Synexus nearly passed out from exhaustion right there in the crater, but Gene urged him to make the climb back up to one of the rooms with a bed. It took longer than either of them expected and as soon as his head hit the mattress, he was out.

  Being underground meant that he had no idea what time it was when he finally woke up under the cold white lights of the facility. Gene was already awake and clearly waiting on him to wake up so plans could be made.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “I was nearly out of mana, and stamina after fighting that Major Locked Memory. The mental strain from watching the memory was what caused the wave of exhaustion though.”

  “Yes, that one was rather tough to watch. I had no idea that all of this was happening back then. Do you want to talk about anything you saw?”

  “Not right now. I think I’m still processing a few things. Seeing what that arrogant man did…” Synexus trailed off as the sight of one of his own people slaughtering dozens of others replayed in his head. Shivers went down his spine before he shook it off. “Anyway, is there anything you want to talk about?”

  “Me? This is all history to me even if this most recent memory was one that I hadn’t previously had. There is much to think about though with my sibling and what their actions were. However, this is your trial. Not mine.”

  “Either way, friends talk to each other, so feel free.” After saying that he jumped off the bed and stretched a little. “Alright, lets head out of here and get back to the city. When we finished that memory, I felt little tugs at my mind directing me back there. I believe the rest of the trial will take place there, but first, I think it’s time I start working on creating my skill.”

  Gene nodded. “I believe you’re right. We can make good time flying back, stay in the tower of the forge one night to rest up a little more, and then head out to the ponds.”

  With a plan in place, they began the trek up the rest of the floors, and then out the door back to the Timeless Flats and the light of the two suns. Once outside, they both took to the sky and flew in the direction of the city.

  ***

  As they got close, Synexus could see that it looked different. The System had changed the city to look like it did when the war started. Smoke rose from certain buildings. Part of the city was already on fire, but the fire didn’t seem to spread at all. Filling the streets were tiny silver dots which he knew were all locked memories. It seems completing the major memory had progressed his trial.

  The Aether Forge tower was largely unchanged, and they cleared it before securing the door and settling in for the night. As they lay there, Synexus started to think about everything he had seen so far in his trial. His timeline was scribbled on the wall next to him and mentally he added that horrific major memory as the most recent one so far. What worried him most was that it wasn’t the end of the trial which meant there was even more to come.

  “My theory is that all these memories around the city are going to be centered around my father. The final memories of my trial will be their deaths.”

  Gene didn’t respond even though Synexus knew they were still awake.

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  ***

  When sunlight bounced off the walls from the top of the tower down to where they were, their morning started. To avoid progressing the trial too quickly, both immediately took to the skies towards the ponds to not engage anymore memories.

  With flying, it only took them about fifteen minutes to get out to their favorite training spot. They took in the fresh air and the beauty of the spot that seemed to never change.

  “So, what do you have in mind for your combat skill? Keep in mind the more complex, the longer it will take. We have been in here for roughly two and a half years. I could see this part taking you about five years on average.”

  “Hopefully I can be above average then.” Synexus started to pace back and forth. “To answer your question though, I’m a bit torn. One of my weaknesses, as I see it, is that I have to touch the enemy with my sensors to take full advantage of my new weapon or learn their weaknesses. Now this isn’t too detrimental because I can still use my katana like a normal katana, and I can use my various plants to take down my enemy. My other weakness that I’ve found in the middle of fights is manually pulling the seeds or plants from my bag in order to deploy countermeasures. With my increased stats, this is done pretty quickly, but not instantaneously. I’ve been studying my bag ever since I obtained Mana Sense and I’m confident I could create a skill that will have similar properties except I’ll be able to summon them with a thought like Zuls can with her bonded.”

  Gene’s eyes lit up. “Your assessment is correct. I can’t give too much away, but it’s possible that later, on your class path, you will be able to read foundations at a distance. The second option you mentioned, however, would cover a weakness in combat for you while also being something completely off the class path.”

  “Well, that settles it! Now let’s see, I’ll need space mana, creation mana, nature mana…” Synexus started groundwork on his balance for his new skill while Gene took his spot up in the closest tree to watch his friend attempt something incredibly difficult and ambitious.

  ***

  Mana gathered around Synexus and slowly flowed into his body. A rainbow of colors became bright white once inside, but instead of directing all that power back out of the body and into an object, he had to condense it down further and imprint his own soul.

  Five years may sound like a long time, but when you spend days inside pure meditation at a time with all your focus on the task at hand, it can go by pretty quickly. Before Synexus knew it another three years had passed, and he had barely made progress on creating a skill.

  “You must condense it even further. Remember this mana must be potent enough to permanently change your soul.”

  This was of course, the thousandth time that Gene gave him this advice and each time he did, in fact, condense the mana with more force only to get the advice again.

  “How in Motholo did Zunzutoxian figure this out on his own?” He managed to get out between ragged breaths.

  “Through hard work and dedication. He researched this for centuries before even attempting what you’re doing. Not only that, but space mana is notoriously hard to work with.”

  “I bet I could have already got the other skill done.” Synexus said in a mumble that Gene pretended not to hear.

  “You are improving even if it’s only bit by bit. It’ll be like when you succeeded in making the enchantment. You won’t fully understand the process until you do it for the first time, but don’t think it won’t be just as difficult the second time. Unlike the enchanting, this process is more involved and varies between each skill you decide to make.”

  “So, you don’t have any advice besides trying to compress it further?”

  The owl sighed. “Hmm, I will say this, but you do need to figure it out on your own. Think about the skill you want to create. Think about how it will operate and what it will essentially look like when it’s completed. Then inspect your mana as you are filtering it and compressing it down and ask yourself if it looks like the skill you envisioned.”

  Synexus began to gather mana again trying to understand what Gene was hinting at. Days later he failed yet again, but he did believe he was onto something.

  “Synexus, we’ve been out here for months. Let’s head back and you can view a couple of memories before getting some proper rest. Perhaps taking your mind off of it for a short time will help to enlighten you.”

  He nodded and they both flew back to the city to chip away at the locked memories that were rampaging through the empty streets.