The information about the hidden powers told Makun he had to dive deeper.
Zuri warned him about the dangers of mysticism, the danger of the hidden world, and she made it sound dramatic. Like the moment he took another step forward, the ground would open under him.
But except for the incident at Joe's place, Joe hitting Shane after being influenced by an eerie energy from someone Makun could not see, Makun still could not feel the danger the way she described it.
Not yet.
The book mentioned people losing themselves after consuming resources. It hinted at it when it spoke about the paths of comprehension, especially the one that relied on external sources. But even that sounded like something you could avoid if you were careful. If you kept your head. If you did not get greedy.
Instead, from what Makun understood, mysticism brought freedom. It brought power. It brought reason to live.
And that was why he was chained.
That was why the Veil existed.
That was why the Great Families and the Concord maintained Suppression.
Similar to what the book implied, they were scared. Afraid of people being free.
Afraid of people attaining that level of power.
If it happened, the illusion of control they had would disappear. The world would stop obeying their rules. That was why they veiled everything, leaving normal people vulnerable.
Like Joe was, to whoever had been pulling his strings.
However Makun, plagued by his usual bad luck, knew everything that seemed too good had a price to pay.
There was always a negative to something positive.
So the doubt came anyway.
What if those families, instead of suppressing, were stopping a disaster.
She mentioned factions among those families. What were they fighting over. Power. Resources. Control.
Or something more esoteric.
Something they could not agree on.
Like he thought before, the goal of a mystic had to vary depending on the individual. It could not be one clean dream shared by everyone. Not when people were still human.
Now the question became sharper.
If they fought because of different philosophies, then he had to know what those philosophies were, and why they existed.
If it was related to ascension, then what were the outcomes. What were the endings.
Makun had a gist of what he needed to ask, and similar to the first question, he asked something broad enough to make her dump information on him.
He looked at her and spoke carefully, like the words themselves might trigger something.
"What is the cost of ascension?" Makun asked, hoping his deductions were right. "Everything has a price. Ascending, gaining power, it cannot come free. I want to know what price I pay for power, knowledge, reconnection."
If he calculated poorly and there was no price, then he wasted a question.
But contrary to his doubts, the Veiled Lady froze for a fraction of a second.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Wasn't this guy too sharp.
She could tell since Old Town Plaza that he was a complete novice. And after touching his recall, she knew by now it had only been days since he first pierced the Veil.
Yet his questions went straight to the core.
Obviously there was a price.
A huge one.
Ascending meant losing yourself.
That was what most people believed anyway. Maybe while following the path you could retain control. Maybe there was a method, a balance, something the old monsters knew.
But only those who climbed high enough could speak with certainty.
And she did not have that authority.
The Veiled Lady hesitated, not sure if she should tell him.
This kind of information did not circulate freely for a reason. Not because it was rare. Because it ruined people.
Knowing a danger too early could plant it in your mind, and in this world, the mind was not a private place. It shaped you. It echoed. It attracted things.
Fear could become a crack.
Fear could become a door.
However, she had promised answers.
And she was going to give them.
"This is not information you get everywhere," she said, fixing him with her dark eyes.
"It is restricted. People who speak about it casually do not live long, or they stop walking the path." She paused, then continued. "Only by ascending do you begin to feel what it is you pay."
Her voice stayed soft. Her expression did not shift.
"Knowing this might stop you from ever taking a step forward."
Makun looked at her, determined.
Nothing, no one, was going to stop him from finding the truth about himself. The truth about the chains. The truth about whoever had fed on him, whoever gave him daily problems, whoever who wanted to get more from him .
He did not suffer for nothing.
He did not die for nothing.
He was going to find them and make them pay.
"Tell me," he said.
His voice sounded steady. Strong. Confident.
The Veiled Lady stared at him.
Her eyes did not hold pity. They did not hold fear the way Zuri's had.
They were empty.
Not cold, not cruel.
Just empty.
Empty, as though she was staring at her own future and had already accepted that something would be taken from her eventually.
She spoke slowly.
"When people talk about ascension, when we speak of going up the ladders, moving from tier to tier, grade after grades, Walking those routes," she said, "we imagine it like becoming more."
She paused.
"But it is also becoming less."
What does she mean? Makun focused.
"The closer you move to the Source," she continued, "the more you lose yourself."
She said it like a technician explaining a process. No drama. No comfort.
"Cravings quiet first, Desires comes second" she said. "Fear fades after. Then your name feels lighter. Your story feels smaller."
Her gaze stayed on him.
"Some call that peace."
A pause.
"Most call it terror."