Chapter 557 (1/2)

Well, it’s not that I don’t know of what Great Paths are… Lucretia said slowly. But… I must admit that I haven’t gained one myself. They are written of in my world, but only in legends. Also, they are generally unavailable to people before they reached Level 50 and condense their fate. I suppose since your own images were never separated it is possible the Level 50 distinction has no meaning.

“So what is it?” Randidly said aloud. He was sitting in the dimly lit room, alone with Kenneth. He performed several scans of the boy, and he was still baffled as to how the Creature’s Aether was so strongly attached to him. It was somewhat baffling. As the resident physician was out, Randidly could only wait for her to return and give him a more thorough examination. So he turned his attention to other matters.

...I can only suspect based on the rumors. But it is something you should not do now. Everything I have heard agrees that a person can only have one Great Path in their lifetime. Those who take it, of course, gain great power. They are hard to unlock and contain rewards commiserate with that difficulty If I’m being frank… Lucretia paused. I believe it is what the maker of the System is looking for. Our philosophers noted that once a Great Path appears, others occasionally appear with the same path, with the same benefits. Only it is no longer a great path. To create one is to have a truly unique blend of images and strengths within the System.

Randidly closed his eyes. “According to your theory then, choosing a Great Path… is to confirm my submission in terms of power to the System’s judgment?”

Likely. The Creature’s memories touch on it, but only indirectly. It always thought of Great Paths in terms of how well they would be received. About whether they were sufficient.

“Any guesses how mine would fare?” Randidly asked.

...not well. Lucretia responded with quite a bit of amusement in her thought.

Randidly didn’t take the judgment personally. After all, according to these hypotheses, Great Paths were usually done by people who had survived for a much longer time in the Sytem, and achieved Level 50. Although Randidly was powerful, he didn’t believe that he was so powerful that he could defeat everyone on Shal’s planet, for instance. THere were people there that had spent their whole lives training under the System.

It was clear that their Aether was much staler than the ambient Aether currently on Earth, which would lead to slower growth. But those people had the benefit of time.

“Lucretia,” Randidly said abruptly, changing the topic. “Do people’s lifespans change with the System?”

Lucretia thought about this for a while. ...it is hard to say. Mostly, it has been too long since the System arrived in my world to tell. But I will say that it is not uncommon to live to be 500 in my world. Certain powerful individuals have been rumored to reach 1000 years.

Randidly considered that then shivered. If he had 1000 years, how high could he raise his Skill Levels? They become more difficult to raise, and also less effective, but still… a Level 500 Skill Level would be a terrifying thing. What sort of Paths would one receive at Level?

Randidly’s thoughts were interrupted by a chirp from his watch. Henrik was calling him. Grimacing, Randidly got up and prepared to return to the compound. He had relied on his new citizenship in order to avoid trouble, so Randidly felt like he should repay the alacrity with which the man had reported his new drone.

Within 10 minutes, Randidly stood before a red-eyed Henrik.

“This…” The man’s breathing was heavy. The Porpoise was a disassembled mess on the ground in front of them. “What are these?”

Henrik pointed. Specifically, he pointed at two instances of the same rune that Randidly had created to dodge most of the problems he was encountering. The inspiration was simple: if the spear could transform Aether into meaning and vice versa, how hard would it be to make a similar transition between two other forces?

In this case, Randidly made the transfer between heat and electricity. The runes were in areas of high-density runic activity, and when the metal would heat due to the energy flowing through the metal, these runes would turn that heat into electricity. This electricity would flow through a sister rune that was created to expend the electricity. In this case, it created an ionized shield to add additional protection to the Porpoises armor.