June 2nd.
The light slanted through the tall hotel windows like slow, molten gold. Dust motes drifted lazily in the air, glinting whenever they passed the thin shafts of sunlight. The city of Nairobi murmured faintly, blending into a backdrop Phaser barely noticed anymore. He sat cross-legged on the bed, half naked. The digital clock on the nightstand blinked as 6:13 a.m.
It had been days since that fake date with Radellei.
He thought about her laughter, the casual teasing and how she leaned on her elbows over lunch talking about desert dunes and cosmic faith like it was just gossip. The entire "practice date" had been ridiculous, but it had been fun. It was more fun than he'd had in months.
But now, it felt like that memory belonged to another life because for the past weeks, Phaser had done nothing but train.
At Sapphire Rank of the CATF, the world slowed down. The fights were fewer. The competition was rare and the expectations were higher. He fought six official matches with Radellei under the alias Neon Nomads, the duo that had somehow become a minor urban legend in the circuits. Out of those six, they won five and lost one. It was one painful, humbling loss to a pair ranked higher. Their synchronization was so seamless it made him realize just how fractured his own control still was.
He still remembered the ring's shockwave and the sharp metallic taste of blood when their attack hit his void barrier harder than he anticipated. He remembered the faint look on Radellei's face after. It was not disappointment, but quiet understanding. That fight had taught him something he was been avoiding. Power wasn't his problem. His connection was and not just with others but with himself.
The hotel room was silent except for the faint static hum of his system display hovering in front of him. Lines of glowing script pulsed rhythmically. He had already mastered three foundational Xana Techniques.
Evocatio is calling forth Xana through command into a Flux. He managed to do it on the void element.
Roborare is about strengthening his body beyond physical limit with an energy armor, coating himself in layered flows of raw Xana to withstand damage.
Occultare is the concealment of energy, presence and intention, finding a way to vanish from the world's awareness.
He had learned them the hard way through meditation, pain and near-death battles.
He was now ready for another stage all Outers go through.
Integration.
[Integration]
[This is the fusion of an Outer's soul with the body and memories they transmigrated into. The process unifies identity, memory and Xana signature into a single existence. The user will inherit the previous consciousness's memories, emotional imprint and physical instincts.]
[Warning: Insufficient mental preparation may result in identity collapse, dissociation or total soul disintegration.]
He stared at the words for a long time.
He remembered seeing that option on the system interface the day he first woke up in this world when he was still disoriented. Back then, he ignored it. He needed to adapt and learn who "Phasnovterich" was. Now, he was ready. Or at least, he told himself he was.
He wasn't just the transmigrant or player of MoDS. He was now Phasnovterich Vecria Argemenes, the identity whose body he inhabited. However, that name still felt like someone else's skin.
He inhaled slowly as he closed his eyes. The air trembled faintly as a thin film of silver Xana wrapped around his body.
In MoDS lore, Flux Resonance was said to be the synchronization of body, soul and consciousness. It's a state where power flowed without obstruction. It was the unity of Flux (the world's natural rhythm) with one's own spiritual pattern. It was rare even among higher Awakened beings. Everyone in the High Tier Bloodlines go through with it when they get strong. Phasnovterich wasn't able to because he was weak but not anymore.
To the Outers, it was Integration but to achieve it, one needed acceptance not of the world, but of oneself they transmigrated to.
"Alright. No turning back now."
He selected [ACCEPT INTEGRATION].
A dark violet ripple burst from his body, then everything dissolved into glass shards of light. For a moment, he was falling through himself.
He saw flashes and images of another boy. He saw a younger Phasnovterich, standing under rain. He saw him eating a Fluveheart of a Fluvium he killed when he was five as an Argemenes rite of passage. The memories came flooding like a broken dam. They were disordered, beautiful and terrifying. He saw techniques he never practiced before, now pulsing in his muscles. He remembered some foreign languages whispered into his mind and burned into the veins of his soul.
He could feel Phasnovterich, the original soul, merging, fading and fusing into him like dissolving ink. The two consciousnesses were intertwining with one stream flowing into another.
[Do you accept the inheritance of identity?]
The voice was calm, mechanical, yet carried something almost… holy.
"Yes."
[Do you accept the dissolution of self?]
"Yes."
Light exploded from his chest before he screamed.
It wasn't from pain, but from compression. It was as if his very existence was being folded into a single point. For seconds, hours or years, he existed nowhere and everywhere.
He saw the monastery again in his last lofe. The cold stone floors, the chanting of monks, the scent of candle wax and iron...
He saw the endless training under Hinesia's watchful eyes. He felt the taste of blood on cracked lips.
Phaser opened his eyes, or maybe his soul did.
Standing before him was Phasnovterich himself, who was the echo of who he once was. He had the same face and eyes but gentler. It was a fragment of the past self, existing only to be accepted. Phaser looked at him silently.
"So you're the one I replaced."
Phasnovterich smiled faintly. "You didn't replace me. You continued my existence."
They stood there within the void that was neither dream nor reality. They were lives staring at one another. Phaser saw the original Phasnovterich smiling.
"Your world is gone. You can't come back. Your memories are all that remain. Why do you trust me with them?"
"Because you still remember what it means to be Human," the echo said softly. "And that's more than I did at the end. I know this might be stupid of me but... thank you for changing my life. I have seen it all you know."
"And you are okay with me taking over your body for all eternity?"
"It was destined to by the Goddesses. I have no say in it. In fact, I was tired of of life. Even though I won't exist, can I ask you to take care of my sisters?"
"Of course. I didn't inherit your sister complex though."
"I know."
Phaser nodded slowly. "Then let's finish this."
The echo smiled then dissolved into a thousand shards of blue light sinking into Phaser's chest.
---
When he opened his eyes again, the world returned but everything felt different. He looked down at his hands. Faint traces of silver light crawled across the veins. His mind was… quieter. The storm that had always been in the back of his thoughts was gone.
He wasn't Phaser or Phasnovterich anymore. He was both. The Integration was complete. In Altera terms, he reached Flux Resonance.
"So this… is what it means to be whole."
The clock blinked again. 6:30 a.m.
Barely an hour had passed.
Phaser walked to the window, resting a hand on the glass, watching the sunlight scatter across the skyline.
He had inherited Phasnovterich's memories, instincts and skills and with them, the buried knowledge of something else. He had the full knowledge of how to use his strings and combat knowledge he couldn't access. And also....
"Ha. I already reached the Third Awakening."