Taken Horizon Origin, volume 1, Duality

Episode 2 : aspects of the mind

Thorn looked at me dumbfounded as he processed what I just said before letting out a confused, "huh?"

"Get a move on before you lose the tracks."

"No. Explain why you suddenly want to go on a lonely pilgrimage through this place like a Tibetan monk."

"My martial arts are lacking, and I've got other stuff to deal with as well." I stated deadpan

"Seriously? You've got aether! Destruction incarnate! The better attrium! Why the hell do you need to suddenly go old school?" Thorn shouted sounding like a shady businessman

With a sigh I answered, "remember how attrium was quite literally killing Cayde near the end of the demon-human war?"

"That was the entire war, but continue." Thorn mocked

"Well, his body not being able to handle it was one of the reasons." I stated ignoring his previous remark

"You're an idiot."

ignoring what he said again I continued my point, "My body is beyond the normal limits being made of Fenrir's, outer gods, and dragons essences. If I can reach the physical limit then there's no telling how much further I can go. I may just be able to properly contain it, I will succeed where Cayde failed."

seeing how I was losing Thorn I got straight to the point, "My body can become a more suitable container for aether preventing me from exploding into thousands of tiny pieces." A heavy seriousness put a weight on my words, "unlike last time with attrium where Cayde had to transform his body to survive, my body will be able to hold the power inside me this time instead of going wild like before."

My gaze held strong as Thorn let out a big yawn, "fine. Temper yourself like the sword you are. Just know I'm going to have all the fun." Thorn flapped his large wings to fly but right before he got any further he turned his head to speak. "you better make it worth it, princess." Setting off after the runaway bears Thorn vanished over the frozen ridge.

[witch queen questions why you think the body is needed for you to get stronger?]

After a short pause I answered back in a sassy tone. "I just revealed a portion of Cayde's painful past to you. Prove how smart you are and figure it out."

[witch queen laughs at your audacity but gladly takes on the challenge]

[deserts golden hawk commends your revolutionary spirit!]

Shaking my head I felt the sarcasm drain out of me, "that damned bird."

***

After walking for maybe several days I came upon an isolated cove with a slush lake at its center with the same shadow people trying to drink from it as was the situation in the ocean.

The cove was large and the walls were made of pure stone with a few leafless trees taken root in the earth.

"This place will do."

[three eyed djinns is questioning the motives of 'Strife']

[witch queen says to not pry and watch]

Finding a flat rock I got into a cross-legged sit and pulled out the 'tear of stars' elixir.

I've been saving this until I dealt with the problem of my ether hearts. Now that it's solved, it's about time my ether circuits got a jump start and I gained insights into 'eternity of flowing ?' and 'taker of all' at long last.

[three eyed djinns is shocked!]

[three eyed djinns asks how he came upon this object?]

[three gods look at winds of regis]