"Wait a sec- Let me finish absorbing the Tribulation Lightning Energy into My Cells"
Aavesh spoke as he entered a lotus position.
The Heat and the Lightning Peaked around his Body in a beautiful arc before receding inwards.
All this while his strength and came from the fact that his cells were undergoing extreme Metamorphosis and the substructures with him had learned how to Control and absorb a certain amount of Tribulation Lightning Energy.
For some reason his mind had synced temporarily with his Substructure through his subconsciousness and he was able to control them for now- maybe they had synced together because he sensed Danger? He would explore that later- For Now, He could feel the situation was temporary and he needed to sort out things fast.
His Cells reacted very violently with Tribulation Lightning Energy and regarded it as fuel for their Metamorphosis- It was why he displayed such strength in Battle despite being butt naked...
Anyways he was going to fully complete that Transformation and completely absorb the Massive amount of Energy within- Evolution was not easy. But He was not making Evolving his Body - rather through this metamorphosis he was trying to achieve a perfected Physical Body- He wanted to qualitatively improve it without using the drastic Changes Evolution would bring in.
This was the problem before and the solution was lying before him- He needed to finish his Transformation and then- then only would He be capable of Touching that Extreme State Required to access the full potential strength of 'that' Mythic Power.
What he displayed now was a minute fraction of it- besides he needed Tribulation Lightning Energy to achieve this before. Now he wanted to do it himself without the help of the Lightning.
*SSSSSSS
The Void Vibrated around his peaceful figure as his cells trembled in exaltation- The Imperfectness and underoptimization of his biological processes were getting eliminated- For Example, His detoxification process if he consumed too much junk or slow poisons- His Body could do it so much better now! This directly affected his life span and quality of life!
The List of Improvements was incredible!
*BOOOM!
A pale silver light exploded from as his skin shined- He no longer had the redness or strange veins instead his skin glistened in its natural color. An unknown aura of calmness and strength erupted from him. Calm Unhurried Strength.
Upon seeing this the Heart Demons Felt despair while Eon rejoiced! Even the New Gods who had been watching this whole shenanigan nearly popped their eyes out except Irolin.
He touched his chin and spoke," Long has it been since a Perfected Mortal Body had been formed- You have achieved the Qualifications to be my Personal Disciple- We will soon meet Brat- Keep it up and who knows, It won't be long before the Birth of a New God..."
Sierra leaned sideways and kept her head on his shoulders as she spoke," Oh? You are finally taking in a New Disciple? A Personal one at that? Strange you had never done so before... is he unique?"
Irolin spoke calmly as he observed the Light Screen before him," To have achieved a Perfected Mortal Body is the first step to achieving a True perfected Mortal Soul- If he works incredibly hard with these gifts, His future strength will be terrifying... I sense a Unique Mythic Path emerging around him- One thing is Certain- He will not stop at just being a Mortal"
"Huh- You mentioned Perfected and True Perfected, is there a difference?"
Irolin sighed as he replied," Yes and a Truly Powerful Difference at that- It is almost Nigh Impossible to achieve a True Perfected Mortal Body... For that to happen He would need to absorb a Full Solar Flare into his Body and Survive the ensuing Process"
"The Power of the Sun for a Mortal is deadly and can cause unbridled Mutation- It is far more Terrifying than the Tribulation he endured- A lot of prerequisites need to be met... Hah maybe if this was another Era it might be possible... But now Let's see what happens..."
Sierra was stunned for a bit and then closed her eyes with a smile as she peacefully slept on Irolin's Shoulder.
Irolin softly chuckled at this and then focused back on the Light Screen without disturbing Sierra. He wanted to see what Aavesh would do next...
Meanwhile, Aavesh opened his eyes- the world before him had slightly changed or rather his vision had changed. He was able to see more... and fully synchronize his senses to observe the Environment. His senses had become Stronger and more coordinated.
He lifted his right Palm and clenched it to feel a unique Strength coursing within it. He had become Powerful as a mortal- He could probably even Fight with Stage-1 Cultivators and Not lose if they did not use Spells. Good.
Eon saw this as well but held himself back as he then noticed Aavesh observing the 3 Heart Demons Before him. He decided not to interfere and let Aavesh sort this out on his own.
Aavesh spoke again now, observing them carefully,
"You all have your grievances with me... That I see now- I will not spout excuses- But I want things to change as well"
Aavesh spoke calmly at the 3 fallen Heart Demons before him.
"I understand your hatred for me- I know how much you want to kill me- But I don't want to kill you all... You all are not good or evil but just entities like myself, or to be more accurate you all are me-"
Chained Eyes interjected sadly, " What does it matter now- do you even know what emotions you poured into us? Do you accept your weaknesses? No you wont... Our existence was futile and slave like- We were born as slaves and we will die as slaves- If you have any self-respect- finish us quick, We do not want to exist anymore- we are tired now..."
His voice echoed the other 2 Heart Demons Sentiments, they looked even more Lifeless now.
But Aavesh smiled and replied calmly,
"Like I said before I won't kill you, But I should let you know- The Version of me You all hated- does not exist anymore- I'm not the same being that unconsciously created you- I have merged with an aspect of myself- which I had unknowingly placed into my Mental Mantle- Here I am now..."
He shrugged as he spoke, while the Heart Demons were shaken- they were astounded by this Revelation, Aavesh continued,
"Broken Horns- You are the Aspect of My Rage- I was always afraid of falling into rage because I feared I would become a Demon, but I realize now, By creating you to dump my darkest feelings - the ones I felt in Anger- I lost a core part of myself- I lost the ability to end my Rage..."
"Ghost Face- You are the Aspect of My Despair - the deepest despair I felt was when I lost my World- my family, I cut myself off from feeling it too much- I lost my ability to feel hope instead, Whenever I told myself that I could look forward now- I never felt hope- instead all I felt was numbness- emotionless numbness but now I have begun to slowly heal but I can't replace the void I created by Removing you from me..."
"Chained Eyes- You are an interesting one, You are the Aspect of My Guilt and Self Deceit- I felt guilt when I had done wrong and I kept lying to myself to make myself feel better- This Cycle went on until you were created- I lost the ability to forgive myself and move On- I had become a very toxic Person- I always feel my burden of Guilt and the Urge to just escape and abandon it..."
His confession made everyone silent.
"I am flawed without you all- Maybe most cultivators find a way to overcome this and see this as strength but I... Don't! I feel that I can never move forward if I were to destroy you all- I would remain stuck in the same Place- I don't want to self actualize or find justification to remove your existence just like that, Instead-"
He looked at them with resolution in his eyes,
"I have a proposition for you all, Let us all merge back into One Entity- It will not be cannibalism or enslavement but a true merger between Equals- It is time I confront Myself and share your suffering- We will not remain what we were before the merge instead we all will sacrifice ourselves together to form a New Self one that has all of us together"
"You may think I am ruthless and wanted this to occur- You may justify that me ceasing to exist is the Righteous Way to atone for my sins- I differ on that- I don't want to kill you but I don't want to die either way- Yes I am selfish there- Even I want to live and as for Severing you all from my soul, No it would be cruel as none of you will survive the severance We don't have soul Jade to nurture you three neither do I have Soul Amrith to survive the severance- So in this perplexing dilemma I ask you all to merge together so no party is left out-Does anyone else have a better Idea?"
None Replied back, yes they wanted him out but... seeing him change and become self-aware of what he had done was rather alright- It did not excuse him but it made them see him in a better light, The Mental Realm would exist as long they exist- all parties would be stuck here- waiting unless they could do something about it...
They understood why Aavesh crippled them down to force this merger - strangely enough they did not blame him- for they understood what would happen to him if they won- it was human to be selfish and they in their Heart Demon Forms were the same as well- if they were not crippled they would laugh at the idea- but now... The Merger was the only option left apart from committing suicide but they had a feeling that Aavesh would not let them commit suicide anyway- So the Merger was the final viable option left...
But they were curious as the Merger between different selves was far more Volatile and dangerous to the Dominant Personality- One thing was certain if they followed this insane plan- Aavesh would not escape unscathed - he would change- most definitely he would change into a new Person entirely...
Aavesh spoke up again,
"You might think it's an insane Idea for a Cosmic Cultivator to fuse with their own Heart Demons- Probably it is but- I want to do it anyway, You know why? Because we all are in a place where No Path Exists and We are Stuck in this place never changing- But I believe that this is not absolute- That We can Forge a Path where No Path Exists and to do that - I want to break this cycle of self-torture - No more Fragmentation- Only One Being- One Personality and One Soul- No more hiding!"
The Three Heart Demons were moved by this, Chained Eyes grit his teeth and asked, "You- want to do this for real?"
"Yes"
"Be warned - our memories, feelings and experiences are not pleasant and could overwhelm you to the point where you will wish for death- do you still want to continue?"
Aavesh Nodded Firmly at this.
The Three Heart Demons were silent once again. But they spoke to each other in their thoughts,
'Do you think this the only way?'
'He is not lying and he spared us for now'
'I don't really like him but after his confession, I can't bring myself to hate him completely'
'If He does merge with us He will suffer our Pain- maybe this is Karmic Justice- Maybe it is meant to be this way'
'Even if he wants his mind to become one again- no matter how selfish it seems, it could be a way for us to at least exist in a new form- Our suffering is the price he must pay and he even wants to pay it'
'To break out of this Cycle... He's not the only one stuck in a cycle- we are stuck as well- this might be our only chance to break our Prison and finally be rid of this form! Let us perform the merger'
'I agree'
'I agree as well'
They had reached a consensus. Chained Eyes spoke again, " Fine Aavesh, we will entertain your plans one last time- We agree to Merge- Don't let us down"
After saying that the 3 Heart Demons Closed their Eyes and placed their hands on their core.
*SSSSSS
*FREEEEEZZEE
A freezing sound occurred as in an instant, their Bodies turned into dream-like glass statues- with unique color engravings- or more clearly Complex array Runes that he could not understand it yet.
It must be Cosmic Runes?
*WHOOOSH
3 Fragile Baseball sized glowing orbs- One Red, One Orange and One Green - emerged from each of the Statues.
If Aavesh wanted to destroy them and leave the Mental Realm- He could but he did not.
The 3 Orbs Hovered before Aavesh's Glabella. He closed his eyes and the 3 orbs enterd into His Glabella and... merged.
As soon as this took place the Whole Mental Realm became unstable- The Ground Shook vigorously and Tsunamic Waves from the blood Sea hit the Land. The Sky Trembled with Stormy Hurricanes and Lightning while the Very Void it self began to tremble.
It was like a cataclysm had befallen this Mental Realm- The Temple which had been the result of the Testament attempting to protect Aavesh - disappeared and it was as if it never existed.
Aavesh himself was not affected by the cataclysm rather he had begun to float in the air with his Eyes closed as a Massive Storm Vortex formed around him as the Center.
Aavesh remained ignorant of that- because he himself was undergoing cataclysmic suffering of his own.
When the Orbs merged back into him like fragmented souls returning back to each other- He felt a Massive Rush of memories that Equalled 3 Lifetimes. It was like he was experiencing Reincarnation again and again.
The First Wave of Memories came from Broken Horns - He did not have a demonic visage when he had been fragmented from Aavesh- he was born when Aavesh experienced the Death of his Sister- His Mind had been broken and to cope with that He had to forcibly repress those Memories into Broken Horns. Every time he felt Pathetic and let his Rage consume him- it was Broken Horns who bore the side effects of the feelings of Rage.
There was enough Rage to be felt in the End War.
In the Beginning, Broken Horns had cried out to Aavesh for help but Aavesh had never listened to him and kept repressing him like a slave. He finally found out what it felt to be hidden and repressed in a corner- He saw certain Memories of Himself that he had voluntarily chosen to forget- Those Past Memories what he had done in Rage and his Extreme Regret afterwards made him forget and dispose those Feelings into Broken Horns. No Wonder Broken Horns had intense Hatred for him.
The Next Set of Memories was from Ghost Face, These were of the Despair He felt at the bleak situations and he kept dumping it on Ghost Face. Ghost Face faced the same treatment as Broken Horns did but emotions were all spine-chilling despair- Ghost Face had carried the Crushing Weight of his Despair for so long. It was no wonder he formed an undead visage when life and death were just the same to him. No one would want to feel despair all the Time. Ghost Face was born when his brother died before him - it was the last straw for a young child like him when they had almost escaped- That Grief and Despair broke his fragile young mind and forced him to Create Ghost Face to try and hide from his feelings of Despair.
The Final Set of Memories came from Chained Eyes- His Guilt and Self Deception Created him to somehow live with himself and try to move on, But he could not as he never fully accepted his Guilt and Deception Either. Chained Eyes took an Infernal Visage as he was forced into a deal that kept him in eternal torment - he could sense Aavesh's lies and Guilt- He was exposed to the worst parts of Aavesh and forced to keep storing and reliving them. Aavesh now fully felt the tremendous Mental Pain as he relived the lives of His Heart Demons.
Aavesh truly felt suicidal Now! Those Memories made him feel immense torment and Torture. He wanted to truly die for a moment but something within him stopped this. He sensed a small Version of Himself Waving at him and spoke in a soft voice, " Will death end this Suffering of the Soul?"
*BANG
It him hard- No, Death would never stop this suffering as he would carry it within him- it would remain dormant and one day it would come back and the same suffering would start again.
If he wanted to end this vicious cycle... He would have to embrace this suffering and learn in this life. He felt humbled as he finally understood the truth.
His Heart Demons on the other hand now accessed some of Aavesh's Memories and feelings they had never seen before. They were stunned to see what Aavesh was actually- A normal Flawed little Boy who lost his family and now he found them again and this time he did not want to lose them.
It could be said that both sides had finally realized what they were- They were conflicted Humans tied to the same Being yet fragmented. They were the same - both good and evil in all counts. They were never separate.
As the Merging deepened, Aavesh was suddenly brought to an incredibly Dark yet converging Memory between all 3 Heart Demons. It was where he could see his own situation in the most clear way possible.
He found himself in a scene where he made an unbridled Massacre of Traitors in his Survivor Group- That incident- Those traitors had no choice because their children had been taken hostage by the Demons... They caused the Deaths of more than 60% of the Escape fleet He had cobbled up.
Although he survived and turned that situation around- That feeling of watching your people die- riled him up to an extreme extent. In his Fury he did not listen to the pleas of the traitors and killed all of them.
He did later go to rescue those kids out of guilt he felt and then he left the Migrant Fleet to its own fate and departed on his own.
He never grew out of that incident... or move on-
Because he was always stuck in that same cycle- He would go back to being Normal Aavesh- An incident would take place that would result in Extreme Rage- and His Rage would soon turn into despair for what he had lost and into Guilt for what he had done- Then thread of Self Deception would connect back to Normal Aavesh State and the Cycle began again and again.
The thread of Self Deception- The Unacceptance of one's own actions - The Lack of Responsibility - It hit him. This was the root of his Problematic Personality.
There were several such memories - He now knew.
He needed to learn from his mistakes - not forget them.
He had to face his emotions not let them run wildly.
He needed to confront himself if he broke his own principles not hide.
The Solution lay before him in Plain Sight- Fully experience everything he ran from and try to come to a conclusion. It had been far too long that this went on.
It was finally time to change...
Outside his Mind, The Mental Realm began to distort even further and the storm around his body became even more stronger and fiercer.
In his Mind, Aavesh's conciousness fully embraced all the memories that flooded in and He saw a dream like state of himself sitting in the temple ground with 3 other versions of himself- They gave out a Red, Orange and Green Hue around themselves. While he had only a slight blue hue which reminded him of the Mental Mantle.
So one could say he had no hue before or rather he kept stripping himself of the hues.
Aavesh knew who they were- they were the consciousnesses that had been in the Heart Demons- They did not look distorted nor did they have any Mythic Visage- They looked Human just like him-
But there was no hatred in their eyes now- they looked at him with a calm smile.
Aavesh could sense others within this Temple as well- they were watching him carefully, in a corner- they were not as separated as the 3 sitting with him but they were on the verge- like if his mind continued down the old path maybe these other hues would also be separated him.
Aavesh could not help but call out to them, " Please... Come... Forward"
Hearing this, 5 more versions their own Hues came out- One Indigo, One Violet, One Yellow, One Black and One White. They represented the contradictory facet of Emotions but in the Contradiction One could enter a State of No Emotion, also known as the Emotionless Path- It would seem He was already on this Path long ago- But now he realized it was not what he wanted though. He had to forge a different Path- One that Balances all.
He would not separate his Emotions be it Positive or Negative - He would understand each and achieve a different form of State. A State of All Emotion- Aavesh felt that this was better than simply being Emotionless as he would be able to become One only when he understood himself- He would not be empty or Hollow- He would be more... than Nothing.
In this State he could easily detach from Emotions and yet manage to gain them Back. He would form a balance between Emotional and Emotionless.
'A Synchronicity between Pure Logic and Pure Emotion.'
Suddenly He felt a powerful quote emerging in his mind which he uttered out, " If Logic is the Fabric of the Universe, Then the Emotions are its colors"
A seemingly stupid Quote yet it had so much Truth to it...
*BANG
He trembled as if he had stumbled upon something ground breaking and his Quote seemed to have opened a doorway to Possibilities out of his wildest Dreams. His Spirit felt excited as if it had been enlightened to Powerful Universal Truth- Now he saw the Different Versions of himself before him Merge into Multicolored Ball of Light.
This Ball of Light Shot into his chest where his heart Resided and Now Aavesh felt certain parts of him return back- His Very Being felt elevated as his mind experienced feeling - yes feeling.
It was indescribable bliss - it was not pain or pleasure but calm bliss of emotions Syncing together- like everything all at once.
His thought structure and Persona were changing at a rapid pace- The Heart Demons were right- He was changing into a different but the same Person. They just did not expect him to Remerge his fragmented mind into One with all other Versions of Himself.
The Dream Like state faded and His Eyes opened with a calm gaze but filled with bright Light.
His Soul Felt Complete. It was alright now- Mistakes were always acceptable if one learned from them and had fun as well... One Should not hide from experiences of Life- Who knows would they ever be able to recall past Memories? One Must Live Life to the Fullest!
A smile formed on his face as he felt a unique sense of satisfaction and bliss as he thought this.
*SSSS
*ZZZ
*WHOOOOOOOSH
Suddenly He felt his soul- Grow in Strength? No it was not Strength Rather... It was Quality.
The Area on his forehead- the Glabella trembled as he felt his Soul become more -Robust? His Mind Pond Seemed to Grow Stronger? His Eyes Closed in Slight Pain as he tried to sense what changes were taking Place in his Mind Pond.
He used his inner vision to see what was happening in his Mind Pond and He... Was Fucking Shocked!
The Quality of His Soul had indirectly upgraded his Mind Pond to Whole different Quality.
If Previously his Mind Pond was merely an Opaque Brittle Bowl structure. It was Now changing into an Unshakeable Crystalline Structure- Unshakeable! Moreover his soul... seemed to give off a Multicolored Light unlike the Silver and Gold lights given by Other People. It was unique...
He saw the Whole Process of witnessing the Upgrade of His Mind Pond when suddenly at the Last Moment of the Process His Inner Vision stopped and Everything Became Pitch Black.
Everything in the Mental Realm stopped- the Hurricanes - Void trembling, The Tsunamis, All stopped in their places as if Time had been frozen.
But his Consciousness Remained and He felt an unknown influx of Knowledge of something that should have been unattainable for a Mortal but now He had it.
Aavesh felt a flush Unusual Strength surging like a Tidal Wave into his Mind.
But with it came an Invocation. A Simple Invocation. अहम् एकः अस्मि. He only needed to know its meaning - its intent but he could convey this invocation in any language he felt appropriate.
The Intent Mattered.
At the Same Time Strange Transformations occurred to his Body.
An Eye slit formed between his Glabella - It was Vertical in Nature.
On his Chest- The Golden Symbol ☸ of a Dharma Chakra had formed.
Aavesh felt a burst of Energy Within him and He wanted to vent it out. He wanted to tell the cosmos what he now had and Now it would never take it back from him.
His Mouth Opened and he spoke the Invocation in Universal Language,
"I"
"AM"
"ONE"
*BOOOOOOOM
His Eyes Opened- All three of them - His Third Eye - was also open- It Was The Powerful Third Eye of Legends that signified that a Mortal Soul had reached the True Perfected State.
The Third Eye which in the Past Yugas had at its peak nearly shattered the Cosmos into Oblivion.
He.Had.Achieved.it.
As his Powerful Gaze fell on the Mental Realm Again. The Hurricane that Surrounded Him Exploded Outward like Nuclear Bomb
*KAABOOOOOM!
This Time The Mental Realm was Completely Shattered and Aavesh's Vision became bright white-
and he fell asleep.
Eon looked on with Eyes wide at the whole Process. He returned back to the Demiplane with new Plans forming in his mind. Damn- Aavesh always had Deadly Strokes of opportunity filled with a tiny vial of Monstrous Luck. He sighed as it reminded him of old Partner again. That dude would be damn glad at this... After all his old Partner was also a wielder of the Third Eye.
The New Gods Watched this Event in AWE! Irolin looked shocked but had a smile as well. Even his wife woke up at those words and looked at the Whole Process in Awe!
It had been eons Since the Advent of the Third Eye. A Person with it had finally arrived in this Era- The Future would be extremely interesting.
He let out a Chuckle that Echoed across the Realms, causing many of his faith to become Bewildered at why their Deity had laughed. Could it be a happy event? But what was it? They were Too Confused Ahh!
The Other New Gods decided to take note of Aavesh. It was important to note any rising Powerhouses as well- Potential Allies were always welcome.
The Eldritch Gods retreated silently as a New Target had been added to their Kill List and placed at an extremely high Priority. But None of them Took action immediately as they heard Irolin's Chuckle- That Dangerous Monk God had taken interest into this child- They could not afford his wrath yet- They would observe now and find opportunities in the future...
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