As I absorb the Echo Resonator, I am pulled into a distorted world.
The air vibrates like a thousand voices speaking at once, but none of them sound whole. Words twist and overlap, repeating fragments of sentences that sound almost… familiar.
I blink, and suddenly I am stand in a vast hall of fractured glass. Each shard shimmers with a figure. At first, I don't understand. The figure looks human, but unfamiliar. Dark hair, sharp eyes, a strange expression that shifts between anger, pain, and triumph. Then the realization crashes down.
"Is that... me?"
For the first time, since waking up in this world, I see myself. In not one but many reflections. Some standing tall and proud, some bloodied and broken, in some my eyes reflect pure evil. A dozen different personalities of me stare back from the shards. The echoes slowly grow louder...
"You will fail."
"You will lose yourself."
"You will be the strongest."
"You are too weak."
"You will get your friends killed."
"You will win."
I stumble backwards, covering my ears, closing my eyes shut. But the voices never stopped...
Suddenly, one of the shards rippled, a shadowy figure stepping out of it. My own reflection... but with a twisted look in his eyes, and a sharp smile.
"Every path has an end... I wonder which one will be yours." He said in a deeper voice than mine.
In the next instant, the ground beneath me shatters like glass. I fall into the void, filled with echoes... of myself.
SYSTEM ALERT!
Resonation forces: 5/5
A potential path has been unlocked.
I gasp, snapping back into the reality. I fall on my knees, sweat dripping down my face. My heartbeat was racing, as if I had run a marathon.
"Jay!" Cleo rushed to my side, "What happened? You were completely zoned out... as if you were somewhere else."
Beside me, Vilo whined softly. A wave of worry passed through me.
I force a smile, "I am fine now, it was a lot for me to comprehend at once. I think I saw myself... or a dozen of me. They all looked and whispered something different, both good and evil. One of them stepped out... He said something about the end of my path..."
"So you saw both the potential and risk...." Max sighed, "Jay, I will be honest. You are an anomaly. You have a potential I can't measure, which scares me... But I have decided to show you the path forward, in hopes that you find the right way ahead when needed."
I nod slowly, absorbing his words. Vilo once again curled up beside me, spreading calm through my heart. My breathing steadies, the exhaustion slowly leaving my body.
After resting for a few minutes I use my echo skill token.
Skill: Foresound
Description: By attuning with the echoes of the immediate future, one may perceive things that may happen. Subtle vibrations in the environment may reveal the motions of an enemy, allowing user to react to it.
Effect: Predicts incoming attacks within a short radius, by providing visual and sensory cues of enemy actions before they happen.
Note: Overuse may cause disorientation or both mental and magic fatigue.
"This one is cool... I can sense or see attacks before they hit me. Although I am guessing, I will be limited to immediate attacks and a very short radius." I tell the party.
Cleo's ears perk up, "Immediate attacks? So you can basically dodge everything someone throws at you?" she asked excitedly.
"Not exactly," I reply, shaking my head. "It's more like.. I get a hint of the attacks incoming. But if there are multiple attacks or something I can't react fast enough to, I might miss it."
Sarah tilts her head, "So basically... it's predictive, almost like precognition. You will gave to train to trust this sense instinctively."
Max cued in, "That's right. But you shouldn't rely on it blindly. It won't make you invincible, there are many ways to get past the skill."
"Alright," I say, standing up properly, "Let's test this now."
Once again, I have to spar with Max, this time though... I am not naive. "Can I use my skills?" I ask him.
"Sure, I will just use my sword and a skill that let's me move faster." He replied with confidence.
The fight begins with me void-stepping besides him, and swinging my sword towards his neck. Max quickly parries the attack and strikes back with his own, only to hit air. I activate Blades of Wind and send three strikes towards him from the back, while void-stepping to his right, and once again swinging my sword towards him. "Oh my, give me some space Jay." He said mockingly, as he activates his skill and moves to avoid the combination of my attacks, too fast for my eyes to keep up.
"That's a bit... fast, I would say." I reply, amazed by the speed. At that exact moment, I feel a rush of heat enter me, as I feel myself become slightly faster. "Seems like you are fired up as well, Vilo", I grin at the fox.
Continuing the spar, I activate the Foresound and once again void step near Max, swinging the sword, while also activating Slowdown, which should have made Max slower, but... he was still as fast as me. Max dodges the attack swiftly and moves a step back, preparing for an attack. But at that moment I see it, weird waves in the air, moving in a path, as if they were representing a sword strike. Trusting the skill I move my sword in the path of the attack, and block it as soon as Max swung. I try deflecting the attack, but Max outpowers me, making me lose the grip on my sword as it's thrown off in the distance.
"That... was amazing!! I actually saw the attack before you swung!" I say excitedly, while gasping for breathe. I hadn't realized how much I'd grown. To stand against Max like this… I felt amazed and proud, even if he still overpowered me.
"You have made huge progress Jay! You stood your ground and made good calls. Good job!" Max complimented me for the effort. Even though he did not even break a sweat while fighting.
After a while, Max tells us to prepare for the hunt once again. "It might take weeks to clear out all the goblins, so I suggest we all take enough essentials with us. Jay, you should use the skill tokens I gave you before we leave tomorrow. Oh- I forgot, I sent a letter to my family as well. So expect a few people for assistance, they may turn out to be Silver rankers or even higher." He ended the meeting with those words.