Some time later, I woke up in the same area as before.
A large lake laid to one side, a tree to another, just as I rememb— wait… Where's the rest of the forest?
There were only three trees in view. Beyond them, there was nothing. No undergrowth, no distant canopy, no horizon in the way it should have existed.
That was when understanding surfaced in my mind.
Typically, the spirit told the contractee of the new powers they will gain, however because I trigger happily agreed, I was never informed.
It didn't matter though. Comprehension still arrived on its own, settling into my thoughts as naturally as memory.
The place I stood in now was the Mirror Realm.
It was a subspace under my authority, capable of storing both living and nonliving things. Its stable area extended about a chunk, 16 by 16 meters. Beyond that boundary, space folded back into itself, distance losing all meaning as reflections overlapped and repeated endlessly.
To access it, I had gained Mirror Manifestation: the ability to conjure mirrors of any shape or size.
Creating a mirror took anywhere from a few to several seconds depending on its scale.
Linking one to the Mirror Realm, however, required minutes. I believed it was a deliberate limitation to prevent me from using it as a convenient escape in truly dire situations.
The mirrors had other uses as well.
They could reflect or store incoming attacks to be released later, granting me a near-absolute, all encompassing defensive ability along with great versatility.
It even worked against attacks at higher realms. Though, it'll probably consume almost all my essence if I wished to affect them.
The limitation was that the mirror had to be large enough to encompass the attack; so a two inch pocket mirror won't be enough to block a cleave from a greatsword, and I need to channel sufficient essence into the mirror.
Another usage was to use them to extend my vision as I gained the ability to see through any reflective surface within a radius.
Water, polished metal, even another person's eyes all counted.
It was an incredible scouting ability, made even more absurd by the fact that it consumed no spirit essence.
That was because Overlord and Primordial spirits subtly bent the rules of the world around their bearers. Rather than expending essence to see through reflection as a 'transaction' like normal abilities, it felt as though reflections simply shared what they saw with me, compelled by my authority.
The same went for my final abilities, though they revolved around a different concept within reflections: time.
At first thought, the connection felt questionable. But the more I considered it, the more it made sense.
'The future is a reflection of the past,' as the proverb went.
That idea formed the foundation of two abilities: Foresight and Manifest Self.
Foresight was straightforward. It allowed me to constantly glimpse less than half a second into the future, just enough to react before something happened.
Manifest Self was more complicated… and much more dangerous.
It allowed me to assume versions of myself from different points in time.
Past forms could be stored within reflections and used once each a day.
Their applications were obvious. I could, for example, assume a version of myself from a few days ago, restoring my body to a state uninjured and full of essence and stamina.
Future forms were something else entirely.
They were my last resort, my 'hail mary' so to speak.
Invoking it required the Reflection Primordial to release a fragment of its remnant authority, forcibly elevating me beyond my current limits.
For a brief time, I wouldn't merely launch an attack far beyond my caliber like Overlordbound, I would directly become far stronger by assuming a future state, likely becoming an entirely realm higher.
And while I'll still suffer permanent backlash from it like Overlordbound, I won't suffer the short term effects because I can assume a past form.
"Hoooo~ahh." I let out a yawn before stretching my limbs. I was anticipating trying out my newly gained powers.
Standing up, I extended my arms out, trying to use my first power: Mirror Manifestation.
I imagined an ornate gothic mirror framed in dark metal. Its surface was crowned with sharp spires and curling filigree, hornlike details crawling along the edges.
Ten seconds later, I didn't even know what I was looking at.
The 'mirror' itself was fine, the knowledge of how to create that was engraved into my mind after all. The frame, however, was a disaster.
Its edges were uneven and sagging. Some parts were like spaghetti, some were like bull horns; it wasn't even symmetrical… And especially as someone bound with the Reflection Primordial, it sickened me.
Oh no! Did I get OCD from the contract? That wasn't something it warned me about!
For a moment, I considered throwing the mirror away and creating a new one, but then I thought about just leaving it as a keepsake.
Wouldn't it be pretty amusing looking back at it a couple months/years from now?
After conjuring the mirror, I also became aware of something: my spirit essence pool was goddamn huge.
If before, my capacity could be considered '50,' and the norm after binding would be 70-115, my current capacity was 200! (Not factorial)
Previously, using 100% of my essence couldn't even push my body close to its limits during cultivation.
Now, there's no conceivable way my essence would give way before my body.
That thought led me to something else. My body had changed a lot too.
Holding the mirror closer, I looked at my face which had surprisingly undergone a lot of changes.
My eyes shined a more radiant gold and reflected the world within its gleam. Every feature aligned with an eerie perfection, balanced so precisely it felt less human and more curated, like a statue polished beyond the point of warmth.
…I should mess my face up a bit. This looks more unsettling rather than beautiful.
But right as I was going to step back to observe the changes in my body, something connected in my mind.
My facial expression in the reflection… In the past, for as long as I could remember, it had always looked off, like it wasn't my face in the mirror.
It wasn't until the morning after my one night stand that my reflection finally looked normal.
Now, I had realized, was it the Reflection Primordial…?
Had it always been watching me?
Ah wait… the spirits!
Why had the spirits always been avoiding me?
It wasn't a question I had until recently, but looking back on my life, it didn't make sense unless I was cursed or something of the sort.
…Actually, I guessed I kinda was. A Reflection Primordial observing me and all… It made sense for lesser spirits to steer clear.
After I connected the dots, another question hit me: why had the Reflection Primordial waited until then to finally show itself and offer me a contract?
If it were watching me my entire life, couldn't they have done it the moment I Awoken?
Was I not yet strong enough then? I doubt it for some reason.
Did it have something to do with territory?
Lesser and Aspect spirits were known for their freedom, all types appearing almost anywhere in the world without preference or restraint.
Domain and Overlord spirits, on the other hand, showed a strong tendency toward localization, remaining within certain regions of the world.
History supported the theory. For example, the Vance Empire teemed with physical and fire-type spirits, while plant and light spirits overwhelmingly congregated within the Elven Dominion.
So perhaps, Primordial spirits couldn't be moved beyond a certain territory thus, it had to wait until I came to it.
Then an uncomfortable theory struck me.
…Was the wolf migration a part of its ploy to lead me into its territory?