Pride goes before a fall, a haughty spirit before destruction. Shaston has fallen but that’s all in the past. She has had a lot of Origin cycles to regret her decision so she doesn’t feel much now. She only wants to pass on her legacy before she dies.
She believed that anyone who has any hope of succeeding where she failed must have a transcendent talent for all the six laws that made up her concept. The difficulty of possessing 6 talents aside, the talents will also have to be in earth, fire, water, air, light, and darkness. A single one missing out of these six will render the combination lacking.
It was purely wishful thinking, a pipe dream to hope for something like that until Soverick came along with 9 transcendent talents. Shaston had two Transcendent talents, soul and air, and she was able to achieve what she did. Soverick has more potential than her but it is another thing entirely for him to achieve this potential. He might just choose to create a path with a single law. The good thing about his potential is that he will have 9 options to choose from.
She had to figure out a way to make soverick accept and execute her legacy.
“It is practically a death sentence so the difficulty of convincing him will be high.” The clone of will said.
Shaston nodded. “I will have to think out of the box for this one. Either trickery or threats are acceptable.”
The clone of will shook its head. “It’s just that trickery won’t work on a king of law, and you might not live that long. That means you have only between his mana body stage and transcendence to make him accept it.”
“I must make him see how awesome it is then. Only a vivid impression of power will make someone pursue my legacy regardless of the danger.”
“He is a lot more talented than you so he should be more proud than you. It should be easier if we make it a challenge instead. I bet he will want to outdo the realm lord.”
Shaston and the clone of will began to devise a plan to make soverick accept the legacy. They didn’t care about his well-being or if it will do him any good. They only cared about passing the legacy on. It is this same headstrong personality of hers that made her continue on her path even when she was warned by several people, people that are very much stronger than her.
We say that the children nowadays probably know better than their parents or as much as them. We say that elders don’t have the advantage of experience anymore. But that isn’t true if the elders are Origin gods. They are the source of a royal bloodline and everything it entails. They will always know better. But Shaston thought she was talented enough. Right now, she thinks soverick is talented enough too. And that’s what’s important.
Within the Battle Academy.
Soverick is about to move on to the next stage after the preparatory stage. Litori and Ghaster are here to see him off. Ghaster seemed down. His mental messages were giving off a sad vibe.
“I didn’t think you were this far ahead. I thought that the gap between our strengths would be easily breached but I was mistaken. It only means I have to train harder, break through my limits faster, and rest a lot less. I’ll see you soon.” Ghaster said before turning and leaving.
Soverick called after him and mimicked Mihila’s voice. “As long as you put in effort progress is assured. That doesn’t mean my kind of progress but you can try.”
Soverick didn’t want to discourage the boy but he wanted the boy to realize that they weren’t in the same grade of existence. Stubborn can bring great determination, but when it breaks it can lead to the complete shattering of the will. Ghaster had watched soverick leave them in the dust step by step but he still didn’t give up. He knew it would be very easy to give up but he was determined to take the more difficult path. His determination is a result of his bloodline influencing him.
Great people are usually very determined, it is a very important aspect of achieving success. The Ghastorix ancestor in particular is a very determined battle sage monkey. He refused to give up trying to save his partner and even thousands of origin cycles after he is trying to become a world god to finally be with Hadrick. Stubborn determination is good but tolerance and adaptation can make it better. Chances are if Ghastorix had failed to save his partner when he returned from the ancient battlefield, he would have given up on life there and then. He wouldn’t have become what he is today. Royal bloodlines come with strengths and weaknesses. The bloodline improves the strength of the offspring but their weakness is eternal, it does not change. The weakness is inherited from generation to generation.
Soverick shook his head. He turned to Litori. “What about you?”
Litori shifted a bit before summoning up her courage. She asked. “How did you do it?”
Soverick tilted his head in confusion. “How did I do what?”
“How did you become stronger so fast? I watched you struggle in the physical training but then you suddenly become stronger the next day. Your progress was too fast. Did you take something?” She hesitated a little before continuing. “Did you take something like beast cores?”
Soverick laughed. “No, I didn’t take beast cores. Where would I get them here? Remember that we weren’t allowed to bring anything in. What if I did? Are you worried about me or do you want some?”
Litori shook her head. “I just wanted to warn you if you were using it. Beast cores are bad for you.”
Soverick raised his hands and rubbed her head. “I know that. Thanks anyways, I appreciate it. You are very talented. It would be nice if you achieve eternity with me.”
Litori was skeptical. “Why are you so sure about becoming an Origin god? Our bloodlines can’t guarantee it.”
Soverick laughed again. He spread his arms wide. “Look at me. I am destined for greatness. I will become more than an Origin god. Eternity is not a dream or a hope for me, it is a fact. You must become an Origin god too or you will not witness my greatness. My greatness is not for mediocre minds to comprehend or shallow eyes to witness.”
Only powerful people can bear witness, in real-time, to the death of a star and see it for what it truly is. Weaker beings only get to experience the dregs and echoes of that event many years after it has happened.
He laughed and walked away. He had another meeting with Wendy on his schedule. Litori watched him go for a while before she returned to continue her practice. She may have been surprised by Soverick’s performance but she wasn’t shocked. She was aware that the eldest was unfathomable by her standards. There was something about it the eldest that broke the limit of common sense.
Even with the ancestral memories of an Origin god, she couldn’t tell what that thing is. It was either beyond the limit of a sovereign or her ancestor didn’t know about it. That wrongness in her eldest becomes clearer when you look into his eyes. There was something within those multicolored eyes of her eldest that foretell power beyond imagination. They say the eyes are the gates to the soul, as an expert on soul matters she knew that to be true. What she didn’t know is what the eldest is truly capable of.
‘At the end of the day. Maybe only someone like the eldest can be so sure of attaining eternity.”
She chose to stop thinking about it. The eldest has 9 Transcendent talents and that is a fact. This fact means the eldest can be considered a supreme talent. Talented people are usually proud, that is a fact too. Maybe that is why the eldest is confident in himself. But pride can easily lead to failure.
She wasn’t jealous. Neither did she need the eldest to sour her to greatness. She had confidence in her talent and her hard work. And from what she knew about the path of refinement, it is not a race against time. Going Slow and steady will win her the race. As long as she reaches the finish line, she has won.
“It is a good thing that he isn’t using beast cores.” She sighed and left.
It would be a shame if the eldest had chosen to squander his talent for immediate benefits. She didn’t want to see that. All creatures can form a vitality core, as long as the vitality of their body reaches a critical stage it will form. They can then progress further by assimilating mana in order to achieve the mana body. Beasts have varying potential and achieve this assimilation to varying degrees. Their core then transforms into a beast core which can be harvested from their bodies after their death. These core can also be harvested from all creatures with one including civilized sentient beings but it is generally considered a crime equal to cannibalism. You would also have to murder members of your race to get their core. The core is used for a lot of things such as forging, a source of power source, and storage if purified.
It can also be ingested to improve the rate of conversation in the vitality core. It is a shortcut to achieving a mana body with severe consequences. Those that use it will never achieve transience. Assimilating the life essence of another being will taint yours. Only pure mana or life essence without the life signature of another being is safe to assimilate. It is what refinement is based on. Anything beyond that has been proven time and time again to be brief empowerment accompanied by contamination.