[Lensing].
A specialized fragment, created not for brute strength or grandiose abilities, but for the subtle art of spatial manipulation.
Its core function would be to act as a spatial lens — allowing more precise control over movement and perception, enabling space distortions that were smooth, imperceptible… elegant.
More than that, it would allow me to extract objects from my dimension into the physical world with minimal disturbance.
No cracks in the air. No dramatic flashes.
Just… silent transitions.
It could also function as a kind of microscope, not through optics, but by warping space to compress or expand regions at will, offering a new way to analyze Dust particles, biological samples, or fragile structures.
But creating such a fragment required data.
And I didn't have enough.
Not yet.
The analysis of Gravity Dust was incomplete — though progressing steadily.
So I began the process.
A small core detached from my mass, fracturing into a delicate, almost imperceptible seed.
[Initiating germination: Shard - Lensing]
[Estimated time to reach functional threshold: 10-12 local days]
[Status: Dormant - Awaiting sufficient data]
I let it rest in its incubation state, surrounded by a low-density mana cocoon to avoid accidental disruption.
In time… it would be something exquisite.
But for now… my attention shifted elsewhere.
Victor.
The boy had been slipping away from the village more and more, seeking out small, silent escapes.
Today, after finishing his deliveries, he slipped beyond the last fences, entering the nearby forest.
A thin layer of late-winter snow still covered the ground, crunching softly beneath his boots as he walked.
He didn't exactly know why he had come here.
Maybe it was for the silence. The way the forest muffled everything — his worries about his grandfather, the endless work, the weight of being a boy carrying far more than he should.
He found a spot under a dormant tree and sat down, leaning back and letting out a long sigh, his breath fogging in the cold air.
It was… peace.
For a moment, he simply existed.
Then… he felt it.
A warmth.
Not from outside, but from within.
Victor blinked, sitting up straighter, frowning slightly.
His Semblance had always been like a comforting fire — a light he summoned to help, to soothe, to push back the dark.
But now… it felt different.
Stronger.
He raised his hand, focusing on the familiar sensation, willing it to appear.
And it did.
But not like before.
The light that emerged was brighter, more vibrant, casting long golden rays through the bare branches.
And around him… the snow began to melt.
Not in small patches, but in wide radiant circles, as if the very earth recognized the change.
Victor stared, open-mouthed, as, where the snow vanished, the first green shoots broke through the soil.
Tiny flowers bloomed, trembling in the cold, yet rising defiantly.
The trees around him, bare and skeletal just moments ago, creaked softly as their branches swelled, buds forming far ahead of schedule.
Victor let out a shaky breath.
"What… the hell…?"
He looked at his hands, at the light still radiating from them.
He'd never done this before.
Not like this.
Not… this powerful.
Then… for a fleeting instant, he had a vision.
A light — golden, pulsing — moving toward him, like a fragment of some distant sun, traveling through the air until it merged with him.
Behind the light, a colossal presence, like a whale made of crystal and galaxies, watching him… or simply passing by.
The vision lasted less than a blink.
Victor blinked, rubbing his eyes.
"I must… be losing it."
He let it go.
Just another strange thing, among so many others.
And stood up, heading back through the forest, unaware that, at that moment, something enormous had just solidified inside him.
Somewhere above, beyond dimensions, I — Alex — watched with quiet satisfaction.
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Of course, I had given him a little push.
I needed the data.
Observing mana-infused plant growth could lead to critical insights — how different species reacted, how composition shifted, how ecosystems adapted to such alterations.
Every sprouting leaf was another sample.
Another thread in the growing network.
But also… I wanted to see what Victor would do with this gift.
He was the first host.
And, in time… he would lead.
Elsewhere, across the planet, the fragment of [Linguagens] was finally beginning to stir.
The technician — its chosen host — was, as always, working hard.
His life was simple, in a way, but never easy.
At twenty-five, he had dedicated himself to helping those most often forgotten — faunus children injured in accidents, war veterans abandoned by the system, anyone who had lost something and needed a new way to move, to connect.
He didn't always understand people.
The confusing, unpredictable nature of human emotions often left him lost, unsure how to react.
But he understood machines.
He understood function.
And, more importantly… he understood the joy of helping.
Today, after days of meticulous design, calibration, and testing, he was finally fitting a new prosthetic arm onto a small faunus girl — one who had lost her arm in a Grimm attack months ago.
As he secured the final connector, he watched as the girl flexed the mechanical fingers, her eyes going wide with wonder.
"Is it… really mine?" she whispered.
The technician nodded, offering her a rare, small smile.
"All yours."
She jumped up and hugged him tightly before running off to show her parents.
He stood there, quietly, hands in his pockets, watching her go.
He didn't need much in life.
Moments like this were… enough.
The [Linguagens] within him recognized the emotional spike.
Not fear.
Not trauma.
But something rarer.
Pure, uncomplicated happiness.
[Trigger Detected: emotional threshold surpassed]
[Activation: [Linguagens] - full integration commencing]
[Processing host cognitive architecture…]
At the exact moment the Shard fully integrated, the technician had a brief and fleeting vision.
For a second, nothing seemed to exist except a fragment of light, sliding gently through the air toward him, like a silent shooting star.
And, behind the light, a vague, immense silhouette, with contours made of mist and stars — something that seemed, simultaneously, alive and impossible.
He blinked, confused.
But the vision disappeared as quickly as it had come.
He frowned, shook his head, and moved on.
Just… a strange feeling, as if something had changed.
But not worth wasting time on.
His thoughts began to shift subtly.
Complex linguistic structures became easier to process.
The meanings behind words, the intentions hidden within gestures — all began to crystallize with newfound clarity.
He didn't know it yet.
But soon… he would be able to understand people in ways he never had before.
To speakchanges lives.
And, through him… [Linguagens] would continue to grow, cataloging not just spoken dialects, but the infinite ways sentient beings communicate.
A quiet expansion.
Like the rest of the network.
Back in my crystalline dimension, I contemplated everything.
[Lensing] was resting, slowly germinating.
Victor was beginning to feel the true strength of [Corona Solar].
The technician[Linguagens].
And everything… was unfolding as planned.
[Shards Active:]
- [Corona Solar] — Status: Active - Initial manifestation detected in Victor
- [Linguagens] — Status: Fully integrated with Technician
- [Lensing] — Status: Germinating (ETA: ~10 days)
[Data Network:]
- Mana-infused flora: Preliminary data acquired
- Gravity Dust: Ongoing analysis
- Emotional triggers: Monitored and logged
Everything… steadily unfolding.
As planned.
END OF CHAPTER