Keilan felt it the moment something happened to Damien. He didn't know how he knew, just that his brother was in danger and urgently needed his help.

  He had watched Damien's fight across the sky, dueling the three monster lords. When Damien had done whatever he'd done that had seen the first monster lord reduced to a puff of smoke—intent wielding, presumably—Keilan would have said he was surprised, but truthfully, he wasn't.

  Aside from elementals... Who were somewhat of a mix of monster and beast; true monsters weren't supposed to die like that. He had killed hundreds and thousands of them at this point, and none, except the non-sentient elementals, had ever died like that. Turned into smoke, like that was what they'd been made from.

  Keilan wasn't surprised, really. This place had been all kinds of strange ever since they'd stepped into it, and it had all come to dawn when he'd been mentally attacked by those two mid-tier monsters. What if the dream landscape he'd been invaded in was a smaller version of the one he was currently in? Keilan had thought, but he didn't know how to prove it.

  He was halfway through to where he'd last heard an explosion when he stopped, an exhilarating feeling suffusing his mind. It was like he'd just gulped in fresh air after being underwater for hours. Quickly, he realized what that was, and then the wrong feeling in his chest grew stronger.

  Keilan picked up his pace, crossing the land with blurring speed. He ignored the swarms of insects choking the place and almost lost his step when they all started puffing into smoke, disappearing one by one. The feeling in his heart grew stronger and, using the little willpower he'd been able to recover as fuel, he boosted himself further.

  His physical agility, plus the little mental boost he'd been able to add to it, increased his speed further, which helped Keilan reach Damien within a few minutes, but through all that, the feeling within him kept growing stronger and stronger, till it felt like a weight with a rope tied around his heart.

  When he saw Damien, his brother was on his knees, screaming with hands curled up around his temple. And surrounding him were multiple humanoid beings, a mix of human and some other species. All were standing over the kneeling form of Damien, doing nothing to help his clearly helpless brother.

  Decision made, Keilan angled his approach towards his brother. He'd already seen their faces and knew what had befallen them.

  Dragging out the last remaining of his mental energy, almost blacking himself out, Keilan formed it into a little dome around his brother. Formed from intent, he knew it wouldn't hold much against a focused attack from any of those people surrounding Damien, but atleast it'll last long enough for what he was about to do.

  His abrupt stop came with a boom and whoosh of air that lifted everything else into the air. Before he was taken alongside everyone else, Keilan formed his intent into the ward that he used to direct the rush of wind away from him.

  He came to a stop before Damien, arriving a second after the intent-constructed wind dome unraveled. Keilan staggered with a choking sound as he felt the equivalent of an ocean surrounding his brother, drowning him.

  No wonder the insects were turning into smoke. The monster overlord of this place had turned its full attention down on Damien.

  Still, Keilan pushed on. He brought his will to the fore and, with a gulp, pitted it against what was surrounding Damien.

  The shove back was as much a physical attack as it was a mental one. Keilan was lifted off his feet with a grunt, crashing into the ground multiple feet away with an outrush of breath.

  He picked himself up, groaning all the while. His bones were sore at this point and his body hurt. His mind was a wreck, which left him still surprised at how he was still able to move.

  Keilan became aware of the approaching forms of the mind-taken, and since they were harmless, with none drawing a weapon that he could see, Keilan left them alone. He almost changed his mind a second later when they all simultaneously turned towards him, moving like marionettes on strings.

  "Open yourself to me," they all intoned with voices coming out in discordant tones. Keilan felt his skin crawl. "Become one of us."

  "Okayyy," Keilan muttered as he slowly approached, keeping a wary eye on them as he edged closer to Damien, "this isn't creepy at all. Definitely not creepy."

  "Keilan Elason," a voice said, and Keilan froze. The speaker, a man in medium armor made from some kind of monster hide stepped forward, extending an arm. "Become my instrument."

  Keilan would have liked to say that the creature didn't see him coming, so that was why it couldn't dodge his punch. But if he was being honest with himself, it was probably because it didn't see the need to dodge. It had other... Instruments, after all.

  Keilan looked down at the man lying a few feet from him. He stared past the milky white orbs that the man's eyes had become, looked at what he was sure was the creature piloting him.

  With barely contained anger, Keilan said. "For your own safety, I would advise you to keep my parent's name out of your filthy mouth."

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  He knew his threat was all mouth, but he just couldn't help but say it. Hearing his father's name from a creature such as that, after the event of the last encounter, awakened something within him, something he'd thought lost and buried long ago.

  "Join us," the same instrument said, picking itself up with barely a struggle, like Keilan's punch hadn't done anything at all. "Become my most treasured instrument."

  Keilan's lip curled and he spat on the ground. "You can go shove your offer where the sun doesn't shine," he said before heading past the creatures and toward his brother.

  "Why do you deny yourself this honor? Why do you deny us so?"

  Keilan paused and turned back his head with a reply at the tip of his tongue, but someone beat him to it.

  "This," Damien gritted out, and Keilan watched in horror as blood spurted out from his brother's ears and eyes like rivers, "should be the last time one of you cretins dare intrude on my mind."

  Slowly, Damien pushed himself off his knees, hands folded into fists on his sides. He glared at the instruments surrounding them with blood-soaked eyes.

  "You will cease your assault on my mind," Keilan felt his body constrain, the wind freezing for a second. Startled at the sudden feeling, he looked up at Damien just about the moment he said..."and BEGONE."

  Keilan's jaw dropped in open-mouthed shock as reality warped, space shattered, and whatever had been possessing those people screamed as it was expelled, leaving its marionettes to fall to the ground like they'd suddenly had their strings cut.

  The effects of whatever Damien did didn't just affect their immediate surroundings but were wide-ranged, Keilan instinctively knew.

  The little mist that covered the area, which had been previously ignored, was suddenly washed away, leaving way for a clear, untainted, atmosphere. The sky tore, sundered in long, crisscrossing, jagged lines that stretched into the horizon. And in the distance, so far away, a shrill, warbling screech echoed out, eliciting a rumble through the space and an involuntary shiver to wash down Keilan's spine.

  He sighed, suddenly feeling the weight of everything they'd experienced all coming down on him. He took a deep breath and then moved toward the unconscious form of his brother. Whatever Damien did must have taken a heavy toll on him to send him straight into unconsciousness.

  With a sigh of relief, Keilan collapsed down beside Damien. He dearly would have loved to simply plunge himself into unconsciousness like the others, but he felt that as the last man standing, it should be his job to protect the others against any roaming monsters, which...

  Keilan jolted forward, turning his eyes towards the place where Damien had pinned the scorpion. There was nothing, which either meant the creature had lost its fuel, dissolving into smoke, or it had found some way to flee. Keilan didn't mind, he just—

  The sound of clacking had him raising his spear in an instant. Keilan got off his feet and glared at the scorpion that stood a few feet from him. It was very injured, with a large hole bored through its hard carapace, but somehow, the creature was still standing. It didn't take long for him to know why.

  "You will be mine," the mind controller said, "I will not be denied."

  "Didn't Damien shove you away? What the hell are you doing back here?" Keilan growled, and then slowly and with extreme caution, he eyed the collapsed form around him.

  "Do not rejoice, for your reprieve will be temporary. And when I am back, you will gladly serve me. Both of you."

  Keilan stared at the scorpion, at whatever was within it, controlling it. The next words that came out of his mouth, Keilan would have liked to say he had any conscious effort in constructing them, but even he didn't know how they came forth.

  "Beware, creature, for you have defiled domains better left untouched, and made enemies you should never have set your eyes upon. Beware, Spirit King, for your days are numbered, and when the end comes, it will not be a gentle one."

  Suddenly, Keilan became aware of the howl echoing in the distance. For some reason, the wind rippled and a cold gust swept past him.

  He blinked in confusion at the monster before him, but it was already gone, reduced to smoke.

  Keilan looked around, confused. He made to sit to better collect his thoughts when the world trembled. In panic, he rose back up, thinking an earthquake was occurring, but why would an earthquake occur in a place like this? Keilan didn't get the answer to that question.

  One minute, he was standing on purpled flowered grass, on a vast land stretching into god knows where; the next, he was standing before twin pillars of glowing purple, with crimson-streaked sunlight shining down on him.

  Keilan sighed when he realized what that meant, and then looked down, about to pick Damien up when he became aware of the armored warriors lined up before him, all carrying weapons of different kinds. Their robes carried the emblem of House Verrille.

  Vanis stood in front of the line of probably a hundred warriors, weapons drawn with a face of surprise. Behind him were six Spirit Kings, all in their avatars. Keilan recognized them, even through their avatars. He would never forget the telltale signs of a Spirit King's avatar.

  As soon as the Verrille scion laid eyes on him, he breathed out a sigh of relief and then looked at the unconscious form of Damien at his feet.

  "He's alive," Keilan answered.

  Vanis nodded and then turned to a Spirit King behind him. "Take him to the head healers quarters and have him see to him." He gestured at Damien.

  The woman nodded, and then disappeared, taking Damien with her. Vanis looked at the other forms lying around, and chuckled.

  "Who do I owe for their recovery?"

  Keilan nodded towards the distance. "Damien."

  The Verrille scion nodded, and then gestured towards the remaining Kings behind him. "Take them to the infirmary, I want every soul and mind specialist on their bed sides immediately."

  "Yes, lord Vanis," they intoned, and then did as bidded.

  Keilan frowned at Vanis. "What's with the martial gathering?"

  "You didn't know?"

  "Know what?"

  Vanis took a deep breath, shifting a lock of hair out of his face.

  "As you well know, this Proto space is meant to train and temper the mind. Because of the warping environment within, one might think it is meant to be a long term task."

  "It's not?" Keilan asked, surprised.

  "No," Vanis said. "Unlike the other proto spaces, this is meant to be done in small campaigns. A day, two, three, and no more. The atmosphere in there isn't meant for long term exposure."

  "Because of the risk of possession," Keilan realized.

  "Yes. When my brother and I did our rounds, it was over the span of months, and we didn't spend more than four days within. That was how long it took before the pressure became too much for us to handle. Anything more than that and the monster sovereign would have taken us. When we didn't see signs of either you after the third day, and the fourth, I and Solis went in search for both of you. This—"

  He gestured at the Soldiers behind him, all lined and waiting at his command.

  "—was reinforcement when we failed to find you."

  "How long were we in there?" Keilan asked.

  "Keilan," Vanis said. "You and Damien were in that place for a little over eight days."