For as long as he could, Aiden had delayed responding to all of the notifications pestering him while he focused. Khione’s were the most pressing, all the others more a matter of practical application. The specifics, he could feel through his bones, his breath, his soul.

The time had come.

Your Patron, Khione, Greater Paragon of Ice and Nymphs, requests your audience.

Accept?

“Yes.” His body immediately became weightless, his consciousness slipping away. Traces of the earth pressing against his back dissipated as his mind was whisked away to a familiar dreamscape.

As he witnessed before, a crystalline bridge awaited him with a dense fog surrounding all things. He knew what awaited and didn’t question the first step he took. The pain he experienced was mild in comparison to the excruciating experience the first time he’d been there.

This was Khione, the one who even the gods feared, his Patron. He needed to prove himself capable of completing their bargain in order to avoid the consequences of the pact they’d established. He wouldn’t show weakness to her.

Another step. The pain lanced through his foot and stopped at the calf, pressed back by his own power now. A protection forged of his own, the blizzard raging inside of him acted similar to a barrier.

He paid it little mind and continued, one step after the other at a constant pace. His second, and hopefully last time, crossing ended without debilitation or the soul-piercing coldness that threatened to disrupt his entire being.

Grinning, he stepped off the bridge and onto the inverted dome. The slope gave him a little problem, but he held his dignity until he reached a reasonable distance from the greater paragon.

“Stop there. That is far enough.” Her voice that of snow, he felt the chilly disappointment in each word.

He didn’t listen and continued to approach, testing himself with each step he took forward. The ice only teased at his hips, not yet engulfing his entirety. He could get closer, unlike last time. If what he recalled from meeting her previously, the distance he could reach indicated the growth of power in his soul. The actualization of potential proved itself as he took another step forward.

Then another.

Aiden groaned from the mounting pressure and readied himself to take another step.

“Enough.”

He grunted as the pain left his limbs heavy and weak, bitten with frost and achy. “I agree. Now why do you keep interrupting my training for? I already know what the deal we had was, and I’ll be getting to the quest soon. That was the agreement, and I don’t have any intent to go back on my word.”

“Do you think me naive?” Her delicate hand lifted, and his whole soul shook from the chill that erupted underneath their feat to create a table and chair set for both of them. “The presence of myself in you has been detached. Do you wish to rid yourself of my aid so soon?”

“I’ve just been busy.” Aiden didn’t know what to think yet about the whole situation. If what he’d learned about Khione was true, she was truly powerful. That was clear, obvious from the first time he met her.

But if he helped her, what would that do to all of his efforts? If she had the freedom to circumvent the divine realm, cause those who inhabited it to tremble so viciously at the sheer mention of her name, then what would making her whole achieve?

Stuck between a rock and a hard place. There was far too little information available to him, and those who knew weren’t in any rush to share.

“Your indecision is clear. You came to me seeking strength, and I aided you. What you’ve learned in your search must be more concerning than that of even your foe for you to delay as such.” Her crystalline hair shifted as she rested her clasped hands against the table and slightly leaned forward. “I am very interested in this information. In fact, if you tell me, I may consider fulfilling the conditions of our contract. How does that sound?”

That gave him pause. To rid himself of the responsibility of Khione and not have to delve into Halla to seek her missing memories was akin to solving so many of his problems…

Too easily.

Aiden didn’t know the true value of her memories, didn’t know Khione well enough to discern what she might actually do were she to regain her former power, but was he really willing to risk what she might do if he took the easy way out now, absolved himself of all responsibility, and rolled the dice when he was in a position to potentially buy time and find another solution?

Worse than all of that, she had the capacity to circumvent any countermeasures he placed by slipping into whatever dimension Arkayan’s Voidlands consisted of. All that wasn’t his thing and made his head hurt when he thought about it for too long.

However, what he did understand made things quite clear.

Pursing his lips, he stared Khione down and shook his head slowly. “No, I won’t be telling you what I know. I’ll travel to Halla and complete your request. Now please send me back.”

“Such a hurry to get back? What a shame.” She pressed her back flat against the chair and crossed her arms, remaining dangerously still and stoic.

Aiden didn’t dare engage her for fear of what she might do and simply waited for her to give him the go ahead to return to Midrath. He’d made so much progress, integrated everything deep into his core, and could feel the power in his soul. Hell, he’d even proved the increase in his soul’s power.

For a brief moment, he wanted to thank Arkayan, but Khione’s piercing eyes grounded him and shattered the thought faster than it came. Baby blue eyes watched him like a hawk, unflinching, unmoving. They rooted him to the spot.

The longer she stared, the more violent the entire landscape behaved. The winds child him deeper, froze him faster. Shards of ice twirled in a slowly accelerating storm around him, traces of something monstrous, destructive, and far more overbearing than he could hope to handle.

“What is it you want from me?” The winds continued to grow, sharpening and slicing into his pained skin as he stood rooted in place and waited for an answer. “I already told you I’d be going to Halla to retrieve what’s been stolen.”

Again, she didn’t appear to care as additional shards cut into the strange soulflesh that made him up. StrikesEnergy seeped out of him like blood, freezing in the air like shards and hovering toward Khione.

“Does this not break your end of the contract then?” He craned his neck to gesture toward the growing storm.

“Think not of this as a threat but a test. If you resist, then I will not force my Authority upon you. Fail… You don’t want to fail.” Her eyes glinted with a hint of sadistic glee, the corners of her lips tugging ever-so slightly into a brief smirk.

“Then let’s get this over with.” Aiden sat on the freezing ground and blocked out the storm around him, returning to the sitting position he’d maintained for days. “I’m curious to see for myself anyway.”

The growing storm attempted to block out Khione’s regal beauty, but he maintained his eye contact through it as he took a deep breath.

At first, nothing happened. He never expected the first attempt to succeed. Settling in to endure, he took another breath and relaxed his shoulders, letting the magic within the ice flow through him.

After a dozen breaths, the magic density in the icy air pressed down on him, his back struggling to remain upright. Powers greater than he’d experienced snagged at his soul, teasing, testing. True to himself, he remained unwavering.

As the magic attempted to rend his soul to ribbons, Aiden kept breathing and extending his magical senses, bringing to bear the storm he’d stolen from Midrath. Albeit far smaller than what he faced now, the resistance bought him precious time he wouldn’t waste.

Icy pillars crept up from around him, extending and slowly rising from the ground. A crystalline lattice formed and thickened. Blue-tinted mist seeped from the construct, mist that extended his senses to all that resided within.

The first conflict between his own slowly growing blizzard and Khione’s torrent ended with his magic being suppressed in an instant, not even putting up a fight. As the mist spread, the conflicts erupted into a droning noise in the back of his head.

Already, he felt a headache forming from the overwhelming pressure of attempting to resist. He wouldn’t back down now though, wouldn’t let Khione force him down any path that wasn’t one he chose. Not after all the work he’d put into freeing himself from the potential backlash of failing her quest so much already.

As he continued the process of steadily squeezing out as much of the storm as he could, he focused on using it to put up a front resistance but continuously empowered it all the way through, the whole of his mist growing thicker and viscous. It ripped back at the storm, not doing much to slow it but biting back nonetheless.

And with each small bite, a nibble here, a chunk there, his resistance grew.

Everything he could steal from Khione freely would aid him to overcome this test and so many more to come. And so steal he would.

Once his icy mist became thick enough, he ordered it to begin spinning. So far, all he’d done was make very cold air. That wasn’t the essence of a blizzard, and this was a test. He’d test his new abilities to the fullest extent of his capabilities.

Sluggish, resistant, and constantly being chipped away at, his own blizzard began rotating slowly in the opposite direction of Khione’s, the crystalline lattice supplying the magical oomph.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Everything about the world of magic he’d stepped into was far behind the early days of the system when things were simple, systematic. All he had to go on for what he attempted was feel, a deep intuition. What could and couldn’t be done with the Blizzard Discipline was limited to his imagination.

Now, he put his imagination to work as much as he could.

There was no way he could beat Khione in a straight fight, and if she’d wanted, he’d be a frozen block in an instant. What is her game? he wondered as he watched her piercing eyes staring back from through the icy maelstrom.

Whatever her game was, he didn’t have the luxury of thinking too hard about it. He didn’t know what would happen to him if he let the storm rip his soul to shreds, but it sounded like a whole lot of bad.

Closing his eyes for the first time, he put all he could into directing the storm to rotate with the force of nature’s fury, to resist with the unyielding power of permafrost. Even as his powers mounted their paltry but admirable resistance, he understood the impossibility he faced.

He was deeply familiar with each and every part of his storm, having integrated it to be part of him, entirely his. He knew what he could push it to do and how screwed he currently was.

For every part he absorbed from her, he lost three. Applying his Path of Versatility, the Truth of Adaptation [How?]. [How?] the Mystery of Crystallization, Seeking the Nebulus, pushed back to ease that strain.

But in a battle of attrition where this was the best he could do?

The current trajectory looked grim.

One solution called to him: to use Khione’s Authority.

But what would that do? Prove that he needed her? Make him further reliant on their connection?

He could feel Leyla’s power just out of reach, easy to take and freely given. That option was akin to giving up and admitting he wasn’t strong enough yet, again failing him.

There had to be a way, thought maybe Khione was the type that would give him an insurmountable challenge as a way of getting him to do as she wished.

He refused to bend his knee and give up so easily to be a dog on a leash for some uppity paragon who thought she could do whatever she wanted with his life. He refused her and everything she’d given him. Especially that damned Authority.

If he didn’t have it, then he’d be able to find a new Mystery or Truth to fill its place, something he could use to give himself a little bit more of a push.

But how?

He gave what focus he could to sustaining his stalled and trembling blizzard and tried to think of some way, any way at all, to rid himself of her influence upon his soul.

Was there any way to forcibly break the connection to the greater path?

“Do you think yourself so limited, Aiden Pearce? Do you truly believe those three paths is all that you are truly capable of?” She grimaced. “Labels and limitations to one blessed with Enu as you are?” A brief moment accompanied by realization passed. “You’ve not been told, have you, child?”

The blizzard raging around Aiden slowed to a standstill, then died off entirely. He didn’t know if he should keep his guard up. The sudden swap in focus warped with his piqued curiosity and frustration caused him to pause.

With a wave, Khione collapsed his entire structure.

“Change of plans?” he muttered, patting the residual slurry off his pants. By the time he’d risen to his feet, Khione had moved far closer, yet the weight of her soul didn’t bear down on him as it had before. In contrast, it embraced him, soothed the aches on his soul with its cold relief. “What’s the deal?”

He mulled over what she’d said and what might cause her demeanor to change so drastically, going from trying to shred him into Aiden-swiss to embracing him with her magic.

Did he truly believe he could only have those three paths? Hadn’t his whole goal been to free the world of magical restraints? So then why would he still apply the restrictions to himself, just because he kept the interfacing system that allowed him to be able to better understand what everything meant just a little bit more?

He didn’t know, but Khione made it seem like he should.

And Enu? The undiluted world essence? What did that have to do with him?

But again, Khione’s words gave him pause.

“You avoid me and seem in such a rush to do away with our agreement. Let me ask you this, Aiden Pearce, what have you heard that you have accepted without skepticism and let cloud your mind and actions?”

“Nothing good.”

"Why are you so quick to believe them?"

“From the experience I have, the more power one of you has, the more you’re willing to use it for some selfish reason.” He pointed at her. “Considering how so many people are afraid of you, it doesn’t seem impossible that you’re even worse than they are,” he explained and watched for a reaction.

As cold as ice, she didn’t grace him with a reaction. She impassively regarded him. “Do you know what it means to become a paragon, Aiden Pearce?”

“Somewhat, though the specifics are lost on me,” he admitted, uncertain whether he should be entertaining conversation with her at all.

“The specifics aside, I’ll summarize for you. Walking the path of a paragon requires abandoning godhood, casting away the innately gifted spark of divinity. It is seen as an impossible path, one which I have walked for eons.”

“And that somehow means you can’t abuse your power and threaten those weaker than you, treating them as insignificant?” He was about ready to find a way out of the dreamscape—soulscape?

“It is correct to say those weaker than myself are insignificant, so why would I bother myself with them?” Three humanoid ice constructs floated around her, varying in size. “Mortal, divine, the other minor paragons, they are all alike.” She closed her hands, and all three constructs exploded into a slurry blown away by a chilling gust. “What I seek is far beyond this realm, beyond the boundaries of Ithalon.”

“So? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Bothering myself with the trappings of this realm is a tedious endeavor I find greatly infuriating, and I’d have long since moved along if the collective of the so-called Divine Realm hadn’t unified to steal something precious to me, something I’ve tasked you to fetch. This is all that binds me here.” Another ice construct that took her shape had a small hole inside, and the hole kept moving to different places. First her stomach, then her heart, then her head. “I know not what I’ve lost, but it is of great importance to me and my quest to reach pinnacle enlightenment.”

“Nothing you’re telling me makes me want to help you anymore. If this is your sales pitch, it’s pretty bad.” He shrugged. “Let’s say I help you. What stops you from becoming even worse than them once you figure out what exactly it is that was stolen?” He sighed. “And I’ve had the unfortunate chance of encountering a couple of them, though indirectly. They don’t appear to work together very often, so what is it about you that would make so many from the Divine Realm put aside their differences to work together?”

“I am of an era predating them, one that even predates many of the primordials. My mere existence is a threat to all that they believe, all that they know, for they have sheltered themselves behind a fog of lies and disillusion.” She sighed, finally showing a hint of emotion through her stoic demeanor. “I feel the energy inside you, dormant and passive. The energy of the one who gave me life through creation."

“So the gods saw you as a threat and attacked you?” That sounded like them. “And I somehow have a mystery magic inside me that predates the time of literal gods? How?”

"Your Mortal Severance and Transcendental Entwinement has been blessed by my creator, The One of Truth. Receiving his Blessing is more than enough to instill Enu into a being, especially a mortal like yourself."

Aiden shook his head. If his soul could get a headache, it would feel like this. “Your creator, a being that creates entire realms, decided to bless me? I don’t suppose you’d know what possessed him to do such a thing?”

“I would enjoy discovering the answer to that question, but as of now, I haven’t any idea as to the greater machinations of The One of Truth’s will.”

“That’s just great,” he muttered, his shoulders slouching. “This doesn’t get any less complicated, does it?”

She crossed a leg over the other and clasped her hands together. “I have been very straightforward with my desires, so what makes you so willing to consider me your enemy? From where I sit, things are very simple.”

“Is it that simple? What stops you from doing this yourself? Why me?” That question had been bothering ever since he received the task, but he’d needed her power at the time and wasn’t in a position to question such things. “And what does it mean that I have Enu?”

If she was as powerful as everyone thought, why didn’t she demand back what was stolen and beat anybody to a pulp who didn’t acquiesce? Then again, the whole Upper Realm had united against her, so it’s not like she was all-powerful.

Trying to understand all this is such a pain, he groaned internally, trying to weigh all the information he had available into something reasonable. It wasn’t working.

“It means everything,” she instantly responded, eyes glinting with a hint of excitement. “Let us return to earlier in the conversation. You say you’ve heard nothing good of me, but it’s all slander. I can guarantee this.”

Now they were getting somewhere. “How can you do that?”

Khione snapped, and a wall of ice the size of a house appeared behind her. The image of her he’d spoken with thus far dissipated. The smooth wall distorted, blending into a multitude of colors, then settled into a monotone black all the way across.

All but for Khione, floating aimlessly through the emptiness. She oriented toward him and placed herself against the mirror. “Because I’ve been trapped for a long time in the depths of Void, cast here after being betrayed. I cannot return to demand anything, cannot leave this realm. I stay here because I am kept here, not of my own will.”

“But haven’t you learned to navigate the Void? That’s what Arkayan said, anyway.” Aiden winced. He might have just figured out what exact memories were taken from Khione, then wondered how he would get them to her even if he were to find them.

Probably magic.

The amount of unanswered questions continued to grow with every answer he received. If the Upper Realm was so afraid of Khione, why did they capture her to steal away her memories, then throw her into the emptiness of Void?

Things weren’t adding up, and he was supposed to make some hefty choices in the near future about the fate of the realm.

“If I knew, I know not at this time.” She looked around her, staring at something far off.

A storm of thin needles blinked into existence around her and immediately started degrading. They erupted forward toward something he couldn’t see. The only thing that clued him into something at all was a trail of violet blood.

The mirror shook, then the entire soulscape began to collapse around him.

“I don’t have long, Aiden Pearce. I am not your enemy. Your enemies are closer to you than you realize. Please, you’re my last hope of ever escaping this nightmare.”

The mirror shattered with an explosion of icy shrapnel. Within seconds, the soulscape collapsed around him, imploding toward the spot the mirror had been.

He worried about whether his soul would return to his body or not as things collapsed, but a thin white wisp slowly approached him, sluggishly floating through the air. Hesitant, he touched his finger to it and gasped away.