Shades of the New World

"How does my grandfather know you in the first place?" Evin suddenly inquired.

"Boy, I hate bragging… But I'm quite famous in the North. They teach about me in history books," Kena joked and laughed with his radio-like voice.

"No, I meant… Ugh, how is he acquainted with you?" Evin asked, rubbing his aching head.

"I encourage people to send me letters about some interesting matters from time to time. Its public knowledge. I read through every letter, and if I find the content interesting, I arrange a meeting with the sender and hear about it. They receive some treasures from me and everyone's content. As for the uninteresting ones, I simply don't bother replying"

Evin didn't need to hear about what happens to the more persistent senders. Kena wasn't a former Authority for show. Evin would even commend the ones who dared to infuriate the old man.

The two continued talking about small matters as Evin watched Kena work his magic with the concoction. At times he would feel incredible amounts of mana randomly affecting the concoction, giving him the shivers. And eventually, the final product was complete.

Evin was looking at a vial filled with silverish liquid, one that frightfully resembled mercury, and asked.

"What's that?"

"It's a potion that has a unique effect. Its named the Potion of the Slothful Soul, and it can help its consumer sort the memories inside their soul. You must know how easily our brains tend to misremember small details, or even outright forget a whole set of matters, right?"

"Yes…" Evin replied pensively. He could see some people he was stalking to completely forget about a matter, or misremember some crucial details.

Evin didn't mind the old man wanting the boy to make his memory presentable, before he decided to rummage through it. Not only that, it was much faster than Evin talking about all the things on Earth, while being much more reliable, as well.

"But that's not the case with your soul. Your soul remembers everything, but it simply does not bother telling your brain. I mean, why would it, it considers its body as the same entity as itself"

The revelation did not shock Evin that much.

'I mean, I lived as a ghost and then reincarnated into a different body with all my memories attached. There must be something going on there, right?'

"And I'm guessing that potion takes all the memory inside my soul and then sends it to my brain, so you can access it?" Evin asked.

"Yes, something like that. I suppose you can think of it as an artificial World of Thoughts Sprite. Your will become slightly quick thinking and you will remember much more than you currently do. For someone who lived for so long, such as yourself, the process will take some time, hence the reason for you staying here for an extended period of time,"

"Do you mean to say that I will live through my life again?" Evin asked with a tinge of fear.

"No, no, don't worry. It will only feel like your head has turned into a little library, where you can access some memories freely, like you're reading a book. But you do have to do something for me," Kena reassured Evin gently.

"What is it?"

"You have to will the potion to clearly distinguish the information regarding Earth and your personal life, so I can more easily access the knowledge I want, without delving into your personal life," Kena said.

"And how can I do that?"

"Drink the potion and instruct the will inside the potion what you regard as information from Earth and what you regard off-limits. The will of the potion can understand concepts, but it can't know what certain things mean for you," Kena said.

Evin thought about how he should go about doing this. First of all, Evin decided he should distinguish between Earth and Alvox. Anything from Alvox was an automatic no. But how should he distinguish personal feelings from relevant information?

Evin asked for ink and paper, and sat at a desk that Kena conjured. He then started writing in English, so he can get into the proper mindset as well. Then he immediately realized a problem.

"Lord Kena, how would you be able to understand my language?"

"Well, that should be first on your list, shouldn't it?" Kena said in a joking tone, but Evin knew he was serious.

'Wait… I planned to make a list of everything on Earth and then just direct the potion's will to that, but I suddenly realize how bad this idea is,' Evin realized after thinking deeply about the matter.

'Maybe I should let it disregard every memory attached to pain and agony? No… I can think of many natural or cultural places that made me want to die,' Evin thought about how he once found himself on top of a freezing mountain in the Middle East and shivered.

'Besides, the list plan is stupid from the start. I can think of four types of pens off the top of my head, and three types of electrical sockets… This is doomed to take a month, if not more,' Evin sighed from the headache that this was giving him.

"Lord Kena, I will order the potion to simply distinguish between Earth and Alvox, letting you rummage through the former to your heart's content. I hope you don't get too bored with my life," Evin said with a defeated expression.

He felt bad for the man, since the man had to live through three hundred years of filler and stalking. Then, he thought of one thing that could help with the situation.

'Ah, perhaps…'

"Actually, I will instruct it to put everything I learned of for the first time in one spot and the rest I will keep to myself," Evin said with a content face.

"Oh, I will also instruct it to ignore information regarding people I personally knew. How about that?" Evin felt that this was probably enough. The man would get to see some private moments, but this should take less time.

"Sure, boy. Take the potion when you feel ready," Kena replied.

Evin drank the potion, and a sense of clarity filled his being. He couldn't explain it well, but he felt sharp and concise.

A form of life seemed to appear inside his consciousness, warily feeling its surroundings, getting used to its new host. Sometimes, Evin would feel a tingle in his head, as the being inside him accessed some of his memories.

Evin felt that the Artificial Thought Sprite gave off a similar vibe to the Dark World Sprites that resided in his shadow.

'Lord Kena is quite powerful, to be able to give birth to such beings at will,' Evin could not help but glance at the old Cobfolk.

After the Sprite finished adapting, it sent an inquiring message to Evin.

[Please compile everything I learned for the first time, while ignoring the people I knew personally, or stalked throughout my life. For the remaining information, please pile it in a different place in my soul,] Evin instructed.

The Artificial World Sprite seemed to nod inside Evin's head and began its giant work.