Chapter 663: Ideal
Sylas let the world fade around him. All he could feel was the energies of the Glass Pinecone.
His senses peeled it apart layer by layer, but he knew that what he was trying to do was quite foolhardy. He should have just taken what the Glass Pinecone wanted to give him, but his stubbornness had won out in the end.
The reason the Glass Pinecone felt like it was buried in layers of his body that were far too deep to reach was because it was likely in a layer deeper than Blood Essence.
If Sylas was correct, then it was precisely the layer Gralith had spoken about before, the Will Manifestation layer of the body. That was a full four layers deeper than Blood Essence, which was all he could currently control.
He had to rely on a sudden enlightenment to grasp Sparking Will the first time. Now, he was trying to actively make the changes himself all while communicating with a layer of his body that he had no intimate familiarity with.
At the same time, his body was practically falling apart. Because he didn't want to take any risks, he ended up using the Beast Totem, not knowing that there was a Comprehension Limit to worry about as well.
Now, the overwhelming stats of the Basilisk King were practically shredding him apart from the inside out. His inner organs had grown two sizes too large and were splintering at the seams, his tendons were moments from ripping themselves clean from his bones, and the bones themselves were hardly holding up beneath all the pressure his tendons and muscles were putting on them.
And yet...
There was a look of deathly focus on Sylas' face, as though even facing off against a bullet wouldn't change his expression in the slightest.
Then... images he had thought of far too many times came to mind.
That day in the volcano flashed in his memories again, almost destroying his focus. However, when Sylas rebuilt his concentration, it came back even stronger.
He could still feel the humiliation of that day so clearly that it was indelibly seared into his mind.
Once again, he found himself standing alone, with no one else to witness his failure or success, and yet this was anchoring him down like a mass of infinite breadth.
No matter what Sylas did, he felt like he had failed his expectations of himself that day. And every time he faced a battle of Will, this memory would undoubtedly come up like a stain he couldn't get rid of.
His jaw set, his eyes burning with a furious light.
Never again.
Never again.
Never again.
[Glass Pinecone (Gold) (Aether Treasure)]
[The Seed of Hope birthed from the Tears of Earth's Ancestors. Once a beacon of humanity, it has become the symbol of endless strife and terror. The world sits upon a Throne of Glass.] [Combine with compatible Aether Treasure to unveil something truly special]
'The Seed of Hope... Tears of Earth's Ancestors... Beacon of Humanity... Symbol of endless strife and terror... Throne of Glass...'
The last words shook Sylas to his core.
'Throne of Glass...'
Each word he spoke translated themselves to Ithkuil, and the look and feel of the description completely changed before his eyes.
He didn't just see the words "Seed of Hope"... he could practically envision a mustard seed being planted into the ground, only to grow out into a canopy that pierces the skies.
The Tears of Earth's Ancestors became akin to a rain that fed the seed, nurturing it with their grief and indignation, their hopes for a better future.
But then he could see the dichotomy between Beacon of Humanity and Symbol of endless strife and terror...
On the one hand, they fearlessly charged into battle... but on the other, they knew that their blood would have to soak the sands they trudged through long before they could gain the justice they sought.
They were men and women far braver than himself. At the very least, since that day in the volcano, Sylas couldn't shake himself free of the feeling that he had a coward hiding deep within himself. And maybe that was why he was so obsessed with control...
If he could control everything, if he could be powerful enough to look down on everyone, if he could stand above the world, would he ever have to fear anything? Would the world even have a chance to make a coward of him?
Was there a need for bravery if there was no fear at all?
Throne of Glass...
Sylas didn't see the world. He gazed upon a fragile structure. Powers of all kinds scratched, fought, and clawed for it, not realizing that whoever won the war would simply find themselves sitting upon a Throne that just might collapse at any moment.
It was a fleeting chase for power.
But then he saw another perspective...
A perspective where this clear-encased Throne displayed every bit of strife, anguish, and grief of the people that formed it. It wasn't possible to even sit on this Throne without being forced to face those that had given their lives for your sake.
That sort of weight could break someone's consciousness, shatter weak and pull their Will
apart.
And then he saw a third and final perspective...
A Throne of Glass that forced you to face yourself. And right then, Sylas was forced to gaze at himself, staring into the very depths of his own Will.
Before him, several paths were laid out.
He raised a bloody hand to his chest as he stared at the mirror looking back at him. His breathing was shallow and his body seemed like it was just about to shut down, hardly standing on whatever legs it had left.
"Am I a coward?"
Sylas stared back at himself as though he would find the answer there.
"I don't know..." Sylas spoke to himself softly. "... But what I do know... is that I fear little more than being one... No... what I fear is being anything less than the ideal version of
myself."
Sylas felt a tremble ripple through him.
It was ironic... he formed Fragmented Madness Comprehension by making fun of his exes for trying to date an idealized version of who he was as a man instead of who he truly was.
And here he was, forming Legendary Madness Comprehension by realizing that even he was chasing an idealized version of himself.
SHUUUU!