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It was almost like the world itself was speaking to him. Trying to tell him all about itself.

And he wanted to listen. Despite everything else going through his head, all the concerns about what was happening back in the real world or how he was ever going to get out of this place, his foremost thought right now was to listen.

If the iron wanted to talk, then he needed to let it.

It was just so difficult, though. Like a whisper that he couldn't quite make out or a picture that he couldn't quite comprehend, Hector kept struggling there in his mind.

Man, he sure wished he could breathe. Controlling his breath was one of the best ways of controlling his focus, so without it, he felt like a key ingredient was missing.

Nothing for it, though. He had to push through. Learn something new, perhaps. A previously untried method of training. Of meditation.

Yes. That was the correct mindset. This wasn't a problem. It was an opportunity. For growth.

And besides, he'd experienced similar things before. Disembodied forms where breathing wasn't a factor, either. The only thing that made this different was that he wasn't technically disembodied, this time.

In fact, that may have been the difficulty here. The bodily senses were a distraction, in their own way. Meditating in Rasalased's pocket dimension had actually been quite easy, compared to this.

Agh, he was getting distracted.

A clear mind would help him listen. Meditation wasn't always about having a clear mind, but in this instance, it most certainly was.

He felt himself sit down. A smooth and easy motion. Right next to the cube and pyramid. They were both there. He could feel their presence.

Waiting for attention from him.

But they were formless. They didn't really have minds of their own, desires of their own. He could tell that much for certain, now. It was more like... they were a detached part of himself.

He was beginning to understand. They didn't need commands. They just were. If he tried to treat them like his normal iron, it wouldn't work very well. Ever. It would be a slow, difficult process, not unlike how his own body required consistent effort and exercise in order to slowly and difficultly change.

And they needed to be close to him. He could tell that, too. It was imprinted into their very nature. The farther away they were, the weaker his connection to them would become.