After rowing back to shore, the onlookers dispersed and Kumo filled Synexus in on how it had been roughly ten days since he had started on his new skill. Hearing the news shocked him. He knew that he had a tendency to get too focused when in meditation, but it had definitely only felt like a day too him. What would happen if he went into meditation one day only to wake up years later?

  He shook off the thought and started to regale his friends with his experience creating a never-before-seen skill. Of course, when they asked him for exact details, he wasn’t able to answer them since he had yet to test it out. Right there on the shore of Silk Lake surrounded by his friends he activated the skill on his own brain and felt the surge of mana.

  Mana tendrils reached from his soul into his mind and wrapped around his brain. Slowly it seeped inside and started to snake their way through every pathway. As the one activating the skill he could see a map of the brain being formed within his soul and started to gain an inherent knowledge of his own brain even knowing what the electrical signals going from neuron to neuron meant. It was both strange and terrifying to know a brain this intimately, but also magnificent. As the one having their brain scanned, it felt calming to have the energy flowing through his mind. The sensation was almost euphoric.

  Half an hour later and the map was complete. His mana had depleted about a fourth of his total pool. Mentally, though, he felt a bit exhausted. Inside his Progress Garden he was able to pull up his collection skills and when he did, sure enough, there was a three-dimensional model of his own brain. To his surprise, it had a silvery sheen to it. When he reached out and selected the entry, that same level of understanding came back and he was able to understand exactly what was going on. Why each neuron and each synapse was in a specific place. It was fascinating to get this much of a deeper understanding of oneself let alone that deep of an understanding of another person.

  “Alright, you have a creepy smile on your face. I think you should get some rest.” Kumo broke him out of his thought.

  “I was seeing the result of the test, and I believe that this could help a lot of people. I’m just happy that it worked.”

  “Could it help my mother?” Mhlanir came out of nowhere with the question.

  “Yes. However, I do believe I need to rest first. That took a lot out of me.”

  Mhlanir didn’t want to agree. It was written all over her face. She wanted to say to help her mother first and Synexus could understand that. He would if he wasn’t completely exhausted. A few hours weren’t too long to wait and they both knew that.

  Kumo led him back to Mhlanir’s guest room and told him she would guard the door for a few hours so he could get the unbothered rest he needed. Unsurprisingly, it was one of the best rests of his life. He slept through the whole night and into the middle of the next day. Lunch was set out next to the bed, and he greedily ate the whole tray before leaving to find the matriarch of the Mind Maidens.

  Mhlanir was with her in meditation and both stirred when one of the younger women led Synexus through the heavy curtain that kept the light out of the meditation chamber. Torches flicked around on the walls and the air was considerably warmer. Natural wood made up the floor and the two women sat across from each other on silk cushions.

  “Ah, Synexus! You’re awake! Did you recover?”

  “I did, thank you for letting me sleep. It was most rest than I knew I needed.”

  “Our bodies are funny like that sometimes.”

  “Enough chatting! I’m trying to meditate!”

  “Mother! He is here to help you! You will not be rude to him!”

  Mylidara scoffed at them both before waving her hand as if dismissing them.

  “Sorry about her, are you ready?”

  “Well, I’d like to use my skill on you first to get a baseline for the skill. If that’s okay of course.”

  Mhlirna thought for a second before smiling and nodding.

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  “Of course. I can’t ask my mother to do something that I wouldn’t do myself.”

  Synexus sat down next to the woman and placed his hands around hers. His skill activated and the mana tendrils shot out of him and wrapped around her arms growing like vines until they reached her head. Again, they seeped in until it was clear the energy was running through the woman’s mind. Unlike when he tested it with himself, he wasn’t getting superimposed images of himself. Instead, he was getting images of her thoughts and feelings. She was scared, excited, happy, hopeful, nervous, and a bit skeptical. Her surface thoughts were about whether Synexus could truly accomplish something that the masters of the mind couldn’t do themselves. He pushed his mana in deeper.

  Each tendril raced through her mental pathways, getting a perfect picture of her inner workings. Synexus saw memories of when she was a little girl awaken, he saw memories of the travelers that had come through Silk Lake, he watched the silkworm celebration through her perspective at many different ages, and he understood her completely. She was strong in ways that most people couldn’t fathom. A woman who found herself at the head of a powerful clan unexpectedly. People looked to her for answers when her mother couldn’t give them. She had no idea what she was doing but threw her own worries away to take the pressure from the others. Thousands of times she had thought about running away and starting somewhere new. Finding a man that she could start a family with and getting the loving family she deserved, but instead she stayed and sacrificed that life for the people she cared about. It was miraculous for lack of a better word.

  Synexus saw everything and when the scan was nearly complete, he ran into an anomaly. A mana sphere in her brain just like her mother had. The defenses were strong, but nearly a fourth of his mana pool was running through the brain of one of the strongest Mind Maidens. He focused his skill to finish mapping her brain. All the mana tendrils twisted and turned in the brain until they converged on the mana shield assaulting it from every angle. A bright flash showed that it was attempting to pull in its own mana to continue its defense. It was no use.

  Mana shattered as finally the skill broke down. Synexus’ mana continued forward to finish the map of the brain. A strong memory flooded out at the same time and both of them fell into it.

  A man stood over a young Mhlanir like a hero from the stories. His armor was perfectly polished, and it gleamed in the morning son. A great sword hilt could be seen coming from his back and the sword itself seemed to be radiating power. He knelt down and kissed Mhlanir on the forehead before caressing her face and speaking.

  “My little Mhl. I can tell that you will grow up strong and perhaps be your own hero. My hope is that I will be around to see it, but my warrior’s instinct is telling me that it isn’t likely. A threat that none of us can understand has been unleashed and must be stopped.”

  “Why can’t I come with you?!” Mhlanir yelled out in a squeaky voice.

  “It’s much too dangerous for my sweet girl. I’ll do my best to return, but in truth I’m not sure where we will be going. According to the stranger our planet is one of many and well you don’t need to know all that. Just stay safe for me and keep your mother happy.”

  “But…but dad! We need you.” Tears streamed down her face as she knew it was a goodbye. Even at such a young age she was brilliant.

  Her father started to tear up as well and cleared his voice.

  “That’s exactly why I must go. For you.” He stood showing his full height again. As he walked away, he turned back and said, “Mhl, I love you.”

  Mhlanir was too choked up to say it back. She simply watched through teary eyes as he and many other strong men and women stepped away from their loved ones toward a weird horseshoe shaped vessel. Blue beings with blank white eyes and long grey horns ushered them through circles of light underneath the weird machine. Other little girls were crying. Many little boys were following the warriors with worried faces. Her eyes looked away from her father to see her mother lying unconscious near her with streaks of tears running down her own face. She ran over to her and did everything she could to put her mother’s head in her lap before turning back towards the odd ship. Her father was still standing in front with one of the odd people and several others from her village. Together they started working a skill. A mass of mana flooded out and hit the ones left behind like a tidal wave and with the impact, the memory faded.

  Synexus’ skill ended and both him and Mhlanir recoiled. New tears fell down her cheeks. Her breathing was heavy and it was clearly more intense for her than it was for Synexus.

  “What did you do to her?!” Mylidara yelled out while going to hold her daughter.

  “No! Mom, you don’t understand. He did it. I have my memories back!”

  The older woman stood with a face of disbelief.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Mom, I can remember dad. All those years before the tragedy.” She started crying harder.

  “Mhlanir, I saw the memory too. I’m sorry you had to do all that. While I was inside your mind, I noticed several spots of mind degradation due to your mind magic and age. I used my skills to reinvigorate those cells and repair any damage I found. I also increased your genetic plasticity to sort of reverse the age of your brain a bit. The degradation should take longer to start again now.”

  More tears followed as she simply nodded. Synexus knew it was a nod of gratitude and turned toward the matriarch.

  “Are you ready?”

  She let go of her daughter and looked at him.

  “Yes. I want to remember.”

  His mana tendrils made their way for her head toward the mana sphere. Instantly it broke and the memories started.