Alexander felt his mind begin to disturb, as if two alien forces were attacking his consciousness. It was like a strong wind that was tearing his thoughts into pieces and throwing them in different directions. He felt his identity begin to crumble like sand through his fingers, and he was no longer sure who he was.

One of these forces was cold and rational, like an icy wind that howled inside his mind. She tried to constrict his will and crowd out his own thoughts, making him feel like a stranger in his own head.

The other force was hot and furious, like a fire that was burning inside him. She fought for control of his mind, unleashing a storm of emotions and passions that threatened to overwhelm his own self.

Between these two forces, Alexander felt crushed and lost, as if he was in the middle of an internal battle. His consciousness was attacked from both sides, and he fought to maintain his own identity and not lose himself in this chaos. It was as if he was a hostage in his own head, fighting for his freedom from the invasion of alien forces.

And then came realization and devastation. The two personalities whose stories and whose last moments he experienced simply disappeared into the void of Alexander’s self-awareness. He did not have his own history, his own past, and he filled himself with the destinies of others. After that everything went easy. As if in a whirlpool, fragments of memories replaced each other, filling the emptiness in the guy’s soul. A moment and it was all over. Alexander opened his eyes and became aware of his surroundings. His attention was drawn to his own dagger, whose warmth warmed his soul. Until this moment, there was emptiness there, but now, in the reflection of cold metal, the fates of two people, a scientist and a warrior, were visible.

- Sash? Don’t scare me like that... - the voice sounded from behind the stone behind which Roman was hiding. He did not show his nose from behind cover and waited, not wanting to become the target of another madman, but he did not run away, since the thirst to know more was stronger in him. Alexander did not get on the nerves of his comrade in misfortune and responded to the call. - Phew, I thought you were all crazy too. So what's there? What happened?

- My consciousness was attacked by the personalities of George and another person, a Chinese from the past. But it seems that I absorbed them...

- Damn, everything is like in a computer game. You fought with someone else's will and received its power. Did you get it? Feeling something new? - Roman, who had come out from behind the stone before, was now excitedly looking at Alexander, walking around him. - Well, don’t be tormented, tell me!

- Well, you can see for yourself. - Alexander showed his hand, which was badly damaged in the brawl. Now, where the tissue had been torn, there was clean skin. Roman looked with wide eyes at the bloody palm without any underneath it. Swallowing nervously, he asked:

- Has anything else changed?

- Well, I feel a surge of strength, nothing else has changed.

- If it’s like in a game, then by collecting a bunch of souls, you can clearly open some skills or gifts... - at this word, Alexander involuntarily remembered Charon. - I think we can experiment. Can you help me? I want to get a soul too!

“I’m not sure how safe it can be,” Alexander replied, looking around as if expecting something else to jump out of the dark corners of this place. “We've just encountered something incredible, and I'm not sure we can control it.”

Roman, however, was excited and determined. He looked at his friend with anticipation and excitement in his eyes.

- Alex, you see, this is our chance to change ourselves. Any boy will tell you that it is a dream to be in the game. We can become stronger, learn more, and maybe even become heroes. Let's try?

Alexander hesitated, but understood that Roman was no one to him and this was his right. This place, these events, all this is not only his life. Perhaps he will die, but this is his decision and he only has the right to help him. Fortunately, he had experience that others did not have and the words of the creature that he was going to use. With a certain amount of determination, he nodded to Roman.

- OK, let's try. But be careful and don't do anything thoughtless. Listen to me and perhaps, I will repeat, perhaps you will remain alive.

- It sounds ominous and a little old. You are at most twenty-five years old, and you speak like my grandfather... - the guy laughed, but quickly sank, seeing that Alexander was looking at him carefully. - OK I understood. I listen and obey. Well, what are we doing?

Alexander raises his hand and points to piles of ash lying a short distance away from them. Roman nods and slowly walks towards them. Nervousness mixed with excitement affects the movements, to which the young man only smiles and follows. It so happened that two piles of ash with daggers were nearby, therefore, Alexander chose one and sat down on his knees next to him, and Roman the other, repeating the actions of his comrade. After this, Alexander begins to tell Roman:

- Here are fragments of the memory and consciousness of creatures that once died in the Border. - at this moment the guy stumbles over his word, after which he explains. - That’s what I call this place, you can call it whatever you want.

- I understand, it doesn’t matter to me, because whatever you call your ass, in essence it will remain the same.

- And that’s true. - Alexander smiled and continued: - Each of these daggers stores the memories of one soul. To understand whether we can win the battle of souls, we need to take a close look at the steel of this dagger. It contains the last moments of their lives, and we will be able to learn more about our opponents. Take a closer look, do you see?

Roman carefully examines the dagger sticking out of the ash, trying to see something in its steel. Soon he begins to notice movement, forming images, as if short fragments from the past lives of the creature whose soul was left here are being played.

- This is incredible! I see the memories of this soul! This is a child, amazing! Well, I’ll defeat him! Hold on! - Alexander didn’t have time to shout when Roman pulled out a dagger from the pyramid of ash, breaking the structure. The guy's head throws back, leaving him alone with his restless soul.

- What kind of fool is that?!

Alexander decided to look into the blade sticking out in front of him. Flashing images could be seen there. He saw green endless fields where the boy ran, playing hide and seek with his friends. Then, like fragments, the memories changed. He saw a haze of sparks rising from the red-hot furnace, and seemed to hear the sound of hammers, which sent shivers down his spine.

Then Alexander saw a girl radiating warmth and tenderness with her eyes alone. A small country estate surrounded by bright flowers. Anna and someone else were walking next to the river, and the soft breeze played in her hair. Then the image changed to battle. He saw someone fighting bravely to protect his family and village.

Finally, the last image is of someone lying on his deathbed, surrounded by his family. He was lying in a modest room, illuminated by the soft light of candles. The windows were slightly open, and a light breeze flowed into the room, ruffling the hair of the girl whose eyes were the last memories.

Alexander suddenly emerged into reality. His body was completely wet. It seemed that he had survived someone else’s life, but what is most surprising is that the guy felt his body filling with energy, and a pyramid of ash developing from a light blow of wind. The dagger fell to the ground and lost all its color.

- There are at least two ways: take someone else’s blade, experience his last moments, his grief and fight the will of the deceased, or experience his life and warm memories, taking them through yourself. Interesting. - Alexander looked at Roman, then shook his head. He stood with his head thrown back to the sky. - What kind of fool is that? I asked him not to do anything rash. If he followed in my footsteps, it would be much easier for him, but it’s still unclear how everything will end for him.

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While there was time, Alexander decided to look around. He rose to his feet, took a deep breath of air, and glanced first at the sky, then at the ground. The guy stood in endless fields, where tall grass swayed in the wind, creating a slight noise that either died down or returned again, like the breath of this world. The vegetation interspersed with bald patches of bare, gray earth. The view was mesmerizing, but there was something gloomy about it. Shadows and fog created images of predators ready to slip out from behind every tree or from under every blade of grass.

The silhouettes of trees, like guardians of the world, hid invisible observers within themselves. The ruins, rising among the trees, seemed to be monuments of bygone times, but their contours sounded alien and remote. Even according to Alexander’s rough estimates, it took several hours to walk to a more or less complete building.

The fog that densely shrouded the fields in the distance gave everything that was happening anxiety and wariness. He could hide dangers and secrets, remaining impenetrable and moist, like the breath of the Edge itself.

Alexander moved carefully through this landscape, not letting Roman out of his sight. He periodically turned around to check how his soul battle was progressing, and again plunged into the surrounding dark beauty, feeling that in this world, every element of nature could hide danger.

The guy also noted what the creature told him. Carefully watching where the light haze from the nearest pyramids of ash was blowing, he identified a sector with a safe tunnel. All that remains is to compare everything you see and decide for yourself whether the path leads to life or death. The choice fell on an unremarkable gap in space. The undistinguished feature was the three identical tunnels scattered over an area of thirty-five square meters. At that moment, he heard a scream belonging to Roman and turned around.

The guy held his head, actively massaging his temples. Every now and then he tried to raise his head and find someone, but then he doubled over again from a headache. Alexander quickly walked towards Roman, carefully watching him so that in case of psychosis he would be able to strike first. But the young man was fine mentally, only a migraine squeezing his brain like a steel vice did not allow him to look at the world calmly.

Roman noticed his comrade approaching and, still clutching his head, began a story about what he saw when he raised the dagger:

- Just think, there is a small village there, there is a forest around, fields. I was a child, about six years old, judging by the way everyone was coddling me. They had a farm there, his parents did. This guy, in short, went around asking everyone. He was inquisitive. In the evening they listened to stories around the fire, but the guy was constantly overcome by a cough. And guess what, not even an hour passed before he fell ill. By the way, I didn’t understand anything from what they were saying, but it seems they were Germans. Well, in the end, I died on my mother’s chest...

- Was it hard? - Alexander felt the weight of history.

- He didn’t even realize that he was dying. He was just happy that his mother was with him and not in the field. - Roman’s eyes began to flow with tears. “I almost lost myself there, living this memory over and over again.” I don’t even know what helped me wake up, but as soon as this happened, my body was filled with strength, but the sensations seemed to move from my head to every cell of my body.

After a short rest, Roman suggested that Alexander try to use the strange power that he had acquired, according to the game and movie canons. There were various methods that, in general terms, the guy had seen many times, back in good times. Alexander agreed with interest, their curiosity was enormous.

“Well, Alex,” said Roman, “Let’s try different techniques from movies and games.” Perhaps one of them will work.

Alexander nodded in agreement, and they began to experiment. First, they tried visualization by closing their eyes and trying to imagine the energy filling their bodies in different ways. They pictured in their heads how they gathered new strength into a fist. How the core of energy is formed. But in the end, nothing happened.

True, at these moments they overlooked a group of people who also ended up in the Edge. They looked at the guys in the lotus position, but without saying anything, they moved on.

They then tried using affirmations, saying words of action and confidence. They screamed, whispered, and generally tried to manipulate power in any verbal way. But this did not produce results; their forces remained unchanged.

- Maybe we should try something more physical? - Alexander suggested, a little disappointed with the unsuccessful attempts.

“Yes, maybe,” Roman agreed. - Let's try using breathing and movement. It helps heroes in games, maybe it will help us too.

They began to breathe slowly, as if inhaling the power of this world, and do exercises in the styles of Bruce Lee. No harshness, just breathing and blows. For a moment it seemed to Alexander that something new had appeared in his sensations, but he could not grasp this thought.

“I think we need more time and practice,” said Roman, a little tired of unsuccessful attempts.

- You are right. - Alexander answered. - It's not as simple as it seems.

They once again tried to breathe deeply and essentially do gymnastics, but this also did not bring a positive outcome. They were tired and hungry. Alexander didn’t even think that it was possible to experience hunger here, but it was there and pressed on his mind. Why did he suggest changing the technique to something new.

The guys continued to look for ways to master their strength. This time they tried to use a technique that Roman had seen in one of his favorite anime - meditation under a waterfall. In the Edge, different realities and pieces of the landscape interspersed, so finding a source of water was not difficult. It was a wide river, falling in small cascades and flowing first down and then up, which gave Alexander a headache.

Next to a bubbling stream, they closed their eyes and began to focus on the sounds of the waterfall. The sound of the water seemed incredibly loud to them, but they tried to absorb its energy. Alexander even thought about actually plunging under the streams of water, but the liquid turned out to be chilling. He was simply shackled on the approaches, which is why Roman had to drag his comrade to the shore. Apart from wet pants and cold in the chest, there were no more results. I had to stand near the waterfall and immerse myself in hearing.

They listened to the rushing water, imagining how they became part of this nature, how their own strength merged with the mighty stream of water. However, despite their inspiration, nothing happened. Their bodies remained unchanged, their powers uncontrollable.

The next attempt was to use technology from the world of cinema. They remembered a scene from a movie where the hero concentrates and moves objects with the power of his will. Alexander and Roman began to focus on the stones in front of them, but the stones remained motionless, not obeying the will of the guys. They spent about ten minutes hypnotizing the cobblestones, after which they simply collapsed on their backs, breathing heavily. It looks like they have completely lost the thread of development.

“Nothing is working out,” Roman sighed, feeling a little disappointed.

- Listen, what if you try to track where the power goes when it is absorbed, and only then focus your attention on this place. I think we're trying to cover too much. - Alexander got involved in these experiments surprisingly easily. He himself didn’t understand why he was doing this instead of going back. The image of his decaying corpse arose in his thoughts, and then the grave, from which he would not be able to get out once he was buried. For himself, he decided, one more try and that would be it. Return to the real world.