185 The Way (1/2)
”If you hadn't ruined everything, it would have been much easier for everyone. The way would have been linear. After joining the Royal Guard,” explained Alexander, continuing to caress Bucephalus's muscular neck, ”you would have taken part in a Mission. Together with Madonia's elite and me, you would have fought against barbarians. We would have faced countless...”
”Ok, listen up, since we're in an illusion, how fast does time flow here?” Asked Helial curiously.
”I was talk-”, Alexander tried to say, amazed by that sudden interruption.
”Yeah, I noticed. I asked you something else, though. I don't care how this great training with Madonia's elite would have been. How fast does time flow here?” asked Helial.
”About ten times slower than in the real world.”
Alexander's comment had just dealt with Helial's impertinence, indulging it. A snort at the end was easily ignored by Helial, who, on the other hand, had begun to walk in that expanse of absolute emptiness.
”I can't level up in here, can I?”
”More or less. You know how Levels work. It's not just about experience. To overcome the bottlenecks between the Phases and to make a few small leaps in level, it is necessary and possible to deepen the knowledge on one's Mana Path. ”
”How important is the Mana Path when increasing in level, apart from the bottleneck between two different Phases?”
Without knowing it, Alexander had just turned into a Master for Helial. Although he should have thought about giving his advice beforehand. However, he had been in the form of Soul for an indefinite amount of time now and was bored of being alone. Helial was the first who had entered the Illusion in a very long time, and Alexander would have to take advantage of his company as long as he could.
Probably someone would wonder why a powerful man like Alexander, who had created his empire from nothing and conquered half the universe, had chosen to remain in an insignificant place like the Goblin Capital, even if in the form of a fragment of Soul.
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please clickfor visiting.
Even Helial asked himself that same question. Yet at that moment, Helial could only worry about his progress on the Mana Path.
”What is the difference between different Mana Paths? Name a few, for example,” said Alexander, crossing his arms.
”There are Mana Paths large and narrow. The largest and deepest are those directly linked to Life and Destruction, or even to Chaos. However, not all of these are easily developed within our universe. For example, chaos is not something perceptible in our current dimension.
”Then there are less deep, but absolutely not negligible, Mana Paths. One of these could be the one related to the Art of the Sword, the Lance or some profound knowledge developed over the millennia and brought to the apex within our universe. ”
Alexander seemed satisfied with Helial's explanation, but corrected him: ”Actually, the Mana Path is the set of knowledge that an individual puts together from the various building blocks of the universe. The ones you mentioned are parts of the various Mana Paths. Arts, Elements, Destruction, Life and anything else that is deep enough to be one of the building blocks of the current universe in which we find ourselves can be contained in a Mana Path. The greater the weight of the power something in our universe has, the deeper the Mana Path containing it will be. Now, in our universe the supreme powers are cultivating Life and Destruction, because they are predominant, but they aren't the most important.
”Besides,” continued the King, ”Life, Destruction, Art .of the Sword... they are all Ways, which have a beginning and, difficult to believe as it is, an end. These are very profound concepts and will not be very useful to you at the moment. To answer your question, the deeper the Path and the lower the level, the easier it will be for those who follow it to level up without gaining experience. However, to give you an example of what I have called the ”end of a Way”, the power of Destruction within the universe, like that of Life, has not always been so profound and powerful. Their Way was carried on by two legendary figures from the post-Chaos Era.”
”But didn't you just say that the Paths may end and only the Mana Path are endless?” asked Helial perplexed.
”The Way of Destruction, for example, has not always been like you know it,” explained Alexander. ”As you said, the Ways that have reached a certain bottleneck can't go on linearly any longer. However, some legendary monsters manage to influence a Way with their Mana Path, instead of the other way round, which is the most common situation. These titans are not bound by the Way they travel on, but they themselves shape it thanks to their unquestionable strength. ”
Helial seemed to be immersed in deep thought, trying to understand what the man in front of him was telling him. He looked at his hands and brought out two flashes of different colours, two different powers, on his fingertips.