Observing the symbols and adjusting patterns that seemed like a code of complex equations was impossible. It was no computer or a program. Perhaps if an expert looked through it, it would make more sense in the long run, but which youth was ever someone like that at such a young age?

  Ellie explained to William, describing forms of technology and how extremely complex they could sound, as if they weren't of this world. Physics could be simple, but chemistry, astrology, bioengineering, and all sorts of other things sounded way too weird to his liking.

  And even if some things about Walkers were close to physical senses of science or biology, it wasn't the same, because this was very real to him and far too few people. He felt lost because of it. The entire Awakening had fallen on him, and this screaming war against the incoming entity was on.

  Pain and confusion varied from person to person, and helpful words or encouragement weren't always essential or helpful. Mi-Yung knew it herself very well, yet how far she wanted to go wasn't in her mind right now. She wanted William to do it on his own terms.

  Hence, it ended up more sinister and weird, since such was his life. Expecting this Screen-showing nonsense and pain-inducing activity going on for so long was a familiar hell.

  He tried to recall long-lost or ancient languages, hoping to see if any were close. Strange patterns in Latin did seem interesting in some books, while Arabic and Middle Eastern or Asian symbols weren't straightforward either. Humans had years, numbers, and brains.

  Not this, however. William didn't get it. Maybe it was a code for something, requiring assistance and sequences of keys, or it was too incomplete to be one, let alone a language. Riddle was more likely to make sense from the notes or stuff he had recently learned.

  Patterns could be his pain, brain waves, or the Vectors' doing. Concern of his body transformations were also possible, unlike his mind. William imagined those symbols becoming intangible from one another when seen from far away, or looking large, or like pieces of a puzzle. A face, perhaps, or one giant symbol made of others? It had its boundary, after all. Rectangle. Circle. A window? The System had its faces.

  Vectors were essentially particles of Arcana, transformed into a new, denser form of energy that followed different principles from pure Arcana and had many looks across elements and skills.

  They had their value in their substantial consistency, density, and material flow, sailing in a Cycle, acting like liquid if they had to, or could, and followed geometric patterns and imagination.

  Arcana was considered milder in these regards, but it wasn't a case of weakness or strength. Every Walker worked with one or the other, and it wasn't as if Vectors could change into Arcana or vice-versa.

  It was impossible for this Screen to get out of the way. There was nothing there in the first place. It wasn't physical; he might toss a pebble through it or kick it, and nothing would change.

  Even when William tried to change his position, the Screen moved through things. It resembled a massage, so... what about the past? Had he seen this sort of thing before, or... tried to ignore it and succeeded? Recalling this stuff was hard. That demon might help.

  “Put my hand inside. Is that all? I... I am not afraid of it, but... I feel like I shouldn't do it.”

  “Wanna me to do it for you? You don't want that.” Mi-Yung argued, crossing a couple of things off, and watched his struggling arm.

  William shoved his right hand into it with forced bravery and followed it with way too much energy. His body felt it immediately, and his Emblem and wounds turned milder, as if he wasn't wounded at all.

  His right arm felt heavy, yet the moment he punched forward, he no longer moved it down or aside. It was stuck on the Screen, flickering the symbols and taking the entrance of an arm as a disturbing cause, or something that shouldn't be so close.

  It changed as pressure moved through his skin, and the creeping sensation of patterns shifted toward his arm. It was like a cobweb, and it caught him good. Mi-Yung observed his strained arm stuck in that position.

  “I can't move,” he muttered, panicking a little.

  “That's fine. Let it embrace it for a bit. Link is sensitive and different from body or mind, and your Emblem is pretty daring to invade the System. It is called an Assimilation. I've said it a few times, haven't I?”

  “In what context? I don’t... know. These weeks... blurry things happened in that chair.”

  “Pain? Curiosity? It takes some time and effort on Walker's part to feel it, but unlike there, this can't be forced for many reasons. It also goes until succession, so it is less risky. One can try to establish this Assimilation again and again, but your case is yours, so try your best and don't lose it too many times. You can attempt it again.” Mi-Yung convinced William that his struggles with feelings weren't wrong.

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  They were insane, like everything else today. William should either take them as they are and empower them or take it all for himself.

  It was untouchable. The weird thing was that he felt a bit more alive now, regardless of shivering, and every instinct told him to keep it going. No voice was there. No demon. Everything sort of... closed.

  He wasn't helpless, as if he were about to die and annihilate . That shouldn't be a new feeling, but he was no longer a little kid. He was never a feeble or crawling insect.

  It started with the Screen flickering much faster, then tensing, as if squeezing his skin. Almost like a failing television, the symbols mixed together and lost all meaning. If there was even any, of course.

  The linkage with the Mindless Eyes was already there. All that was left was to make it stronger. Most Walkers regarded it as the voice of a person that awakened the System's spirit, mixed with the Emblem, and then the System would interpret it as an instructing, listening entity, or an element of surprise.

  For William, he assumed it was a different thing altogether. Foreign. Bordering on something insane, like hearing voices that weren't there. He hoped others felt it the same way.

  To his surprise, within minutes of this transition, the unknown symbols became actual English letters, but it was hard to say whether they were transforming the meaning of the System, this Screen, or adapted to him. They were still nonsense, flowing like a vortex around William's arm. Even his Emblem seemed to follow those patterns, dancing in its shape; not around the arm, or doing its new things inside. It had no boundaries anymore. No cage. No glint.

  Peaceful Emblems meant limited or controlled Inner or Outer Cycles, thus a calm mind and body, or a steady Emblem. It was a true Rank 1 state, and one had to master it to move to the next Rank. Skills and an established System provided further requirements for a Rank-up, and William supposed this was what was happening at the moment.

  He was opening the door, and his hand was a key. Mi-Yung probably talked about it several times until it made sense today. What else had he misinterpreted or gotten wrong, he wondered. A swirl of his Emblem's Vectors started to flow out of his Emblem, playing with the flow of the letters, or acting like a little octopus who felt the sea.

  It was a bit too open and threatening. That's what William felt. He feared the unknown and mysterious consequences of his gem. What if that demon appeared again? Crawled out of it?! What if it...killed him? Or it... died with it? What if it snatched at him, stretched, and ate him whole? At least watching that mirror again was no longer possible, but what if he became... someone else again?

  Mi-Yung clapped loudly, shocking him on his spot and wobbling his spirit just in time.

  “Calm your breathing when your Vectors help. You are too restless. Don't be like that. Be mindful of your surroundings and remain steady, or don't if it's necessary. If it's bad, don't force anything. Care for your arm. It's yours, and it is your entire universe for the time being. Focus on calming or drowning negative feelings.” Mi-Yung described a general Assimilation practice since she couldn't help it.

  She wished there were more she could do or offer, but this was pretty much everything she could think of. Hints could be helpful, or sloppy in the grand scheme of the Emblems, because she didn't know his depths; she didn't ask for them, nor did she have time for it right now, so it didn't matter.

  Thankfully, this Assimilation with the System was very formulaic. She had seen many youths do it, so she knew what to say and do. However, this was William before her. Not some elite or typical kid. To rush at the System... Mi-Yung figured there was no point in lazing around.

  It was her duty. It was also too swift, yet within William's mind and hand lay most answers. She knew it all too well since it's the exact damn thing every time.

  She experienced it, but later, when she wasn't hurt or confused. She also had help around her, from her family and others. Also, her Localization was in her torso, so her style was different. The System's flow knew what it required, and there was no despair in the Localization itself. The issue was the timing. William was simply too hurt, yet... who wouldn't be, or what wasn't hurt already?

  “C-calm? Sure. How easy... manageable, and great. Walk in a park... I swear.” William muttered, clenching his right elbow with his left hand. Breathing in and out did nothing. His unsteady mind remained, and blood dripped down his arm, staining his face and sheets.

  “Some blood never killed anyone,” Mi-Yung added.

  It wasn't an attempt to lie or deceive. It was no consolidation either because he bled far from death. Wriggling mess of Vectors of Annihilation were rough and wild, to say the least, and William had to do as she told. That was his promise. His narrow, starting path. Dann would be proud.

  Closing his eyes, he no longer paid his blood and the Screen any attention. The vortex of those letters and Vectors kept flaring, taking no meaningful shape or message because he no longer watched. It reacted.

  Like with the intense moment in an unnamed square, where he no longer watched for a Carnijaw, he started to pretend.

  Hours of Assimilation were nothing over those years Outside. The depth of the System was just a game designed for Walker or their linkage. There was nothing to this flow but success. Failure meant a simple restart; pain was the norm, and exhaustion in body and spirit was demanding until it eventually clicked into place. If the new Walkers would even initiate it, or cared for it, there would be encompassing pressure on the mind, and in worst-case scenarios, mental burdens, or death.

  Not looking worked wonders for William, who kept breathing, feeling breathless from the shocks of Assimilation and the foreign Mindless Eyes. Noises and words came back quickly, and pain felt familiar enough to ground his act. William never understood what Mindless Eyes were about; no amount of research helped him, besides warnings not to take them literally or as practical tools. It was more of a challenge to push against it, and only the best of the best Walkers could take it as something else.

  He wasn't that. He discovered it in a few minutes, when small transitions were hiding in small forms. That was the 'Eye' part of the flow.