After seeing the descriptions of all his abilities, only one thing came to his mind.
They were broken.
Most of his abilities were literally broken, possessing effects so absurd that even Ash found it difficult to believe that they all belonged to him.
But somehow, that only made things even more thrilling.
The thing that I like the most is the Blood Clone ability, because I can create as many clones as I want now and its versatility has increased by a lot compared to before.
Previously, he could only create a limited number of clones, and those clones possessed only 50% of his total power. Even then, they had already proven to be extremely useful and were currently travelling throughout the Realm of Eden carrying out various tasks on his behalf.
Anytime he wanted, he could activate [Mind Hive]...
Ugh..... No, [Akashic Mind].
The new name still felt somewhat unfamiliar to him.
Using it, he could instantly connect with the small fragments of consciousness left behind within those clones and gain access to whatever information they had gathered.
He had originally left them in a few key locations throughout the Realm for intelligence gathering, but now Ash was beginning to think about something else entirely.
{Are you planning to use your Infinite Clones that possess 0% of your power as information gatherers?}
I was indeed thinking that...
Ash admitted without trying to hide it.
After all, now that he possessed the ability to create virtually limitless clones, not using them for information gathering would simply be a waste.
{But even if you can obtain more information that way, the truly important and highly confidential information cannot be acquired without using certain abilities, you know.}
"That is natural. I was only planning to start somewhere at least."
Ash nodded as he spoke, having already considered that issue.
"I will leave the task of spreading those clones throughout the Realm to one of my 75% power level clones while I continue creating them."
As he spoke, the plan gradually became clearer in his mind.
"Most importantly, those normal clones can immediately inform me whenever they feel that something important might be occurring somewhere, and if necessary, I can dispatch stronger clones to investigate that location."
"That alone will make the entire process far more effective than what I am doing right now."
At the same time, another thought crossed his mind.
"And I will also start leaving more tasks to my clones from now on, because I simply can’t deal with everything personally anymore."
The number of matters requiring his attention had become too many.
Trying to handle everything himself would only waste precious time.
"I am still weak, and I need to become strong, even stronger than what I am right now."
After everything that had happened at the Endless Ocean, after facing four Celestial Rank beings and witnessing the arrival of that mysterious existence beyond the crack, he had become more aware than ever of how far he still had left to go.
"That’s why I need to go back to comprehending the Runes."
{....}
Eva remained silent after hearing his words, but she could feel just how serious Ash was about them.
The act of barely escaping from the Endless Ocean Incident must have been weighing heavily on his mind. For Ash, it had truly been a close call, and although he did not show it outwardly, that experience had clearly left an impression on him.
Just because he couldn’t die did not mean he would become careless at every juncture of his journey.
Mistakes were only mistakes when they happened once.
If they were repeated again and again, then it was nothing more than foolishness.
"By the way, remember the gift that I told you I would give you? The time has finally arrived for that, you know."
{Huh!? What? Right now?}
The sudden change in topic immediately caught Eva off guard.
"Of course."
A faint smile appeared on Ash’s face as he spoke.
Saying so, Ash entered his Soul Space.
More specifically, he entered the [Akashic Archive], the new name given to the space formed after the Soul Vault and Soul Library merged into one.
The place had not changed much.
The bookshelves, the floor, and the study desk at the center were all exactly the same as before. The only noticeable difference was the staircase that had appeared, leading toward the basement, and that basement was where the entirety of the Vault was now located.
Overall, not much had changed apart from the appearance itself, and only time would tell whether the fusion had brought any hidden changes that were not immediately visible.
Meanwhile, floating at the center of the entire space was a diamond-like crystal surrounded by cube-like structures and visibly flowing runes that continuously revolved around it.
It was the core of Eva.
He could see her transparent figure floating toward him.
She looked visibly excited to see what gift Ash had prepared for her, and despite trying to maintain her composure, the anticipation in her eyes was impossible to hide.
"Follow me."
Saying so, Ash moved toward the bookshelf nearest to them. As the master of the library, he could freely alter the shelves according to his wishes.
As he approached, the bookshelf slowly parted from the middle like a door opening, revealing a small brand-new room hidden behind it, a room filled from end to end with golden books.
The sight immediately caught Eva’s attention.
There had originally been no entrance leading into this space, but Ash had just created one to allow Eva to enter.
{T-This... What.... is this??}
She floated around in circles as her eyes were immediately drawn toward those untitled books. There was only a single name written above each shelf, such as Life, Death, Truth, Knowledge, and many others, while the books themselves remained completely blank from the outside.
{No, wait.... don’t tell me...?}
Eva’s eyes widened as a possibility suddenly formed in her mind, and she immediately turned toward Ash with visible shock.
Ash smiled upon seeing her expression, already knowing that she had guessed the answer.
"These are the books in which my comprehensions regarding the Runes are stored."
He paused for a moment before shaking his head.
"Scratch that. It would be more appropriate to say that I comprehended the knowledge from these books. These books, you could say, contain the Wisdom of Runes."
As he spoke, his gaze swept across the countless golden books.
"From now on, you are allowed to go through all of them."
{No, I can’t. These are your comprehensions of the Runes. You have suffered so much to gather them and comprehend them, so I can’t just go ahead and start reviewing them just because you told me to.}
The rejection came almost immediately.
Ash looked at Eva’s face as she refused without even considering it and let out a helpless sigh.
"I am not asking you to read them just because. It will benefit you, and if you become stronger, it will help me in the end too, just like what happened today."
His expression gradually became more serious.
"To be honest, if I still had the Skill Creation ability that I possessed before, I could have escaped that situation much more easily somehow. And even after comprehending the Runes, creating Skills through them still requires an enormous amount of time, something that only you can compensate for with your system like calculations."
"I can try applying those same Runes that enhance calculations to my own brain, but that’s simply impractical. It would be much better if you handled those things in my place."
As he spoke, the path he intended to follow moving forward became clearer and clearer.
"I will be focusing on comprehending the Runes going forward because that is where my greatest growth lies. My clones will handle everything else, and you will be acting as support for all of my clones and myself included."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Besides, if anyone deserves access to these books after me, it is probably you."
Eva’s expression visibly wavered.
"That’s why I need you to stop thinking too much about it and just comprehend them."
Hearing his words, Eva fell into a dilemma.
On one side, she did not want to accept something that Ash had worked so hard to obtain through countless struggles and risks.
On the other side, she knew that his words were true.
If she became stronger, she would be able to help him more.
And after what had happened at the Endless Ocean, she understood better than anyone how important that had become.
At last, after remaining silent for several moments, she finally gave up.
{Sigh... Fine.}
A satisfied smile appeared on Ash’s face as he nodded.
"Come on, store all this information in your database."
Eva nodded before making a series of hand signals.
Almost immediately, countless streams of light began flowing around her as she connected this isolated section to the rest of the library. Since her database was the library itself, the moment she established a connection between this hidden room and the rest of the Akashic Archive, the entire space trembled.
The countless golden books began releasing faint traces of light, while the surrounding shelves emitted a soft hum that echoed throughout the room.
Then, without any warning, Eva’s body dissolved into countless particles of light that scattered throughout the library.
She had fully immersed herself into the process.
Almost at the same moment, a text window suddenly appeared before Ash’s eyes.
[Comprehension in Progress - 0%]
Ash smiled after seeing the notification.
Although the progress had only just begun, he knew better than anyone how terrifying Eva’s capabilities were when it came to processing and analyzing information. Given enough time, she would undoubtedly extract an unimaginable amount of value from the knowledge contained within those books.
Satisfied, Ash turned around and quietly left the room, allowing Eva to focus entirely on the task before her.
As he walked back into the main area of the Akashic Archive, his gaze eventually shifted toward the floating crystal suspended at the center of the entire space.
Ash slowly floated toward it before stopping directly in front of it.
"Oh Eva, those golden comprehension books were not the only gift that I prepared for you."
A faint smile appeared on his face as the memory of a particular skill surfaced within his mind.
More specifically, it was the memory of the moment he had finished reading its description and immediately realized just how useful it could be, and how it could actually be used on others too.
The more he thought about it, the more perfect it seemed.
Without wasting any more time, Ash slowly raised his hand and moved closer toward the floating crystal.
The moment his palm came into contact with Eva’s core, countless runes instantly illuminated across its surface, causing the entire crystal to shine with a brighter radiance than before.
Then, without any hesitation, he activated the skill.
"Activate [Evolution]."
[Evolution] — An absolute growth ability that governs the evolution of all things while still retaining the fundamental properties of Synthesis and Assimilation.
****