Spes was now in his tent, sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. Of course, he had to have a mat under him, as the ground was still slightly wet despite the bright blue sky outside.
The young man took a deep breath before closing his eyes, sending his spiritual sense to the black ring on his finger. After barely a breath of waiting, a slightly large grey book materialized in front of him.
Spes shifted on the mat, staring intently at the book, its name resounding in his head: The Tome of the Magician. Last time he opened the tome, he had quite the bad experience.
"Hehe, don't chicken out now!" a distorted laugh spoke to him out of nowhere. Spes, hearing the voice so similar to his own, frowned.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my head?" he finally decided to ask. The first time the voice spoke in his head was when he had a breakdown on his griffin, just after opening the Tome of the Magician. The second time, the voice had mocked him after he gave up upon receiving Crystal's punch.
Spes had never really had the thought of questioning the origin of the voice in his head, as during those two instances, his mind had been heavily distracted with other matters. He had just turned a blind eye to the voice, thinking it was simply him hearing things—a result of the sequence of events.
A theory that proved to be wrong, as at this moment, Spes felt completely clear-minded, yet that distorted voice spoke to him again. That's why he finally asked, his face showing a mix of curiosity and nervousness.
"Heh, I don't know what I'm doing in your head, but I surely know that I'm you," the voice chuckled, revealing words that brought confusion to Spes's eyes.
"You don't seem to believe me. Let's do something about this. Let me see... Aha! The name Semel rings a bell to you? I know what you did, you little pervert."
"T-that was an accident!" Spes jumped the moment Semel was mentioned.
"How do you even know that?!" he asked, remembering well that even the surnamed Semel didn't know of the matter.
"Again, I'm YOU, idiot."
"So you've always been in my head?" Spes asked again, composing himself to try to make sense of what was happening.
"If I had been, you wouldn't be as pitiful," the voice sneered.
"I awoke right after you were blasted by that failed ritual."
Spes held his chin, frowning as something still didn't add up. "So why talk to me only now? It's been several days since then."
"I felt greatly weakened upon waking... It was only recently that I was capable of speech, witnessing your pathetic stunts."
Spes wryly smiled, recalling the recent events. He mentally noted to better his mindset to avoid something like that happening again. He didn't like it when the voice called him pathetic.
"If you don't like something, just say it right to my face," the distorted voice grumbled.
"You don't have a face..." Spes answered, only to be met with a silent sneer.
"..."
"Wait... you can hear my thoughts too?!" He jumped, learning a new trait about the distorted voice.
"How many times do I have to repeat... I'm YOU," the voice sighed.
"I can feel and hear everything you experience..."
"And no! I'm not some evil entity summoned by the failed ritual! And if I were, that circlet on your forehead would've reacted long ago," the voice shouted, just as Spes was about to ask that very question.
"So how did you get in my head?" Spes asked, his only theory now ruled out, as what the voice mentioned was very rational. If his evil entity theory were right, the Crest of Safeguard on his head would have activated—like when the Necronomicon was in his possession. Which, of course, was not the case.
So the tent went silent as the two pondered the question. Technically, it was only Spes pondering, as from the voice's words, they were all but the same person.
"The ritual... it did something to you, and I came to be," the voice mumbled.
"It did something to me..." Spes repeated, his brain turning, trying to recall the days after that failed ritual. What did change in him after the explosion?
"The Seeing Wound!" they answered at the same time. Spes's eyes widened in delight as everything made sense when the Seeing Wound was added to the equation.
After Spes discovered his otherworldly item-attraction powers, he had tried to name it blue aura, after the blue light that manifested around him when an artifact was close. But the long-gone Necronomicon had hinted at his power's true name: The Seeing Wound.
—The Seeing Wound is no gift, but a scar upon the soul, torn open by failed summoning—a silent fracture through which the bearer perceives ritual echoes and otherworldly presences beyond mortal grasp.
"This implies that the explosion split open my soul and—"
"And I came to be," the distorted voice continued Spes's words, the two of them finally piecing everything together.