Chapter 607: Answer
Sylas didn't respond to Lauren's words. He only calmly analyzed that she was a person capable of speaking such words but didn't take them very seriously. In fact, he only began to calmly observe her.
Lauren's gaze flickered. There was something about Sylas' gaze that made her feel
particularly uncomfortable. He was staring at her like he was analyzing any other thing; she might as well have not been a person at all.
She could see through his thoughts. He, in one part, wanted to keep an eye on a dangerous enemy, but he also wanted to observe why she was so confident.
When she got here and saw the state of their progress, Lauren was quite confident that even if Sylas observed her actions, he wouldn't gain anything from it. That was why she had spoken so boldly. Though... that wasn't entirely just to take jabs at Sylas either.
She knew the kind of pressure this place put on the psyche. Words that some might be able to easily shrug off in other situations would be amplified to the umpteenth degree here.
Even though Sylas was sitting there calmly, she had no way of knowing if he was truly so calm on the inside. Plus, even if the words were ineffective against him, what about those following him?
She could easily see that not a single one of them was as calm as Sylas.
However, now she felt like she was the one being pressured.
Lauren took a calm breath. From start to finish, none of these apprehensive emotions of hers showed on her face. She knew that it wasn't entirely because of Sylas that she was feeling this way. That statue in the distance... it played a large role.
"Let's begin," she said, no longer paying attention to Sylas. She could feel his gaze still on her face, almost like a burning sensation trying to bore a hole through her, but she pressed those feelings down.
Sylas' eyes narrowed as he felt a resonance forming between Lauren and the four companions that she had brought along with her.
All of them wore various armors, but there was something distinct that he couldn't miss. There was a flash of gold between Lauren's brows, and deep hues of silver between those of her followers. Somehow, Sylas was fairly certain that he wasn't supposed to be able to see these marks. But now, though it couldn't be said that they were as clear as day, Sylas felt that they were a very obvious fixture of their faces that couldn't be ignored.
These marks danced as the resonance continued to grow in the air. Then, all of a sudden, their platforms began to move forward.
'I see...'
Sylas realized then that he was correct... at least in part.
They were working together to fight against the oppression of the Will here. But they were doing it in a very unique way.
It should be a combination Skill of some sort that made Lauren the core of their formation. But as for what they were relying on Lauren for, that was far more murky.
It seemed in one part her Aether and in another part her Will, but it also seemed her telekinesis, which was a fusion of her Will and Charisma.
'Rune Mastery.'
The final piece of the puzzle slid into place.
The words seemed simple, but the very first thing Sylas had tried to do when he got here was find a method of using his Rune Mastery to move forward. But there were no Runes here to manipulate, and his attempts to draw Runes had all failed, much the same way his attempts to cast Skills or fly with the peacock had.
But what he realized now was that he had been doing it wrong.
Lauren and her group weren't moving fast. It was probably only ten or so kilometers an hour. But compared to the slow crawl of Sylas and his group, they might as well have been moving at the speed of light.
However, it was in this situation that Sylas suddenly stopped paying attention to Lauren entirely, closing his eyes in focused meditation.
If one were to look into the depths of his mind, it would be possible to see the Ithkuil Symbols lighting up one after another. But he didn't seem to be doing anything but observing them in silence.
It seemed that until now, he had been looking at Will too simply.
The reason he could draw Runes was that the Will of the statue stifled it. The reason he couldn't use skills wasn't because he couldn't circulate the Aether within him, but rather because the Aether in the outside world was suppressed by the Will of the statue. The reason his telekinesis was so weak was not only because his Charisma and Will were unbalanced, but once again because its presence was being suffocated by the Will of the statue.
Some of these things made sense to him. It was only natural that one will could suppress another if it was powerful enough.
But what about his Aether? What about his Runes?
What Sylas hadn't considered was what Ithkuil had already taught him. Anything that had to be triggered by his intent relied on his Will in some form.
When he cast a skill, he did it with his intent, even if he relied on the system to complete the cycle for him. As he increased his Mastery over the Skill, his intent would become more refined, and he would rely on the system less and less until the skill itself was being driven by his intent entirely. Or...
His Will.
It was no wonder the system had such a hard time quantifying Will properly. From the start, Sylas had been correct. Will wasn't something you could just put a number cap on. And it was also precisely because of this that his telekinesis had so many odd variations and variables to it that he couldn't quite grasp.
If Sylas wanted to accomplish what he needed to here, he had to start using his Will as it was
meant to.
A flare came from him, and he suddenly opened his eyes.
Aetherflow permeated through him.
He had had the answer in him all along.
All at once, a green-violet glow enveloped all five of their platforms, the Ithkuil Symbol of Illumination shining forth as they suddenly accelerated.