368 Rune
Sylas backed away from the edge of the valley he was peeking over. After some thought, he started to dig into the thick snow around him and buried himself in a small cave within.
The Mancer Wand hovered before Sylas and he closed his eyes, focusing everything he had on it after summoning the Basilisk King.
The Basilisk King played the role of protector while Sylas focused. It was about time he found out the true use of the Mancer Wand.
To get here, it could be said that he took advantage of a loophole of sorts. But now…
Sylas took a breath and <Maddened Enlightenment> activated on its own. It was so subtle that Sylas didn't even notice. Under normal circumstances, he might have. But at the moment, his mind had been pulled into a world of fluttering ice-blue snowflakes.
'An illusion?'
It didn't feel real, but at the same time his body couldn't help but shiver.
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>[Basic Affinities]
[Ice (Bronze)]
[Poison (Bronze)]
[Ice-Poison (Common)]
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Sylas remembered the affinities his Class had given him. Was this what this world was supposed to improve?
'No, it's something more complicated than that…'
This world wasn't as organized as the Rune practicing world he had been in before. There was no structure, and seemingly no beginning and end.
Recalling the description of the Mancer Wand, he understood… somewhat. He was supposed to rely on himself to find the path. It would allow him to sense his Path of the Mancer more clearly, but how far he managed to take it was entirely reliant on himself.
'The benefits of having higher affinity are clear… Controlling Runes in battle like I did increased the strength of my Ice-Poison Skills substantially, and it helped me to resist higher order countering Skills as well.
'Theoretically, if I increase my affinity any further, the benefits should speak for themselves. I should also see if I can find any pure Ice or pure Poison Skills as well, because their affinity is even higher than my Ice-Poison affinity alone…'
Sylas shook his head. He was getting distracted.
One thing at a time.
Right now, his Path was Ice-Poison, not Ice or Poison. What he needed to understand was a method of maximizing it because there was already no going back.
The Madness Key told him that there was no one Mancer Path that was above another… but was that strictly true?
Technically, the answer the Madness Key gave him was overseeing everything from a lofty peak. Meaning, it was extrapolating the greatest potential of every Path of the Mancer.
But in Sylas' opinion, there would definitely be differences that would be the most clear at the start. And whether a weaker Path could even become a stronger one would be hinged on how hard a person would have to work.
What if choosing certain more powerful Paths more easily guaranteed reaching that peak the Madness Key was looking down from?
If he looked at things this way, he felt almost subconsciously that Ice-Poison was superior to Ice and Poison alone.
But why?
Sylas looked around, trying to feel what the Mancer Wand wanted him to see. However, even after several minutes, all he had were vague inklings.
Sylas frowned. He wasn't used to running into such brick walls. But in the rare instances he did, it only made him more focused.
He tried to walk around, but the world was the exact same no matter where he went. If anything, the chill was only becoming worse rather than better, as though his affinity was actually regressing the longer he spent here.
What Sylas didn't know was that this was exactly what was happening.
The Mancer Wand was looking at the world from the height of a Silver Grade affinity, while Sylas' own Ice-Poison affinity was at a mere Common Grade.
Essentially, Sylas was like a grade schooler trying to learn from a PhD program's research paper. He had a huge gap in knowledge that he hadn't filled, but now he was trying to take that leap all at once.
Ironically, the Mancer Wand was actually too strong of a treasure. On top of that, its effects were too vague for even the likes of Sylas to understand this clearly.
'No… I need a different approach.'
Sylas came to a stop, his brows furrowed.
'… Runes.'
Sylas activated Enchanted Scholar, but it didn't work. The world was still the same blanket of ice blue.
'Is it because I'm not technically in my body right now?' Sylas frowned.
Enchanted Scholar allowed Sylas to see Runes, but it was a Gene first and foremost. It was a literal part of his body. But right now, this was a projection of his mind, it was impossible to use.
He hadn't thought about it before, but to think Genes actually had such a limitation.
'Does Rune Breath have such a limitation?'
Sylas never tried to use Rune Breath without activating Enchanted Scholar at the same time. But… technically speaking it shouldn't need the latter.
With that thought, Sylas tried.
A flashbang went off in his mind and it was as though a star had just exploded right before his eyes.
Too much. It was too much too quickly, and he felt that his mind was rapidly draining. He hurriedly activated <Maddened Enlightenment>, only to realize that it was already active.
Activating Rune Breath in this state almost felt like he had just poured alcohol into an open wound. Normally, his body was like his shield of skin, but right now, it wasn't here, so there was no filter as the Runes practically acted on him directly.
That was when Sylas understood something.
Runes and his mind… or his soul, maybe? They were both made out of the same substance. That was the only reason such a thing was possible.
The moment Sylas had this thought, the world fell into silence and the Runes around him became even more obedient.
Sylas didn't know what happened exactly, but he knew that he had had a breakthrough.
He had stepped from Rune Breath to Rune Soul.