Finn had put the thoughts away for the meantime, choosing to be passive with the knowledge he had for now.

He'd only act when the moment required it. If there was one thing he knew, it was that barely anything in the world was purely black or white. The Keeva who had taught him most of what he'd used to create [Null Perception], the Keeva he knew right now, was different from whoever might betray them in the future.

So he'd try as much as possible to still treat her as he normally would, unless she truly gave him a reason to behave otherwise.

His mind went back to the other two spells he'd created.

The second was just a build-off of [Invalid], so while he was excited about it, it wasn't to the point of the third and last spell, [Reversion].

The spell basically gave him the ability to glitch his previous state of existence. The healing and death-defying side of it was just the benefit.

But it didn't come without cost.

First, he couldn't cast any more than one other spell when using [Reversion]. The focus required was strenuous on his mind.

Essentially, the spell required him to internalize himself as Error. He needed to focus his magic inward while visualizing — or more aptly, believing with absolute certainty and without a single shred of doubt in his mind for those few seconds — that he was Error. He needed to convince himself that he wasn't a human at that moment of spell activation, but rather, a literal concept.

This was something Deacon explained to him as becoming a Paradigm. Transcendents in that state were called Paradigms, and the resulting spell effects they created were emanations of their concepts.

Finn had watched Deacon shift into his Paradigm state, and he had noticed the stark difference. In that brief moment, Deacon was no longer human, but law. Truth. The literal truth he wanted the world and his intended target to believe.

Case in point, in the last few days, there had been a running joke anytime Finn was seen craving sprouts. Deacon swore that it was the effect of his first display of his Paradigm state to Finn.

He claimed he'd made Finn believe a truth that he liked sprouts, but Finn refused to believe that.

He clearly remembered Deacon displaying that Paradigm state and enforcing a truth on him — something he'd allowed and consented to, of course — but there was never a time he'd never liked sprouts. If anything, Deacon only seemed to have enhanced what was already there... At least that was what Finn told himself.

Deacon insisted otherwise, saying that he'd specifically asked Finn for the food or vegetable he hated most.

At this point, Finn had come to agree that Deacon had indeed convinced him of a truth to believe, but that was more a logical conclusion based on evidence, rather than something he believed.

His memories told him otherwise. And that simply made him terrified of that level of power.

Of course, Deacon later explained that the reason this had succeeded on such a deep level was mainly because Finn had agreed to drop his mental defenses for the test when Deacon was about to demonstrate. And also because the change was relatively trivial. Had the stakes been higher, or the resistance greater, the result would have been very different.

So every time Finn enjoyed his sprouts, he always thought of the fact that it wasn't an inherent preference. That had spurred him to seriously practice getting into his Paradigm State.

The spell [Reversion] was a result of this.

At first, to Deacon, who had guided him solely in the creation of this spell, and Keeva who had come in to watch curiously every now and then, Finn's resulting spell from his Paradigm state looked somewhat lacking to them. They'd expected something very crazy and logic-defying rather than simply a brief reversal to just three seconds ago.

But after testing Finn out a few times, they found that in practice, it was actually terrifying.

Unlike Deacon, Finn's Paradigm state didn't depend on the other person. He wasn't trying to convince the world to convince a person. He was simply convincing the world, and that was all his concept needed.

What that meant in practice was that, no matter the damage, no matter the might and scale of an attack, so long as Finn could simply think and get into his Paradigm State, he could glitch past literally anything.

When Thalia learned of it, she was especially excited about Finn's Reversion ability. Even offering to teach Finn the path of the sword and shape him into a close combat Transcendent, stating that his ability would be deadly in close quarters.

Finn hadn't been convinced at first, but then he quickly came to see Thalia's point after sparring with her a few times.

His reversion defied momentum laws. That was what he learned.

Small, but that made for some extremely broken and uncanny displays when in close combat.

Thalia hadn't held back during their spars. But yet, Finn had come out of dangerous situations over and over. No matter what it was.

She'd landed blows that sent Finn flying, but he'd immediately revert, whole and undamaged, suddenly standing in front of her with her hands still outstretched.

Thalia had called his ability a menace. It threw her off thoroughly. And she wanted him to develop it better. Learn to fight extremely well in close combat.

But while Finn acknowledged the benefits, he still didn't want to head down the path of a brawler.

As a Transcendent, why bother even getting into close quarters at all?

To Finn, true power was calmly dispatching your enemy from a distance without much stress. Close quarter combat should only be for when things really became dire with an extremely tough opponent.

He could train for the event of such, but making it his entire fighting style? No way.

Already, each use of the spell was extremely mentally taxing and sent his head reeling. He couldn't even chain the spell successively — at least not yet. So he'd rather just use it as a defensive spell for now, activating his Paradigm State only when attacked by surprise or when facing something he knew might kill him.

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The days blurred by in a hectic rhythm of training and breach-clears. The incursions were more frequent but still manageable. At least none matched the horror of the previous breach.

And with only normal exotic creatures to face, Finn was eventually allowed to participate actively in the fights.

​Nearly three months passed in this restless peace.

Finn was with Elara this afternoon. On the upper floors of the administrative building where the Transcendent facility was beneath. It was the second time he was meeting with her since they'd arrived back in the capital.

Elara animatedly described some of her trials and missions, the toughness of being an Arcane Knight, the extreme competition, the talents, the prideful scions, and surprisingly, even the spicy gossip.

Finn was content to listen as they overlooked the sprawling capital city from their secluded spot at the top of the administrative building.

A small smile played on his lips as he listened to her talk.

She complained of tough competition, haughty scions, and dangerous missions, but her eyes spoke otherwise. They were vibrant and glowing with confidence...

She was enjoying it.

And that brought satisfaction to Finn.

He could've negotiated for Elara to be by his side as part of the agreement for being here. But he hadn't.

At the end of the day, she wasn't a trophy. She was a person with her own hunger for strength and achievement, a person with her own dreams and aspirations, and he refused to rob her of that.

​A playful smack to his arm jolted him back to the present. Elara was looking at him with a slight blush, asking why he was staring so intently.

Finn watched her for a moment, then spoke softly. "Because you look beautiful, Elara… And you've grown much stronger. I can see both very clearly."

Elara's blush deepened, spreading across her cheeks. She looked away, clearing her throat. "I'm just doing what I have to. The competition doesn't give you much choice."

Finn laughed. "Oh? You've even gotten better at reigning your embarrassment in. Before, your face would be tomato-red by now. You're actually—"

Suddenly, Finn's head turned, locking onto a spot not far away. His eyes flared with a visible green glow.

The space shimmered like a veil coming undone, and Keeva materialized.

"Your eyes have truly gotten better at spotting flaws," she said. Her voice was steady, but the compliment felt hollow. Worry clouded her expression.

Without needing to be told, Elara knew something serious had happened. Promptly, she moved to leave, but Finn reached out and drew her into a quick, firm hug before she could escape.

She squeezed him back tightly, her hands lingering on his arms for a second. "I have a mission to prepare for anyway," she whispered, then pulled away and turned, giving Keeva a brief nod before disappearing down the stairs.

The moment she was gone, Finn's face went cold and serious.

"What is it?"

Keeva's expression darkened. "The Kingdom of Velanthir. They just had an encounter with a Transcendent creature inside a breach."

She paused, letting the statement hang.

"Three Transcendents dead. Only two escaped."

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A/N: Sorry for the single chapter releases guys. It's been a very hectic week for me, and will likely be for a few days. But I will get back to uploading at least two chapters a day, soonest. 💪

Don't forget to drop Power Stones and Golden Tickets. It really helps.

Cheers 🍻

Astrl

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