Saryn raised his arm coated in the echoes from the well. These echoes were more solid than ambient echoes, and seemed to be densely packed like a piece of fabric, they covered his right arm like a gauntlet, and he was able to will them to any part of his body, except, absorbing them was extremely difficult and slow, not that he wanted to anyway since they are needed for the central blade.
'My arms feel lighter and more powerful while these echoes are wrapped around them, perhaps I could pair this with the hydroform semblance to achieve a greater effect?'
Saryn thought as a wave of water conjured around his right fist upon activation of hydroform. The water sparked with the bioluminescent shines of echoes inside of it, looking dazzling to the eye.
He willed the water and echoes to his left arm, and they bent to his will without question. No matter which arm, or leg, or any body part at that, they all felt empowered greatly by the combination of echoes and water.
But even as the power surged through him, his mind drifted back to the lilac echo pulsing inside the stalker's chest… and the boundless hunger stirred again.
'This should definitely do some damage to the stalker.'
Saryn concluded, and he was right. The natural empowerment of his strength from Tiamat's physique paired with the dense echo fabric from the wells and also his semblance, maybe he really did have a shot at killing the malevolent beast roaming around if he used these echoes to his advantage before depositing them at the central blade.
He planned in his mind.
'If one echo well is enough to cover only a small section of my body, like my forearm or knee, then is it possible I could first retrieve the echoes from every well, before venturing to the center to feed them to the central blade all at once?'
'Going around to every well all at once would probably be the safest option, I would be drained after depositing all my echoes into the central blade, I should kill the stalker, or at least immobilize it before I feed everything to the blade.' Saryn thought, as his quiet steps left no traces in the enchanted overgrowth.
By doing this, Saryn ensures that he will always be empowered by the echo fabrics, increasing his strength should the stalker appear. Every few steps he took, Saryn instinctively turned his head in both directions, scanning his surroundings, despite his suspicions that the stalker had already left, arriving at another section of the floor.
He thought again.
'Four sections, a snowy mountain, jagged peaks, a grove and a barren wasteland. Do they represent the four seasons?' This was just a passing thought for Saryn, he didn't dwell too deeply on it.
Not long afterward, Saryn finally left the dense forest, arriving at the grassy path which led from the entrance portal to the central blade. He tilted his head upward, looking at the radiant blue skies, decorated with uneven white clouds, seemingly protecting him from the heat of the scorching sun.
'How is all of this packed indoors?' He thought.
'Is there some sort of barrier? Or is this room just an open cup, where I could climb the walls and freely leave? What lies outside this place?'
Despite the grandness of the room, the "sun" that loomed over Saryn was nothing more than an artifact stuck in place, there was no day to night cycle here, even the clouds didn't move, as if the concept of time had been entirely erased from these chambers.
But Saryn didn't question this, he had noticed it of course, but he didn't care.
Why should he? There were more important things on his mind, much more important things on his mind.
A warm gentle breeze comforted him, blowing his long navy hair against the air as he looked at the blanket of blue above him in awe.
'What am I even doing here?'
In the middle of his long, blank gaze at his arm, seemingly swirling with radiant starlight, this question had struck him.
It was a question he should've definitely considered more until now, but instead, he led himself on with Marduk's experimenting as if his previous nineteen years of life had never taken place.
'I don't remember… anything?'
Despite how hard he tried, he couldn't remember anything.
'Do I even deserve to call the experiences I recall mine?'
'Do I even dare to call these "experiences" mine?'
His eyes welled up slightly, as Saryn pondered this question.
Experiences? Memories?
'What is even left of me?'
As far as Saryn knew, a majority of his memories were the experiences of others.
Others whom he'd never met.
Others who were simply equivalent to a temporary echo in the walls of this damned forge.
Others who had died, becoming mere tools for Saryn's escape.
'And if I die, then what? Just another failure, another package of memories, waiting to be picked up by another unfortunate soul, who had just happened to end up here.'
His fists curled up involuntarily as he gritted his teeth.
The very few images of all his predecessors watching their reflections in the mirrors, all flashed by quickly in his mind.
All his dead predecessors.
And thus, Saryn knew he had to leave this place, no matter the means.
'Maybe… I don't know who I was, or who I even am. But does that even matter? My experiences, memories, and past… It doesn't matter. Only the choices I make from here on out shall define me!'
'I refuse to become another echo the world won't have the pleasure of witnessing!'
'Another passing wave in the boundless rivers of destiny!'
'Even if deities stand against me, I vow not to falter.'
'This cage they call the "Deepforge"... it's merely nothing more than the first stepping stone in my path to greatness…'
'And it shall also become the first to bear testament to my name!'