Hope! Consumption!

"So this is what compatibility feels like…"

Being immersed in the relaxation brought by interaction with the core fragment, Leo's mind felt liberated as he focused on his search for the sense of familiarity within the depths of his memory…

'This is… the Sword Pearl?'

The fragment he held naturally wasn't the Sword Pearl, nor did it gather the nonexistent Sword Breath as it did, but that wasn't what Leo was considering. Rather, he felt like the core fragment contained a hint of the Sword Pearl's aura, that was why he didn't recognize it immediately!

Most importantly, his mind kept telling him that the core fragment was emitting something, but his actual senses transmitted nothing of that. In the end, Leo felt that he was stuck in the limbo of hallucination, telling what was real was hard.