Chapter 202: Project Magia(II): Poisoned Apples
[You...have comprehended heav—....]
[Error!]
[...]
Uriel slowly opened his eyes. Now, all that swirled in their depths was a chaotic sea of ivory and rose, the crimson in his gaze entirely gone.
Slowly, his gaze panned upwards.
Just as he did so, the room’s ceiling shook, and an eye appeared, hovering high above him and looking down as a god would.
The eye had a presence that none could sense, yet still made the world heavier—majestic in a way hard to describe, powerful in a way hard to fathom, and of a color Uriel didn’t know the name of.
For a moment, he didn’t know if what he was seeing was real or illusory.
But a moment later, he recognized the divine eye. ’The system.’
He was sure of it.
[You have grasped total Mortal Resonance.]
[You have grasped total Mortal Dissonance.]
[You have grasped total Mortal Harmony.]
It felt like the system itself was whispering in his ears.
[Condense Uniqueness(es)?]
[YES/NO]
Uriel stared at the notification for a couple of moments, still dazed by the sheer amount of information infused into his mind.
It felt like so much had opened up to him, and in fact, he felt like he was mere moments away from grasping how to truly use his new cores.
It was finally all coming together.
’Yes.’
[You have created a uniqueness!]
[You have created a uniqueness!]
[You have created a uniqueness!]
’Created?’
Uriel had only barely formed the thought when he felt the cascade of changes thunder across his body.
His cores melted, but it didn’t hurt in the slightest. Instead, they reformed—reforged by his new crown, halo, and wheel, guided and shaped by his nascent, roaring will.
BOOM!
A loud bang echoed across the layers of his body as the three new constructs tied to him faded and sank into the depths of his existence, the changes continuing in parts of himself he couldn’t see.
’Good.’
Uriel didn’t have to check his status to know what he’d gained. And beyond it all, this wasn’t his goal.
[You have achieved a Great Deed!]
[Trigger Moon Formation?]
[YES/NO]
Not even the new moon was his goal, though he happily welcomed it. Rapidly, he slotted it into the back of his mind.
’It feels...strange.’
He let silence settle once more, allowing rain and howling wind to fill the gaps and cool his body.
Kael’s ambient chatter poured in without end, a reflection of the city’s never-ending action and liveliness, streaming into his room and filling his ears.
’So strange.’
Somehow...he’d completely grasped resonance, dissonance, and harmony.
All by piecing together the experiences of his life—the dance in the void, the encounter with the source trees, his mind being flung back in time, and so much else.
He could hardly believe it. It almost made him happy.
Almost.
’I guess suffering does have its perks.’ He softly smiled at the ridiculous thought.
’I’ll have to spend some time solidifying my understanding of these three new tools and uncovering the implications of what Will truly is and can do... I’ll also have to find a point of synergy in it all.’
’But this is good. I’m making progress.’
This massive breakthrough had been step one of his mage project, and all it did was solidify his trust in his coming success.
’It’s doable.’ A grin spread across his face. ’Let’s continue.’
Even after such a breakthrough, he didn’t stop once, immediately continuing with the second step of his plans.
SHAH!
Uriel flipped a palm, and suddenly, in front of him, piles upon piles of thick books appeared, each heavier than the last.
’Guides.’
Long ago, moments after they’d finished their simulation training, Enoch and Ayah had gone to the Nihil Shops to prepare for their coming expedition.
When they returned, they brought Uriel a plethora of things: his Broken Fang of Hate, his chain-rings, and this—the guides.
Those of the same type as the one he’d gotten from his starter pack, the very thing that had sparked his mage path and now would be the thing to fix it.
’Come.’
Uriel merely thought it, yet it might as well have been a command, his intent resonating across the fabric of the world’s aether on its own.
The piles of guides in front of him burst apart into clouds of runes that rushed to fuse into his head.
KAH!
An avalanche of information surged into his mind, each guide overlapping and clashing within him, but with a mere tug of his Moon, it all fell into order.
Without batting an eye, Uriel easily absorbed all the information.
’...’
It had to be remembered that back then, Enoch had bought Uriel the most expensive guides available—not only for mages, but also for martial artists.
What he was assimilating wasn’t just arcane knowledge, but martial knowledge as well. But beyond that, Enoch had taken the time to modify each guide and add all he knew into them, making them as complete as possible.
This was a massive boon and would lead to his strength rising beyond words.
So by all means, he should’ve been happy.
But he wasn’t.
In fact, as the seconds passed, Uriel’s mood soured more and more until a haze of darkness hung around him, his dark element flickering alongside the fury in his heart.
His aether presence bloomed with torrential might, rocking the entire inn and alerting the countless experts scattered across the veil residential zone.
’That bastard...’
His rage reached such a point that all he could do was laugh.
’Of course...’
Uriel had been introduced to true magic by the entity he called the little witch, which, to this day, was the source of his greatest weapon—the Spell Sentry.
But the true foundation of all he knew about magic had come from the guide within his starter mage pack, the one Enoch had rightfully told him to pick.
Originally, that pack had been called the [Arcane Disciple Initiate Pack], but after receiving a spontaneous quest while trying to save General Lorys, one of his rewards had changed and evolved it.
It had become the [Arcane Child of the Zenith Pack].
In turn, everything within had changed and evolved. It was from that pack that he’d gotten his tunic. It was from it that he’d gotten the pill upgrade to save Enoch. It was from it that he’d gotten the upgrade card to forge his current mage tool, and much else.
It was also from this pack that he’d gotten the pills that mutated his core and supposedly made it suited to ’arcane arts.’
But beyond it all... it was what had provided him his guide.
[Novice Mage Guide—Path to Heaven’s Arcana]
That guide was the source of all Uriel knew about magic.
"Hahahahaha!"
The ascendant pack he’d gotten was the one that contained the talent Thoryl had trapped, which had caused a series of catastrophic moments that led him to this point.
That single trap had nearly killed him dozens of times.
But the question was...
"Of course! Of course! Of course!"
...if Thoryl could turn the pack’s gifted talent into a trap, what else could he do to his pack?