*
Ashen's eyelids slowly parted, the morning sunlight caressing his face through the window.
After that surreal encounter with Miratheris, he had drifted into sleep.
Maybe his mind simply couldn't handle so many upheavals at once and had forced itself to shut down.
Either way, this was the first real rest he'd had since the awakening ceremony; one without Lucid Dreamweaving.
And no, he wasn't counting the time he first woke up here.
'That was more "getting knocked out cold" than genuine slumber…'
Yet, even as drowsiness ebbed away, his head remained unbearably heavy, as though someone had poured molten lead into his skull.
His thoughts crawled sluggishly, stuttering and lagging, like a high-end processor swapped out for a discount knockoff.
"Ugh…"
What the hell was happening to him?
Braun was nowhere in sight, likely stretching his legs somewhere. His injuries hadn't been that severe.
'Lucky bastard…'
Gradually, the pounding in his skull dulled to something tolerable, though his mind still felt like it was running on fumes.
With effort, he did the first thing that might actually explain what was wrong with him.
'Status…'
He barely had time to process what he saw before his face drained of color.
"...FUUCKKK!!!"
Lucky for him, no one was around to hear that mournful cry.
==============================
[2. Traits]
—Perpetually Distracted
—Strategically Idle
==============================
Ashen's gaze turned more lifeless by the second.
His Brilliant trait was gone.
So was Loved by Time.
With a sinking feeling, he numbly tapped on the new trait, hoping—though its name already screamed you're completely screwed.
His stomach twisted as he read on. Then, a small chuckle escaped him.
Followed by another.
And another.
Until his shoulders shook, and he was laughing outright. A dry, almost hysterical sound.
"Ha–haha… HAHAHAHAHA——"
==============================
Perpetually Distracted
An ordinary individual who dabbles in tasks with fleeting enthusiasm loses momentum swiftly and drifts to the next fleeting interest. motivation scattered, focus transient.
==============================
Equivalent Exchange hadn't given him this garbage.
It had simply taken away the Brilliant portion of his trait, leaving him with nothing but the restless, erratic part.
And this was the result.
Not only that, but it had also stripped away Loved by Time.
As his laughter died down, only cold emptiness remained.
At first glance, it might seem like he was overreacting… but he wasn't.
His brilliance… his ability to push forward, to see solutions others couldn't, to defy odds that should have crushed him, had all been condensed into that single trait.
It had been his strongest advantage. His surest line of defense against inevitable ruin.
And now? Now, he was just another regular person.
'No… Even worse.'
"Why…" His voice was barely a whisper.
Hadn't they already established that his damned eyes would be the sacrifice?
"Then WHY!"
Only the echo of his frustration answered.
Seething, he scrolled down to his innate powers.
Was anything still there?
==============================
[4. Abilities]
1. Innate Powers:
—##### Eyes
—Twin souls
==============================
"What's this…?"
The name had changed. It was now blurred.
But the description cleared things up.
"Oh."
==============================
##### Eyes
Once the eyes of an entity who shaped destiny, now stripped of their primordial power and dormant ego. A new consciousness has awakened within them; a nascent will that sees its host as parent and master.
Current State:
Boundless Evolution: The eyes grow according to their host's will and actions, adapting infinitely, though their roots in time and fate nudge their development.
"A god's eyes reduced to a seedling—yet what grows may eclipse the original."
==============================
'So the spell didn't take everything from the Weaver's Eyes…'
That explained why it had latched onto other things.
Ashen wasn't sure what to think anymore. His mind was a tangled mess of contradictions.
On one hand, he'd lost his greatest advantage, his genius.
On the other hand, his eyes hadn't been completely stripped away.
Even if all that remained was a seedling, the description alone screamed potential.
However, potential was just that - potential.
What he needed was a way to actually survive.
Because he vividly remembered his last brush with death. Hell, it was yesterday.
And no matter how fancy the system made it sound, everything about this screamed expensive.
What did it mean by will? He was willing—hell, begging—for his eyes to give him something, anything useful.
All he got was a headache.
And as for actions… What in the world was he supposed to do?
Maybe channel mana into his eyes? But every circuit connecting to them was crippled.
This is like handing a homeless man an aircraft and asking him to fly it.
Completely useless.
Still… There was one silver lining.
Whatever these new eyes were, they belonged to him now. Entirely.
And that was a victory in itself.
Now that he was calmer, Ashen noticed something peculiar… his new eyes didn't feel foreign anymore. If anything, there was a familiarity to them, as if they had always been his.
"Phew…"
Exhaling a slow breath, he turned his attention to the thing that had forced him down this path in the first place.
==============================
Twin Souls
A forbidden evolution of Recall, Twin Souls no longer merely switches between personalities. It duplicates the sealed self into a fully independent and identical soul, bound to the same body yet operating as a distinct entity.
Traits:
Two Souls, One Vessel – The sealed memories manifest as a complete second consciousness, with its own will, instincts, and even latent abilities drawn from forgotten experiences.
Shared, Yet Divided – They coexist in harmony, trading control or whispering in the mind's periphery. The original remains "human"; the twin is a living echo of the suppressed future.
Duality of Power – When synchronized, their combined insight unlocks transcendent clarity.
Price of Wholeness – Overuse risks fragmentation, permanent separation of souls, or worse, the twin claiming dominance as the "true" self.
"You are the wound. I am the scar. Together, we are the reckoning."
==============================
"..."
Ashen stared blankly at the screen.
Did he just… accidentally become a little brother for real?
More like a younger twin…
He had no idea how to process this. How the hell was he supposed to feel about having two identical souls crammed inside his body?
His only thought was that this was absolutely insane.
And, as he always did when confronted with something this mind-blowing—
He decided to ignore it.
Or at least, he tried to.
Because, unfortunately, this wasn't something he could just brush aside.
A faint tugging sensation at the back of his mind refused to be dismissed. When he focused on it, an image slowly formed—
A vision of himself, sitting atop a throne-like chair. One elbow rested against the armrest, his fist supporting his face, eyes closed in serene slumber.
His breathing was steady, unbothered. He even had his blood-drenched spear resting lazily by his side, its presence an eerie contrast to his composed stillness.
Him. Or rather—his twin. Fast asleep.
Figures.
'I guess the birth of another soul doesn't happen in a blink…'
Ashen wasn't sure when his other self would wake, or what his reaction would be when he did, but his absence left him feeling far more vulnerable than he cared to admit.
Great. Just great.
'Leaving me to deal with this mess while you take a nap like it's nobody's damn business…'
***