novelraw Chapter 143: Yet on the Shore of the infinite Void we stand Alone
Chapter 143: Yet on the Shore of the infinite Void we stand Alone
There were a lot of things on Zyrus’s mind. It was the case before his regression, and even more so after it. He did take some breaks here and there, but there was always something at the back of his mind.
Learning about laws and concepts, making plans for his army, recalling past events….there was no end to it. He was a man who always moved forward. He was the monarch who never crumbled despite losing everything. Even when faced against aliens and the dark truth of the sanctuary, he always sought ways to overcome them.
He loved that challenge. That, and his boundless rage against the Eternals were the driving factors that kept him moving. Whenever he studied from the cube’s knowledge base there was always a goal in his sight.
Gravity, Collapse, Nihility, Erasure, Uncertainty….no matter which concept he had comprehended, the emotions he felt were always associated with someone or some memories. When was the last time he had spent some time thinking of nothing? Zyrus wouldn’t be able to answer that.
There was a price one had to pay for having a high intelligence stat and being an arcanist. It wasn’t just him either. For those living normal lives, it was a daily occurrence to become oblivious. The best example would be deep sleep where one wasn’t actively engaged with their consciousness.
It was a limitation for mortals, and perhaps, a boon as well.
At this moment, Zyrus didn’t feel the passage of time. He didn’t feel anything at all. His conscious mind was in a deep sleep like state where he comprehended the concept of oblivion. It was no wonder why concepts like these weren’t present in the pagoda. One wrong move and the one who was studying oblivion would become one with it.
Fortunately for Zyrus his willpower was one thing he could always depend upon. At the final moment when a new leaf sprouted on the tree of void, Zyrus opened his eyes.
At this moment, he was neither the monarch who had ruled the sanctuary nor the regressor who had become the last Sylvarix.
At this moment, he was a mortal who had lived for more than a thousand years. Among the countless things he had comprehended; what resonated with him the most were words of fellow mortals. For it were them who knew better than anyone what oblivion was.
Even without going to his source of origin Zyrus could hear the words echoing from his path. The deep, grating voice belonged to none other than him.
‘Soon you will have forgotten all things, and all things will have forgotten you. For our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Yet on the shore of the infinite void we stand alone, refusing to be forgotten.’
Zyrus took a deep breath and retrieved the concept of oblivion. He looked no different compared to a few hours ago, but only he knew how much he had walked further on his path.
After checking that there was still some time before the auction, he summoned the cube with a thought and looked at the reverse tree.
From its trunk that grew from endless darkness, three branches were more defined while ten were blurred out. The branches were the manifestation of the curses he had created: Curse of Collapse: Spatial Stab, Curse of Nothingness: Shackles of Nihility, and the most recent one, Curse of Uncertainty: Void Quandary.
Apart from them there were leaves growing on the void tree which were the manifestation of the concepts he had comprehended. All of them had made progress since the last time he had checked them.
Concept of Erasure: 46.15%Concept of Gravity: 39.02%Concept of Collapse: 35.58%Concept of Nothingness: 34.25%Concept of Oblivion: 31.86%The concept of oblivion was the newest addition. Zyrus had learned a lot from it, but for the moment he wasn’t sure how to make the best use of it. In order to manifest the law of Void via oblivion he had to create a new curse.
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‘Even without it, it’s beneficial in secluded training.’
Zyrus moved his eyes from the tree and looked at the knowledge base. This was what made the majority of his progress possible.
An Introduction to Concepts: 100%Magic attributes and how to use them!: 95%An Introduction to Laws: 83%A practical guide on ‘Source of Existence’: 62.9%Abyss Compendium: 71%Example and Application of Laws: 67.3%Records on Oblivion: 33.7%Quantum theory of the emission (New!)Planar & Cosmic radiation (New)Zyrus was pleasantly surprised after seeing the last two books. As much as he wanted to check them out though, now wasn’t the time. He had already seen Kyle and the rest walk over from the corner of his eyes.
He gestured them to follow him and exited the area. What he wanted to talk about next was sensitive information, so it was better if they didn’t talk where pretty much all strong players were gathered.
“Over here!” Franken yelled and raised his hooves as soon as Zyrus and the rest exited the pagoda. It was an unnecessary move as even among the dense crowd it wasn’t hard to locate a golden robe wearing reindeer.
Indeed, Franken had decided to follow in his companion’s footsteps and decided to wear luxurious clothes to ‘deceive’ other players. Leaving the matter of whether anyone even considered Franken a threat aside, his presence had allowed the rest of them to be a bit less conspicuous.
--Welcome! Welcome! We have the best broth on the street!
--Don’t miss now! only ten left from today’s dumplings!
.
.
The whole street was filled with vendors from various races. After touring the city for the past couple of days, everyone had come to a unanimous decision that this street sold the best food. To make it even better there was a hotel that provided an isolated yet open terrace view. One could enjoy the lights and hubbub of the street while being hidden from the prying eyes.
Zyrus led the others and placed a sparkling silver coin on the counter. The chubby minotaur owner was already familiar with the group, so she pointed to an empty table and sent the errand boy to buy snacks from across the street.
“Phew…finally some time to relax.” Lauren slumped over on the chair and chugged down the free beer. Pouka and Strongfist followed right after and took a barrel for themselves. No one talked about important stuff for a while and simply enjoyed their meal with casual talks. The various dishes served on the streets were enough to uplift one’s spirits.
“Ahem…Now then, let’s get back to business. First of all tell me how much gold you’re left with?”
“Ten.”
“Three.”
“Seven.”
Kyle, Lauren and Shi kun replied one after another. Since they had played all the matches they were considerably rich despite spending on the enlightenment pagoda and other expenses. Druv, Pouka, and Strongfist were left with nothing since they had decided to buy some skill enhancement materials. Unlike humanoid races, it was difficult for them to learn and adapt.
“Alright then. Don’t save anything and just buy whatever you want. If it’s something that catches your eye or gives you a gut feeling, get it. You can also ask me and if I have leftover funds then I’ll lend some to you.”
Everyone nodded in appreciation at his words. They knew it weren’t empty words since they had seen Zyrus’s gold collection.
“Another important part is what we must bid upon. There’ll be an option to hide your identity at the auction, so most will select that. Do the same and bid according to this:
First, I’ll be buying things that are related to ocean and materials for construction. Don’t bid on that. Second, there’ll be products related to food, transportation, and healthcare. I’ll give you ten coins each to bid on them. Its good if we can buy them all. Even if not, don’t let them end up in the hands of mediocre players. It would serve our interests well if there’s a class discrepancy on the Kyros.”
“A question,” Kyle raised his hand and looked at Zyrus. After the latter nodded, he continued.
“What if there are more than one or batches? Like having two blueprints would be a waste. We can’t resell them anytime soon either since it’d be tantamount to telling everyone that we were inflating the prices.”
“We’ll buy them regardless. Being ahead of others via our capabilities is good, but kicking them down is also just as effective. Why not do both if we can afford it? We’ll do our best to not give others a single useful blueprint that’d improve their quality of life or trade. Let them buy weapons and means to make them. War is what we need afterall.”
They were once again reminded by what Zyrus had told them before coming here. A small action right now might change the whole development plan of some small and middle level factions. The worth of a single gold coin was enough to change their fate.
The group chatted for a while and soon left one after another. They deliberately separated into four groups and went around the city before going to the auction.
*Cracklllee*Boom*
Red ribbons and other colorful explosives filled the whole area. Before the expectant and excited crowd of players, the gates of the auction hall finally swung open.
And thus began the first auction of the sanctuary.