—

The Rune Necropolis was expansive and exuded a spooky vibe that made Kieran pause and analyze his surroundings several times. The mystic nature of this environment was all very new to him, given that Hekaina provided little to no insight regarding what he needed to accomplish.

Kieran was unsure if this was related to her assuming that his knowledge of the mystic arts was high, but Kieran's current predicament could be described as somewhat aimless.

Even though the objectives revealed the tasks he needed to accomplish, a problem remained. How exactly did he go about discerning, unveiling, and fabricating?!

He was completely unfamiliar with these three facets of mysticism.

"Surely I didn't stick my foot in my own mouth by opening the Stone Mystikum Doorway with no hassle, right? That's not why Hekaina didn't divulge crucial information," Kieran muttered.

He tried to convince himself otherwise, but part of Kieran believed that Hekaina had too much blind faith in him due to his initial feat. After all, one of Hekaina's first statements was indirectly praising the fact Kieran entered this place alone.

One wouldn't deliver praise unless the recipient was held in high regard.

Eventually, Kieran shook his head and sighed. "It is what it is. I have caused my circumstances, so I'll have to deal with them and ultimately locate a solution."

Since the first objective was related to the Rune Necropolis and ostensibly the Discernment aspect of the trial, Kieran pondered the meaning of discerning.

"It naturally has something to do with the eyes because I recall Hekaina mentioning that her discerning eyes failed to distinguish something," Kieran said. He also recalled that Hekaina's eyes were unlike any other Wykin, seemingly possessing a universe worth of truths embedded within.

Such eyes were undoubtedly the result of a powerful ocular skill that most humans could never unearth. Thinking about visual skills made Kieran remember the feeling of when Agatha prepared the Enriched Mystic Tea.

'After drinking that tea, my mind felt lighter, sharper, but most of all, it directly enhanced my visual perceptivity. Maybe..'

Kieran looked at the third effect of drinking the Mystical Permutation Tea enhanced by an ingredient Kieran didn't even begin trying to grasp. The sensation of the white speckles far exceeded the magical blue power Agatha sprinkled.

The effect was known as Spiritual Unbinding. But as far as Kieran understood, only one race held an ironclad grasp of understanding the spirit—the Fairies, which is why their primary practice was known as Spirit Magic.

However, Kieran could no longer ignore a piece of subconsciously disregarded information. "The relationship between Wykin and Elves may be transactional, but the relationship between the Fairies and Wykins is close-knit."

Fairies and Wykins were like two sides of the same coin, accomplishing a similar outcome with different methods. A Fairy employing Spirit Magic barely differed from a Wykin using mysticism in terms of appearance.

For a moment, Kieran thought back to his experience during the Character Creation process. The ring that analyzed him produced a feeling similar to when Aciayla bound him in place by some mystic art.

Kieran glanced at the eerie motes of energy drifting listlessly throughout the Rune Necropolis. "To discern is to learn..."

Kieran repeated the first part of the trial description related to the three primary focuses of mysticism.

Since he couldn't seek answers from Hekaina, Kieran could only delve into what he understood to reach a suitable conclusion about Spirtiual Unbinding and how it linked to the tenets of mysticism.

After coming up with a few options, Kieran closed his mind and extended his perception to grasp the layout of this place. Although his soul wasn't in the best condition, Kieran found that he felt no discomfort performing this task.

'An Immaterial Plane can offset the issues of a weakened soul? Really?'historical

Though his eyes were closed, Kieran's eyebrows shot up, surprised by his current findings. However, a few seconds later, he began to frown. The outcome of his actions was nothing like he expected.

He couldn't sense the energy surrounding him at all. Initially, Kieran questioned if they were a visual distortion, but when he opened his eyes and touched one, he received a different answer.

〈System: This ?Lamented Mystic Embodiment? has decayed past the acceptable threshold and bears no essence.〉

"All of these are Mystic Embodiments?" Kieran muttered, slack-jawed by his discovery. There were hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of such wisps in the Rune Necropolis. The odds of him picking acceptable ones were incredibly low.

Not to mention, his choice just now was one of remarkable size.

"Does size have no effect on the essence within the Lamented Mystic Embodiment?" Kieran murmured, watching as the mystic mote dissipated into tiny particles that flowed into the ground.

To confirm his suspicions, Kieran grasped another Lamented Mystic Embodiment.

〈System: This ?Lamented Mystic Embodiment? has decayed past the acceptable threshold and bears inferior essence that cannot be absorbed.〉

"So not only is it possible to have no essence, but it's also possible to have inferior essence. But how do I distinguish between none, some, and enough if that's the case?" Kieran questioned, scratching his head.

His assumption that the Spiritual Unbinding could be triggered by extending his perception aimlessly was incorrect, so it didn't help him in this regard.

"I don't understand. Isn't the Mind's Eye the foundation of Spirit Magic? Why isn't it the foundation of mysticism..."

The Mind's Eye wasn't mentioned to Kieran directly, but he had read about it in the past. It was the supposed source of one's perception and where the soul could manifest as a tangible ocular ability.

The criteria to unlock it was unclear, but anyone who could open it would undoubtedly gain immense benefits in the future, especially if it happened before attempting an Awakening.

Eventually, Kieran tried out his second hypothesis. Sadly, he stumbled across a problem. He felt no connection to any Mana, so he couldn't forcibly augment his senses.

These two issues left Kieran in a rut that stumped him for several hours. Most people would attempt to test their luck by running into the Rune Necropolis and praying that they obtain adequate Lamented Mystic Embodiment.

Kieran, on the other hand, understood blind luck would get him nowhere if he didn't understand the essence of mysticism.

During that hour, Kieran came across another issue that stopped him from doing anything reckless.

〈System: You have come in contact with ?Lamented Mystic Embodiment? judged as ?Hostile?.〉

〈System: Your ?Rooted Mystic Tether? has suffered minor damage from the connection. [Stability: 97%]〉

〈System: It is advised that you locate ?Lamented Mystic Embodiments? of a ?Cordial? bearing to avoid hastened decay of your ?Rooted Mystic Tether?.〉

On top of having to worry about whether the essence sufficed, Kieran now had to worry about the alignment of the Rooted Mystic Tethers, which could potentially devastate his experience within the trial.

Such a situation left Kieran immobilized for hours.

Another peculiar part about Kieran's findings was that the Rooted Mystic Tether decayed slower than approaching a hostile Lamented Mystic Embodiment, so it was clear this trial was designed to promote wisdom, insight, and prescient movement.

'There has to be something I'm missing within myself. Hekaina wouldn't have ensured that I received this effect for a pointless reason. I must be approaching it from the wrong angle. Let's try locating the unbinding,' Kieran thought to himself.

As Hekaina mentioned to Kieran, time inside this Immaterial Plane flowed differently, so it was possible that what Kieran thought to be a few hours was, in fact, not.

Kieran combed through his incorporeal self for hours until he pinpointed something unusual. It was a kind of opening in his mind, but it was nowhere near the Mind's Eye's rumored orientation.

If mapped on a real brain, this opening was located where the optic nerve connected to the back of the brain. After finding this opening, Kieran continued to peer into it, finding that it resembled a kind of doorway.

,m 'If I didn't focus properly, I would have missed this. It's far too tiny!'

Once Kieran fed his perception into the doorway, he felt his left eye grow warm and tear up, secreting a fluid that wasn't tears.

After tapping his eyelid, Kieran found it looked somewhat similar to the Mystical Permutation Tea in color.

〈System: You have opened the ?Discerning Pathway? responsible for leading one to discern. Additional maturation is required to truly begin to discern.〉

It was only the beginning, but the fact Kieran received such a message meant he was on the right track. Although he wasn't a Wykin, Hekaina supplied him with a brew that could emulate the abilities of a Wykin and allow him to be treated as such.

Thus, Kieran's left eye began to absorb traces of mystic energy as he channeled his perception into the Discerning Pathway. Once the process was finished, Kieran's left eye closed outside his control, which he felt was bizarre.

But, it changed roughly an hour later. Compared to what he saw before, the current situation was like night and day, leaving Kieran in complete awe.

〈System: You have awakened a fundamental ability of the Wykins ?Eye of Discernment?.〉

"Is this what Wykins see on a daily basis? It's.. spectacular," Kieran gasped in disbelief, waving his hand above his left eye.