“Who are you?”

The question hung in the still air while everything around her ground to a halt. The dreamscape Yuriko found herself in every time she used her Facet grew still. The rolling hills, the long green grass, even the leaves fluttering in the wind, everything simply froze.

The masculine Golden Silhouette’s grin was still there. Yuriko stared at the golden pupils, stark against the void of his sclera. The masculine form was much more defined than she remembered, though not as well defined as he had been when she was having her long dream. Features were still absent save for the shape of his face, his eyes and mouth.

His bare chest showed the contours of his muscles from his shoulders to his abdominals. His palazzo pants were secured just below his navel and were gathered at his ankles. He had his arms crossed, showing off the bulges of his biceps and forearms. If she compared his physique aesthetically to Armsmaster Byrne’s, her instructor would be left far behind. Byrne’s muscles were more pronounced but the silhouette’s were perfectly proportioned.

With her mouth suddenly dry, Yuriko painfully gulped. Her voice echoed oddly, and it barely faded from her hearing when the Golden Silhouette’s grin grew wider.

“The real question here is, who are you?”

Just like that, the timeless, frozen moment passed. Yuriko couldn’t help but stagger back.

“What do you mean?”

Yuriko could feel her pulse racing. This was the first time they’ve communicated this clearly.

Bzzt!

The edges of the silhouette started to fuzz though he didn’t seem to notice.

“Who are you?” the man continued. “What a rude child you are.”

“Eh?”

“You ask who I am yet your name isn’t on your lips. Introduce yourself first!”

“Ah, er, greetings, I am Yuriko Mishala Davar.”

“That’s better. Now, I am known by many sobriquets, but you may address me as Damien.” The man folded his legs and sat on the ground. “Now sit.”

Reluctantly, Yuriko did as asked. She fidgeted a bit until she found a comfortable position, then coughed and said, “So, you’re my Ancestor?”

“Huh, what makes you say that?”

“...”

“...”

“I’m sure I saw you in my Atavism Ritual!” Yuriko yelled, “And I saw you holding Fri’Avgi! So you must be my Ancestor!”

“Ah, Fri’Avgi. Heh heh, good that you’ve found her. Not that you can lose her, but don’t let anyone take her away from you.”

“... I left Fri’Avgi with my brother.”

“...”

“...”

“Why?”

“I don’t have a license.”

“Since when did holding a personal possession, a treasure that you rightfully own, need a license? From who or what?” Damien’s voice was cold, though his face didn’t change expression, not that she could see much in the first place.

“The Empire. Shouldn’t you remember this?”

“Empire? Which one?”

“The Eternal Empire of the Righteous Order.”

“Never heard of it.”

“But…the Empire’s founding was nearly three thousand years ago! Are you from a time before then? But, but…” The Atavism Ritual had only been taught by the Empress after three hundred years of the founding. She’d never heard of anyone with a Heritage from that long ago. Was that why her Heritage was lacking? Older wasn’t exactly better. The longer a lineage lasted, the stronger it got, which obviously meant that early lineages were barely worth the committed Animus. Doubts started to rise in her heart and her palms grew slick with sweat.

What would she do if her guidepost no longer led her? The guidance from the Heritage was what made advancing to Knight easier. Without it, she’d have to spend much more time, perhaps years or decades, before she could find the right path.

“Look.” Damien interrupted her thoughts, “It doesn’t really matter, now that I think about it. But look at you. What with the mess of lines in your head?’

“Huh, what?”

He lifted a finger and pointed straight between her eyes.

“Those lines. Hoh…is that the Radiant Sun’s pattern? Interesting. But, hmmm, ah, I suppose that makes sense.” His eyes narrowed and he rubbed his chin with his fingers, combing nonexistent facial hair.

“What, what?”

“Hmmph! What are you doing, girl? The way you’re going, you’re going to ruin your talent.”

“Huh?”

“Look, you're maiming your Anima. How do you expect it to grow beyond your Shell when you won’t let out and you’ve even turned it inwards. Your Anima must grow beyond you, otherwise, you’ll never ascend.”

“Huh?”

“Tsk, slow on the uptake aren’t you? Well, you’ve got a pretty face, er actually, hmm, you’re incredibly beautiful, but why isn’t this making me… Ah! Hmm, er anyway…” He coughed, “Look, stop doing what you’re doing.”

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“But I’m just doing what you’ve told me to do!”

“No, I don’t mean the Arts.” Damien shook his head, “Why are you using up your Animus to etch patterns into your Anima?”

“I’m inlaying my Facet!’ Yuriko said defensively. “That’s what I need to progress with my Anima Strength.”

Damien’s eyes narrowed to slits. “And who taught you that?”

“Uhm, school?”

“School?”

“Where children are taught standardised knowledge?”

“Ah, you mean a place to train footsoldiers?”

“Among other things, I guess.”

“Well, well, well.” Damien laughed. “I see how it is.”

He continued to laugh to himself for a while. The borders around his body started fuzzing out but he didn’t seem to realise it. Yuriko somehow knew that there was a limit to how long he could keep this form and perhaps his consciousness.

“Er, excuse me, you didn’t confirm it but you are my Ancestor, right?”

“Hmm, could be? I don’t know how many children I fathered.”

‘How irresponsible!’ Yuriko thought furiously in her head.

“Perhaps I am, perhaps I’m not. Either way, I am here.” He nodded sagely. “Now, what is it that you want?” He sat there and waited, watching her without blinking. Well, he didn’t have any eyelids, or actual eyes anyway, so maybe he didn’t need to blink. The borders around his frame slowly dissolved in the air.

“What I want?” Yuriko spoke softly to herself. “What is it that I really want?”

She shook her head, throwing her thoughts aside. There was only one thing she wanted right now, the strength to enter the Chaos Sea, look for her Da, and bring him back.

“Power.” Damien said half a second before she did.

“Yes,” she agreed. “I want the strength to go to the Tidelands, go to the Chaos Sea, and find my family, my Da, and help bring him back. I’ve been working on my Facet, and I need to raise my Anima Strength to Journeyman level at least.” Yuriko let out a loud sigh, “My Animus capacity is already at the Journeyman level but my Anima is not.”

“Yes, you try going into the Primordial Chaos and it will invade your Anima and change you. At least how you are now.” Damien nodded thoughtfully. “But I’d ask you to stop trying to etch your Anima further. The first one is bad enough but it's still workable. More than that…”

“Why should I do as you say?” Yuriko asked with narrowed eyes.

“Well, believe in the wisdom of your elders,” he laughed. “You can always improve your Anima your way anytime but once you do, you would have gone down a slippery slope.”

Yuriko just shook her head. Armsmaster Byrne’s words a few weeks ago echoed in her mind. The wisdom of generations that have optimized and tested the path could not be wrong. But…she should keep an open mind. Besides, the sword dances the silhouette…Damien had taught her had been more than useful.

“Why do you turn into a female, and a smaller figure when you taught me before?” She blurted out before she could stop herself.

“...huh?”

‘Does it mean that his consciousness isn’t present in the female golden silhouette? But their skills are the same, except the girl version makes it easier for me to learn.’ Yuriko thought.

“Nevermind.”

Damien coughed, “Either way, there are no shortcuts to building a perfect foundation. I see that you’ve maximised your physique and it's perfectly balanced yet your Anima is woefully underutilised.”

“Well, that’s why I’m working on improving my Facet inlay!”

“No, that’s not how you should do it.”

“Then how?”

“You do realise that you improve yourself by pushing yourself to the limit, rest, then grow. You built your physique by training, then you rested by using Recovery, which allowed quick growth.” He looked at her expectantly.

“...you mean? I have to strain my Anima to the limit? Other than using Animus for techniques, I don’t know how else to go about it.”

“Controlling Animus will strain your Anima. You can do so easily because you’ve built up that much. You can control more than one strand of Animus because of talent but you haven’t really pushed beyond your limits. You’ve only done one type of Anima training, that of control. You don’t train for extrusion and you don’t train for persistence.” He held out a finger. “And worst of all, you’ve stopped feeding your Anima.”

“Huh?”

“Just like your body, you tear the fabric of your Anima by pushing at your limits. Your Anima needs something to rebuild itself. And what it needs is…?”

“Uh, Animus?”

“Close!” Damien smirked. “Animus will do in a pinch but it makes your Anima too homogenous. You need diversity in there, little girl! What you need is Chaos!”

“Eeeh! But that would mean Chaos poisoning!”

“Well, yes, if you take in more than you can handle. How do you think we first learned how to manipulate Chaos and bend the fabric of creation to our wills?” He smacked his knee for emphasis. “Chaos is the building block of everything but your Animus has already been processed by your Anima. It’s like eating your own leavings!”

“Er…” Yuriko gagged at the image.

“Hah hah hah! Fri’Avgi is the perfect training tool! You’d better get her back!”

Bzzt!

“Ahh, it looks like that’s it for me.” Damien chortled. “Ah, to think again! How strange…”

The borders around the silhouette buzzed and crackled, and the fabric of his being scattered. The next moment, Yuriko was thrown out of the dreamscape.

“Animus ran out?” she muttered. “Eh?”

There was a weight on her chest. Her bedroom was dark, with the curtains drawn. Yellow eyes appeared staring down at her, while her heart jumped to her throat.

“Myaaa!”

“Chaos, Hunter!” Yuriko growled. The cat sniffed her nose, then padded off her bosom and settled next to her pillow.

She still had enough Animus to use her Facet, she realized. She needed to continue talking to him. She was finally making some progress with her Heritage! This was probably the way it relayed the necessary information. As for what Damien said about Facets and Heritages, she wasn’t sure if she believed him.

She returned to the dreamscape using most of her remaining Animus, leaving just a tenth in her core. That was much less than prescribed but she needed to know.

The female version of the Golden Silhouette was there but of Damien, there was no sign. The silhouette merely repeated all of the exercises shown before, the sword dances, the post-training meditation, and the golden version of Recovery, Boost, and Strengthen Physique. No matter how she called for him, he didn’t reappear.

“Think, Yuri, think!” she muttered to herself. “There must be a reason why he won’t appear now. What does Damien need to surface? Why does he whisper in my mind even when I don’t use my Facet?”

So the voice wasn’t Fri’Avgi after all.

The dreamscape faded away as her Animus ran out. Her mind and body were strained, stretched to the breaking point. She didn’t know what to believe, and the idea that some man was snooping around in her head didn’t sit too well with her either.

Still…

What if what he said was true? But the Atavism Ritual and the process of using the Heritage and activating the Facet to strengthen themselves was a well-documented fact. If what Damien said was true, that the act of inlaying was maiming the Anima, then everyone around her was doing the same self-mutilation.

Who should she tell this to? She didn’t have any proof. She wasn’t even past the starting line, so why would her opinions even matter? Everyone else was treading the same path. Should she go her own way?

She had the benefit of someone to show the way, except she didn’t even know how to use her Facet to talk to him. From her point of view, he showed up when he wanted to and ignored her otherwise.

“Stop!” she yelled.

“Nyaaaaa!” Hunter yowled in surprise, hissing at her as he jumped off her bed. Yuriko didn’t give him a second glance.

Her thoughts were running in circles and she needed to stop before she made herself dizzy.

Damien didn’t give her any specific instructions on how to properly strengthen her Anima, though he did give her what she needed to do.

‘I guess it’s up to me to figure things out.’ She thought ruefully.

The very idea of venturing into something unknown, far off the beaten path was so frightening that she couldn’t help but shiver.

But the greater part of her wasn’t afraid. She was excited.