After the changes in the girl's avatar had taken place, under Aeron's suggestion, the girl had tried more than once to proceed with the process of ascension, and insert her consciousness into the avatar. However, even ten minutes later,she had failed to pierce the white surface of which the avatar was made of.
According to her, it felt as if the mental power of which the avatar was made out of, had gained a solid body that was different from her own solidified mental power, and was similar to her own immortal essence.
"I can't. I just can't do it." Said the girl after the umpteenth failed attempt. She then turned to look at Daniel in panic, and said, "What did you do?!"
An avatar was not only a weapon in the arsenal of a mental warrior, but also a crucial part of their ascension. A body which they sculpted themselves, and which they would then possess in order to break free from the limitations that a human form had regarding the capacity of their mind.
Now, even though she could send it away, and force it to reappear, she was unable to fully dissipate it, and when dismissed, the avatar would live in her mind like a soulless puppet with the mental fortitude that reached that of an ascended mental warrior, and a body which exuded the physical power of a newly ascended high immortal.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?!" Repeated the girl in between sobs, attracting the attention of the rest of the passersby that hadn't stopped already.
"Calm down, calm down. We will fix it." Said Daniel with a hurried tone before turning to look at Aeron, and saying, "Do something before we attract even more attention." However, not only was Aeron not paying attention to him, but was looking at the avatar of the girl with eyes opened wide with shock.
While before to Aeron this avatar appeared as a common one made out of mental power, and controlled by a wisp of the girl's consciousness, it now was an independent and spiritless entity which had been detached by the main body, and could be recalled and summoned at will.
"Create another stone.." Said Aeron without turning to look away from the girl's avatar.
Daniel quickly followed Aeron's instructions, and after following the method implanted by Aeron in his mind, an hour later, he had formed a second translucent mental stone, identical to the first one.
Before he could ask for further instructions, Aeron grabbed the stone, and approached the still upset girl. He then said, "You do not know me, and you have no reason to believe me. But you have felt the changes in your avatar. Now you have two choices. Live under its shadow, helping it to cultivate and reach a level of power that will allow it to protect you until the day you die.."
The girl understood perfectly what Aeron was talking about. The feeling of detachment she felt towards her avatar, was akin to having one of your limbs detached, but while still being able to use it. One would still be able to squeeze their hand, but would never be able to reach out, and grab what they needed with it.
"What is.. The second option?" she asked in between sobs.
In response, Aeron immediately grabbed her wrist, and after forcing her hand open, he placed the second mental stone. He then said, "You take this, and become a student of our academy."
The last few words uttered by Aeron brought great confusion to both Edmund and Daniel, who did not understand his intentions. However, while confused, neither of the two opposed to the idea, as if Aeron had decided to offer this opportunity to the young girl, it was clear that she would also fit the criteria to join Hiel academy.
As the two talked, the crowd was becoming bigger and bigger, and at the same time, the strength of the spectators started to increase.
Many of these mental warriors had been called by their friends and relatives in order to observe the odd changes in the girl's avatar, and the only thing that was stopping them from kidnapping the girl to study her, was the odd presence of Aeron, whom in a world of simple triangles and squares, he appeared like a rhombicosidodecahedron.
"Why do I have to join your academy?" Asked the girl with confusion.
"Look around you. We are the only ones here with no ill intentions. We put you in this mess, and we will get you out of it." Said Daniel after turning around, and seeing the curious, yet serious expressions on the faces of the hundreds of cultivators that had gathered around them. Some of whom were already quietly testing the fortitude of Daniel's, Edmund's, and Aeron's mind by sending weak messages telepathically.
Left with no other choice, the girl unwillingly put the stone in her mouth, and started to assimilate its power.
Unlike a normal one, Daniel's mental stone possessed a spiritual and physical power in it, which along with tempering the girl's mind power, flooded through her peak immortal body, and began to refine it.
When the avatar had ingested it, there was no physical power that could temper its body, and the result was a change in the avatar itself, which instead of being damaged, was morphed by it, turning into a being made out of a mixture of mental, and physical power.
Something similar happened to the girl who, in possession of a physical body, felt her mind, body and spirit be refined by Daniel's power, and advance all at the same time.
—–
Two hours later, the eyes of the girl slowly opened, and in front of her, she found thousands of people, be it standing on the ground, or floating in the sky, look at her with eyes opened wide in shock. Amongst them, were the shocked faces of Daniel and Edmund, but not Aeron, who had already foreseen this outcome.
The girl looked down at her body, and quickly realized something. Her body was not anymore that of a peak immortal, but that of a high immortal, showing that Daniel's mental stone, instead of working as a common mental stone, had worked like a resource to improve one's immortal cultivation.
That was not all, as immediately after, she realized that she had regained her full connection with the avatar. However, instead of being stronger than her, the two shared the same level of mental power, and were both newly ascended to the mental warrior stage.
The one who could understand the changes in the girl better, was Daniel himself, who being a cultivator of mental, spiritual, and physical power, was in a similar position as she was.
At first he had thought that his mental stone had changed the girl into a high immortal cultivator just like he was, but soon after, he realized that that was not the case. His stone had not caused the girl's mental power to merge with her immortal essence, but had nurtured her two powers separately, causing her to ascend in both ways of cultivation at the same time.
That was something that had never been seen before, as the ascension of a mental warrior required the abandonment of one's physical body, by transferring their consciousness and spirit into their avatar.
This girl, on the other hand, through the consumption of two mental stones that had taken only a few hours for Daniel to create, had ascended to the high immortality stage, mental warrior stage, and had gained a permanent companion which would respond to her every command and could cultivate alongside her.
Needless to say, how important this discovery, as well as Daniel's ability to produce these special mind stones, were for the onlookers.
After witnessing to this transformation, Daniel was about to say something, but he suddenly stopped. His eyes narrowed and his expression turned into a solemn one. he then said, "Time to go."
Aeron had obviously felt the same thing Daniel had felt, so instead of asking questions, he formed a blockade around the mental power of the girl, and forced her avatar to willingly go back into her mind. He then grabbed the confused girl by the arm, and pulled her close to him, Daniel, and Edmund. The three then disappeared through the use of Aeron's teleportation ability, which unlike spatial essence, did not leave any form of trail behind.
Just as the three disappeared, differently shaped green portals started to open all over the sky, and from each of them, walked out the powerful elite members of the many mental factions, who looked around in an attempt to find the anomaly of which they had been warned of.
However, it was already too late. The four had long gone.
—–
A couple thousand meters north, in a dark alley, the four figures of three men and a young girl quietly appeared. Their faces were neither unsightly or pleasant to see, and everything about them screamed average.
If encountered in the streets, no one would spare a second look at them.
"Well, I clearly can't make mental stones either, so we are back at square one." Said Daniel behind the illusion that made him look like the tallest one of these figures. A man with a hooked nose, and thick eyebrows.
"Maybe if we didn't leave, we could have obtained a few stones from those representatives." Said Edmund, a round and short middle-aged man with a high pitched voice, who after hearing himself talk, looked at Daniel with an annoyed expression.
"With no luck on our side, I would rather not bet our freedom on the fact that no one powerful to capture us, and keep us in an underground prison will appear. Both Aeron and I have experiences about that, and it's not something pleasant." Responded Daniel before waving his hand dismissively.
Aeron was not taking part in this conversation, and was instead studying the state of the girl who, still confused by her condition, as well as these three individuals, was standing on her own at the side of the alley.
"What about her? Can't she make pure mental stones?" Asked Edmund to Aeron.
After processing Edmund's question, Aeron turned to look at the girl, and immediately after, said, "No. She does not trust Daniel, which means that in order to produce one, it will take her at least six months."
For the next few minutes, Edmund and Daniel went through numerous ideas which included robbing, stealing, or coming out of hiding, and exchanging a passage with one of Daniel's odd stones.. but before this conversation could come to a conclusion, the girl said, "There is a pawn booth in this city's auction house. They accept essence gems and crystals as advance for purchases during their events."
While the use of essence gems was extremely rare in the territory of the mental factions, that was not the same for essence gems, which most mental warriors would use to reach peak immortality before having to give it up in order to ascend to the mental warrior stage. That meant that crystals had a value, even though infinitesimal when compared to that of mental stones, which required the effort of a mental warrior to be produced.
"Great! Let's go there. We only need a few stones.. It shouldn't be a problem." Said Daniel with enthusiasm.
"You can't. Essence gems are foreign currency here. They won't exchange something that is of use to them, for something that isn't. They will accept it as collateral, and keep it if you buy something. Your best bet is to buy something at the auction house with essence gems, and then sell it for mental stones to one of the losing bidders." Responded the girl, slightly nervous about being in the company of three men which she had just met.
After a few moments spent considering their options, Daniel let out a sigh of resignation. He then turned to look at his two companions, and said, "To the auction house then." he then added after a few moments, "Aeron, you'll have to stay outside. Both the girl and I can pass as immortal cultivators, but you can't hide the complexity of your mind."
Aeron quietly nodded in agreement.
"Alright then. Off we go.." Said Daniel before stopping, once again turning around, and once facing the girl, asking, "What is your name?"
"Cora.. my name is Cora."
