Chapter 200 - One Shot (1/2)
Whoosh!
After reaching the center of the myriad dimensions, Aurus was soon transported to the outside of the myriad dimensions, his field of vision being covered by the sight of the multiple black spheres not long after. Well…after activating [Penultimate Veridical Spirit], instead of looking at a field of spheres that spanned across the whole stone room he was in, instead, he was looking at a path of outlined spheres with stars on top that led towards the center of the myriad dimension.
While looking at the current view in front of him, he recalled that Inhee could read all of his thoughts, so it might have known that Aurus had activated [Penultimate Veridical Spirit] to easily clear the stage. With that in mind, Aurus went ahead and softly muttered, ”All falsehood shall be negated,” a monotonous voice resounding in his mind not long after that the effects of [Penultimate Veridical Spirit] was deactivated.
And so, with it being deactivated, the view in front of him had reverted to a field of black spheres, all of which were radiating the aura of nothingness. After doing that, he then waited for Inhee to tell him that he had successfully passed the first stage. A few seconds…half a minute…a couple of minutes…around ten minutes had passed by with Aurus waiting, obtaining no response from Inhee.
”Where could Inhee be?” Aurus questioned himself as he looked at Theresa, who was sitting on his left shoulder in a relaxed manner, its vision focused on the black spheres. After noticing that Aurus was looking at it, Theresa looked back at Aurus and flashed a light smile. Just as he was about to lose his temper after the waiting, a voice finally resounded throughout the whole stone room as the field of black spheres gradually disappeared, reverting the content inside the large stone room into what it previously was.
”How…did you clear the first stage so quickly?” this voice was none other than Inhee's, taking on a tone of shock, which slightly surprised Aurus as he listened to it. He pondered over Inhee's words, wondering if it knew that Aurus had activated a skill that allowed him to pass through the stage without a problem. From the tone of Inhee's voice, it seemed that there was a limit to how much information Inhee could read from Aurus's thoughts, prompting Aurus to tell a bit of the truth with lies mixed in.
”Er…I have a skill that gives me a chance to see through illusions,” Aurus replied to Inhee's question as he radiated an aura of slight hesitation. He then added, ”To be honest, I wasn't expecting the skill to work. I just tried it out as an experiment.”
”…” Hearing Aurus's answer, Inhee was left at a loss for words. She could not help but think, 'A skill that has a chance to negate all illusions…on an Inanimate being?' She then pondered over it a bit more, deciding to give up in the end as she let out a sigh, muttering, ”Well, it did clear the stage using its own power, so I guess I'll let it pass.”
Inhee then let out a sigh as it resounded throughout the stone room, catching Aurus's attention, which was preoccupied after Inhee went silent. After attracting his attention, Inhee then said, ”Well, since you cleared the first stage, you can now go ahead and ask me for any reward you want. Remember, it has to be a reward that's more or less equivalent to the amount of power you hold right now.”
”Hmm…” Aurus pondered over Inhee's words, wondering what reward he should obtain from this inheritance. Fortunately, it did not take long for Aurus to make his decision as the reward he had in mind was related to the reason why he entered the inheritance again in the first place. Of course, he was also taking a bit of a risk here since he had the idea of obtaining a Comprehension Leaf that was of a higher grade than Transcending. Although he heard from Herellia that there were two grades of Comprehension Leaves higher than Transcending, would an inheritance like this have such a rare Comprehension Leaf?
”I've decided,” Aurus said in a confident tone, suppressing the nervousness he felt within. He then added, ”The reward I want to get is a Comprehension Leaf with the highest grade in this inheritance.”
Listening to Aurus's request, Inhee could not help but ask him, ”Are you sure that that's what you want? Not skills or anything?”
”Well, I did say that I needed more Comprehension Leaves to reach the comprehension speed limit,” Aurus replied to Inhee's question. He then added, ”Do you have any?”
”Yeah, we do,” Inhee replied to Aurus's question, to which Aurus radiated an aura of elation as he was finally going to obtain a Comprehension Leaf that had a higher grade than Transcending. Amidst this elation was his intense curiosity as to what kind of feeling would a Comprehension Leaf of such grade would give him.
Whoosh!
After a few seconds, a leaf that seemed to radiate an aura akin to the birth of a universe had appeared a meter or so away from him. Unlike the Transcending Comprehension Leaf he had absorbed before, which took on the appearance of a dead leaf, this leaf's appearance had a bit of vibrance to it, taking on a shade of light green as multiple esoteric drawings were etched on its surface.
As he looked at this leaf hovering in front of him, he could not help but have the urge to extend a tendril of FP towards it and absorb it in an instant. Thankfully, he did not let this urge get to him as he suppressed it as much as possible. With this urge suppressed, he wanted to know the details of the leaf in front of him, going ahead and asking Inhee, ”May I ask what grade of Comprehension Leaf is this?”
”That's the rarest kind of Comprehension Leaf we have in this inheritance,” Inhee replied to Aurus's question without delay. It then added, ”It's the grade after Transcending, the All-seeing Comprehension Leaf.”
”All-seeing Comprehension Leaf…” Aurus muttered while looking at the leaf in front of him, feeling that the name suited its appearance and aura. But now that he knew what came after Transcending, he had this urge to ask what grade came after All-seeing, to which he did not suppress as he asked not long after, ”Do you know what comes after All-seeing, Inhee?”
”Yeah,” Inhee responded. ”I've only taken one in my whole life, but the feeling you get from it is like living a million lives in a split-second.”
Hearing that the feeling of the Comprehension Leaf after All-seeing was quite euphoric from the tone of Inhee's voice, Aurus's curiosity had intensified as he asked, ”What is it called?”
”All-knowing Comprehension Leaf,” Inhee replied to his question. ”It's the rarest type of Comprehension Leaf you could get from this continent.”
”I see…” Aurus said, only for his mind to fixate on the last words said by Inhee as he asked, ”Wait a second…rarest Comprehension Leaf in this continent? There are far rarer Comprehension Leaves in the other continents?”
”Yep,” Inhee said in response before adding, ”But knowing about them would probably be detrimental to you right now. Anyways, go ahead and absorb the Comprehension Leaf. I'll give you a 5-minute break before we start the second stage.”
”Alright,” Aurus replied to Inhee's words, eventually removing the suppression on his urges from before as a large tendril of FP moved towards the leaf hovering in front of him. It then enveloped the whole leaf before gradually dissolving it as its particles moved towards Aurus's body.
Swish!