Chapter 827 – Concepts (Patreon)

Percy briefly wondered why his Status had created an entire new section without informing him. Especially one that was arguably the most important on the page. Phoebe’s Decree would presumably stop listing mana cores and blessings entirely once he attained divinity, while his strength as a god would be determined primarily by the number of concepts he had comprehended.

‘It’s probably because these aren’t really new entries,’ he reasoned.

Much like Percy hadn’t been notified about the Divine Spark mutation due to the entry simply being moved from his familiar’s page to the Lone Wanderer’s, the four concepts of the mind affinity were things that the reincarnated deity had mastered thousands of years ago. The information had previously remained hidden because of the wasp’s inability to demonstrate her mastery of the element, but that had changed after she had gained access to Percy’s third core.

Pondering over the implications of this addition, Percy examined the blessing and spell sections.

___

Blessings [3/8]:

·         [Blessing of Permanence] – Enhance the durability of your soul.

·         [Blessing of Connection] – Enhance your ability to link multiple minds together.

·         [Blessing of Frost] – Produce colder ice.

…

Spells:

·         [Basic Pure Control – Refined]

·         [Basic Air Control – Refined]

·         [Basic Ice Control – Refined]

·         [Basic Sound Control – Refined]

·         [Basic Gravity Control – Refined]

·         [Advanced Water Control – Masterful]

·         [Advanced Lightning Control – Masterful]

·         [Advanced Acid Control – Masterful]

·         [Advanced Soul Control – Masterful]

·         [Spectral Art: Soul Surgery – Masterful]

·         [Spectral Art: Cauldron of a Myriad Screams – Masterful]

·         [Spectral Art: Cradle of the Savage Gods – Masterful]

·         [Hybrid Art: Core Bestowal – Masterful]

·         [Ultimate Art: Symphony of a Dead Winter – Extreme]

·         [Ultimate Art: March of a Merciful Spring – Extreme]

___

‘Interesting. My Basic Water, Lightning, and Acid Control spells were silently upgraded to the Advanced variants once I inherited Nephthys’ knowledge, but Basic Mind Control just disappeared entirely,’ Percy noted.

It looked like his Status had treated their comprehension of the foundational concept as a direct upgrade of the spell. The other affinities should also be moved from one list to the other once his understanding crossed certain thresholds.

Thinking back to the flowerbed of Ishkuria’s Decree, Percy recalled that changing the colour of twenty percent of the flowers had marked the threshold of a Crude spell, forty percent had been Refined, and sixty percent had indicated that a spell had crossed over into the Masterful tier.

At the time, Percy had wondered whether eighty percent would mark the level of an Extreme spell, but he was now convinced that Extreme spells required more than just high comprehension of an affinity. It was far more likely that the ability to convert eighty percent of the flowers was equivalent to the comprehension of a foundational concept, while a hundred percent would mean that one had comprehended the auxiliary concepts as well and perfected the element.

‘And to think that I just received that kind of knowledge for free,’ he chuckled.

Had Percy possessed a Clear core, he could have integrated his mind concepts with his mana and domain to forge an internal world on the spot, jumping directly to the level of a Twelfth Circle deity. Of course, he’d be giving up on his other affinities if he did that.

Percy had no intention of wasting his potential by undergoing such an underwhelming apotheosis, but losing his elements was preferable to dying of old age, so the knowledge that his ascension was practically guaranteed once he fixed his lifespan issue was reassuring.

‘But why is the Blessing of Connection still there?’

Examining his mind mana, he noticed that it still sported a distinctive orange hue due to its unbalanced nature.

With some effort, he realized that he could suppress the concept of Connection temporarily or even add the other two to restore the affinity’s original crimson colour. However, his mana resisted the changes, and he could tell that his core would explode if it was forced to accommodate another auxiliary concept, regardless of his comprehension.

In some ways, it felt a bit like affinity fusion or fission. Those with composite affinities could split them into their components, and those with multiple cores could fuse their mana into composite or calamity affinities and even unstable elements, but the default state of the core wouldn’t change in either case.

The concepts of Cognition and Connection had likely helped Percy and Nephthys upgrade their mindsets earlier, while the concept of Illusion had obviously seeped into their Ultimate Art and domain. However, wielding the concepts they didn’t have a blessing for would presumably always be a little harder until they attained divinity.

‘Zoris? Any insights on this topic?’ Percy asked after bringing the ring wraith up to speed.

‘This is one of the reasons mana cores are considered inferior to internal worlds – the other being their pitiful capacity. Simply put, they’re cruder organs that don’t actively grow alongside their owner’s comprehension in the same way that internal worlds do. That’s technically a desirable quality, because it allows mortals to wield affinities and blessings that they haven’t comprehended, but it becomes an encumbrance once the mage’s understanding eclipses what the core can provide,’ the disembodied deity explained.

‘Of course, that’s not really a big problem, because comprehending a foundational concept is generally the last thing a demigod does before ascending. Those with composite affinities or multiple cores have to master more than one foundational concept, while those with blessings would typically want to master their auxiliary concept while it’s easier so that they don’t lose it. But it’s not possible, nor is there any point in trying to shove more concepts into a core when it’s on the verge of evolving into something strictly better,’ Zoris continued.

Percy couldn’t help but wonder whether the very existence of mana cores – or even mana itself – was man-made. Perhaps, the factions of old had tinkered with qi and whatever organs they had possessed instead of mana cores to give future generations an easier way to reach the Concept realm. While mortals lacked the divine inspiration and extreme clarity of mind that came with an apotheosis, the ability to directly experience an affinity or blessing was priceless in comprehending the corresponding concepts.

The downsides of mana cores sounded equally artificial. While they were undoubtedly potent learning aids at the lower grades, they would hold a mage back when they approached the peak of the Colour realm and prepared for their ascension. Perhaps, the missing auxiliary concept of the pure affinity had something to do with the transition from qi to mana and the discarded flexibility of the original resource.

If Percy was right, the Ancients had decided that the benefits of the new system would still lead to more Concept mages than before, despite its demerits. But why had they induced such a major change only to collectively commence their eternal slumber and hand ownership of the entire universe to a bunch of new races?

And was it even possible to alter the fundamental laws governing existence itself in such a grand manner?

In some ways, that sounded like the effect of a Decree, yet its depth and scope couldn’t be compared to any Decree Percy had heard of. The closest match would probably be Ishkuria’s, but only in style – not power. After all, the Inimit titaness’ Decree also gave mortals an opportunity to experience other affinities. The difference was that hers only worked for a limited time and within an isolated location. On top of that, it only allowed others to experience a flawed simulation of common or composite concepts, rather than grant them true and permanent ownership of any stable element.

‘Well, let’s not forget that those factions had existed for longer than the current greater springs and had produced even more powerful deities,’ Percy reminded himself. ‘There’s no telling what they were capable of, nor what problems they had faced.’

Zoris might have mistaken Percy’s silence for disappointment at the limitations of his mana core, because he added, ‘Most demigods in the universe die of old age before they can comprehend a single concept, and nobody would bother to comprehend multiple auxiliary concepts of the same affinity as a mortal. Well, unless it’s a Moirai with two cores of the same affinity and different blessings in each one, I suppose. Without the advantage of a blessing, it’s just easier to study the element under the influence of divine inspiration during the Self-Discovery stage. You have no idea how much people would envy you if they learned that you were simply handed the complete mastery of a rare affinity at Green.’

Percy couldn’t help but smile.

The thought of turning a deity at the peak of Elemental Acquisition like Ishkuria into his next aspect briefly crossed his mind. The complete mastery of every common element and all their combinations would instantly catapult him past the Twenty-Third Circle after his ascension, saving him countless years and helping him stabilize what was bound to be an extremely unstable internal world.

But he shot that idea down.

For one, such deities could typically only be found at the helm of the strongest greater springs, and he didn’t want to carelessly approach them, let alone try to convince them to give up their divinity and leave their fate in a mortal’s hands. Secondly, Percy didn’t think that skipping the comprehension of his affinities was as big of a deal as Zoris seemed to believe. With his cognitive prowess and the Divine Spark mutation, Percy was confident that he could master his elements by himself. He’d rather look for more interesting abilities in his future aspects.

‘If it happens, it happens, but it can’t be my priority. Let’s not go around creating aspects I don’t need and inviting random people I don’t trust into my soul.’

Outside of the new concept section in his Status and the things that Percy had already received notifications for, there were a few additional changes. The silver streaks that had previously only decorated his familiar’s soul had spread to him and Micky. That didn’t change much for them because they’d already had access to the Divine Spark mutation through Dream Resonance, but Percy felt that he might now be able to pass the effect on to his hosts as well while possessing them, providing them with an endless source of inspiration even more effective than Wiseman’s Dust.

The other subtle but important change was in how a few of the numbers in their Status had increased. As an aspect, Nephthys could finally activate the Void Decree and obtain yet another rare affinity. Percy and his soulmates had already discussed which element would be the most suitable and had prepared the sacrifices for it after giving second cores to the Starry Knights.

Finally, Percy was in equal parts delighted and terrified that his capacity for spectral traits had increased to six. He’d decided years ago that the torturous experience of absorbing fiends was worth suffering through in exchange for the permanent benefits the traits provided, but that didn’t mean that Percy was looking forward to the most agonizing absorption to date.

‘Let’s focus on the pleasant changes first,’ Percy told himself while postponing the inevitable.

Peeking into Micky’s body, he noticed that the Huehuan had already consumed all the Blue cores and two-thirds of the Violet cores. The first Violet streaks had already appeared within Micky’s beast core, confirming that he was on the verge of evolving. Once he devoured the remaining Violet and White cores, the Huehuan was bound to receive the final push he needed.