Chapter 103: Garuda’s Test Finn’s consciousness dove deep into the core of the Ferropteryx soul mass, and the Aspect Adaptation began. The first thing that struck him was the jarring wrongness of it all. With Geri and Freki, even though he had been fumbling around without knowing exactly what was going on, the process had still been gradual, giving him time to slowly realize things along the way. But this time, perhaps because of all the priming for the last two days, his consciousness entered into a trance immediately. He instantly found himself suspended in an impossible sky. Azure stretched endlessly in all directions, above and below, with no ground, no horizon or reference point at all. For a second, he thought he had somehow bypassed a lot of steps and gone directly into the Ferropteryx’s true psyche, and that this was a core memory... But that thought was quenched into nothingness immediately, snuffed out just as quickly as it had come. A vast presence made itself known. And immediately, Finn’s entire being seized up in a primal terror so thick, it trumped anything he’d ever felt before. Garuda! Finn couldn’t see the divine being directly. But he could feel His attention like the weight of a collapsing star. It pressed against every aspect of his existence, observing him, measuring him, judging him. This was not how it was supposed to go, Finn would’ve thought if he could. Despite the fact that he had expected a great level of difference between this adaptation and the one of Geri and Freki, who were simply just wolves at the feet of Odin, he never thought it would be this... vast. So much that right from the start, just his act of reaching for the idea of Garuda had caused an instant takeover of his mental space. His consciousness had been dragged into somewhere unknown. Like the divine entity had somehow sensed his heretic hands reaching for an aspect of Him despite the fact that he was no longer even on earth. You dare? The words didn’t come as sound but as pure intention, slamming into Finn’s consciousness with the force of a thunderbolt. He felt his sense of self waver under the pressure, felt the edges of his identity beginning to fray. "I—" Finn tried to form words, tried to explain, but speech was impossible here. He could only project intention, and his intention was muddled with fear and desperation. The sky around him began to change. The blue deepened, darkened, and suddenly Finn could see through it — into a realm beyond mortal comprehension. He saw glimpses of Vaikuntha, Lord Vishnu’s celestial abode. He saw cosmic oceans and divine palaces. He saw projections of Garuda soaring between worlds, carrying his lord with such casual grace that reality itself bent to accommodate his passage. Finn’s mind numbed at the glory of it, threatening to unravel till what remained of him was a mindless husk filled with pure worship. But then, mercifully, the vision condensed. A figure materialized before Finn. Garuda, but in a form that did not use His full, incomprehensible majesty, but rather, a fraction of it. The divine bird-man stood thirty feet tall, with golden wings that seemed to contain entire skies within their feathers. His eagle head regarded Finn with eyes that held millenniums of wisdom and absolute certainty of purpose. You seek to steal from me, Garuda’s presence communicated, and there was no anger in it, only a statement of fact. You seek to take the Aspect of my service and twist it to your own ends. "N—No... I don’t want to steal," Finn managed to project as his consciousness strained under the pressure of maintaining coherence. "I want to Adapt. To help another creature understand what you already know." And what do I know, little thief? The question was a trap, Finn realized. If he answered wrong, if he showed he didn’t truly understand the nature of divine servitude, Garuda would reject him. This was a test. Finn was certain that at the core of it, he was still within his own mind, but yet Garuda had taken over to such an extent that it felt nothing like his mind, but rather, the domain of Garuda himself. It is this same certainty that also made him understand that for this adaptation, there was going to be no struggle. There was going to be no stealing. This was all up to the whim of Garuda himself and whether or not Finn pleased Him enough by passing His test. And if he failed, his mind would be lost just as he’d nearly been lost to Geri and Freki. Finn’s mind raced. He thought back to everything he’d studied about Garuda. The mythology, the symbolism, the paradox of a king who serves. Then carefully, he projected: "You know... that true sovereignty isn’t about isolation. That the highest form of power is choosing who and what to protect. That accepting the burden of another’s weight on your back doesn’t diminish you but rather... it defines you." The large golden eyes of Garuda’s form narrowed slightly. Hmph! Pretty words. But do you understand the cost? Before Finn could respond, the sky vanished. Finn found himself standing on solid ground for the first time since arriving in this space. No... He looked down, noticing that the ground was somewhat peculiar-looking, then realized with mounting horror that he was standing on Garuda’s back, between those massive golden wings. And they were flying. This was a divine flight, unlike any normal flight of a Ferropteryx or a wyvern, or even a dragon. They moved at speeds that should have been impossible, crossing distances that defied comprehension. Mountains appeared and disappeared in eyeblinks. Oceans passed beneath them like puddles. The curvature of the world became visible as they climbed higher, higher, impossibly higher— Hold on, we are just beginning. The speed increased exponentially. Finn felt his consciousness begin to tear apart under the strain. The wind — if it could even be called wind at this velocity — threatened to scatter his very essence across the cosmos. He wanted to scream, to let go, to fall back into his own body and abandon this insane experience Garuda was showing to him. But he couldn’t. He had committed. And more than that, he understood the reason... he understood the meaning. From flying past trees and mountains, now to flying past planets and stars... This was what it meant to be a divine mount, the essence of divine servitude. It wasn’t about glory or power. It was about endurance. About willingly accepting a burden so immense that it should break you, and carrying it anyway. Not because you had to, but because you chose to. The experience was an utter mockery of his own fickle understanding of Divine Servitude, showing him what it truly meant beyond just those words. The flight continued for hours... Days... Months... Maybe even years... Time had no meaning in this space. They soared past planetary bodies, and then celestial bodies that could only be described as divine realms. They dove through cosmic storms that would have obliterated mortal matter. They climbed to heights where the fabric of reality grew thin and Finn could see the void beyond. And through it all, Garuda carried him. Steady and unwavering. With a grace that made the impossible seem effortless. Do you see now? Garuda’s presence asked. This is what I am. This is what it means to be of servitude. "Yes," Finn projected, and he meant it. His consciousness was fraying at the edges, worn down by the cosmic forces battering against it, but he understood. "You don’t serve because you’re weak. You serve because you’re strong enough to choose it. Because protecting another gives your strength purpose." It sounded like he was repeating the same words. But the difference this time was clear... This time he truly understood the depth of what it meant. Good. The flight ended abruptly. They weren’t in the sky anymore. This time they were in a temple. It was vast and golden, with pillars that stretched into infinity. And there, seated on a throne of cosmic serpents, was a figure Finn knew instinctively was Lord Vishnu, though he couldn’t make out details. The divine presence was too vast to fully perceive. Garuda stood before his lord, and Finn — still somehow on Garuda’s back — felt the depth of devotion between them. It wasn’t servitude born of fear or obligation. It was love. Pure, absolute, choosing to place another’s wellbeing above your own not because you must, but because doing so brings meaning to your existence. This is what you seek to give your eagle, Garuda stated. The understanding that partnership does not diminish sovereignty. "Yes," Finn confirmed. Then take it. Finn felt a part of Garuda open up to him willingly, like He wasn’t concerned about giving it away in the slightest. But know this, little thief... Garuda turned, and for the first time, Finn saw the divine bird’s full face. The eagle eyes held both approval and warning. ...the aspect you take is incomplete. It is filtered through your mortal understanding, shaped by your limited perspective. I am divine servitude in its purest form, but what you carry away will be only the echo of it. Use it well, or it will consume you just as surely as your eagle’s chaos would have. "I understand," Finn projected. Do you? Then prove it. Separate what you need from what I am. Take only the echo and not the source. Fail, and you will be lost, not to me, but to your own ambition.