Sylphrena.

—

Stunned because he doesn't feel or see any beings at all in front of everyone, Richard then returned his Transparent World sights to normal and finally saw tiny blue women floating in the air. Gazing at the tiny tinkerbell-like girl who has no atoms to speak of in the material world, Richard, stupefied, once again tuned his sights to the Transparent World, trying to notice the details. Sure enough, there seemed to be something in front of him.

Even though there were no atoms to make up this little girl, there were still photons emitting light and electron particles floating and moving about. Finding it strange, since this was the first time he saw these particles never attaching or interacting with atoms at all, he then saw her stomping her leg in the air while puffing her cheeks because everyone had the same reaction as him.

"Hey, hey, hey, I am talking to you, you know!"

"What are you?"

Wanting to know the same answers like Yennefer question since he, too, was finding for the first time that there was a being that technically didn't exist in this material plane, Richard saw her swirling in the air and performing a bow to everyone.

"Sylphrena. An Honorspren at your service."

Then, not a second later, she jumped up and down in the air in excitement and occasionally exclaimed, "I did it, I did it," until the question from Yennefer finally made him understand why he couldn't see her in the first place.

"No. How can you exist? I mean, you feel like to me just a jumble of cognitive intents. If you didn't decide to show yourself, I might mistake you for something like a wind of the sea or a leaf flying in the air."

"That's because I am nature!"

Looking at her invisible body, unlike those of Yennefer's spectral summons that still have to exist in the physical realm to perform normal respiratory breathing, Richard couldn't help but ask, "But how? How do you roam in the physical plane?"

"That… I don't know."

Seeing this tiny girl, Lanfear understood what Sylphrena was since she was once a master of the cognitive realms. Turning to everyone, she then started to explain, "She doesn't have a form in the physical world because there is none. She is a creature of Tel'aran'rhiod. She is a creature of a dream, made entirely out of the cognitive essence of everything in this world, whether object or living thing."

"Hey! It is not appropriate to talk about me when I am in front of you, you know! And no! I am not a creature of dreams! I am Spren! Living in the new Shadesmar with my new friends! Oh, that's right. That's right. I forgot. Will you help me find my friends who are lost everywhere? Because, because, I noticed that wherever you go, the Shadesmar doesn't become chaotic at all. So, in exchange for bonding with me, so you can connect to the Spiritual Realm, you must help me find my soon to be friends anywhere, everywhere, okay?"

Nodding his head since he wanted to help everyone in need anyway, Richard simply said, "Sure," before being bombarded by her insistence, "Say the words, say the words," while grabbing his hair back and forth. Unknowingly finding what he needed to say without her information on what oath he should make, Richard then pledged it deep into his heart.

"Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination."

"I seek to defend life but never risk my life for frivolous reasons. Because living is harder than dying. My duty is to live, so I will be able to continue defending life."

"I seek to protect those who are weak and use my strength for others. Everyone has their moments of weakness. I will use my strength until they are not weak anymore."

"I seek to understand the journey rather than achieving the destination. There are several ways to arrive at a destination. But a journey can only be done once."

Wind blowing past him, his eyes that once could only see the Material world now could see the Ethereal world and Cognitive world. Looking at the alive tiny motes of light with all kinds of shapes or forms that were present anywhere and everywhere as far as his eyes could see, he finally understood what Sylphrena meant by anywhere and everywhere. Gazing at his body that was filled with so many tiny motes of light, and seeing them snuggling comfortably inside his body, Richard smiled wryly and turned off his Transparent Worlds.

"Yay! I have a new friend!"

"So, how do you feel now, Richard? Can you feel the Chaos?"

Shaking his head, which made all of the mages sigh in disappointment, Richard then elaborated further, causing them to have eager expressions as they anticipated what it was like to feel Order magic. "No. I still can't feel any magic. But I can still connect to the magic itself and subsequently feel that magic."

"Huh? What a weird operation. Usually we need to feel it first, then connect later, but it doesn't matter. Okay guys, let's continue our most priceless creation as of yet."

"Hahahaha! No, the most priceless creation ever!"

Shaking his head at seeing the male sorcerers eager to create this sa'angreal, Richard then felt the spell floating in the air, with an open window that he could connect to. More accurately, he felt the spell socket rather than the spell itself. It was like plugging his Ethernet cable into that spell, allowing him to finally sense the illusory schematic of the two split cores that had not yet materialized into the physical world.

"Did you feel it now?"

Nodding his head, noticing the foundational knowledge of One Power that was made up of two complementary Saidin and Saidar, but heavily sided toward the Saidar part of it, Richard replied to Yennefer, "Yes, I can feel it. Is this Lanfear's understanding about the fundamental creation of the universe?"

"Yes. She has a very subtle and intricate way of doing things. I surrender and admit that I have even lost my way in understanding compared to her."

But looking at this, Richard just sighed in disappointment.

Hearing the compliment that came from Yennefer and not from the dragon himself, instead receiving a frown and sigh of disappointment, Lanfear was confused and didn't understand why the man she craved reacted like that. Not until she felt the schematic become more and more compact did she finally understand the reason for the disappointment. It was not due to the smaller amount of contribution compared to him, but because she was still trying to hide much of her understanding to maintain an edge over others.

Looking at the intricate details of this foundational idea about Saidar and Saidin that was clearly being botched up until only a small part of it was given to the core of this sa'angreal, Richard simply continued pouring out his understanding about Order magic. Knowing that it was still a long way before anyone could exchange ideas freely without fear of each other's advancements, like he hoped for, even though it was not their personal magic system, like his Breathing technique, for example.

Once again disappointed by these mages who even hesitated to share fundamental knowledge, Richard then raised his eyebrows upon seeing Lanfear's fundamental knowledge of the One Power grow large, equally rivaling his own. Looking at the beautiful woman in question who nodded, he just nodded and smiled gently in appreciation back. With this, everyone would now be more sincere in creating this Sa'angreal.

But noticing that the third person's contribution was growing larger and larger, dwarfing his and Lanfear's understanding, Richard couldn't help but turn his attention toward Ciri, who already stood healthy behind Yennefer. Knowing she had the same issue as him regarding connecting to the Chaos, he then observed that she was currently taking an oath.

Hearing her recite the same pledge as him and seeing the Lightspren atop her head swirling about like a comet while snoring in the process, Richard then turned his attention back to the contributed understanding and couldn't help but wear a strange expression.

Unlike him and Lanfear, who were filled with theories, formulas, and experience, Ciri only had experience. If it were charted, 75% of it would be exclusively hers. Still appreciating this wealth of big data that would prove useful for them in terms of editing time and space later, Richard nodded and smiled gently in appreciation towards her.

—