Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

After putting on the Square Ring, the simple prison cell was overlaid with a layer of sacred, solemn white in Lloyd's eyes. It also had a hint of oppressiveness, somewhat reminiscent of a hospital.

'This must be the 'color' of the suppressive Orbits under my feet.'

Lloyd looked down at his hands again. Between his fingers, he found a few strands of light blue so faint they were almost white. 'That must be the residual Spiritual Power on my hands.'

On the workbench nearby, a few chaotic black strands remained, like an uneven smear.

'That must be the 'color' of the residual spinal fluid from the Karmic Demon.'

Next, Lloyd drew the Short Sword from his waist and activated it. He saw that the blade, which had previously only glowed faintly, now shone a deep, ethereal blue as Spiritual Power gathered within it.

The two high-grade materials he had previously placed in his Storage Bag were now emitting a somber, mysterious purple light, which immediately made them look more valuable.

Finally, he looked down again at the patterns of the Orbits on the floor.

They were emitting a faint golden light, making them conspicuous and easy to identify.

Before, staring at these patterns for too long would strain his eyes, making it difficult to see them completely or clearly.

Now that they were "colored in," the patterns of the Orbits were incredibly conspicuous and much clearer to discern.

This would surely be a huge boon for his future studies in Orbital Mechanics.

Lloyd nodded in satisfaction, beginning to understand the experience of using the [Eye of Wisdom] and recognize its value.

It allowed one to see things that were normally formless and colorless in a more intuitive way.

'If I could just watch another clash between high-level beings, like the siege against the Advisor, I'd probably get to see the spectacular visual effects and light pollution I've been hoping for. They'd probably fight until there was a Sun and Moon Without Light, and maybe even a Great Dao Erasure, right?'

"So, in the eyes of the [Wisdom] system, the world is this rich and colorful?"

Lloyd mused in a low voice. He then packed his things, walked out of the cell, and decided to go "see" the world outside.

He discovered that everyone outside was covered in a faint layer of white light.

The light on Extraordinary Beings, such as Priests and Knights, was brighter, while the light on ordinary workers and Crusaders was dimmer, likely indicating a difference in their strength.

'Someone at the Knight Commander level must have an even brighter glow, right?'

Lloyd then decided to wander around and take another look.

But a flash of yellow light suddenly appeared in the corner of his eye. It was focused on him, radiating a clear sense of vigilance.

He turned to see the scholar guarding the door approaching with a flashlight, preparing to shine it in his eyes.

"Don't even think about escaping!"

The other man said fiercely.

Lloyd didn't resist, letting the man pull open his eyelids and wave the flashlight around in his eyes.

'Ugh... why is the light still making me dizzy?'

'Looks like the [Eye of Wisdom] doesn't have any physical Protective Effect.'

'But still, I can even notice other people's gazes?'

As Lloyd pondered this, he continued to stroll through the camp and happened to run into Knight Commander Wald.

He was holding a stack of forms, checking and tallying something. He nodded at Lloyd as he passed, a simple greeting, before looking back down to his work.

But in Lloyd's vision, he perceived a wisp of green light focusing on him and could clearly sense the man's friendliness.

'This "perceiving gazes" function is really useful. If someone stares at me from behind or sizes me up with hostility, I'll be able to feel it clearly. I won't have to worry about getting ambushed.'

Lloyd nodded again in satisfaction.

'But... why is the Spiritual Power consumption so fast? It's even higher than the Spiritual Blade?'

The earlier dissection had already consumed half of his Spiritual Power, leaving him a bit tired. After activating the Square Ring and wandering around like this, he felt even more exhausted.

But he didn't rush to deactivate the ability. Instead, he reached for the Saint Statue in his pocket.

'I really want to see what color this will be.'

'A tender pink? A jade-like white? A healthy, sun-kissed tan?'

But before he could even touch the Saint Statue, both his inspiration and his strange Intuition began blaring alarms in his mind, warning him not to court death.

'Ugh... never mind then...'

Lloyd shook his head to himself and deactivated the Square Ring's ability.

Instantly, his vision was reduced to grayscale, as if he had become colorblind.

The symptom persisted for five minutes before colors began to re-emerge, and his vision returned to normal.

At this point, he felt he'd gotten a pretty complete experience of the Square Ring's abilities, side effects and all.

But compared to the Master's assessment of it as a "little toy," Lloyd's own appraisal was much higher.

Spiritual Power consumption aside, the item was actually very practical.

The ability to detect gazes and prevent ambushes; to see the traces and layout of Orbits more clearly and intuitively; and to see things that were normally invisible—all three functions were arguably very practical.

This was especially true for the second and third functions.

The former would help Lloyd better master Orbital Mechanics, while the latter would allow him to conserve his inspiration and avoid touching strange things he shouldn't.

Previously, whenever Lloyd wanted to investigate or inspect something, he had to activate his inspiration and slowly probe his surroundings. This was not only inefficient, but he also easily stumbled upon all sorts of bizarre things.

And basic Spiritual Vision only allowed him to see what was normally invisible; it didn't let him see things that had no physical form, like the Spiritual Power in the air.

With the [Scenes of Wisdom], it was like he possessed a more advanced form of Spiritual Vision, which would certainly make things much more convenient.

Of course, that was all assuming one ignored the Spiritual Power consumption...

'Perhaps that's a side effect in itself?'

'So, I really need to level up as soon as possible. Once my Spiritual Power is inexhaustible, will I even care about a drain like this?'

Following this train of thought, Lloyd considered the four Holy Artifacts he possessed.

Besides the bracelet, which was the weakest and lowest-level of the lot, the other three practical artifacts all had side effects to some degree.

Of them all, the pendant, [Desperate Counterattack], had the strongest side effect. The fatigue and powerlessness after expending all his Spiritual Power was truly crippling.

The side effects of the vest, [Poise of a Detached Observer], were that he was practically immobile while its ability was active and would continuously suffer from Spiritual Contamination. These side effects were relatively lighter.

The Square Ring, on the other hand, was a level 6 Holy Artifact, yet its effect and side effect were both weaker than the two level 5 artifacts. This suggested the two attributes were directly proportional.

'But it seems a level 6 Holy Artifact doesn't have a passive effect...'

'I wonder what even higher-level Holy Artifacts are like?'

As his mind wandered, Lloyd began his daily physical exercises.

After finishing the dissection, he once again found himself in the awkward position of having nothing to do.

But he couldn't say the arrangements were unreasonable. Lloyd could guess that his benefactor, Big Brother, had arranged this week-long trip and the interval between the two dissections to give him time to recover from the Spiritual Contamination.

After all, it was Spiritual Contamination from a Karmic Demon. The amount from a single dissection was immense; for a normal person, it would be an absolutely crushing burden.

It was only because he was completely immune to it that he'd fallen into this awkward state of boredom.

'But from what Master Alfred said earlier, today's dissection seems to be related to the [Wisdom] system's great expedition?'

'I hope my small contribution is useful. I also hope they can exterminate that dangerous [Forgetfulness] system soon, so my great patron, Chief Judge Tirtus, can come back earlier.'

As his thoughts drifted, Lloyd turned his head to look in the direction of Radiant City.

'I really want to go back soon!'

'I miss my sister...'

'I miss Weiya...'

'I'm even starting to miss Meditis...'

......

After two more mind-numbingly boring days at Outpost 22 with nothing to do but exercise, the seventh day finally arrived—the day of Lloyd's "release."

Early that morning, Knight Commanders Wald and Korall escorted him "out of prison," flanking him as he carried his pack and boarded the airship.

"Take care! Stay safe."

"Keep it up! Maybe the next time we meet, I'll have to call you 'Sir'."

"..."

There was no feigned, reluctant farewell—just a simple word and a nod, and they parted ways.

Compared to the lively arrival, the return trip was much quieter.

Lloyd was once again just hitching a ride, so he was stuck in the cargo hold. In the same compartment was a small team composed of a Knight and several Priests, tasked with escorting a few enormous black crates.

Lloyd was quite familiar with those crates; they were filled with Demon organs.

However, he didn't recognize anyone in this squad.

The entire group maintained a high state of tension and alertness. Everyone was silent, with no one chatting at all. They hadn't even put down their weapons, looking extremely professional.

As it happened, Lloyd couldn't be bothered to make small talk with strangers, so he simply found an empty space to lounge in.

He was still wearing the small vest, which made him practically unnoticeable to others.

He had expected the return journey to be one last stretch of boredom, but halfway through the flight, Lloyd suddenly felt something gently poke him in his mind.

He quickly followed the sensation back into his [Thought Realm], where he saw the Tentacle Grass in its glass case waving at him frantically.

As soon as he went over and opened the case, the Tentacle Grass quickly pulled a screen out from behind itself, hoisted it onto its shoulder, and played a video of Old Zhan's muttering:

"I did see an ending where he dies a peaceful death, but why can't I see the 'forks in the road' on this path?"

"Why is that? It doesn't make any sense. How can I see the 'ending' but not the 'path'?"

'Seeing him scratching his head in frustration, it's clear his progress isn't going smoothly either, huh?'

Lloyd couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Old Zhan. He had finally managed to pull himself together, only to run into something like this again...

But Old Zhan's next words gave him pause:

"Could it be that this fellow's Destiny is being manipulated by some being of a High Position?"