Days turned into weeks as Div and En practiced their coordination. There were so many things they had once taken for granted, but now had to relearn from scratch. They went through a lot of ideas so that they could live together with no issue. Not to mention turning Sundered Mind into a truly useful skill.
Once again, it was Cassandra who helped them break through in that regard. The exercises she had recorded in her journal in her attempts to gain an extra mind were tailored to their situation.
It was the key to Diven unlocking Facets of the Self and the subsequent mind skill. Naturally, the exercises didn’t fall out of use once the skill was active.
Far from it. In fact, it was exactly what they needed. If one mind handling two tasks was strenuous, two minds trying to perform the same action was an entirely different challenge.
It was still difficult. More difficult than it was before. But the source of the difficulty had shifted from focus to cooperation.
In theory, multitasking had become a breeze. When two tasks were presented, Div focused on one and En on the other.
Simple.
But they shared the same body, and even the simplest movement required them to practice a lot. Their technique that consisted in one of the two minds taking a completely passive stance, removing itself from controlling the body entirely, wouldn't work here.
Div and En had come to the conclusion that they needed to avoid this behavior. While it would help when their coordination wasn’t up to par, it would hinder them in the long run.
The skill’s potential was in their ability to work together.
To do that, they needed to make sure they could both operate their body simultaneously, without preventing the other from achieving their own movements.
It took them weeks to reach even a modicum of success.
It turned out to be much harder for them to control their breathing while moving a limb or speaking, compared to when one mind took a passive role.
Still, they persevered. They didn’t have a choice. Either they mastered Sundered Mind or they would forever feel inadequate in their own body. Neither Div nor En were willing to see this happen.
Skill leveled up: Sundered Mind Lv3 -> Lv4
Skill leveled up: Sundered Mind Lv4 -> Lv5
Each skill level made their life easier. It was by far their fastest leveling skill so far. At this rate, it wouldn’t take long for it to reach level 10. From there, they had the possibility of evolving it.
(I don’t know. Sundered Mind is bad enough as it is, what if our minds split again? I’m sure we could coordinate with more minds, but would you and I, Div and En, even keep existing?)
[We can’t think like that, En. We are Diven, we’ll keep existing either way.]
(I know. But you have to admit it's not the same.)
[Yes. But it’s not like evolving a skill is easy. Nor is it random. We can influence how it will evolve.]
(Of course, I know. But what would be a good direction for this?)
[Being able to turn it off would be a good start.]
(You mean?)
[I mean if we could merge back together.]
When it comes to skill evolution, an important part of the process was intent. What does the skill’s owner want it to do? The skill wouldn’t evolve without an answer. It wasn’t a foolproof way to transform the skill but a necessary condition to the first step each skill would take toward the pinnacle.
Sheltered in their cavern, they only left to restock water, food, and wood. They rarely left, as the rift was becoming more and more dangerous.
Those faceless humanoids were roaming the valley.
At first, only small groups would find them from time to time as they wandered outside. Now, they couldn’t take a step without half a dozen of them swarming them.
At first, they had fought. The monsters weren’t particularly strong. But now, it was too tedious to deal with them. As long as they didn’t find the entrance to their base, Div and En were content to let them be.
(We’re going to need to move out sooner rather than later.)
Despite having accepted the need for training, En still felt the urge to find the exit. As time passed, Div found himself agreeing more and more with his counterpart. The dimly lit cavern they called home was starting to get on his nerves.
[I think we’ve reached a sufficient level of coordination. Let’s prepare rations for a few days and we can go.]
(Great. Finally, I can’t wait to see the sun again.)
[Or the moon.]Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
With no day-night cycle in the rift, their sense of time was all over the place. They estimated they had spent close to two months inside.
(It would be better if we could be out before the end of summer.)
They were concerned about their living situation in the Wildlands. Even En had to admit that traveling down the river in the winter would be a bad idea. With how far north they were, it would come quickly.
While they hadn’t agreed on their long-term plan, their potential return to Kheiron, and the conditions in which it would happen, Div and En were of one mind that they needed to hurry.
With a renewed sense of urgency, they started preparing. Cassandra had left a lot of things in the cavern, but there was only so much they could carry. A lot of tools she had crafted inside the rift would have to stay. Only essentials.
The non-negotiable item was the Lienien language book. As much as they had studied the language, it didn’t retain well without practice. They needed the book if they ever met a barbarian.
As for the martial manual and Cassandra’s journals, it was unfortunate but Div and En couldn’t justify taking them. The former, they had memorized the content. The latter, well, they didn’t have a use for it anymore.
Then there was all the clothing. The bag Cassandra had left behind was large enough to fit it all. Even if it was women’s clothing, the thought of not going around naked was persuasive enough to convince Div and En to take them.
As for the matter of food, they would have to go outside to catch a few fish to prepare.
Considering the presence of the faceless, the prospect of doing that was unsettling. But, once they got going, they didn’t know how far they would have to walk. They couldn’t be sure it would be safe to light a fire.
Dealing with the known danger of the faceless to better prepare themselves seemed like a good idea.
So Div and En took their spear and stepped toward the exit of the cave. Hidden in the darkness, they could hear footsteps echoing outside.
They were here.
[It’s been a few days. Want to try fighting together for real this time?]
(Are we ready?)
[I don’t know. But if we don’t try now, I don’t think there will be another opportunity.]
En agreed. They hadn’t dared to attempt simultaneous control of their body in combat so far. Too afraid of failure to take the risk, they had been content letting En fight while Div took a backseat and sometimes channeled Echoes of the Rot Heart. However, if they could confirm it worked, it would greatly enhance their strength.
Something that could get them through the rest of the rift.
They had to try.
Even so, they didn’t want to expose the location of their hideout. It was only when the sound of the footsteps disappeared in the distance that they poked their head out of the darkness and made their way upstream to their fishing spot.
It wasn’t too far away, yet they still encountered a small group of faceless before reaching it.
[Only three of them. With the average size of faceless parties we’ve seen in the last week, we won’t get a better chance than this.]
(Agreed, let’s do this!)
As one, Diven moved to intercept the three faceless coming toward them. When his opponents had a numerical advantage, he needed to be proactive. Thanks to the synchronization of his two minds, he could prepare his strikes and subsequent reactions to his enemies' responses while keeping track of the fifth direction.
There were many fifth-direction steps he could have taken to shorten the distance, but he waited. This group didn’t know about their skill, and Diven wanted to take advantage of that to surprise them.
Sure enough, once Diven was five steps removed from his targets, Div spotted an opening in the fifth direction. He took it. One step and he was four steps to the left of the first faceless. Two steps and his first prey was in range.
He threw his spear-holding arm forward, the tip of the weapon shattering the enemy's skull before the monsters could even register his change of position.
Not wasting the momentum, he spun and swiped his spear toward the other two. One of them dodged by taking a quick step backward. But the other was hit in the leg.
Diven dodged the retaliation from the unwounded faceless. The beast was throwing itself at him, trying to rip him to shreds with its claws, pure animal instinct driving it.
Yet, the fifth direction was ever-present. While attacking needed some reflection from his minds, dodging with the skill was effortless. He just had to take a step in the fifth direction, and nobody could follow him.
Unless his opponent possessed the same skill—or magic that could cover a large enough area. It wasn’t making him invincible, but it made hitting him annoyingly difficult.
While he dodged the attacks of the two enraged creatures–the wounded one had joined the fray–Diven’s minds were hard at work looking for openings in their opponents.
[It’s going well.]
(Very well. We could use this more.)
[What are you thinking about?]
(It would be a waste to end the fight too soon, we need the training.)
[Oh! I see! Let’s do that.]
Thus, Diven danced around the two beasts,attempting increasingly complex maneuvers to ensure Div and En wouldn’t interfere with each other.
They didn’t.
More than that, they were actually working together in a way that made them stronger.
Their respective thoughts fed the other and merged into a deadly battle plan. Against weak opponents like that, they had to restrain themselves from exploiting the countless openings they saw through to not end the fight too soon.
their situational awareness had reached an all-time high. Gone was the old Diven who naively rushed at Cyclops. Gone was the boy who let himself be trapped in a horde of swarmlings.
Now that his minds' combined processing power let him see more, he could utilize his skillset a lot more efficiently.
That said, it still wasn’t all that great. Clearly, the skill doing the heavy lifting was The Fifth Direction. Just because Div and En had managed to form a beneficial relationship, didn’t mean Sundered Mind was all that great.
If they were honest with themselves, Div and En could imagine doing more or less the same thing without the skill that had created them. It would have taken some training, but hadn’t they already undergone just as much training to function together?
Still, progress was progress. Since they couldn’t go back to being one, they had to take the wins where they could find them.
Realizing they were running circles around the two faceless, they ended the fight with two well-placed strikes.
Skill leveled up: Sundered Mind Lv5 -> Lv6
Skill leveled up: The Fifth Direction Lv3 -> Lv4
Skill leveled up: Spear Lv7 -> Lv8
It had been a while since Spear had leveled up. The latter levels were always more difficult to reach. Two more and they could start working on their very first skill evolution. Although it was possible Sundered Mind would get there first.
A skill so close to level 10 less than half a year after his awakening was supposed to be unimaginable.
[Exile has its perks.]
(Don’t say that…)