Chapter 279: Proving Ones Worth (1/2)

“The Lord of Cycles,” Zac said with resolve in his eyes.

This was the final decision that Zac had arrived at after weeks of deliberation. He did consider taking Undying Fiend in hopes it was a Defensive Inheritance that might contain a Spirit Tool shield. But in the end, he chose the one that seemed to fit best overall with his current skillset.

Zac didn’t know exactly what to expect from such an inheritance, but there might be various things that might increase the synergy between his two classes. The best would be to find a way to use both his classes at the same time. If he managed that he’d be almost invincible.

“Oh, Lord of Cycles? Interesting. It’s the first of the two C-Grade inheritances as well, well chosen,” Brazla said with a nod.

“Which is the other one?” Zac quickly asked when he saw the Tool Spirit was in a sharing mood.

“I don’t want to tell. Build something nice for me and I might become more accommodating,” Brazla snorted. “Now, enter the portals. I won’t assist you at all while you undertake the trial, and there is no exit. Final chance to change your mind.”

As he spoke two fractals lit up in front of two of the huge statues that lined the hall. One of them was a humanoid whose features were hidden in a large cowl, each of his hands gripping a dagger. It was pretty clear it was the creator of the Umbra inheritance, and the demon immediately walked over.

The other statue that lit up was of a man or woman that looked human. The face was completely androgynous so he couldn’t tell its gender at all, but since he was called a Lord, Zac guessed he was male. He wore a loose robe and held his two hands together forming a circle in front of his chest, and behind him was a large disk split in the middle.

As Zac walked over he tried to understand what type of class this person had, but he truly couldn’t tell. The disk might work as a weapon, but Zac rather leaned toward this person being some sort of magic user, which might not be what he needed. The odd circle behind was split into two, one side looking like flames, while the other was ice.

He even hesitated for a second, considering whether he should switch over to The Undying Fiend even though its grade of inheritance likely was worse. He had a feeling that the last C-Grade inheritance was the Crown of Despair, likely personified by the statue of the woman holding her head in her hands, but that one was likely an even worse fit for him.

But his eyes once again turned to the circle of fire and ice behind the Lord of Circles. It was this duality that made Zac believe that the Lord of Cycles tried to do something similar to himself; merge two opposing elements.

For better or worse Zac had already started walking the path of life and death. One of his classes veered toward nature, and the other side was an undead warrior turning the area around himself into a projection of the underworld.

He was hoping that the Lord of Cycles Inheritance could help him create a coherent system of his two opposing sides, and create something greater than the sum of its parts. Granted, each side of his two identities had its strong points, but there was currently no synergy between them apart from the extra attribute points.

He wanted to find a path that made sure both his classes were pushing toward the same goal, even though they were the opposites of each other. He had a feeling that something amazing would be created if he was able to fuse his two sides in the future, and this was the step to attain that.

Since he had already made his decision he resolutely stepped inside his own portal. The next moment he found himself in front of a huge metal plaque in an otherwise empty field, and he quickly took out his axe as he looked around for any threats.

But no matter where he looked he only saw a hazy mist, and his senses didn’t warn him of any hidden dangers lurking about. So Zac put away [Verun’s Bite] again as he looked at the large slab of metal in front of him. It was completely smooth and rectangular, apart from a large engraving in the middle.

The engraving was not a large fractal, but rather a circular pattern containing inscriptions of smaller fractals. There was an outer circle containing at least one hundred fractals, and there were multiple rings inside. For every concentric circle inside there were fewer and fewer fractals until it reached the center.

The innermost part was just a dot, and the row outside consisted of just two crudely drawn fractals. Zac was confused about why they had such shoddy workmanship compared to the others, but he barely had time to look at them before a familiar feeling entered his mind.

The splinter of oblivion became restless the moment he looked at one of the two fractals, and its tendrils started to furiously pound the miasmic runes that had locked it away. Zac quickly closed his eyes until the splinter calmed down. Luckily it seemed that the prison in his mind still held strong.

But the eruption was an uncomfortable reminder that he hadn't gotten any closer to figuring out what to do about the alien object in his head. However, now was not the time, so he once again refocused on the patterns on the monument, though he avoided looking at the innermost part.

“Creation and oblivion,” Zac suddenly muttered with understanding.

The circle in front of him was a Dao Chart following the same system that Anzonil mentioned. The center was the origin of Dao, the Primordial Chaos. From that came Creation and Oblivion, and the splinter in his mind reacted to the crude fractal in the center of the chart.

That would explain why the details of the fractals got increasingly crude the further in they were placed on the chart in front of him. Creation and Oblivion were the top two Daos of the multi-verse, and even if the Lord of Cycles was a great C-Grade powerhouse he likely was far from grasping such esoteric knowledge.

Those Daos were likely reserved for the top tier powerhouses of the multiverse, those who stood at the apex of whole planes.