ALL NOVEL Chapter 32: Imprint
As with all gateways, there was another side.
As with all gateways, the transition there was mildly uncomfortable.
But this sensation was different from all the other times. Rather than disorienting confusion, this one felt like I was searching for something. Less being transported, more shown the road. To a different side that only I would see.
And shown the road I was.
A myriad, myriad roads, even. Wherever my eyes drifted, there was a path. Each different, each one mine. There was no limit to where I could go, an infinite reflection of roads and roads and roads. This was Self-Similarity. I needed to make my imprint.
I stepped forward.
The path I chose didn’t matter, all of them were mine. Yet, once I took my step, it was solid behind me. Forever locked in. No longer reflecting others, but made mine. My imprint, my step, forever frozen in eternity.
I took another step.
Moving forward here was difficult. It felt as though there was a pressure on me, the familiar pressure of cultivation. At the very foundation, it was to imprint one’s will onto the world, and that is what I would do. Except, rather than one world, this would imprint my will on each and every last one of them.
Each parallel me, each sideways future, each path forward would see this bit. Would see how I stepped, how I walked. And an infinite amount of worlds pressed down on me.
Not that I cared.
I brushed the pressure aside and stepped forward, another bit of road forming behind me. My destiny, the infinite possibilities stretched out before me.
The divines wanted to choose one for me. The usurpers and keepers wanted my road to end. Both were inacceptable.
I would have no one choose my fate. No one picked my road for me.
A dozen paths disappeared, and infinite still remained.
Every step forward felt as though I closed a lock. Well, no, perhaps not. It felt like a promise to myself. Bit by bit, I could see the other side draw closer.
I was unsure what awaited there, but I pressed on. Making an imprint, a difference, in the interwoven self-similarity of fate. Changing the patterns that seemed to underlie every decision, seemed to dictate the flow of the world.
The feeling was strange, and occasionally, I felt the urge to vomit. It was like having the awareness of being in a cage, while simultaneously figuring out how to escape it.
Step by step, I could feel Qi filtering into me. No, perhaps that was wrong. Voyage had Qi filter into me, as I aligned myself with the world and its freedom. Imprint didn’t have it filter into me, it was as though I was reclaiming Qi from the prison I was held in, taking it for myself.
A different perspective, yet both wished for freedom. I smiled. Apparently, some things about my character were consistent, at least.
After another hundred steps, I could feel the pressure become too much to bear, like a wall in front of me, and I slowly opened my eyes. I could feel my mirror core pulsing in my chest, filled to the brim with Qi, its walls expanding. I had come close to a breakthrough, but it needed some time for the wall to become a bottleneck.
Then, I would overcome it.
For now, though, I gazed at the stars with Ann, continuing our journey. Her eyes were shut, too. Perhaps she was drawing in some mana to expand her reserves.
A sigh left my lips. This was the life I’d chosen for myself on this side. Being under a lilac sky, where star after star appeared. Not long later, we made camp for the night. The twins had found their roles by now, and worked smoothly alongside the rest of us. Reya helped Liam, mostly, the two of them working in silence, while Eric seemed to help Marie with cooking.
The evening drifted by, I took my watch, and nothing happened. I polished my spear, same as I always did. Simply because it could be repaired hardly meant I would leave it in poor condition. The metal tip gleamed by the time I was done, reflecting the faint light of the two moons, and the wood of the shaft smooth to the touch.
I smiled, woke Marie for next watch, then headed back to sleep.
Day after day drifted by. I faced the bottleneck for my mirror core, and when I got frustrated, I focused back on voyage. Due to its freedom, the bottlenecks there were much easier to overcome. Imprint was all about proving myself, so they were more difficult there. I understood that, but still couldn’t help but get a little frustrated.
Every time, Ann would notice and squeeze my hand a bit more.
And every time, I would open my eyes, sigh, and think it over. It felt as though I was missing something, like stubbornly moving forward wasn’t the way to go. But then again, maybe I just needed to be more stubborn. There was just nothing telling me what to do.
That was how personalized paths worked, of course. They would be more fitting, more satisfying to traverse, and bring greater gains, but they usually took time to develop, explore, and figure out. No one else would have gone the same journey, so it was a lot of relying on instincts and trusting yourself.
Despite that, it was still always frustrating to have your progress stall. Of course it was, but despite that, I kept trying. And trying. And trying.
Imprint didn’t get easier, didn’t settle into a regular bottleneck. The wall simply stood, seeming ever solid. Impassable.
And it remained like that, all the way until we were back at castle Arhan.
We could see it in the distance a while before we reached it, since there was a bright fire lit atop the highest tower. Right where Orvan’s tower rose. It took me a moment to feel the energy radiating from it, and realize why there hadn’t been any monsters attacking us during the journey.
The old archmage had lit a lure atop the castle. Something to attract any monsters, especially the mindless ones. There must have been hundreds, slowly slinking closer to the castle, and hundreds again sprinting as fast as they could.
I shook my head at the old wizard’s antics. In truth, I appreciated it. There were many creatures out here that soldiers behind castle walls were more suitable to fight than us. And soon, some of those soldiers bid us in the walls. Captain Lirya greeted us, her Raven hair thick with sweat.
“Ah, you’re back!” she said. “Finally, I can get the wizard to extinguish that damn beacon. Hopefully it was worth it. All of you made it back?”
Marie nodded in reply. “Yeah, we’re all in one piece. Luckily. Got into a close call though.”
“I bet,” the captain said, then scoffed. “Sending a party of your level at a nest is real crappy. Didn’t imagine I’d see all of you again. Happy to see you back.”
She stretched out a hand, and Marie shook it firmly. “Good to be back as well,” she said with a thin smile. “If you don’t mind, we’ll be heading for the same rooms as before?”
“Suit yourselves,” Lirya answered with a shrug. She grabbed her helmet and tucked it under her armpit. “I’m gonna tell our archmage to tone down the beacon and let the guards sleep a little for once.”
With that, she headed off, metal boots clinking against the stone floor. Marie stood for a moment more, taking a deep breath, and then smiled at us. She clapped softly. “Alright everyone, let’s get ourselves presentable. I’ll see you in time for dinner. We’ll talk on what to do next, then.”
With quick goodbyes, people split off. Liam, Matt, Emilia and Marie each on their own. Eric and Reya together, as well as Ann and I.
Taking a bath in relative safety again for once felt incredible. Having Ann for company made it even sweeter, her soaked red locks turning the colour of dark wine. Cleaning our travel clothes took longer, and we left them out to dry. They wouldn’t do that in the inventory, so we deposited all them on the ground and put on more comfortable clothes instead.
We were allowed to bring some things to Eden from Neamhan, and clothes were an easy and cheap pick in terms of points. Having a comfortable shirt was sometimes worth its weight in gold, such as today.
Seeing the others at dinner was funny. Liam wore a second set of robes that almost fully covered him, while Matt wore a loose fitting pink hoodie. There was just something quite jarring about seeing Eric wearing white and golden cleric robes, while Reya instead wore a shirt with a large panda printed on it.
I held back a chuckle, sitting down myself, wearing a set of comfortable leggings, and a long sleeved, striped shirt. There were, as always, a couple odd looks, but we ate regardless. About halfway through, Orvan came in, plopped a cup of tea down in front of me, and had a plate of the meal float onto the table in front of him.
He ate a few bites as I stared at him. Eventually he swallowed, looked up, gazed between me and the cup, then spoke. “Drink. Gods have another message to you. I’m eating to delay and piss them off.”
I snickered, revelling in the tiny rebellion. “Alright, old man. Tell me only once you’re completely stuffed, yeah?”
He grinned, despite the gazes from my party. “I’d never deliver news on an empty stomach.”
And at the rebellion, I felt the wall in my soul loosen a little.