible for communication, Heartsinger is going to support us, though Pahan didn’t mention how, and Lifetide is the medic.” Alex went on, “And I’m the brawn in this small equation,”

“I don’t like that. You’re going to be all alone in there, with those wackos.” Jane added.

“Well, it seems there is a reason the Alliance can’t strong-hand natives directly, which is why they use me, us, the Legion,” Alex replied, waving his hand erratically.

“Still, I have a bad feeling.” Jane added, “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“Yeah, I will, don’t worry.” Alex put her fears to rest, “Now, I have to get some rest, and you should too. Who knows, by the time I get back, you might already be a Legionnaire.”

Standing up from the floor of Jane’s temporary room, Alex waved his hand in goodbye and exited her room, making his way to his own abode. As soon as he entered his room, he decided to cultivate a little bit before going to bed.

“A bad feeling, eh? Let’s hope she didn’t jinx it. Right, Nova?” Alex asked his ethereal companion, slightly patting the crown of her head with his fingers and starting cycling the Divine Breath throughout his body.

Deep sleep always came easy to Alex. Somehow, over the years, his mind had adapted to fall asleep in the most stressful of environments with no struggle whatsoever. Usually, this sleep was accompanied by the empty darkness of oblivion. Whether he never dreamt, or he forgot the dreams in their entirety, never really bothered Alex, so long as he got a good night’s rest.

After the uplift, he still fell asleep as easily as before, but the sleep was accompanied by dreams far more often. In-between the dreamless nights, sometimes a dream that was a recreation of the past would creep up, forcing Alex to relive the moments he ran from so much.

Tonight was one of those nights.

Alex found himself on the corridors of his old high school. An elite private institution, meant to provide the best education to the children of the rich and privileged. By all accounts, Alex was the odd one out in this little entourage. The only reason he had the opportunity to attend such a school was his mother. She was the designated Physics teacher here and won the school more than her fair share of awards at state and national level Olympiads by tutoring students. A little bonus of the employment contract stipulated that children of the teaching staff were allowed to attend the school free of charge, which is how Alex was allowed to walk these corridors clearly intended for his betters.

Crowds of students made their way from one classroom to the next, all the while socializing with each other. The mingling, cheerful laughter was the epitome of obnoxiousness to Alex’s ears. With his mind, he knew that it was irrational to hate those who had it better than him. After all, it was not their fault they were rich, successful, set for life, happy. And it certainly wasn’t their fault that his father sold his soul for the bottle, they weren’t at fault for his mother’s ailing health or his missing childhood. But his heart, unfortunately, did not hear the reason of his mind. It seethed with spite and hate. It existed with a single purpose; to curse. And so it cursed this school and all who walked its halls. It cursed this town, country, and the planet. And finally, it cursed the uncaring universe, which gave him the cold shoulder.

Looking around at the halls, Alex couldn’t tell he was in a dream. The familiar feeling of bile in his gut permeated him as he struggled to hide the disgust off his face.

Opening his locker, he was looking for his next lesson’s learning materials when he noticed with his peripheral vision the football team approaching him. The other students parted like meek herbivores at the arrival of the predators, but not Alex. He knew why they’d come.

As their laughter signalled their approach further, Alex closed his locker and turned to them.

“So, Chess. There you were. You shouldn’t make us search for you all over the school grounds. It’s not good customer support, you know.” Derreck, the team captain said.

“Get to the point. I’ve got a lesson to not be late for.” Alex replied with disdain slipping through his teeth.

“Tsk. No fun as always. Well, I guess you wouldn’t know fun if it hit you in the face.” Derrick sneered like a hyena while his posse laughed like a pack of ones at his stupid joke.

“Anyway, the finals are coming up, and you have to do the final assignment for the whole team before the deadline. We’ve got the state championship to prepare for, and can’t be bothered with this useless stuff.” Derreck said, smugness permeating his face.

“One assignment – two hundred bucks,” Alex said. “No discounts.”

“What!? That’s fucking stupid! Last year it was a hundred!” one of the players revolted from behind Derrick.

“Yeah, well, the circumstances aren’t the same. I take it if one of you fails the assignment, you don’t get to play. Different stakes, different pay.” Alex explained.

Seeing the disdain in Alex’s gaze ticked something off in Derreck’s little brain as he grabbed Alex by the collar of his shirt and smashed him into the lockers. The sound of Alex’s body hitting metal sent the remaining students around them scattering off in different directions.

“You know my Mom’s the head of the PTA, right? I can make your life real fun if you mess with me.” Derrick sneered again, “Who knows, maybe they can look into the work ethic of Mrs Chess as well. I always felt she didn’t really blend into the teaching staff. You get my meaning, don’t you?”

Hearing Derreck’s hanging threat against his mother made the bile of anger deep in Alex’s guts surface for an instant. Just as he was lifting his fist to hit Derreck in the temple from the side, Alex regained control over himself. While he unmade the fist he created earlier and forced his hand down, he couldn’t hide the anger on his face as he recalled his mother’s advice.

“Never bow down to threats. If someone threatens you, you call their bluff. You may lose, or you may win, but at least there’s a chance. If you succumb, you lose, and the one who threatened you gains a hold of you. Besides, take it from someone who’s been around a while; If someone threatens you, no appeasement can fix it. It simply extends your time until the next threat.” Alex recalled the chilling words of his mother.

“I can make your life just as fun, if not more, asshole. This is not the first or even the second time I do assignments for you idiots. And you know what, I have all the proof I need.” Alex threatened back.

“Bullshit!” Derrick spewed.

“True, but you don’t know that. You have more than me, which is why you have more to lose than me.” Alex cooled his blood with these chilling thoughts.

“Try me. Let’s see what the board has to say about the whole team cheating their way through the assignments for the last three years. If you ask me, you can forget about graduating for the foreseeable future. And even if your parents sweep this under the rug with a generous “donation” to the school, that’s considering the school cooperates with you, since you have a real chance at the championship, I’ll make sure to go somewhere else. After I give an interview to the local television and newspapers, and the football association gets wind of this, I’m sure some of the members of the association that stand to win from your disqualification will gladly hear me out.” Alex threatened back. “And after failing at the championship, you can kiss your Ivy League scholarship goodbye. Then, you become the family black sheep, forever sullying the name of whatever dynasty of rich bastards you’re from, and grow up to be mediocre.”

“Now, the last nail to the coffin.” Alex thought, carefully choosing his next words.

“You don’t want mediocrity, do you?” Alex asked, “And two hundred bucks for a measly assignment is a small price to pay for greatness, isn’t it, Derreck?”

When he saw the small flicker of doubt in Derreck’s eyes, Alex knew his play on Derreck’s vanity and fear of disapproval from his family worked. Alex again lifted his arms, but this time it was to unclench Derreck’s that were still holding on to his shirt, albeit feebly.

Setting himself free, he started walking away to his next lesson, while no one dared to stop him.

“Two hundred, and there’s eleven of them. Haha, I should get mom something nice.” Alex hummed as he walked, his smile reaching to his ears.

Waking up, Alex could once again seemingly feel it was morning, even if the artificial sky of the outpost didn’t give any indication of that.

Feeling well-rested, he stood up from his bed and stretched his muscles. While stretching, he thought over to the dream he had. It’s been a while since he remembered his past.

After his mother’s death, Alex lived as if in a haze. He had made extreme efforts to forget his past, his life, and his hurt. It was the only thing that allowed him to act and function as a normal human. For the small price of burying his past, his experiences, as well as his self, he could live out the fake and hollow husk of what was once his life.

After the Trial though, the resolution he gained in the realm created by Nova and the Nightmare Queen provided him with the means to move forward. Little by little, the bland, empty, and hollow husk that was himself up to now was getting filled with his true self, the one he’d hidden away in hopes of numbing his existential pain.

As that realization dawned on him, he felt a small surge of energy from his Unity flood his body. The surge was small, but it was dense, denser than all the other times he used it previously.

Feeling this surge through their bond, Nova opened her eyes and hissed in elated surprise.

“I know, right?” Alex said, sitting on the floor as he started to meditate.

Looking inside of himself, he approached the Unity serenely floating in the middle of his solar plexus with his senses. Scrutinizing it, Alex noticed a change in the Unity. Firstly, it was slightly larger and more corporeal. This allowed it to hold, refine as well as cycle higher-quality Breath throughout his body faster. This change could be attributed to the fact that Alex spent every moment since the Unity’s creating either using it or cultivating. The second change though was far too different to attribute it to anything except the dream Alex had.

The figure inside the Unity, his figure, which was previously floating in the middle of the ethereal space with its eyes closed, had its eyes wide open now, as a smile that spelt both bliss and cruelty covered its face.

Looking at this visage was eerie. The Unity was all that made Alex who he was. It was the scared child inside him, it was the rage he felt at his father and the world at times, while other times it was the love for his mother or the happiness of spending an evening with his friends loitering around. The Unity was more than the sum of his Soul, Mind, and Body. It was what he was, is, and will be.

And the fact that this visage, which was previously floating with an emotionless face and closed eyes inside Alex’s being now showed such a vibrant gaze and smiled widely could only mean one thing. Alex was finally regaining himself.

“The final pages of the [Intrinsic Unity Art] from the copy I have slightly touch upon this. As the Grand Keeper mentioned, the copy is missing most of the contents after advancing to the Divine Initiation stage.” Alex recalled the information in his mind.

“Putting together what was written in the Cultivation Method with the vision I had yesterday, it seems that contrary to other Methods which seek to master the Starry Sky, the foundation of the Art is the individual self, with the final goal being absolute mastery of yourself. There are multiple mentions in the first chapter that to cultivate is to pursue your True Form, with the final goal for any Adept of Unity is to become a True Being, whatever that is.” Alex spoke to Nova, using her as an excuse to fill the oppressive silence of his room.

“The few pages of the second chapter which touch upon advancing to Divine Initiation mention “defining yourself”. Perhaps, with this, I’m one step closer to defining myself.

Hearing Alex’s voice, and feeling the intent behind the words, Nova hissed again, this time expressing displeasure, sending a mental message to Alex.

“I’m so sorry, We’re one step closer to defining ourselves,” Alex answered her as his laughter ringed in his room.