—

Kieran’s confidence returned to its former state after learning that his curiosities resulted in an unexpected benefit.

Furthermore, with this nifty discovery, Kieran’s pace naturally increased, improving his Discernment progress in rapid strides.

The prior snail’s pace was nowhere to be seen as Kieran continued to lure the hostile and cordial embodiments to collide with one another, resulting in an expanded cluster of absorbable energy.

Less than thirty minutes later, Kieran received the awaited notification.

〈System: You have reached the natural limit of your current Discernment progress. Discernment: 99.99%.〉

The notification was slightly different from what he expected, leading to Kieran questioning this limit’s effects.

When trying to absorb another Lamented Mystic Embodiment, Kieran found that all of the energy was routed to his tether as if the Discerning Pathway rejected an additional influx of this energy.

‘A bottleneck of some sort?’ Kieran mused, digesting the notification before his eyes.

While Kieran suspected that mysticism wasn’t as straightforward as the objectives implied, he didn’t expect a bottleneck to appear this early. It was only the first objective!

As a foundational ability of the Wykins, the Eye of Discernment should be capable of further evolution, but as Kieran thought about his current predicament, it made sense.

“The ability of this eye should be limited because it’s only a single eye. What about my right one? Hekaina’s eyes exuded a mysterious feeling. If these aren’t the eyes in her possession, what are those called?” Kieran said, speaking rhetorically to incite deeper deduction.

If Kieran looked into a mirror, he would realize that his left eye wasn’t much different from its previous state. The major distinction between his former and current eye was how crystalline it appeared, as if looking into a translucent pool.

Although it was a captivating sight, it didn’t encapsulate the feeling Kieran sought; therefore, it couldn’t be considered complete, and the trial wouldn’t allow it to be until that form was achieved.

Since he could no longer benefit from discerning these embodiments, Kieran agreed it was time to migrate away from the Rune Necropolis and gravitate toward the Masked Runic Garth, where he would have to tackle the second tenet of mysticism: Unveiling.

As he moved through the Rune Necropolis with his current Discernment progress, Kieran noticed the decay of his Rooted Mystic Tether had lessened to a point where it had once again become negligible.

‘The decay rate is relative to my position in the Ancient Rune Oasis?’

The crossroads between the Rune Necropolis and Masked Runic Garth, shrouded in a dense fog, didn’t exude much of a presence. In fact, Kieran felt it was unusually empty; not even the presence of the “stars” above could be perceived.

‘This realm is so bizarre that it’s fascinating,’ Kieran inwardly thought.

Though he understood Secret Trials were designed to promote improvement or incite failure, the change in this trial was too binary. Kieran expected the pressure to remain consistent and gradually increase as he ventured further into the realm.

An abrupt change in pressure was where the greatest challenge appeared, which in some cases, was genuinely terrifying but exciting at the same time.

If the Masked Runic Garth operated on the same principles as the Rune Necropolis, then his tether would mostly begin to decay at a rapidly intensifying rate, provided he didn’t understand the essence of unveiling.

An environment such as this existed solely to disorient the challenger. If they relaxed due to the disappearance of pressure, it would sow the seed of chagrin in the future.

After all, the pressure in this realm didn’t necessarily exist as a force like gravity or the like.

“I wonder if pain is a concept in this realm. I don’t feel it when the tether decays, yet I feel innate fear towards the decay taking place,” Kieran muttered.

While traversing the zone connecting the two areas of focus, Kieran asked himself all sorts of questions pertaining to this realm. For example, what happened to his body when he stepped through the Veiled Arcadia Gate?

The feeling of not knowing what was going on with his body was dismaying and reminded Kieran of the time when he couldn’t manage his H-COS but sorely desired answers. Shockingly enough, it wasn’t the conditions that Kieran feared; it was that gnawing feeling of not understanding.

Kieran felt this was the true definition of fear: what if.

Based on his experiences, fear arose in the grey area of what “could” happen. People feared that snakes and spiders could bite them or that something could exist in the darkness.

‘If you dwell on the negative unknown, you will find that fear is your only friend. Fear and confidence are the same emotion handled differently,’ Kieran thought.

Afterward, he dispelled his questions with negative connotations. The what-if remained in his mind, but it was born from a bright place rather than a dark one.

…

Almost an hour later, Kieran arrived at his next destination, which, as the name described, resembled a garden. Kieran stood before a large entryway and gazed into the distance, where there were neat rows of mystical flowers sprouting from the ground, surrounded by thick shrubs.

The flowers were colorless, and even with his left eye operating correctly, Kieran didn’t sense anything unusual about these flowers.

Fortunately, Kieran understood what Wykins represented based on the hint buried within the second phrase.

“To unveil is to understand….” Kieran spoke lightly.

This part of the phrase meant that not everything was what met the eye. For one to unveil what existed before them, they needed to understand the matters that composed the focal point before them.

Thus, Kieran again took the time to sit down and ponder the meaning of these flowers and why they felt the way they did. What did they represent, and how did they differ from the Lamented Mystic Embodiments?

“Judging from the wording of the objective and my previous task, not all of these flowers should hold a spore. But… considering that discerning is not the purpose, I don’t think it’ll be another challenge centered around compatibility,” Kieran remarked.

Because of how incomplete he felt, Kieran closed his eyes and breathed, calming his mind and thoughts. ‘If the left eye can discern, then the right eye must unveil. There is a link between the two, but where is it located.’

Kieran searched within himself, exploring the Discerning Pathway’s vicinity for an answer. Though the idea in Kieran’s mind was an inkling and made in the right direction, Kieran realized this aspect was much more complex than discerning.

Unveiling required an open mind, which Kieran didn’t lack. But despite combing through his mind, he couldn’t find a hint of another pathway.

‘Is it possible that the pathway is even smaller than before? If that’s the case, how hard do I have to look?!’

Even though many people praised the strength and solidity of his soul, Kieran felt his perception was genuinely lacking.

‘What good is praise if I think that I’m inadequate? The standard I hold myself to may differ from what others think of me. What they praise of good might not equate to my view. It may be harsh, but that’s alright. I’m resilient enough to withstand my severe judgment.’

When Kieran couldn’t find his answer within his current target, he switched to the already unlocked pathway, attempting to understand why his Discernment could move no further.

As his perception floated within the pathway, feeling at ease and malleable, Kieran looked for discrepancies, particularly something that felt out of place or resembled a blockage.

Kieran imagined this should be the case since he faced a limitation.

It took longer than anticipated, but Kieran felt an indescribable tingle within his perception reminiscent of one brushing their hand against a fluffy substance.

When Kieran opened his left eye, he saw nothing, but when he opened his right eye, he glimpsed hints of an unusual substance, and his Discerning Pathway shuddered, revealing a pocket within.

As Kieran propelled his perception into the pocket, he felt like his right eye was engulfed in flames, becoming purified by a cluster of energy.

Despite the occurrence in his eye, Kieran didn’t wince, grimace, or react at all, leading Kieran to question the existence of pain here.

The feeling passed between both eyes several times before his pupil began to change, seemingly becoming something similar to a mystic sequence.

‘A pathway within a pathway… In other words, to look under the surface and deeper than within. So this is what it means to understand,’ Kieran thought, his eyes rattling with marvel.

At the same time, he learned more about this tenet of mysticism.

〈System: You have looked into the «Discerning Pathway» to reveal the «Unveiling Link», forming a connection between both eyes.〉

〈System: You have awakened an advanced ability of the Wykins: «Unveiling Gaze».〉

Once the Unveiling Gaze was unlocked, Kieran discovered these so-called spores were not what he expected. In truth, it had nothing to do with flowers at all because those “flowers” in the distance were a facade.

〈System: You have unveiled «Masked Runic Garth»’s secret and learned the true identity of the «Fragmented Mystic Spores».〉