My head’s pounding. My eyes are burning. That was so intense, and I feel so much worse than before I went to sleep. What have I done to my poor little body?

  A sea of little lights assault me from the sides of my vision. The first group of lights insistently crowds my attention as soon as my consciousness fully relights. They all seem related to when this dream Linus spied far away into the distance. I’ve stolen a small portion of his song. Likely a trivial fraction, but a start. Although, I’ve no idea how to use it. One more thing for the practice pile.

  After waving away the first set, the next group of lights insistently takes its place. That’s right, before opening the tear, he created that… knife? That object of pure arcane energy, but outside of the body rather than inside. Instead of transforming the body’s energy to something else, you expel it in a form that wouldn’t immediately disperse. A form that’s stable. Then you can use that to cut space? Or feel around and explore for food? That’s what I’ve witnessed so far, but I imagine it has far more potential than only these cases.

  The next bunch of lights come from fascinating over that beautiful, beautiful spacial tear. It was so masterful and perfect. So complex. All of my basic specialization songs loudly resonated in total harmony to the point of completion! As expected of such exquisite excellence.

  The final collection of lights gathers for my attention. They recall the story of the hidden spacial pocket’s discovery. It’d be amazing if I could hide mine as well. Perhaps even more amazing to ferret out the hidden pockets of others? Again, hidden treasure tends to be the best treasure. Big ones won’t leave their highest prizes just sitting out in the open. They’re absolutely sterile and uncivilized, but not that stupid.

  All these gains are exciting, and I want to practice and play. However, upon taking a walk above ground to clear my head, I find that morning’s fast approaching. I slept all night, that’s terrible! The dream felt as though it passed in a flash, yet I was asleep for so long. What’s the meaning of this?

  Flustered, I rush back down and quickly gather my things for Tranas. I don’t want a stupid, nasty night’s rest to lose me today’s watch. What if today’s the day someone comes? Or if it’s the only day that they do! Rigid vigilance and discipline are required for the best treasure.

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  Hurrying back outside to the terminal, I jab the Tranas token into the porter’s face before tossing him my second to last pouch of tribute coins. At least it’s early enough to skip the line. Perhaps erroneously falling into my city performance rather than the more appropriate town’s, I purposely rush to my destination.

  The alley’s still there. It’s still empty. There’s still no one interested in entering. My excited energies immediately deflate as I fall back into the monotonous rhythm of the previous days’ wait.

  By midday, I want to give up. Nothing’s going to change. It’s still early, but maybe I should abandon this to steal more coins? That’s an honorable way to spend one’s day too. It’s lesser treasure, for certain, but a treasure in hand is far better than treasure in someone else’s tightly clenched fist.

  Resolving to check the alley one last time, I carefully comb over it with my now expertly empowered eyes. However, part way through, memories of the dream return. That hidden spacial pocket. Maybe that’s what’s hiding the entrance here?

  How did I see it in the dream? It was almost an accident. No, no, I was so fascinated by the folds and perfectly maintained balance from the tear. Something had already changed by then, and that brought the pocket’s tiny light into focus, if only briefly. Doesn’t that mean that I generally have the ability to see these deceiving folds now?

  Eagerly empowering my eyes again, I attempt to concentrate my focus on the idea of these folds, but everything looks the same. Then I recall another memory. It’s not only my eyes, there’s more now. I can also channel to all these individual parts, right?

  Powering down my eyes, I cycle through all the new, singular parts one at a time. Different aspects of my vision change for each one. Improved clarity from the retinas, and slightly improved range of sight from the lenses. The musculature doesn’t appear to do anything on its own.

  On the other hand, the result of empowering the pupils is fascinating. It causes them to aggressively vacuum in all manner of unfamiliar, new stimuli. When first activated, I completely blinded myself from all the noise. It takes some very intense focus, but by concentrating on a specific intent, I can get the strengthened pupils to selectively filter only one thing at a time. At least somewhat. It’s not perfect.

  My excitement reignited by new prospects, I search the alley again with empowered pupils rather than eyes, explicitly concentrating on the idea of spacial folds. At first, everything appears the same.

  With practice, I start to notice random, previously invisible fluctuations happening everywhere around me.

  Obsessively focusing on every square inch of that chaos, I’m rewarded with the location of an incredibly tiny, interesting spot. It’s somehow perfectly still. After having combed the entire alley, this anomaly is incredibly remarkable. Space is wobbling and naturally folding constantly everywhere. It doesn’t like to be still. Still is unnatural and unusual. Still means to look closer!

  What should I do? It’s so tiny, I can barely see it. Ah, the ocular lenses! Changing energy from the pupils to the lenses, my mental image of the spot grows much closer, but simultaneously, it disappears completely. I need the pupils to see the spot, but I also need the lenses to closely inspect it. Both are required.

  Taking a deep breath, I try to instill both parts with energy in unison. Chaos and pain claim my head, and neither part receives a thing. I simply must practice. Repeating the exercise, the same result. Then again. Again. And again.

  What’s wrong? It’s not getting any better! I can’t let this go now that I’m finally on to something. I don’t want to forget this state of mind.

  Angry at my body for its misbehaving, I recall using the Arcane perception(Self) song to amplify my spacial training. So I sit down in front of the special spot, close my eyes, and look inwards. Again, I attempt to concurrently channel energy into both pupils and lenses. Watching the energy flow from core to head, I see it swirl as if trapped and confused on where to go. Stop that! I clearly told you where to go.

  With the song’s amplification, the energy immediately switches to the proper paths. I feel it working. Then I open my eyes, and audibly gasp. It’s there! Barely peeking out from beneath the many layered, stationary folds, there’s the familiar twist of a sealed pocket.