Jake had no idea what it meant to take a walk down memory lane, but there was no way he would reject such a proposal.
“Where are we going?” Jake asked curiously. Seeing as he was talking to a level 9 G-grade human and that his Pulse of Perception covered the entire city and far beyond, Jake had a hard time seeing anywhere they could go... which just proved his lack of imagination.
“It’s not a question of where but when,” the First Sage smiled as he motioned Jake to follow. “This world of your creation is truly peculiar. The Records are flowing freely, time malleable to the slightest touch. When you use the skill regularly, have you been able to experience the same vision multiple times in a row?”
“Yeah, they tend to repeat a few times, giving me more time to understand what the system is trying to show me,” Jake nodded.
“I see... I apologize in advance, but I already interrupted that mechanism to stretch out this singular branch of time,” the First Sage casually said. “So you will only be able to see and experience things once this time around.”
Jake just nodded, unsure what to say. It was probably better only experiencing things once, though, and honestly, while Jake did find some enjoyment from constantly asking questions, he was also keenly aware that so far, he had benefitted very little if at all. Also, one more thing had been bothering him.
“Will I even be able to talk about our encounter today? As you said, things regarding you are considered Forbidden Knowledge,” Jake asked.
“It gladdens me to say that I do not know. My status has changed several times already. I believe partly because it was manifested that the two of us would meet, making such a thing required,” the First Sage answered.
“It changed?” Jake asked, perplexed. “It’s getting really hard to believe you actually died and aren’t just some freaky time traveler.”
The First Sage chuckled, shaking his head. “As I said, my Path ended the day I was slain by my disciple. There is a big difference between knowing something and having truly experienced something. To experience it, you must have, in some aspect, taken part, thus mixing your Records with the scenario. My Records in your time only live on through those who remember me, not any of the actions I can do. Until now, it seems.”“So, not time travel?” Jake confirmed semi-jokingly.
“Not in the way you are thinking, though it could be argued that me sending knowledge and Records from my time to yours through this encounter is a form of time travel,” the First Sage shook his head. “I said it already, but I do find it peculiar the system even allows this... though it is with guardrails and our conversation more like than not made Forbidden Knowledge, making it hard to divulge and spread any of the Records I share with you. The only one I would guess you can still speak to about this is Vilas, but I would safely assume he is the only one, if at all,” the First Sage answers.
“Considering he has a copy of your Bloodline, I would also assume that to be the case,” Jake nodded as he followed after the First Sage, who led him toward the exit of the library building.
The First Sage stopped and turned to look at Jake. “He doesn’t.”
“Huh?” Jake exclaimed. “What do you mean? Bloodline of the Immortal Mind, right? One that gives perfect memory? You even said you both had the same drawback of not being able to forget things with time...”
“It’s the word copy I find issues with,” the First Sage said. “No two Bloodlines can ever be perfectly alike as they merge with the Truesoul of whoever possesses it. Just as the Bloodline molds the person, the person molds the Bloodline. When it comes to the powers of the Bloodlines, yes, they are indeed identical, but that does not mean it’s the same Bloodline, nor are the ways we found to use said Bloodline.”
“I don’t get the distinction...” Jake muttered. “It’s like saying two magic affinities are never the same because two people will always use it differently.”
“And such a saying would be correct. I hope you can come to understand why,” the First Sage merely spoke, motioning for Jake to follow once more.
Jake wanted to keep questioning the man but didn’t as he followed along. They reached the door, and Jake expected them to go back out into the city; however, that wasn’t what happened. Instead, when the First Sage opened the door, a large chamber appeared on the other side. Passing through the door, the First Sage’s appearance also changed slightly as his robe was replaced with a white one, and his unkept looks also got tidied up.
However, what Jake noticed first was how the man’s aura changed, as it had suddenly changed from that of a G-grade straight to E-grade.
[Human – lvl 85]
“Our integration back then was very different from the one you experienced. We had no Tutorials. No guidelines. It was just another average day when suddenly everything changed. I was in the library working the moment mana flooded the universe. My area was lucky, but others not so much as they experienced quite the geographical changes,” the First Sage explained, as he and Jake walked into the large circular chamber.
Through Jake’s Sphere and a Pulse, he knew they were in a tower more than half a kilometer tall. They were not in a city but some kind of castle or fort instead, with only a few supporting buildings below... though it did look like the place had once been a lot busier.
“The small kingdom I hail from was a vassal state of the empire that ruled our continent at the time. Seeing as I proved myself exceptional, I soon traveled to the empire as they were recruiting anyone talented to try and understand how our world had changed,” the First Sage continued, leading Jake to a small balcony that gave them a great look at the surrounding area.
“In retrospect, it was impressive the empire survived the integration. It lost huge swaths of land, but the emperor was decisive and embraced the system quicker than nearly anyone else. He encouraged exploring the system even after some religious groups called it the work of evil.”
Jake looked at the vast land in front of him and saw it was quite a bit different from where he had first appeared. Large fissures had opened up where had once been farmland, confirmed by Jake still seeing some remnants of farms here and there.
Yet what caught his eye more than anything else was something far in the distance. An area covered in darkness wherefrom Jake felt an ominous aura... one he didn’t expect to feel in a newly initiated world:
Desolation.
“That there is a place known as the Desolates. You can see only the edge of it, but the desolation consumed much of the continent, creating a no-go zone. To be clear, the concept of desolation there is weak enough for D-grades to travel relatively effortlessly. At least the edges of it. It grows more powerful the closer you get to the center,” the First Sage explained, Jake instantly putting two and two together.
“The Viper was known as the Wyvern of the Desolates...”
“Yes, that right there is indeed the birthplace of who will one day be known as the Malefic Viper. Right now, he is simply struggling to survive, being nothing more than a small snake surrounded by far more dangerous predators. His circumstances forced him to develop intelligence and cunning to survive, leading him down a rather unique Path that will one day result in him becoming a dragon.”
“On the day he leaves the planet,” Jake nodded, remembering the mural from the Challenge Dungeon where he began his Path as an Alchemist of the Malefic Viper.
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“Indeed,” the First Sage nodded, giving Jake a proud smile. “You know quite a lot about your Patron. Things I wouldn’t expect.”
“Well, he did kind of brag about evolving into a dragon and taking to the stars through a big mural in a Challenge Dungeon... but besides that, is it weird for friends to know each other?” Jake shrugged.
“I guess not,” the First Sage just shook his head as he walked toward the edge of the balcony. Jake followed along without really thinking about it as the old man motioned for Jake to join him in getting on the railing.
Jake did so, and right as he stood on it, the entire railing fell apart, Jake and the First Sage falling along with it as suddenly Jake felt himself far up in the sky freefalling. Beside him, the First Sage had grown once more as his aura changed.
[Human – lvl 141]
Far below them, Jake saw a vast army marching forth, approaching the Desolates.
“As humanity explored and conquered more and more of the world, the Desolates, which was frighteningly close to the empire, quickly became a nuisance... especially as it was spreading. Armies were sent in there to try and find the center and hopefully the source of the desolation, but to no avail.”
Time began to fast-forward as Jake saw the entire army turn to bone that crumbled into dust. Jake and the First Sage also sped up their falling as very quickly they landed on the ground not far from the edge of the desolation.
“After countless expeditions failed, people began to grow panicked, and all of the greatest minds were tasked with trying to find a solution.”
Raising a hand, the First Sage used some kind of magic as a white line was drawn all along the border of the Desolates, stopping the spread and containing the desolation.
“I was the one who found this solution and stopped the spread of the desolation. For this accomplishment, the emperor gave me the title of First Sage,” the man explained his origin story.
“What kind of magic is this?” Jake asked as he looked at the white line. Jake believed he was pretty good at analyzing and recognizing magic, but this white line made no sense to him. It may as well have been made of glowing chalk for all he knew.
“It’s from a Transcendent skill,” the First Sage answered casually. “You can view it as creating the opposite of desolation to cancel out the concept.”
“Was this the first Transcendent skill you made?” Jake questioned with wide eyes.
“No,” the old man just shook his head.
“I see... say, this may be too much to ask, but how many Transcendent skills did you have?” Jake asked, really wanting an answer to that one.
The First Sage smiled at Jake as he looked toward the sky. “The system was a lot more... flawed back in the day. It allowed more than it does in your time, and I happened to be there at a time when more was allowed than usual. I will not say more than that, but suffice to say, I took advantage.”
Jake kept looking at the white line drawn across the land. Seconds passed, and he just couldn’t help himself anymore.
“How strong are you really?” Jake questioned. It was a simplistic and dumb question, but would Jake really be Jake if he hadn’t asked it?
The First Sage didn’t feel strong, yet every fiber of Jake’s being was screaming at him to not try and do anything to the man. It didn’t make any sense, and if Jake didn’t have such an extreme level of trust in his own instincts and intuition, he would have felt like something was wrong with it.
“Another complicated question,” the First Sage sighed. “Before I can even begin to answer, what do you mean when you ask how strong I am? Are you asking about my level? Total stat points? The potency of my aura? Potential? What does it truly mean to be strong?”
“It’s not that complicated,” Jake muttered. “Power is the ability to never allow anyone to trample on you... and for that to be the case, you need to be able to defeat others. To me, the strongest is someone who can defeat everyone else, simple as that.”
“What if there is only one other person who can equally match you in the world? Are you still the strongest?” the First Sage asked. “What if there are eleven others who can equally match you? What if you and these eleven each have a mix of good matchups, meaning you have a higher chance to win against some but not others? Who is the strongest then?”
“You’re talking about the Primordials,” Jake pointed out the obvious.
The First Sage didn’t say anything as he lowered his gaze and looked into the Desolates. “Sometimes, balance is the most important, not determining who is the strongest. Keeping things simple is fine but within reason.”
“Alright, then change the definition to the strongest being someone powerful enough so that no one can kill them,” Jake sighed.
“So, to you, Minaga is the strongest?” the First Sage chuckled before turning serious. “Enough. Being the strongest is a good goal to strive for, but it’s no destination you want to ever reach.”
Jake wanted to ask more but got silent as he decided to take a shot he really didn’t feel would work. “Can you show me the most powerful opponent you ever killed while alive?”
“The strongest... isn’t feasible. Nothing I can show would be useful in the slightest and may even prove detrimental,” the First Sage sighed and shook his head. “The way I defeated powerful opponents is not something that can be replicated, nor anything you can learn from.”
“Isn’t that up to me to determine?” Jake asked a bit defyingly. If there was one thing Jake was proud of, it was his Perception and ability to analyze things using it. It was the sole reason why Path of the Heretic-Chosen had been such an awesome skill for him in the first place... and to see a feat of strength from the First Sage, who Jake felt very damn certain was fucking overpowered had to be beneficial... right?
Oh, how wrong he was.
“Fine,” the First Sage sighed again. “I can show you something as we jump forward in time more than I would prefer. I will also offer no explanation after as we get back on track and continue our journey down memory lane. Agree?”
“Agree,” Jake said, falsely believing he had just gotten some kind of victory.
“Let’s go, then,” the First Sage said. “What we will see next is a memory of mine, and we will both have to be non-present for it.”
Jake wasn’t sure what the old man meant by this as he walked forward, crossing over the white line leading into the Desolates. The second his foot stepped down on the gray and dead ground, the two of them appeared in the middle of... nothing.
Pure darkness all around, except for the First Sage’s body slightly glowing. He and Jake had both turned into ghostly forms as they floated there, Jake unsure what he was supposed to see, and really surprised to see them in space. C-grades usually didn’t explore space, and this wasn’t just some solar system exploration either... this was deep space.
“One of the areas known as a great void. While not actually part of the Void, the concept has begun to bleed through here,” the First Sage said, offering the only explanation he would give for what happened next.
As if on cue, a figure appeared in the distance. Jake saw another – a tangible – version of the First Sage walking through space as every step brought him forward a distance Jake couldn’t even properly measure. He was fast... way too fucking fast. Yet Jake distinctly felt this version of the First Sage was indeed still only a C-grade, and to his surprise, even Identify worked.
[Human – lvl 349]
The First Sage kept traveling forward at speed Jake doubted even an S-grade Sandy could match, as suddenly he stopped and turned his head.
“How bothersome,” the First Sage muttered, yet he seemed as if he had expected what happened next to happen.
A crack in nothingness formed as something came out. A tendril of pure nothingness stretched through, tearing the void as something sought to emerge. Jake instantly felt a headache coming on as he stared at these tendrils, but the ghostly version of the First Sage waved his hand as what looked like a glass panel appeared in front of Jake, allowing him to see what was about to happen without taking any damage from viewing what Jake instinctively knew was a Void Dweller.
It was a being comparable to a god... a creature that gods who traveled through the void feared. Tearing through space and time, the creature slowly began to emerge, its body struggling to maintain itself in this semi-void area of space.
The C-grade First Sage looked at this creature emerge as he spoke.
“Slow.”
Jake felt the entire world warp around the First Sage as if time itself slowed down in his immediate surroundings. Just in time, too. A tendril from the Void Dweller shot forward; Jake only able to register it happening due to the warped time.
What was left of space trembled and shattered as the First Sage was about to be struck as he spoke.
“Delay.”
The tendril didn’t even touch the First Sage, as his entire body was atomized from merely being close to the Void Dweller. One moment, he was there, and the next, he was simply erased by the powers of the void... yet his presence remained... his death delayed.
“Pause.”
Calmly, his voice echoed through the void, unable to be suppressed by even a being with the powers of a god. A faint outline of the First Sage formed where he had been killed only moments prior as he lifted a finger and pointed toward the Void Dweller.
“Reversal.”
The tentacles of the half-emerged Void Dweller stopped moving entirely... and a second later, its body began to drift, getting torn apart by space as energy had left its being. The creature’s body had suffered no damage... yet Jake knew.
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Its soul had been extinguished... the fate of the dead First Sage shared with the Void Dweller.
“Return.”
For a final time, the voice of the First Sage echoed as his atomized body gathered into one again, forming his body. With a wave of his hand, a new robe appeared on his body as he turned and stepped down again, continuing his journey as the slain Void Dweller floated behind him while slowly disintegrating. The entire encounter had only taken a few seconds.
Jake could only stare, barely able to comprehend what he’d seen... but he did know one thing.
Every single word spoken during that encounter had been a Transcendent Skill... and the First Sage had long transcended beyond the concept of merely being overpowered.