First Step To Completion, Face Your Past.

Julian tapped his finger on the table, still recuperating from and digesting the recent happening. As well as organising his thoughts. "It's quite simple, this world is like a single page from a book that would lay inside a limitless library. I am privy to the existence of the entire library by my belonging to another page in another book entirely. Certain entities exist outside the bound of those books, free to peruse the library as they wish. Meanwhile others can shift from book to book and pages to pages using some means. I belong, or rather I soon will belong to the second category, and as it stand, I also have the help of someone in the first. Does this satisfy your curiosity?"

Echidna let out a breath and huffed, annoyed."Oh please. You would know very well that this sort of answer is not enough to satisfy anything. But very well, I realise that explaining with words that the world is in fact without limit is perhaps, not that simple."

He chuckled. "If it's proof that you want, I can hardly show you anything but my magics and tell you of where I come from. Or I could show you through your trials."

"Oh?" She lifted an eyebrow, curious. "You would subject yourself to them and allow me to watch them, willingly?"

"Sure, I only care about the judgment of few people. And I realised not long ago that I've really just dreaded one to this day and still do, my own."

The witch of greed didn't answer to that, instead opting to pass her gaze over her frozen sisters one by one. "Well, It seems there's not much more to do here. It sure was an eventful tea party. Now come the contract, no?"

Julian smiled and simply opened one hand toward her. "We're still in a duel, to admit defeat and at the same time seal the deal. You have to take my hand."

Echidna grinned coyly, hiding her mouth behind one of her hand. "So it's like that? The want to dominate a fair maiden is unresistible to any man in the end, I understand. So be it, please take good care of me." She gingerly put her hand in his and leaned forward.

"And please, there's no need to hold back with me." She whispered and chuckled, a glint in her eyes. Immediatly after, arc of dark yellow lightnings leap from her to Julian which made her tense up and made him smirk as his eyes shone a purple light.

He wasn't so easily teasable.

And with that, Julian had won against all the witches beside Envy. But she was a troublesome opponent.

And from that, his embodiments found themselves changed, completed.

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Essence of: Julian Håberjorgen-Marquis.

Race: Premature-Newborn (1 pair of wings) Second-Order Nephalem.

EMBODIMENTS

VIRTUES:

–Kindness (Minor): You are a weak personification of the virtue of kindness.

Abilities:

~No good deed go unrewarded: Facing your kindness, people are both less likely to betray you and more driven to reciprocate. (Integral, at will)

–Patience (minor): You are a weak personification of the virtue of patience.

Abilities:

~ Coiling mountain: You have an instinctive sense of seizing the right timing and when to just let things flow. (Integral, at will)

SINS:

–Greed (Minor): You are a weak personification of the sin of greed.

~ Minor domain of greed.

–Wrath (major): You are a consequent personification of the sin of wrath.

~Major domain of Wrath.

~Blood angel form.

–Lust (Minor): You are a weak personification of the sin of lust.

~Minor domain of lust.

— Envy (Minor): You are a weak personification of the sin of Envy.

~ Twisting reflection: Envious feelings concerning you spin to your advantage based on your subconscious . (Minor, passive)

~ Object of envy: People often compare themselve to you and what you have. (Minor, passive, sinergy)

~ Strength for you, weakness for them: People holding envy in their heart get weakened if they face against you. (minor, active.)

—Pride (Minor): You are a weak personification of the sin of Pride

~Minor domain of pride. (Empty)

—Gluttony (Minor): You are a weak personification of the sin of Gluttony.

~Minor domain of Gluttony.

—Sloth (Minor): You are a weak personification of the sin of Sloth.

~Minor domain of Sloth.

–Three spark Impossibility (Extremely lesser): You create a ripple around you. Far from anathema yet, but you should be prepared. You are noticed.

Abilities:

~Lucky time: Allow the manipulation of causality to an almost non-existent extent. Shifting the odds of a situation in one's favor. (Active)

~ Mind: It's impossible for you to be unable to learn anything related to the mind. (Passive, Set)

~Imbue: You can now actively manipulate the sparks you possess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were not limited to abilities anymore, now he could manipulate their concept. Feed, deflect, provoque, and some more unique actions were what he could do with each of the sins.

He would have to experiment later to see what exactly each could do. But he had a rough idea for most.

As for the strength of of each embodiment, he could somewhat place to where they correlate now.

Minor was not something that could be used in combat against peers, it was more of an utility or gimmick that would only work well on those willing or weaker than him in term of raw magic. While Major could give him another tool in a fight against someone around his level, mainly by giving a form, and they could have an influence on his peers if they weren't disciplined enough or intelligent enough.

His Blood Angel form was currently the only exemple he had access to. But the fact it gave a kick to his overall destructiveness was without saying valuable.

As for his Prince of Sins transformation, it was harder to say. He would put it at Minor, but in another realm entirely than Blood angel, as it definitely gave him a big boost in power. But he instinctively knew he couldn't transform back into it any time soon. As what happened with the witches was a unique occasion and he was missing some overall requirements for it still.

The development of this tea party was unexpected, but in the end, as always, he had been ready for it. If barely and with a bit of luck.

~~~~~

Julian stepped up the steps of Echidna's tomb slowly and stopped just before entering the room he knew would hold the first trial pf the past.

He could ignore them, just destroy the barrier of the sanctuary and be done with it. There was no need to put himself subject to this.

But it's not because he could that he should.

Confronting his past was long overdue, the pain had long since become a burning scar on his heart that ended up hollow from his helplessness and betrayal.

Fill up the void with something else, or ruthlessly mend it with stitches and fire?

Maybe he should do neither, maybe he should put a balm on it and let it heal with time.

But then, what would be the balm? And would it even be effective?

He didn't know, the only way to was to take another step, and see what awaited him.

"First off. Face your past."

Sensing the intruding magic and hearing Echidna's voice, Julian let the illusion take hold willingly. But instead of falling straight on his face, he fell sitting against the wall.

And thus began his trial.

~~~~~

"Pffft. Right, excuse me. But understand that telling me a 5 years child has designed a easy and realistic step by step program to basically end world hunger and poverty is not a joke I hear everyday. In fact, it's the first time I've heard that one. Though, I have to thank you for livening up my day."

"It's not a joke though, I have the thesis here with me." Julian watched silently from beside his father dropped his work on the desk, the file of a hundred of so page producing a hearthy twap.

The secretary sent a glance at it and began to read from curiosity, barely a minutes later, his face warped in frustration and impatience. "Yeah, I'm not reading that. Seems interesting though, you could try to publish it online if Sir. Though you probably shouldn't lie about who wrote it."

"What if it was real, though? What if the program, if followed right, truly worked?" Julian couldn't help but speak up with his immature voice, the same exact words he had spoken before.

The secretary glanced at him oddly for a second before he smiled. "The real world is not so simple, little guy. There's no simple solutions to things like poverty and hunger."

He gazed at his work, still laying on the desk. A sort of lassitude filled him, along with a spark of disdain as he replied. "You barely read a page, though."

The secretary opened his mouth, but his father beat him to it. "Can't you show it to urm... A superior or something of the sort? Maybe they'd take some ideas from it."

"I'm sorry, sir. But my superiors are quite busy, I don't believe they have the time to read philosophical work. Now, If that was all. I'd ask you to move along. People are waiting." They were chased of the office.

After that, they tried reaching directly to the people involved. But his work was either dismissed out of hand or by hurted egos, and even introducing his father as the author didn't change the result much.

Again and again, just as he remembered, people thought they knew better. That since they were the ones in power, people beneath them wouldn't be able to do better.

Just as he remembered, if you wanted to make a change, you had to make it happen yourself.

Even if it was partly because of the challenge and spite, he still remember that most of the reason he did what he did was for the people. For everyone to have a chance at happiness without worrying about their basic needs.

He did it because he felt he could.

That did not meant he should have.

His perception of time was blurry as days passed by, and he began learning and researching on his own, aided by his parents and later, by the governement itself.

But now, as he went through the motion. He knew that he could stop anytime, say no to his insanity. Because he knew the price of it now, something he did not in his first life.

He could stop researching and sacrificing his life for the world, say no and shear through his past. Rejecting it and truly beginning anew.

And yet, he did not.

Thus, the same path he went. Because he knew that rejecting his past was futile, it would not heal anything, it would not change anything.

The day of his suicide came fast, he accepted it as it was. That after achieving his goal, he had lost his purpose. He could have gone farther still, continuing his research and bringing humanity to truly mindboggling height. But what was the point when most of the world stood ungrateful and feared you? When you had nobody as your equal and to share your life with, not even a friend? When those that always believed in you sided with the rest of the world? When there was no one to tell you you shouldn't feel guilty?

Social creatures like humans are not designed to live in isolation. There was no point to it.

He understood his choice, though he'd have done some things differently as he was now. Like confronting the world publicly about where he stood and his vision, or having a conversation with his parents, to understand where they began to not see him as wholly their son anymore. He accept it all. It was time to move on now.

However, who's to say he couldn't do at least one of those thing.

It would take at least that for proper closure.

"Kass?"