“I want to at least know what Psionics are before I tell you.” The Guardian said. Turi frowned.

“You’re already getting more than half of what you demanded. I haven’t gotten anything, yet.” Turi pointed out.

“Half of the demands, but a fragment of the value. I want to know that I’m not being scammed by this mysterious magic of yours.” The Guardian said. With a mental sigh, Turi gave in.

“The foundation of Psionics is the mindscape. Part of my mind is ‘physical’, for lack of a better word, and I can make things in it. It can be dangerous, but it can also be very, very useful. You can create additional processors, accelerating your processing speed, or you can create memory storage devices. Supposedly, it’s even possible to create essence storage devices within a mindscape, increasing the maximum amount of essence you can have.” Turi said. Much was left unsaid, but it was enough for the Guardian to know what Psionics actually pertained.

“…That sounds useful enough. I will tell you about the third Realm, and then you will teach me how to use Psionics.” The Guardian told him. He nodded, and she continued.

“To ascend to the third Realm, you do not merely require third Realm essence. You must have a creed, a way…a Path, as it was described to me. Your essence- and thus your existence- must become more defined, and your mind more in tune with it. It’s dangerous, though- many fail, and turn into Avatars.”

“My essence is already heavily attuned to knowledge, but my instincts tell me that I won’t be able to ascend even once my essence does.” Turi said.

“I’m aware. Many people have essences attuned to certain things… but that is, effectively, just talent- it is not meaning. My instinctual understanding of essence is much, much greater than before… and thus, I can tell that your hunger for knowledge is something you inherited from a long-dead ancestor. It is not you.” The Guardian said.

Turi’s mind exploded with activity as he processed the revelation. It was… a lot to take in- a fundamental misunderstanding of who he was. He’d... he’d thought that he was addicted to thinking and knowledge because that was who he was.

”Don’t be mistaken- your affinity for knowledge doesn’t mean that you can’t embrace it. It just means that you haven’t yet. Bear in mind, though, that once you choose your Path, you’re stuck with it for the most part. You must figure out why you want to reach the third Realm. Is it for knowledge? No, I don’t think so- you don’t need to reach the third Realm to contain libraries’ worth of knowledge within your mind. So… why do you want to ascend, Ascenturi?” The Guardian asked.

Turi did want to reach the third Realm, but… why? Confronted with this question, he had no answer. The hunger for knowledge of his long-dead ancestor was not even his own- not yet, at the very least. Even if it had been, he didn’t need to reach the third Realm to learn more.

‘So… why?’ Turi asked himself. Searching the deepest crevices of his mind, he came up with no powerful-enough reason. His instinctive want to ascend- for strength, to live longer, to have done it- seemed to be the sole reason- even ‘his’ hunger for knowledge was only tangentially related to the third Realm.

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“I don’t know.” Turi answered quietly, lost in thought.

“I imagined so. To some, this additional requirement hardly even matters, and to others, it is a tremendous chasm. You have no reason strong enough to ascend to the third Realm, and so you must find and forge one. This is a process that will take a long time.” The Guardian said. “I’ll tell you more once- if- you get past this hurdle. For now… tell me about Psionics, Ascenturi.” The Guardian demanded.

With tremendous effort, Turi set aside his newfound need for purpose so that he could pay up.

“You’re aware that the Earth is the source of what you call the System, yes?” Turi asked, receiving a nod in return. He suppressed a scowl- that had been mind-blowing for him to learn a few days ago, but she seemed uncaring- and continued.

“I have always had a weird mind- even the Earth classified it as Abnormal- but I didn’t know much about it until the Earth educated me a bit on Psionics. Even it didn’t know too much about them, despite the empire the Earth is located within using Psionics as well, but it knew- or, at least told me- enough.” Turi explained.

“To begin with, you need a mindscape at all. Do you recall the mental seed that the Earth put within your mind at the start of all this- the solidity of it, almost as though it was a real object within your head?” Turi asked.

“I do. The seed has long-since disappeared, though, replaced by holograms.” The Guardian said.

“That is not particularly relevant. What is relevant is that you must create a space within your mind that feels like that. I have always had that space within my mind, but that is highly unusual.” Turi told her.

“And how do I go about making it?” The Guardian asked.

“I was getting there,” Turi grumbled, “The process is difficult to explain, especially since I’ve never had to do it before. You need to push essence into your mind and turn it into something more tangible. Supposedly, the process of forming a mindscape takes months of labor for most, but is very common amongst the strong regardless, since the conventional ascending essence way is still subject to diminishing returns.”

“That’s… awfully vague.” The Guardian said. “How useful are Psionics, exactly?”

“I assume you’re most interested in increasing your essence capacity. That’s one of the most major benefits, after all- most everything else is relatively minor. For me, if I were to stuff my mindscape to the brim with essence containers, I might be able to increase my essence capacity by fifty percent or so- and I’m a total novice when it comes to Psionics.” Turi said. “Theoretically, though, the limits of Psionics are extreme. I have put almost no effort into cultivating my mindscape- the moment that I do, it will increase in size and strength drastically, allowing each individual essence container to be more efficient, and allowing there to be more of them.”

“Understood,” The Guardian said, sitting down and crossing her legs. “I want to make sure I understand how to start the process of creating this ‘mindscape’. Guide me, alright?”

***

Thirty minutes later, the Guardian’s eyes finally snapped open with a bit of excitement. “I got it!” She shouted, and Turi nodded. She’d been smart to make sure she understood how to cultivate her mindscape before he left- without the bits of advice he’d given her throughout it, it was very possible she’d never have managed to get the hang of it.

“Now, we can move on to the last part of our deal. Fight me, Ascenturi.” The Guardian demanded, the pressure on his essence suddenly crushing. Time seemed to stop as a trillion of Turi’s thoughts were compressed into a single instant- a clear sign of danger. It was coming directly from the Guardian herself, even though she appeared to be standing perfectly normally.