Chapter 210: Hopeless
A row of screens unfolded in front of him, closely followed by a plethora of notifications.
’Oh.’
[You have gained a Uniqueness!]
[You have gained a Uniqueness!]
[You have gained a Uniqueness!]
[You have gained a Uniqueness!]
[You have gained a Uniqueness!]
Then, another set of notifications came.
[Nothing Moon of Steel has successfully formed!]
[4/10]
[Due to repeated Moon Formation, Deed Standard has been elevated! Subsequently, future Moons will be more powerful!]
Uriel nodded. It wasn’t very surprising, in fact, he’d expected it.
Currently, with his Moons, he had the mind of a peak fourth to early fifth step ascendant. For someone like him, such a thing was absolutely ridiculous.
If it continued like this, his moons would completely tip the scales.
’I’ll have to reforge these four Moons in the future if I can.’
Though the moons elevated his mind, he felt they did so in a manner that felt... wrong.
He felt like he had the regular mind of a Fourth Step Ascendant, not like he had the mental prowess he’d have as a Fourth Step Ascendant.
The difference was seemingly subtle, but made all the difference. If it wasn’t the latter, it felt almost pointless, so he’d hoped his moons would soon change to fix this issue.
And they had.
’Anyway.’
His eyes landed on his status.
...
•Name: Uriel Ymir Loom
•True Name: [None] > {?}
•True Title: [None] > {?}
—
•Race: Human—{Undefined}
•Lineage: <Dormant>
•Lineal Axis: <Dormant>
—
•>Evolutionary Spark Frame: <Obscure Sunless Moon Emperor Frame>
•>Origin Evolution Spark Frame: <Radiant Moonless Sun God Frame>
•>Limiter: Pioneer Scaling {G Rank Ceiling}
...
•Ascendant Step: First Step
•Minor Stage: F-Rank {Early}
•Class: <Obscure Radiance Nature Childe>
...
•••>Path: [Obscure Radiance Seed God Path]
•>Path Ability: {?}, {?}, {?}
•>Class Talent: {?}, {?}, {?}
•>Frame Gift: {?}, {?}, {?}
...
•>Origin God Tools: [?], [?], [?]
—
•>Grade: <None>
•>Echelon: <None>
•>Nobility: <None>
...
•>Source Element: <Partial Awakening (?)>
•>Source Affinity: <Dormant>
•>Source Manifestation: <Dormant>
•>Source Bane: <Dormant>
...
•>Natal Spark: <Dormant>
•>Starless Spark: <Dormant>
•>Forbidden Taboo Spark: <Dormant>
—
•>Lineal Spark Talent: <[Twilight Sky Resonance], [Divine Root of Chaos]>
•>Lineal Spark Trait: <[Divine Shell Layers{Pioneer-Boon}], [Chaotic Void Blooded{Pioneer-Boon}]>
•>Spark Characteristic: <[Divine Sky Shell], [Void-Bound Iron Body]>
•>Uniqueness: <[Heavenly Void Rupture], [Nothing Moons of Steel{4/10}], [Void Stars of Blood{0/10}], [Nill Arcana], [Nill Martial Origin], [Nill Divine Royal-Chassis]>
...
Uriel’s brows furrowed. ’Nill?’
He tried to inspect for more information, but for the first time in ages—for the first time since he’d assimilated the encyclopaedia—he found that he couldn’t.
His frown deepened.
’The Chassis should be the set of my crown, halo, and wheel... the tools that let me manipulate the arts. But why is it Nill...’
Uriel could, through a multitude of factors, guess that the ’Nill’ moniker referred to the absence of a path to lead his tools, martial arts, and magic.
But that didn’t make sense.
His path had formed before any of this. In fact, he didn’t just have a path—he had a God Path.
If his path was defective, then how had his Frames activated and allowed him to evolve? If his path was—
’My runic scar.’
Something was wrong.
’Is it...’ his gaze sharpened, ’...corrupting my path?’
Somehow, he felt like that was wrong. He didn’t know what, but something deep within him told him the root was deeper. Older.
’My disease? Is it bridging into my Scar and thus corrupting my path?’
His face tightened. ’That pillar of lightning was absorbed into my runic scar. Did the Will within the lightning do something to connect the two...?’
He could remember the sheer rage and hate suffused throughout what he’d called the Will of Heaven back then.
Part of him assumed it was an expression of the world’s fabric not liking being forced to forge his spirits, but another part of him felt like it was deeper.
That lightning had seemed ancient and almost divine, like an expression of something greater. If he read the will within the lightning, he’d call it Heaven—but if he read the Will of the lightning itself, it felt like—
’Punishment?’ Uriel’s eyes widened just the slightest bit.
’For creating my Star Ring Circles, something punished me by evolving my broken runic scar and bridging it into my disease... how cruel.’
’And cowardly.’ The thought came to him almost too naturally.
Uriel closed his eyes, then submerged himself in the water.
’That means I’m on a short timer. Soon, the symptoms of my disease will return. And they’ll probably be worse.’
He emerged from the waters and exhaled, standing to his feet within the basin. Stepping out of it, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist as he made his way toward the sink.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he slicked his hair back.
’The runic scar is also most likely going to rot my mind in the meantime. And that is not even counting what the Sin will most likely start doing now that the scar can’t keep it dormant anymore.’
He shook his head. ’As soon as things start going well, something always happens. That’s annoying.’
His flow of thoughts made him think back to his Supreme Quest and Death Quest. He hadn’t thought about those in quite some time.
—
[You have accepted a Supreme Quest!]
...
•> Supreme Quest: A Dying Bastard’s Ode
~> Objective: The Bastard of Ivory is dying, and his soul is rotting. In a year, he will not be. In a year, you will not be. Yet Fate demands otherwise. It begs otherwise. The Laws of Heaven plead for your case.
• Details: You have a year left to live. Within that year, cure your natal disease, The Chronal Root Rot.
•> Rewards: <Dependent on performance.>
...
—
[You have received a Death Grade Quest!]
...
•> Quest: A Dead Martyr’s Memento
~> Objective: The Bastard of Ivory will die, it has been set and written in stone. His death is commanded and decreed by the makers. But in his wake, his body shall become the Shell of the Horror that consumed him.
>The only Memento of his existence shall torment the world, and as it is inevitable, the evil must be understood, before then purged.
• Details: The Chronal Root Rot cannot be cured. And thus, you will die. It is set. You have a year left to live. Within that year, comprehend the Rot.
•> Rewards: <Dependent on performance.>
...
Uriel looked at his quests and softly chuckled.
’A year left.’
It had nearly broken him.
He remembered all those weeks ago, when he received his Supreme. Back then, it had told him he would die, but it had also implied there was hope.
That there was something to be done.
But after his Death Advent, all his hopes were crushed. There was nothing to do, and his death would come whether he was ready or not.
Part of him, as of late, had hoped that perhaps his body’s advancements had plunged his disease into dormancy for good—but it seemed like the pillar of lightning had ruined that.
’The Immortal Soul Ambrosia Bloom...’
The night Enoch had formed his class, he’d told him it was the only way to cure his ailment. But he doubted even his future self had told him about his Death Quest.
It was essentially hopeless.
’Oh well.’