With that, Nier got up and began to walk toward one of the featureless silhouettes. The crimson grass of Eden crunched softly beneath his boots, the vibrant auroras overhead casting shifting hues across the surreal ndscape.

  The air thrummed with pure Gaian energy, a tingling pulse that seemed to seep into his skin, urging him forward. The humanoid wisps, dreamers from across the world, Mnemosyne had said, drifted along the glowing kes shore, their forms flickering in shades of blue, red, gold, and violet. Some swam in the luminous waters, others stood motionless, their actions eerie yet strangely mundane, like echoes of lives half-remembered.

  Nier's eyes scanned the silhouettes, his curiosity piqued but tempered by his usual skepticism.

  "Pick one, huh?"

  He muttered under his breath, his voice low in the humming stillness. Mnemosyne's words echoed as he heard them.

  "Touch a wisp to begin training, to master the Relive spell that allows one to relive moments across past, and present, as you did with your ancestor Trevor Augustus's memories, you need to deeply focus."

  He wasn't sure what to expect, but if it meant unlocking more power, he was game. Anything to get a leg up in this messed-up world.

  He moved closer to the ke, his gaze darting between the wisps. Some were indistinct, their forms blurring into the aurora-lit haze, while others pulsed with sharper crity.

  His eyes settled on one, a female silhouette, its contours soft but distinct, glowing a steady, electric blue. Nier had no idea why he picked this but he did.

  Something about it felt… right, like a gut instinct he couldn't shake.

  Nier reached out, his fingers hovering inches from the wisp's glowing surface. The Gaian energy in the air thickened, prickling his skin, and he felt the red brand on his chest pulse faintly, as if responding to the wisp's presence.

  Before he could make contact, a warm hand closed over his, guiding it with gentle precision. Mnemosyne's voice, calm yet commanding, broke the silence.

  "To cast Relive."

  She said, her fingers steadying his.

  "...focus on the target be it a person's dream, an object, an animal, a pce, or even a fleeting thought. Channel the Gaian energy around you into it. That is what starts the spell."

  Nier gnced at her, his brow furrowing. Her split red-and-bck hair shimmered under the auroras, her luminous eyes fixed on the wisp.

  She looked like Circe too much like Circe, but her maternal tone carried none of his mother's cold detachment. It was unnerving, but he shoved the thought aside. No time for baggage. He needed to focus.

  "Gaian energy, huh?"

  He said, his voice dry but curious.

  "Just push it in and, poof, memories come flooding back? Sounds easy enough."

  Mnemosyne's lips curved into a faint smile, her grip tightening slightly.

  "Easy? Hardly! Relive demands both intense intent, and control. You've used it unconsciously before, tapping into Trevor Augustus's life a memory coded in your genetics. But to wield it deliberately, you must anchor your will to the target's essence. This wisp is a dreamer's soul, a fragment of their mind. Find its core, and the spell will pull you into their past, a distant memory, or even live dream."

  Nier snorted, his cynicism bubbling up.

  "What, so I am just going to be diving into some random's head? Hope it is not a boring life."

  He flexed his fingers beneath hers, feeling the wisp's energy fred against his skin. It was warm, almost alive, like a current waiting to be tapped.

  "Focus."

  Mnemosyne urged, her voice sharp but patient.

  "Feel the Gaian energy around you, it's purer here than in the mortal world. Draw it into yourself, then direct it into the wisp. Picture what you seek: a moment, a memory, a truth. Let the spell do the rest."

  Nier closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. The brand on his chest pulsed hotter, syncing with the rhythm of Eden's energy. He could feel it now, the Gaian flow, like a river of light coursing through the air, the grass, the ke. It was everywhere, vibrant and raw, unlike the diluted energy he had sensed in Lunaris City.

  He focused on the blue wisp, its glow steady in his mind, as he keep prying further into the woman's silhouette. Who was she? What did she carry? He didn't care about her story, not really, just what he could gain from it.

  He pushed his will forward, imagining the Gaian energy as a thread weaving from his chest to his hand, then into the wisp. The brand fred, a sharp heat spreading through him, and the wisp's glow intensified, its blue light swallowing his vision. Mnemosyne's hand fell away, her voice a distant echo.

  "Good. Now, let it take you."

  The world of Eden dissolved in a rush of blue, the vibrant auroras fading, the crimson grass vanishing beneath Nier's feet.

  His mind lurched, pulled into a void where fragments of another life flickered like a corrupted holo-feed. A woman's voice, soft and trembling, pierced the darkness.

  "I win."

  A twelve year boy said, his tone smug.

  "Dammit!"

  An equally old girl muttered, frustration cing her words.

  The scene sharpened into focus. A dusty training yard stretched before Nier, its cracked earth stained with sweat and resolve.

  The boy, lean and broad-shouldered, sidestepped the girl's high kick with practiced ease, then dropped low, sweeping her legs from under her. She hit the ground with a thud, nding hard on her back, dust billowing around her. The boy rose, a sleek pistol pull quickly from his side, now in his hand, its barrel trained on her.

  "I win again."

  He said, a grin tugging at his lips.

  The girl Rose, Nier learned, gred up at him, her green hair clinging to her sweat-slicked face.

  "Why can't I beat you?"

  She demanded, scrambling to her feet.

  The boy, Gunther, shrugged, holstering the pistol.

  "Weight css. You're fighting someone bigger, and stronger. Skill and experience matter, sure, but if your hits don't pack enough punch, it's a war of attrition. Men are built for raw power in close combat, biology is a bitch like that."

  "That is sexist as hell."

  Rose snapped, brushing dirt from her training gear.

  "You're saying I can't win just because I am a woman?"

  Gunther's grin faded, his tone serious.

  "I am just stating facts you don't want to hear. But those are human limits. After the procedure, maybe we'll break the wall that separates us, gender, strength, all of it."

  Years blurred past in a montage of sweat and steel. Rose and Gunther trained relentlessly, honing their skills in sparring matches and tactical drills. Their rivalry grew, a bond forged in competition and mutual respect.

  Then came the day they had trained for: June 8, 1934. Project Gaia. Nier's vision shifted to a sterile, high-tech boratory, seeing and living through the body of Rose, its walls lined with humming quantum processors and glowing holo-dispys. Four teenagers, Rose, Gunther, and two others, Fsh and an unnamed girl, y strapped to sleek, metallic tables, their wrists and ankles bound by electromagnetic restraints.

  A commander in a crisp uniform stood before a control panel, his face etched with grim determination.

  "Begin the infusion of MNE and RTA cells into the subjects."

  He ordered, his voice clipped.

  "Maintain real-time biometric scans and neural mapping. Project Gaia is our st hope to counter the Fedrian invasion."

  "Cameras and sensors are online, sir."

  A technician reported, adjusting a holo-interface that projected vital signs in pulsing arcs of light.

  "Quantum stabilizers are green."

  A female scientist added, her fingers dancing across a touchscreen console.

  "Cellur integration protocols are ready at your call commander."

  The commander nodded, his gaze fixed on the four youths.

  "Good. Commence the procedure. We need super-soldiers now, or the Fedrians will overrun us."

  Above the tables, a massive robotic arm whirred to life, its articuted limbs bristling with syringe-like injectors. Each needle gleamed under the b's harsh lights, filled with a bioluminescent serum that shimmered blue with an otherworldly glow, MNE and RTA cells, derived from Draca essence, engineered to rewrite human DNA. Gunther caught Rose's eye, fshing a cocky smile.

  As he said.

  "After this, we'll settle who is truly the strongest between us, once and for all."

  Rose smirked, her nerves barely masked.

  "You're on."

  The commander's voice cut through.

  "Initiate infusion."

  The robotic arm descended with mechanical precision, its injectors piercing the subjects arms, necks, and torsos simultaneously. The serum surged into their veins, a cold fire spreading through Rose's body. Nier felt her pain as if it were his own, a searing, bone-deep agony that tore a scream from her throat his throat. It hurts, it hurts, am I going to die? Her thoughts echoed in the void, raw and desperate. The b's monitors bred warnings, heart rates spiking, neural activity fring into chaotic patterns.

  For what felt like an eternity but was only a minute, Rose's body convulsed against the restraints.

  Then, a surge of power flooded her, her eyes igniting with a vivid purple glow.

  The scientist's voice rang out, urgent but triumphant.

  "Subject #64 is undergoing cellur synthesis! Heart rate stabilizing, photosynthetic markers detected. Administering nanite stabilizers to ensure Hesta evolution."

  "Subjects #23 and #98 are responding simirly."

  Another technician reported, eyes glued to a holo-screen.

  "Stable integration of MNE cells."

  But then, a panicked shout:

  "Subject #05, shows signs of RTA rejection! Cellur cascade failure detected!"

  "Cut the infusion!"

  The commander barked.

  "Isote his system now!"

  The robotic arm retracted, arms bring #05 body convulsed violently, his skin rippling with unnatural mutations.

  Rose's vision blurred, her own pain overwhelming, but Nier caught her final glimpse. Gunther's pain stricken eyes, footsteps rushing toward him, then darkness.

  The next day.

  Rose's scream tore through the halls of the testing room.

  "NOOOOOO!!"

  The scene shifted, the b repced by a sterile recovery room. A scientist stood before Rose, her face pale.

  "Subject #05 did’t survive the procedure."

  She said, her voice clinical.

  "The MNE cells took root, but his body rejected the RTA cells, triggering a lethal mutation. He went berserk before we could stabilize him. We had to… terminate him. Subjects #98 and #023 also succumbed to internal hemorrhaging. You, Subject #64 are the only survivor of Project Gaia."

  Rose's voice broke, tears streaming down her face.

  "Gunther… my brother, my friend… how could this happen?"

  The scientist's tone softened, but her words were cold.

  "Congratutions, Rose. You're the first Artificial Hesta. With your power, we can finally push back the Fedrian invaders."

  The memory jumped forward five years. Rose soared above a war-torn battlefield, her silhouette a dark omen against a blood-red sky.

  Below, enemy soldiers, Fedrians, scrambled toward their air ships, their morale crumbling.

  "It is the Baba Yaga!"

  One screamed.

  "The witch! Fall back!"

  Rose's hands glowed with purple energy, a mysterious force that bent the ws of physics. She raised her palms, and a radiant pulse erupted, disintegrating a fleet of ships into pure energy.

  Matter unraveled at her command, atoms reshaping to her will. She wielded this power with terrifying precision, mending wounded allies with regenerative waves, forging weapons from thin air, vaporizing enemies in bursts of light. The impossible was her reality now.

  Yet, as the battlefield smoldered, guilt gnawed at her.

  "We were supposed to decide who was the strongest, Gunther."

  She whispered, her voice cracking.

  "You liar… why do I have to fight this war alone... I am so alone."

  [Memory absorption complete... You have inherited a memory fragment from Rose Valentine. You have inherited her Hesta ability "Star of Change"]

  [You have successful absorb +2113 Units of Negativity from Rose Valentine's Memory Fragment]

  The experience ended, and Nier opened his eyes. He slowly withdrew from the Silhouette.

  "Wow."

  He whispered.

  "That felt so real."

  "Memories are essentially experiences, stories that have happened, are happening, or will happen to someone."

  Mnemosyne expined.

  "The Relive Spell lets you inhabit the exact moment of another person's life or enter a live dream, or a vision of the future. Each time you cast it, you take a fragment of them with you, growing stronger with every absorption."

  "I get it now."

  Nier said, eyes widening.

  "But to think an ability like this even exists…”

  His hand began to glow with a deep purple light. A sphere of violet energy formed in his palm. He raised it toward the sky and decred.

  "Create Source."

  The energy surged upward, drawing in the natural forces of the world around it, converting raw, subjective essence into pure, refined power.

  With this reservoir of pure energy, a Source could tamper with the ws of physics, reversing gravity, turning wood into gold, and more. Yet at this stage, each Source held only a finite charge, and no more than four could exist at once.

  This was due to him only getting the power from a fragment.

  At best it only act as weak support power.

  But even then Nier smiled and said.

  "It is more than enough."

  "Thanks for teaching me this spell."

  He look at Mnemosyne and thank her, and then, she said.

  "Hmm, it was no bigg...heh!? SlUrPtT!...

  "What was that!?"

  Nier asked, then a sudden wave of pleasure hit him.

  "I ssuuahhh wh-ATttt...

  He said with his legs trembling as he drop to his knees.

  The loud sound of sucking could be heard.

  "Slurp...swuellshhh...SLURPLKKKK....

  And then, seconds passed, and Nier's world began to distort as crity hit his mind, and the st words he heard from Mnemosyne's wash.

  "Sigh, what an indecent way to wake up."