Only I Am A Reader

[ Reading Attribute, ’Skill Reading’, has been activated! ]

’What kind of skill is this supposed to be?’

’Reading’ a skill that he didn’t possess for the first time, Leo was already confused about its use, but the peaceful atmosphere all around made it all the more confusing.

’Well, when it comes to circulation...’

Naturally, as someone who had once reached the Unrestrained Realm as a Martial Artist, it wasn’t like it didn’t occur to Leo that perhaps Aurora was capable of circulating Enigma like Internal Energy. However...

’No way, right?’

Even when he hit the unrecorded Law-Level as the Shadow Lord Cassian, all his Enigma did was seamlessly coexist within his body.

It wasn’t until he received the Secondary Energy Storage that Leo started exploring the possibilities that the stagnant Enigma presented. Yet, it never occurred to him to apply the principles of Internal Energy to it.

The reason?

’There is no pathway.’

It was a very direct obstacle. The problem didn’t originate from his body’s constitution. Rather, the problem was with Enigma itself.

In the case of Internal Energy, just possessing a sliver of it gave any Martial Arts apprentice the ability to see energy channels.

They still had to clear those channels before they could do anything, but once they cleared enough channels to complete the circulation cycle corresponding to their breathing techniques, a Martial Artist would be born.

On the other hand, the use of Enigma was straightforward but very unimaginative. It stayed still inside every Ability User’s body, waiting to be consumed to fuel their use of their Abilities.

’It’s real...’

However, against all of these unbroken rules, Leo could feel an actual flow of Enigma inside ’his’ body. In fact, it felt even more amplified than normal Internal Energy Circulation, as if it was performing something.

’Even a pathway?’

The flow wasn’t haphazard either; the Enigma was running around in an organized manner like red blood cells, making sure to reach every part of the body to supply it with oxygen.

If anything, Leo felt like Aurora’s Enigma was even more diligent!

’This... Can it be replicated?’

Considering that he not only perceived things through Aurora’s eyes but also how her Enigma internally operated, Leo got the bold idea to try and emulate her on the spot!

’Let’s just do it.’

He could barely feel his own Enigma as his vision of Aurora took precedence, but Leo was going to try it all the same.

Just because he perceived Aurora’s pathway didn’t allow him to see his own, but since he could control his Enigma enough to pump it into his Secondary Energy Storage, Leo was confident he could force it into the same path.

’It’s not as easy as it looks.’

Theoretically, the entire thing sounded plausible, but upon actually attempting it, Leo realized the level of difficulty he was facing.

Forcing his Enigma to move towards a certain point required him to pour all of his concentration into that task.

This was already the case with Leo’s high mind stat; another person would likely find it difficult just to reach the starting point.

The event bonus was the only thing stopping Leo from failing right at the start.

With a detailed map that he could just copy and paste into his own body, Leo didn’t need to spare any attention to the details of the process itself.

’This must be what mindless cheating feels like.’

As the vision was starting to fade away, Leo put everything he had into copying faster.

Considering how alien this whole endeavour was to him, if he ended up losing Aurora’s answer sheet, this was a test that Leo was bound to fail.

Remembering everything with his photographic memory wouldn’t do; this was an answer that could only be copied as he experienced it!

This was precisely why Leo had never attempted to circulate Enigma like Internal Energy. He just couldn’t... Until now.

This was just how precious and unique this Legendary Experience was!

’It’s working!’

After pushing himself to complete two full cycles, his Enigma finally started getting lighter!

It was as if previously, this Enigma was like a pond of liquid floating above a flat surface, and only after all of Leo’s effort did some sort of a channel get carved into that flat surface.

Once the first segment of this channel was carved, Engima naturally flowed into it, aiding in the creation of the entire pathway even further.

[ Temporary ’Skill Reading’ has been suspended. ]

’Success.’

By the time Leo’s point of view became completely his once more, the whole thing was already in place.

With the frame to allow for a full cycle completely carved out, the Enigma went another step forward, automatically cycling through on its own.

This was true Passive Circulation!

Even using Internal Energy, this was a feat of paramount difficulty, and even if it was achieved, it could only temporarily remain in that state.

On the other hand...

’It feels like it could go on forever.’

Unless he intentionally tried to stop it, Leo felt that the Enigma could keep circulating on its own for a very long period of time.

At the same time, unlike his other Legendary Experiences so far, Leo didn’t gain the actual skill that Aurora possessed.

After all, all he did was copy her application, not learn the actual thing.

’Was she born that way, or did she unintentionally develop this way over time?’

In order to obtain this kind of achievement, it could only be one of two things.

Either this was all part of Aurora’s natural constitution, or she had a very specific type of genius.

Obviously, considering the kind of protagonist she was, Leo found the former case to be more likely.

’Hmm?’

Before he could delve deeper into the limits of the preliminary form of Aurora’s Light, Leo was woken up from his trance by a very comforting yet unfamiliar feeling.

’This is...’

Having just come out of an intense battle, Leo’s entire body had been sending him stings of pain, but all of a sudden, the signals started disappearing one by one until they were all gone.

’Aurora’s Healing Factor?!’

Before he knew it, the numerous cuts all over Leo’s body had completely disappeared!