"Very well." The Buddha nodded and vanished from sight."I wish you the best of luck in escaping Samsara." His voice echoed in the void.

"Right." Ed nodded and closed his eyes, focusing on severing the karma between himself and his past lives. He did not wish to be bound by or compared with his previous lives. He was himself, and they were them. Once severed, he would obtain an immortal soul, but if he ever died, then it would be the true end of his life with no possibility of ever reincarnating.

...

...

...

Time felt hazy as Ed continued to meditate in the strange void. He didn't know how long had passed, but eventually he opened his eyes and stared blankly ahead. 'I've got no idea how to sever karma from my past lives...' He thought to himself. 'How the fuck am I supposed to sever something I can't even see or feel?!'

Time continued to pass, and Ed's frustration grew. Unfortunately, there was little he could do about it. He was unable to leave the void on his own, and he had confidently informed the Buddha he would master the karmic severing of his past lives.

"I don't get it!" He complained aloud while lying down in the void and staring into nothingness. Growing bored and restless, he decided he needed a change of pace. He examined his reformed soul body, which had been completely healed from the construction of his golden faith kingdom. 'I wonder if Dupe's clones utilize soul splitting somehow?' As someone that had had his own soul shattered, he felt capable of splitting his own soul. However, he didn't know what would happen if he attempted to do so.

With nothing else to do and his curiosity ever growing, Ed eventually gave into temptation. He focused on the tip of his pinky finger, attempting to remove an extremely small portion of his soul. Almost instantly, a fingernail size portion of his soul broke off. It happened automatically without thought, like when trying to move an arm or a leg.

"AGH!" He suddenly shrieked in pain. It felt like a sharp bolt of lightning had shot straight down his spine and sliced through his finger. His soul body trembled, and his head throbbed in pain. However, it seemed he was successful, as there was now an extremely tiny portion of his soul loosely floating in front of him.

'Interesting.' Ed rubbed his chin as he stared at the soul shard. 'But something else is missing.' He shook his head in disappointment. The soul shard he had split off was far too small to function autonomously, unlike the previous time his soul had split into many shards. Additionally, it seemed his main soul body had no intention of healing the damage unless he reattached the soul shard with golden faith energy. 'Are souls incapable of healing and growth?' He wondered. 'If so, then how does Dupe do it? His personality remains consistent across clones... and he's constantly losing them. Does he recover the lost portions of his soul when a clone dies?'

Ed let out a long sigh and reattached the severed soul shard using his golden faith energy. 'Actually, I only met Dupe after he awakened... If he split his soul perfectly into many shards, and he didn't divide the shards based on elements, then wouldn't it make sense for them all to have the same personality? Or maybe he uses small shards as receivers and has a main soul that acts like a transmitter?' He clicked his tongue. "Tsk. I would need to test isolating one of Dupe's clones from space to even test the theory. Maybe I'll get the chance in the future."

...

Time continued to drag on in the void. Ed meditated on various things during this time. He thought about the elements, of which he could not feel within the void. He debated on the true origins of gods and the world. Were they part of the natural order of things? Or was there an outside party that had set things in motion. Most importantly, he continually reflected on the actions of his past lives and how to sever his karma with them. 'Well, if I ever go to war with Russia, I guess I'll make sure not to invade any time near winter.' He jokingly chuckled to himself. There was plenty to learn from his past lives, but he really had no idea what was entailed in truly separating himself from them.

...

Eventually, the Buddha reappeared before Ed. "Have you found your path yet?" He questioned.

Ed frowned, and after a long period of silence, he sighed and shook his head. "I haven't. I have no clue on how I should sever karmic ties to past lives. I don't understand it at all. The connection is neither physical nor something I can feel through mana. My control over golden faith energy has grown better over time, but I don't know any ways of utilizing it on the soul. Nor do I know if manipulating the soul would even be the correct course of action."

"The path for severing karmic ties is different for everyone." Buddha gently explained. "I once taught a man that separated himself with his past lives with but a simple thought. Even I don't know how he did it. I myself accomplished it through meditating on the Eightfold Path."

"What exactly is the Eightfold Path?" Ed questioned, jumping upon the opportunity to learn a successful path to severing karmic ties.

"Truthfully, I've been watching you ever since you came here, and I don't believe the Eightfold Path suits you." The Buddha shook his head while continuing his explanation. "You lack the talent and character needed for Buddhist practitioners."

"How so?" Ed frowned. He always believed himself capable of learning and adjusting as necessary. One only needed to look how far he had come after entering the world of espers after having awakened to see his adaptability to different situations.

Buddha smiled. "Are you prepared to never lie again? To never be rude? To never kill or injure? To give up material desires? To possess what is only essential for sustaining your life? These are just a few of the simpler requirements of the Eightfold Path."

Ed's face twisted in disgust. There was no way he could do a single one of those things, and those were only the simpler requirements? "Is there really no other way?" He asked.

"You must find your own path to escape Samsara." Buddha shook his head. "My path is not your path, and you should not seek the path of others." He slowly looked up into the void. "You have been here long enough. If you have yet to escape Samsara through meditation, then perhaps you will find your answer in the real world as you continue to grow in wisdom and character."

"I understand." Ed sighed. It seemed he had finally found something he truly lacked any talent for, and he would just have to patiently wait until inspiration came to him for escaping Samsara.

"Now then." Buddha slowly reached his golden-glowing hand towards Ed's soul body. "I will apply a seal that will prevent you from passing my teachings to others. Of course, if you ever manage to create your own golden faith cultivation technique, then you are more than welcome to share it with others."

Ed nodded, not bothering to attempt resisting. He had no inkling of how to leave this place, so he might as well just accept the soul seal and move on. It wasn't like there was anyone he wished to teach the technique to anyways. Golden faith would be mostly useless to his subordinates, and he couldn't afford to spend years teaching them. Perhaps some of his higher-level members like Ray and Ash would have the opportunity to learn it on their own someday. As for Dupe, well, Ed wouldn't be surprised if Dupe had already learned it or had plans to do so. 'I wonder if he can learn it with just the soul of a single clone?'

Golden lines began floating off the Buddha's hand and covered Ed's soul body. They formed arcane patterns and formulas, slowly burning their way into his soul. However, the burning felt gentle and warm, unlike the time Ed had forcefully branded his own soul with a soul seal in his past life. Clearly the Buddha knew exactly what he was doing with such things.

"Good luck." Buddha smiled.

Ed's vision blanked as he vanished from the void.

...

Ed slowly awoke to the familiar MahaBodhi Tree. Its brilliantly green leaves were glowing with golden light as it slowly revealed Ed and the other meditators to the world. Looking around, Ed saw that several of the original meditators he had started with were gone and replaced by others.

"Ah, I predicted you would awake soon." A voice whispered.

Ed turned around and saw the living Buddha that had originally guided him here. He appeared exactly the same as the last time they had seen each other. 'Did not much time pass after all?' Ed wondered. 'Or does golden faith energy keep someone youthful just like mana does?' He stood up and politely bowed to the man. "Thanks for everything."

"Mm." The Buddha nodded while chuckling. "Haha, it seems my prediction skills have yet to grow rusty. You were in there for ten years on the dot."

"Ten years?!" Ed repeated in surprise. Though time felt strange and unfamiliar in that void, he hadn't truly expected to spend ten years in it. If anything, he was used to scoring far above other's expectations for him. 'Damn!' He ground his teeth and bit his thumb. 'Ten years? How much has changed since then? How powerful have Feather and the World Hunter Association become? Did the war break out in Europe? Is Harmony still hiding in the shadows in America? Are there any new powers in the world?'

Hundreds of thoughts continued flashing through Ed's mind. Ten years. An entire decade! How much would change over such a long period of time? He had originally only been training as an esper for a short period of just over two years. In that little time, he had grown tremendously and experienced so much. But now, so much time had passed. If he could accomplish everything he had done in two years, then what could others do in five or ten years? It was likely new espers he had never even heard of had arose on the world stage, and it was even more likely that world politics had shifted greatly over time.

"Is Flair still here?" He questioned the Buddha. 'It'd make sense for her to have left by now... Ten years is a long time for her to abstain from traveling to Europe on her own.'

"About that..." An awkward expression appeared on the Buddha's face.