Try again; You were closer this time.

Ugh, never say the word time to me ever again. Caeden groaned. He was still trying to figure out how to fix the Blade Forge’s time. It was mind-bendingly difficult. Caeden felt like he was trying to run his brain through a straw while doing complex ether-refining calculations.

“He’s not wrong. That was a lot closer than last time. I’ve almost got a handle on it” Father’s words skipped across Caeden’s soul to settle in his head. They’d been working together to figure this out. Caeden could freely admit, two minds were better than one. They had twice the amount of mental effort to put into the problem. That didn’t make it any less of a pain.

They were trying to divorce Father’s sense of time from Caeden’s. This was the first method that the researcher had outlined, the less ideal one. Caeden hadn’t abandoned the second method, but this one was supposed to be easier, especially while Caeden’s consciousness was in a timeless zone like the soul plane. It placed both his consciousnesses in a similar space. If Caeden had tried to do this with the rules of the Starry Sea interfering, it would be even harder.

With that in mind, they were taking this one step at a time. First, separate Father and Caeden’s perceptions. Second, learn to defy the Starry Sea’s forced perception. Both are incredibly difficult but made easier by doing them separately instead of simultaneously.

Despite taking the easier route, Caeden could feel himself starting to flag. This was mentally exhausting, and his desire to go and see his friends was a constant pressure. But he needed to figure this out now when he had the chance. Even a minor command of time would give him so much leeway in the upcoming events and act as an insurance policy should things at the Tournament of Powers descend into chaos.

Caeden was very aware that the Revolution was at the Tournament and colluding with at least one national leader, possibly more. Worse, he had no idea what they were doing beyond acting as an arms-dealing organization. That unknown was a big warning sign in the back of his mind. Something he previously had little control over, so he didn’t let it worry him.

Now, Caeden could feel the fast track to power, something no one in the Starry Sea could imagine, opening up before him. It seemed foolish not to make that the priority. But he’d been living out of time too long. Now that the option to just stop and go back to something more normal was present, it was tempting.

I’m frustrated. This is borderline impossible. Caeden acknowledged, both to himself and the researcher.

“Join the club. Time is still passing here, and I have more Bladeborne to forge.” Father sighed.

I know. It kills me that we’re taking so long to do this. Caeden agreed. Because they were now on a timer. Caeden had to get this done or stop for a while to let Father catch up with the number of Baldeborne he needed to make to keep their children’s population stable. There were consequences to their delays.

Channel your frustration. Understand and actualize your control over yourself and over the time within the Blade Forge. You know you can do this because you already have. Just, not consciously or precisely. Don’t overthink it. This is a small step compared to defying the forced perception of a universe.

Easy for you to say, Mr. Universe-maker. Caeden grumbled.

Hey, now. It took centuries of experimentation and practice to perfect a multi-consciousness non-linear temporal separation. Two consciousnesses attached to one soul tends to complicate perception-based concept magic.

This counts as magic? It’s pretty different from what Cat can do with her Mana and however that works.

You’re subverting the fundamental laws of a universe, kiddo. That’s magic. It just so happens that you’re operating on a more instinctual level than the strictures of Mana-based magic. Technically, all your shrouds are magic. But the definition of magic is so broad as to be unhelpful in defining most things, so any expert will usually avoid the term.

Then why are you using it?

It’s a convenient catch-all when talking to the uninformed or ignorant.

Wow, thanks.

I’m not being mean. Your universe only has access to a single type of magic. A type that is in-born and mostly will-based. You don’t have access to the breadth of magic that can be found across the whole of existence. Of course you’re ignorant.

That’s fair, I guess.

It is. Now, focus.

Caeden sighed. They were close. But they’d been close from the start. Two consciousnesses worth of willpower was enough to almost brute-force the issue, but it wasn’t enough. They hadn’t made any noticeable progress the entire time.

“I’ve been thinking,” Father spoke up.

Ok? Caeden’s connection with his other consciousness was strange. He had a second consciousness; how wouldn’t it be strange? He could read Father’s mind at will, and Father could read his. They could share memories and were essentially the same personality. But the more time they spent as different consciousnesses, the more their thought processes had started to diverge.

Both had initially found that scary. What happened if they changed so much that they couldn’t work together anymore? But that was a silly thought, and they recognized it immediately. They could read each other like an open book. There was no denying access or hiding; they had the same soul. Who else could you trust more than yourself? Especially when you knew their thoughts.

That subtle but growing difference in their thought processes could even benefit them, as they could approach problems from a different angle.

“That’s exactly it!” Father said, catching onto Caeden’s train of thought. “We’re becoming demonstrably different over time. I think that’s the key. We’ve been combining our mental efforts, trying to simultaneously force the time in the Blade Forge to flow faster compared to your perception. But instead, I think we should pull away from each other.”

I’m listening.

“Ok, well, you should anchor your perception of time, focus on the flow you’re currently experiencing. Then, I pull as hard as I can, ignoring your perception. Then I anchor it at a faster point. Even if it’s just a second faster, if I can do it over and over again…”

Eventually, we can make as big of a relative time difference as we want. Caeden nodded. It made sense, and he felt stupid for not having noticed the issue sooner. Their whole problem was sharing the same time perception. When they combined their minds to force the perception change, it was like trying to get off an ethership in motion after tying yourself to it. They’d been handicapping themselves.

I’m game if you are. I think it’ll work.

“Ready?”

Caeden mentally focused on the flow of time in his perception, something he’d become much better at since they’d started. He grabbed hold tight and imagined his time perception wrapped in heavy chains, held in place.

Ready.

Caeden could feel the intense pull in the back of his mind as Father attempted to drag the Blade Forge’s time into a faster pace than his own. Usually, he’d be right there, pushing it along. This time, he kept himself locked in place, making sure his perception of time didn’t creep up to match. And for the first time, there was progress.

I can’t believe that worked.

“You’re telling me,” Father huffed after he stopped. The difference in temporal flow was tiny but noticeable. For every twenty-four hours that Caeden perceived, Father would perceive twenty-six. “Now, we just need to push it to the limit.”

{}

Bending the time experienced by two consciousnesses attached to the same soul, both in different timeless dimensions and planes, made it fairly difficult to mark time’s passing in a meaningful way. So by the time they were satisfied, Caeden wasn’t really sure how long it took them. All he knew was that he was exhausted.

I’m genuinely impressed. You managed to figure it out in a decently timely manner. Now you just have to maintain this temporal dissonance once you’re back in the Starry Sea universe. That’ll be the real test.

Yeah, I know. Caeden sighed. He wasn’t looking forward to the next challenge.

Well, I won’t keep you. Your mental capacity is nearing its limit, so I’d advise that you get some sleep. That’ll give you a good opportunity to see how Father handles the mental load unassisted.

Sounds like a plan. Caeden mentally waved goodbye, not even bothering to wait for the researcher to kick him out. At this point, the CMS couldn’t keep him out of his body if he wanted to go back.

The shift back to the Starry Sea was jarring, and they nearly lost their grip on the temporal dissonance. The researcher hadn’t been joking. The inherent laws of the universe tried to assert themselves immediately, overwhelming Caeden’s mind. Luckily, he wasn’t alone.

At this point, Father could independently hold up the dissonance, and the Starry Seas laws didn’t extend to him since he was in another dimension. Caeden time perception could only affect Father’s if they wanted it to. That was what they’d been training for.

Going forward, it would be up to Caeden to figure out how to defy the forced perspective of the Starry Sea, but that was a problem for another day. Not everything had been accomplished. Caeden hadn’t had the full conversation he needed to with the researcher. But he was wiped. Without slipping back into the Blade Forge to cheat his sleep requirements, Caeden needed rest.

He wasn’t going back to the Blade Forge, even if that was the objectively most optimal option. He wanted to see Lily. He was sick and tired of putting it off. It was time to go back. The portal back to the Hearthhome opened on the wall, and Caeden trudged through it.

His increased sensitivity to dimensional forces picked up on the shift he experienced as he walked through folded space. Somehow, having that added understanding spared him the vertigo and sickness he’d experienced the first time he’d gone through. The incomprehensibly vast improvements made to his soul helped as well.

He had entered that portal about to die from complications with his Sharp shroud’s integration. In the meantime, he had gained a new Throne shroud, one that had generated its own domain, completed his shroud’s integration, accidentally activated his new shroud’s Incarnation, entered an alternate dimension for a genuinely stupid amount of time, improved his ethersmithing to a level beyond Grandmaster, created a race of sentient blades, formed a second consciousness, and partially mastered a time control spell.

Just thinking about it all made Caeden’s head spin. This was, by far, the most massive increase in power he’d ever experienced. From a combat perspective, he wasn’t even the same person anymore. He’d evolved to such a degree that no one his age could be considered a challenge. He could probably take on anyone under a hundred years of age, no problem.

But that wasn’t enough. He was still no match for the top shrouded, the ones who had lived for tens of thousands of years. And he needed to be. War was approaching. They were doing their best to ward it off, but Caeden doubted the Revolution would let that happen. Their leader wanted a war, and Caeden knew too little to stop his plans.

Worse, his friends weren’t strong enough. They were amazing, transcendent talents, all of them. But they were still only a year into their training. It was impossible to reach the level of the very best in that time, no matter how hard they trained.

But Caeden planned to fix that starting tomorrow.

Dragging himself through the Hearthhome, Caeden headed toward the library. A glance at a clock revealed that it was late in the afternoon, the Pillar just starting to dim. At a time like this, Lily would be in the library.

And there she was, sitting in a comfortable chair, reading off a CV tablet. Caeden smiled. She, of course, looked the same as he remembered. For her, a day had passed. She’d seen him this morning. Their days couldn’t have been more different. He shifted forward, causing the floor to creak.

Lily glanced up, smiling at him. “Hey, where have you been all day? I went looking for you, but you’d left the ship. I thought we weren’t doing that?” Caeden could see that she’d been worried. Her relief was written all over her face.

He crossed the room, scooping her up and holding her tight. Caeden paused for a moment, taking it in. He was back. Better than ever, and everyone was still here. He wasn’t lost in a molten sea. He didn’t return to a burnt war-torn wasteland.

“Cae?”

He set her back down, but not before delivering a firm kiss on her lips. “You would not believe the day I’ve had.”