[Your presence continued to fade within the dream sequence.]
"What in the actual hell!"
[The daemon sultans struggled relentlessly to override the law formation.]
The voice echoed, sharp and hollow, cutting through the fog of thought.
"Why? Is there a problem? Overriding the law formation shouldn't cause them any major issues… Could they be using their authority elsewhere, for something else…? Fine, as long as I remain perceptible."
I muttered the words to myself in a low, almost inaudible voice, shoving the lingering thoughts to the farthest corners of my mind.
[There is no such thing as the "best" archetype. To understand this world, you must first recognize the seven humanly acknowledged ones: the Hero, the Orphan, the Rebel, the Jester, the Explorer, the Sage, and the Mystic.
Each archetype is shaped by the energies it naturally resonates with.
Some falls under almost entirely with a single energy, while others fall under several, though not always equally.
The Hero, for instance, is ruled primarily by The Will, with faint traces of The Good guiding its ideals.
The harmony between an archetype and its energies determines how easily its abilities manifest.
The more naturally the energies fit, the smoother and more adaptable the archetype becomes.
Those tied to only one energy may still be powerful as the core trai, but their range is narrow, and their adaptability limited.
Abilities themselves emerge from these resonances.
A Hero strong in The Will acts will gain abilities and techniques related resolve and leadership, yet without a deeper bond to The Good, abilities related to compassion or moral clarity may remain dormant. Strength, therefore, is not just a matter of identity, but of which energies answer when called.
Misalignment carries risk. Forcing an archetype into energies it cannot hold may splinter its focus or destabilize its very nature.]
"Indeed, as expected. At least you're informative as heck."
I let out a breath, half-annoyed, half-impressed.
"Perks of having the 'Inner Chaos', I guess. Speaking of which, you still haven't told me its advantages.
And don't give me that nonsense about 'not the best archetype'. Who are you fooling? I'm not just any human."
[The Inner Chaos provides clarity and purity in the recognition of the self.
Because of it, you can instantly perceive your archetype and exit the scenario.
A scenario only ends when the subject either loses their Will, or recognizes their intended archetype.]
"That's… not exactly much," I muttered.
"I would've figured it out soon anyway. It'd probably be something related to my phobia, an Explorer or something like that…"
My voice trailed off as my mind recalled how long it had taken some of the purest, most self-aware people in the world, people without a single illusion clouding their hearts, months to fully recognize and embrace their archetype.
"I… guess it's not that bad," I admitted quietly.
Though almost every other person in this world could manifest every type of energy as a weak force, finding a true Archetype and elevating that spark into something real was an entirely different battle altogether, one that required a person to confront things they would rather bury forever.
Most people never moved past that point, and honestly, it wasn't surprising at all.
Archetypes were never something one discovered through talent tests or flashy street rituals, and they were not the kind of power that awakened just because someone wanted it badly enough.
They surfaced only when a person was forced into what the world called a Scenario.
A neutral trial meant to strip away every comforting illusion and leave you alone with the instinct you had spent your whole life denying.
It wasn't tailored to any Archetype, nor did it guide you toward a certain choice.
There are no "correct" actions.
There are only "revealing" actions.
It simply presented a fundamental conflict and each archetype interpret the conflict differently.
A burning village, for example, was the most common version people in this world used to talk about.
Houses collapsing under their own weight, flames swallowing everything, a trapped child screaming somewhere in the smoke, and behind you an empty stretch of road that guaranteed your own survival if you ran.
For example Running into the fire without a second thought aligned with the Hero.
"Nobody will save me. I must escape" though aligned with the Orphan.
Trying to understand the cause behind the destruction, even while coughing on smoke, aligned with the Sage.
Laughing in the face of terror to ease panic aligned with the Jester.
And walking straight into the heart of the flames, accepting destruction as a natural part of existence, aligned with the Mystic.
And apparently that was the case for every remaining archetypes.
One Scenario could reveal seven entirely different truths, yet a single choice decided everything.
However, that was exactly where the majority failed, not because the Scenario itself was too overwhelming but because the conflict forced them to face a version of themselves they had spent years running from.
Many people fell apart due to ambition, as they were so desperate to appear heroic or noble that the moment the urge to run or hide twisted inside them, they tried to suppress it, acting in ways that never matched their genuine instinct.
They wanted an Archetype that looked impressive and refused to accept the one they actually embodied.
Others collapsed under society's expectations, such as children raised to protect imitating protectors, or scholars trying to act like sages, or wanderers forcing themselves to behave like explorers.
Which only resulted in hesitation and confusion since the roles they had been taught did not align with their core identity.
And then there were the people who could not accept themselves at all, who felt ashamed of the instinct that surged first, such as wanting to save only one person or wanting to flee or wanting to understand instead of act.
They believed that choosing something "smaller" or "selfish" or "unconventional" made them lesser, and the moment they rejected their own truth, the Scenario rejected them as well along with the energies they fell into.
Some people spiraled even worse, jumping between impulses and trying to fit themselves into multiple roles, like someone who ran toward the flame only to turn back halfway or someone who tried to save a stranger while simultaneously planning an escape.
That scattered instinct caused the entire Scenario to collapse on them, since no Archetype could form when the soul pulled in different directions.
In the end, it wasn't the fire or the danger that defeated most people.
It was the simple fact that they could not stop lying to themselves, and since they could not accept the truth they found within, the world refused to give them power.
It was ironic, almost cruel, how gaining strength wasn't the hard part, accepting yourself was.