17, Aftermath

When I opened my eyes I couldn't see anything.

I could feel my tears running down my face and I had a great pain in my chest.

It wasn't like I had been hit, it was as if something was missing or broken.

My vision started to return and it came with the feeling of Jaqueline's blood on my hand and I began to shake.

It didn't take long before I started vomiting up everything I had in me.

Only when I had finished vomiting up bile and stopped dry heaving did Octatus speak.

"Well that was nasty. Call me insensitive, but are you ready to continue up to the next floor?"

In a weak shaky voice I spoke

"It's over?"

"Of course it is"

All I remember hearing before I passed out face first into my own pool of vomit.

—

While I was unconscious I had another strange dream again, one so realistic it couldn't have just been a dream.

I was standing atop a tower spire overlooking a vast flourishing city that stretched out towards the horizon.

In this body I seemed to be able to enhance my vision naturally allowing me to see the farthest walls thousands of miles away.

The city was broken into 5 concentric circles, each holding 5 zones.

In the outermost zone, just within the outer wall there were dense forests with several clearings where several small settlements throughout.

The people there were tending fields full of various plants that all had a strange sheen to them.

I wasn't familiar with what they were growing, but all the people there looked well taken care of.

They were slightly dirty and dressed simply but despite this they looked to be well off and happy with their lives.

I moved my attention to look at the area within the fourth wall; it contained a lively class of people living a city life.

There were booming shops, restaurants and other businesses, couples out and about looking for and more.

There was nothing magical in use within this area but they were better dressed than the outer circle.

Their wardrobes had more variation in color and cut but they weren't very vibrant, a peculiarity was that no jewelry could be seen.

These people could still be seen to live quite happily and there was some simple use of technology.

Again I moved to the next ring, this was where the magic started to be seen in daily use.

Their clothing was very vibrant with several people wearing neon colors but the majority of the citizens in this ring were wearing non neon but well dyed clothing.

There was still no one wearing any jewelry, the decoration of choice in this ring seemed to be a modified walking stick.

Staffs and canes seemed to be everywhere, they came in colors going from metallics to solid colors to patterns and solids.

There was one commonality between every stick they carried.

Each and every one had a crystal of some kind embedded into it.

Some had crystals on one end, on both ends, studded throughout with smaller ones or larger crystals, others simply had a single large stone embedded somewhere.

The staff evoked some feelings of curiosity but the next ring looked far more interesting.

The people in the middle ring were using all kinds of magic constantly, it seemed to be the busiest zone.

There were people flying to get around some used items others didn't.

Some teleported short distances, popping in and out of existence.

Many were selling magical items, pulling things in and out of storage items and more.

Many beasts could be seen in this area, they were bought and sold, fighting and being used as transport for both goods and people

While this ring had a good contrast to the outer 2 circles and held my attention for some time, eventually though I lost my fascination with the ring and went to the next.

My gaze turned to the wall's second innermost ring, the one second closest to me.

It was within this ring that I finally found people wearing jewelry.

It seemed to be the status identifier of this ring, much like the cane and staff were in the previous one.

This ring was much less populated in comparison to the other rings.

The houses were far larger in this area, it might be better to call them castles or fortresses instead.

These people fit the aristocratic stereotype, there were extremely lavish areas full of all kinds of treasures.

Other than the sheer ostentatiousness of their homes and wardrobes there was nothing interesting here.

The people living in the houses had others to do the chores and those individuals wore simple unadorned clothing that was clean but not anything special.

The owners of the castle seemed to be powerful but they didn't seem like much to me so I didn't linger much longer in this area.

Within the innermost circle there was nothing but the tower on which I was standing, its base took up the entire area.

Within the tower I could make out some dark skinned people that were all dressed in the same simple white clothing tied with a belt, it looked extremely familiar but I couldn't make out the faces.

When I tried to focus my vision it became even more unfocused.

Before I could make out any details I was struck with a sudden dizzy spell and lost my balance causing me to fall off the top of the tower.

It was a long fall to the ground and when I hit it, I jolted awake only to find myself in a bed covered in sweat.

I blinked twice in confusion, the last thing I remembered was passing out in the tower.

The memory and sensation in my hand of killing the little girl struck me again but this time I was able to hold my nausea and didn't vomit.

I looked around to try and figure out where I was.

I was back in my room, not at Octatus' guest house, but the one we built on the edge of the tepui.

The room was empty.

Aside from the bed there was a stone table raised from the floor and resting on it were clay tablets.

I threw off the covers, got out of bed and walked over to the table.

My first steps were unsteady but after a few more they regained their steadiness.

There were two tablets stacked on top of eachother sitting on the table.

I picked up the top one and read what was on it.

'Dear Etanali, please take your time.

The trials of the tower are horrible and cruel, come out when you are ready.

I do not know what you faced within the illusions but you made it out.

Remember that: You. Are. Out.

Practice this technique, it will help you return to your original mental state.

No matter what you did or what happened to you, you are still the same good kid we raised.

We will be waiting for you when you are ready to come out.

Love, Your Parents'

I set the tablet to the side on the table and saw my hand trembling.

It was the same one that held the dagger.

For a second I saw the blade in my hand still covered in that little girl's blood, but it faded as fast as it appeared.

I grabbed it with my right hand to stop it from shaking.

"It was a kindness during a horrible situation inside an illusion. It was only an illusion. There was no body so no one died."

My voice felt hollow in my own ears and I didn't really believe my own words but apparently it was enough to stop my hand from trembling.

I picked up the next tablet and read the title before carrying it back to my bed.

I sat back down and began to read what was written on it.

'Mindscape Modification & Fortification Technique.

Created by Grand Scholar Sierpinski.

Many things can affect your mind and in turn contort your Mindscape.

The most effective way to repair your mental state from trauma or other issues is to directly alter your mental landscape.

This is commonly referred to as the Mindscape.

There are many functions that relate to the Mindscape some indirectly and some directly but those most commonly focused on are: Mental Stability, Complexity of Thought, Levels of Focus, and Processing Speed.

There are other complicated techniques that make use of the Mindscape such as Mental Storage and Spirit Sense.

These techniques have great effects but they are difficult to master and have a high risk of injury to the practitioner.

Training in this Mindscape technique happens in 4 stages, they are Opening, Expanding, Modifying, and Fortifying.

The first 3 stages have a level of completion, the fourth stage has no upper limit or at least none has been discovered.'

"Wow so you can even store things inside of your mental space"

I flipped the tablet over and on the back I saw a modeled demonstration of the breathing along with the progression of diagrams I need to create.

They started very simple but became exponentially complicated as the stages progressed.

The diagram was a series of triangles repeatedly nesting inside of another triangle without any loosing its equilateral shape.

The first stage was 3 triangles meeting at the corners to form a larger triangle, this was labeled with a number 1.

Then each of the 3 triangles gained a hole making the same shape as stage 1 within each of the 3 triangles to make 9 within the original large one, this was labeled with a 2.

It then proceeded to repeat this with each of the 9 triangles to make 27, this one was labeled 3.

For the next shape the pattern continued and it took some time to count them all but I counted 81 triangles contained within the first one, this shape was labeled with a 4+.

I figured that each triangle would just make more triangles and this was what the instructions meant by there was no upper limit.

After the images and breathing instructions there was more writing, it was a description of each stage in the technique.

'Stage 1, On completion you gain access to the Mindscape.

Stage 2, To complete create four separate connected stage 2 patterns.

Stage 3, To gain complete control within the Mindscape create and connect eight stage 3 patterns.

Stage 4, continue with the pattern and increase your mental stability.'

After memorizing the pattern, I moved myself into the specified position by crossing my legs and getting into the lotus position.

With my back straightened I began to take deep breaths and waited for my mind to clear and enter the state.

I imagined I was listening to the sound of a single drop of water repeatedly falling into a pond where each ripple would push away my extra thoughts and internal dialogue.

When my mind was ready, I started to channel my mana within the core closest to my head and directed the smallest strand I could to go up to my head and enter my brain.

I imagined the tiny thread bloating and changing into a super thin sheet of paper that I could mold and change.

It wasn't fast but it didn't take a long time either, the mana did comply changing its form from string-like into a thin sheet.

I then imagined 'cutting' a perfect equilateral triangle from my sheet of mana.

It took some time to stabilize the image as after each side was cut the mana wanted to dissipate so I had to stop and wait for the images to stabilize before I could continue.

When I finally gained a stable triangle I imagined there was a large hole punch that was triangular and could punch the hole in the shape i just created.

I was large enough to make the original triangles become 3 all connected at the very tips.

I lined up the hole punch and pierced it and instead of forming the shape I distorted the shape and lost control of the mana.

I gained a small headache for that but it wasn't bad enough to stop trying.

I started the process again.

When it came time to punch the hole I made sure to wait much longer and have the mana stabilize much longer than what I thought was necessary.

And this time the punch worked, when the triangle finally created the stage 1 shape a few things happened at once.

I was struck with a horrible headache, much worse than from when I failed the shape.

I Also felt an irresistible pull, dragging me inwards and before I could react or try and stop it I found myself in a different location.

I was floating above a small coniferous forest where the edges of the location were shrouded in fog.

I tried to take a step normally but was unable to, then I tried to imagine myself moving instead and this body finally responded.

I looked at my hand in front of my face and found that I could mostly see through it.

"Whoa!"

"woaw!"

I couldn't help but exclaim at the crazy state of my body, my voice also sounded strange.

It was distorted, it sounded like when I would speak into a fan back on earth, the memory brought a smile to my face as I remembered some of the good times with Lisa.

Focusing back on the present I began to familiarize myself with this new ethereal body.

It took me several minutes to figure out how it worked but now that I did I was finally able to move without any difficulty, so I started to explore the forest below me.

As I descended I finally paid more attention to the trees below and I was shocked to see the size difference between some of the trees below me.

On one side of the forest the trees were slightly larger than what a normal full grown tree should be, but on the other side they were multiple times larger.

The largest trees on the opposite side of the forest were over 3 times bigger than the others.

They were big enough that if they could speak they had the right to call the great redwoods in California little saplings.

I found the size difference between the two sides both fascinating and amusing how there could be such a size difference but I had no objective involving the trees at this point, so I continued to look around.