novelhk Chapter 254: Ishihara Test and Memory
Chapter 254: Ishihara Test and Memory
A wave of aether hit Rohan as he entered the antechamber of the meditation hall. He waited a few seconds for the airlock to saturate with energy before stepping into the room proper.
The wooden walls were covered with glowing runes, capturing and concentrating the aether of Elysium. A dim light illuminated the warrior sitting cross-legged in the center of the room. With eyes closed, the leader of the Aelbes seemed lifeless. A minute after Rohan’s entrance, a shockwave rippled through the air, making him grimace. His father's heartbeat was slow, but each beat was phenomenally powerful.
Five heartbeats later, the warrior exhaled and opened his eyes. With a gesture, he invited his son to sit opposite him.
“Your heart is becoming terrifying, Dad.”
Leo smiled faintly. “Not enough to bear a world... but I’m on the right path. Got any good news, son?”
Unlike the other Aelbes, father and son were training maniacs. Yet they never shirked their duties.
“A Fallen is on the island and has captured an important member of Oasis,” Rohan reported. “The lord and two other Champions are seeking the tribes' help to defeat it, and we agreed. I negotiated the ideal upgrade of [Dark Vision] in exchange for a fragment of the Fallen’s fulcrum.”
The Tier 4 shook his head. “Useless for me, but it’ll make a nice gift to win over a Tier 4... So, three rivals have allied?”
Rohan nodded. “I checked by provoking his jealousy. It's actually quite understandable, as they’ve only had their first Reunion. They have no reason to be enemies yet.”
“Did you test them?”
“Only the lord of Oasis. He’s not impressive with his spear, but he learns quickly. In a few months, he could become a formidable opponent with it, but I think martial arts aren’t his priority.”
“Oh?”
“According to Eleha’s report, he’s a versatile Ace. He prefers wielding his Concepts and skills over a weapon. I predict he’ll reach Spear Mastery II, but I doubt he’ll achieve Spear Mastery III.”
“Don’t forget he’s a newcomer. Once he realizes he might miss out on Ace III without a solid Mastery, he’ll change his mind,” Leo predicted. “Anything else?”
“He’s an intimidating tank even before tempering his body, but...” Rohan frowned. “During our duel, he spent his lifespan to overclock his regeneration.”
Some abilities made that possible but were usually used as a last resort, not for training.
“Strange. Did you wager anything?”
“We didn’t, which is why I’m confused. Nobody wastes lifespan like that unless they’re crazy or pseudo-immortal. Gryphe’s theory that he has a way to ensure his Nirvana seems increasingly credible...”
The Aelbes had considered other explanations, but they were all even more unlikely.
Father and son remained silent before Leo looked up at the ceiling. An instant later, he smiled, revealing predator’s fangs. “Gryphe just sent me the results of the genetic analysis she conducted on the cells left in Braato’s tent. The girl with him possesses [Ageless].”
Rohan’s eyes widened. Priam wasn’t wasting his lifespan; he had found a way to become pseudo-immortal.
“What are we going to do?”
Leo was silent for almost a minute before he spoke.
Hundreds of glowing fireflies flitted inside the tent, banishing the darkness. Priam smiled as he reached out to one, surprised to find it intangible. Indetectable by Domain, [Ideal Aether Perception] solved the mystery: the fireflies were aether constructs.
Using his meta perception, he tried to observe the firefly's interior to understand its workings and was surprised when it exploded.
“You’re too young to steal my secrets, boy.” A voice rose from the back of the tent.
“Sorry, just curious,” Priam replied, shrugging.
“It’s not a cat who’s going to hold that against you,” cackled the shaman. “It’s good practice for aether proficiency, but that’s not why you’re here. Come closer.”
Priam navigated through piles of books, finding a black cat curled up on a large cushion floating a meter off the ground.
The cat and the Homo Elysium eyed each other for a moment before Priam cleared his throat. “I’m here for the ideal upgrade of [Dark Vision].”
“Bah! Damn Champions,” she spat.
“Excuse me?”
The cat started grooming itself as a voice echoed in Priam’s head.
“The fact I can take the form of a cat should impress you, as it marks a mid-level bloodline purity of over fifty percent. But since you’re ignorant, you didn’t even realize I was posing.”
Priam ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed. Was the shaman expecting a reaction from him?
“That’s... really impressive.”
The cat glared at him. “Not good with girls, are you?”
Who’s a girl, you old hag!
Seeing the feline’s eyes promising violence, Priam kept that thought to himself and chose a more diplomatic response. “Forgive me, I’m a bit intimidated talking to a Tier 4,” he lied.
Lvl Up: [Acting] lvl 6
CHAR +3
The shaman puffed up. “Understandable. As the bigger person, I shall forgive your mistakes.” Only Micro kept one of Priam’s forehead veins from bursting. “Let’s not waste time: do you already have an ocular skill?”
“[Broad-spectrum Vision],” Priam replied in English. “There’s no real equivalent in your language, but it lets me see invisible colors, like the first milestone of Perception.”
The cat stopped grooming to nod. “It’s equivalent to [Dark Vision]. Common rank?”
“Yeah, level eight.”
“That’ll make our job easier. Now, pay attention.” With a paw gesture, the cat conjured sixty aether spheres. Different runes inscribed on their surfaces created a light source within each. English words were projected onto the surface of the first eight spheres, changing color from infrared to rainbow hues and then ultraviolet.
With his skill and enhanced eyes, Priam read the words inside the first eight spheres. Letter, tribe, cat, tiger, ancestor, fish, sky, earth.
Looking at the ninth sphere, Priam saw a word but couldn’t read it. There are words in each sphere, but I can’t see them, he realized.
“Ah! The cards aren’t face down, are they?”
“Oh?” Gryphe seemed surprised. “Usually, it takes people several games to figure that out.”
Priam shrugged. "The cards are blank when I flip them because I’m looking at their backs. Conversely, they’re currently glowing because I see them from the right side. If I can’t distinguish anything, it’s because they’re painted to emit almost uniform ultraviolet light.”
“I can’t applaud in my cat form... But even if I had hands, I wouldn’t clap. However, you’re correct; the ultraviolet shades are very subtle. It’s like looking at a chameleon on a green leaf; if you don’t pay attention, you just see green. Tick-tock, you’re too slow; it’s my turn.”
Gryphe grabbed two more cards without bothering to flip them and placed them on her first pair.
Priam smiled as he looked at the game again. He couldn’t yet distinguish the subtle shades of ultraviolet, but it would come. He was on the right track.
With half his attention naturally focused, the other half [In the Zone], and actively using his add-on, Priam was determined to collect as many pairs as possible.
Gryphe was triply annoyed. First, Priam had seen through her trick in the first round. She had nothing against smart people, but he made her entire clan look like idiots. Even Rohan, her little protégé, had only figured it out at the end of the fifteenth round.
Second, the result of the first game was bitter. She had collected thirty-eight pairs, and Priam had twelve. She had won, of course, but the Champion's speed of progression was terrifying. Not all pairs were equally simple, and he had managed to snag three of the most complex ones. At first, Gryphe thought it was a bluff—how could he have cheated in front of her?—but the young man had smiled at her as he described the cards. She was almost sure it was enough to meet one of the prerequisites needed for the ideal upgrade. In just one game!
The second game frustrated the shaman. This time, it was with infrared-emitting cards and face-down. She had only managed to grab one pair before Priam adapted. The game, partially based on luck, now had her trailing twelve to seven. Maybe I should cheat...
“Yeah!” Priam flipped a pair and let out a shout of joy that made Gryphe smile. If he had tried to taunt her, she would have cheated without remorse, but he smiled so naturally that she couldn't bring herself to crush him. “I love this game. Can I buy a deck somewhere?”
“In your dreams, maybe,” the shaman replied, invoking her luck before revealing a card whose pair she didn't know. Damn! “Do you realize my predecessors spent part of their lives creating these cards to facilitate getting the ideal upgrade for [Dark Vision]?”
“I didn't mean to be rude, sorry. Is it really that complicated?” he asked, winning a pair.
Gryphe sighed, flipping another orphan card. “An ideal upgrade allows you to obtain a legendary skill, even without the corresponding Concepts or Supremacies. It’s the cornerstone of many factions. Today, you'll get an ideal upgrade because hundreds of Tier 3s and Tier 4s have spent part of their lives exploring and studying the System. They had to collect dozens, if not hundreds, of prerequisites and figure out which ones were easily reproducible and safe to earn. These cards before you and the spheres you saw earlier are the fruits of multiple lifetimes of work. It all seems easy to you because you’re standing on the shoulders of giants.”
“...I won’t forget that.”
Gryphe smiled as she quickly flipped another card whose pair she knew. “Too busy listening to my speech, you missed your turn,” she cackled.
The young man just smiled. “It's not a big deal; I already got the ideal upgrade.”
The statement left the old shaman flabbergasted. In two games?!
“...Monster.”
Status:
PHYSICAL:
Strength 755
Constitution 1 195
Agility 897
Vitality 1 147
Perception 792 (+14)
MENTAL:
Vivacity (D) 599
Dexterity 673
Memory 864
Willpower 1 168
Charisma 697 (+5)
META:
Meta-affinity 829
Meta-focus 417
Meta-endurance 710
Meta-perception 346
Meta-chance 274
Meta-authority 228
Potential: 12 670 (-1 192)
Tier 0
Sun points: 1 487 224 (+399)
[He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED
[Tribulation]: Five Tribulations pending.
Future Tribulations delayed until:
Time: 152 days 18 hours 37 minutes 55 seconds.
Next thresholds: 12 attributes > 600 / 6 attributes > 900 / 1 attribute > 1 200