Jedd and Natalia stared at the visage with wide eyes. The visage looked every bit like Lem Solaris but of course, they didn’t have memory of meeting her. Only Kora and Keynes remembered what the otherworldly soul companion looked like.

  “What’s going on, Keynes?” Kora asked. “What does it mean she’s a sliver of memory of Lem Solaris?”

  Natalia and Jedd didn’t know who to look at. They clearly didn’t understand the gravity of the situation or what presence of the visage on the spaceship meant. Keynes wasn’t sure he fully understood the latter. Likely not. Because wouldn’t it be audacious to think he figured out what an immortal being from another universe had in mind?

  “Let me elaborate on this,” the visage said, then glanced at Keynes who nodded. “Now that Keynes decided to finally include others into this secret. I deem it is time to shed some more light on your presence here. As Keynes already was told, Lem Solaris made a deal with the System to save him from certain death. Don’t be alarmed. This is actually a fairly standard practice in other universes where people with special or unique abilities are very often protected by higher powers. Unfortunately, not all of them are discovered by benevolent protectors and those are usually enslaved or murdered. When ascenders in this universe start reaching Level 30 and beyond, this will become a rampant scenario as well. Again, don’t be alarmed. A path to Level 30 is a long one even in universes with abundant rifts and guilds that support ascenders in such endeavour. In this universe, Lem Solaris predicted an emergence of a new Level 30 ascender in about 10 to 20 thousand years. So you have plenty of time to prepare for what is coming because this is coming and you must be ready.”

  Natalia raised a hand.

  “What exactly do you mean is coming?”

  “Time when a single Level 30 can enslave or destroy entire life on a planet in a matter of minutes. Level 30 is special and different from Level 10 and 20. I am not allowed to give you details but it is also connected to why you decided to come to see me, Keynes.” The visage turned to Keynes. “You realised something, right? With his help.” The visage pointed at Jedd who froze.

  “Yes.” Keynes nodded but didn’t elaborate on his discovery. He wanted to see what the visage had to say first and how it stacked against Alice’s revelation.

  “There is no single name for this phenomenon or even an agreement as to its origin or meaning. But it exists. To give you a better picture of what this phenomenon is, imagine two frequencies in your soul. One frequency is who you are now and that means your abilities, mindset, belief and so on. Basically anything that makes you. The second frequency is the True Soul or True Form, or countless different ‘True This or True That’. But the point is, the second frequency is the ultimate version of you. There is a reason why this is important but I am not permitted to go into such details at this moment. It’s too early to spread such insight in your universe. I’d also advise you to not speak of this outside of this room. There are even agreements in other universes where young ascenders are expected to come to their own revelations on the subject before more is explained to them.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “However, I digress. Let's get back to the frequencies. The True Soul is achieved when both frequencies match perfectly. What happens then, again, is too early for you to know.”

  “You said it is connected to Level 30,” Keynes said. “Does it mean we’d need the True Soul to reach Level 30?”

  “No. Reaching the True Soul before Level 40 is impossible but Level 30 is where you must understand who you are.”

  Which ties in with the Insight of Soul, Keynes mused.

  Yes, Alice said. There is a clear connection between these frequencies and Level caps. I would wager and say that you might need the True Soul to reach Level 50.

  So Levelling wasn’t as simple as Keynes suspected. Obviously, the Level 11 cap was a hint already, but these revelations showed that at Higher Levels, things got far tricker.

  “All of this sounds interesting but I don’t get the point of this conversation,” Natalia said. “None of us is even close to Level 10, so thinking about Level 30 will only get in the way. Wouldn’t you say?”

  Keynes didn’t comment and let the visage deal with Natalia’s question. The visage clearly knew what he was doing but only smiled at him trying to outsmart her.

  “Jedd Elding here noticed this phenomenon first. What that means I’m not sure. He might have some hidden ability to recognise it in other people or was simply insightful enough to see it. But then he spoke to Keynes and—at what conclusion did you arrive, Keynes?”

  Keynes snorted but didn’t see a reason to not answer.

  “That Lem Solaris didn’t gather us here based on our Talents but the True Souls.”

  His words prompted a few questions from others but they were silenced by the visage.

  “This is true, to a degree. However, not even a being of her calibre is able to see the True Soul of others. Also, she took your Talents and aptitude into consideration. Relaying on the True Souls wouldn’t be wise, and Lem Solaris is wise.”

  “What does it all mean?” Natalia asked. She clearly struggled with the whole thing. Keynes didn’t blame her. He had gone through his share of bullshit revelation that had shaken his understanding of the world to the core. It numbed him to the point where the visage’s words didn’t move him one bit.

  And it wasn’t only her. Jedd’s aura was an open book as he still wasn’t very good with controlling his spiritual aura.

  “You all were chosen by Lem Solaris because of who you are. Now, you have to find your path toward your True Souls,” the visage replied as she turned toward Natalia. Even in the child’s form the visage looked domineering. “However, I wouldn’t stress this at this point. You have other challenges you must face first. Like, surviving.”

  “Can you not help us?” Jedd asked. “If you have a memory of an immortal being your knowledge must be…”

  “You should not rely on my support. You have to face these challenges on your own. Now, Keynes, let's discuss your bond. It’s been a year since you brought it here. It cannot hatch without you.”