'System, how can a dual awakener advance to Sovereign state?' He asked in earnest curiosity.
[Let's start from the Divine View.]
Following its voice, Varian found himself in the dark space he once saw.
Floating in the dark space, where three shining crystal roads of sorts.
If he had to describe them, they were like a massive prism. Each of the three prism faces was one of the 'roads'.
The roads glowed with red, blue and yellow.
From the last time, Varian knew they were the literal manifestation of 'Divine Paths'.
And this road was called an Avenue.
For instance, the Yellow Road was called Sage Avenue.
It was divided into three lanes. The lanes represented Body Path, Mind Path and Morpher Path respectively.
Usually, these lanes were unlit.
But if you awakened in these paths, they would lit up.
Just like now, across the three avenues, six lanes were lit up.
On each of the lanes was a white sphere called Origin.
If the lanes were divine paths and the road was Avenue, then the origin was a representation of himself.
In gaming analogy, they were like maps he had to explore while Origin being his 'character position'.
[Host, you awakened in six paths so far.] System said, drawing Varian's focus onto the avenues.
He had four on the Yellow—Sage Path: Body, Mind, Mind, Morpher.
How did Mind have two?
Well, each lane had a black line representing a level.
After reaching the third black line, that is level 3, the mind lane was split into two.
Telepath.
Telekinetic.
Both of these were lit up for Varian.
At the same time, lightning of Red Road and space of Blue Avenue were also lit up.
[You shouldn't be able to access the divine view until you reached level 9, but anyway, the reasoning is fairly simple.]
'Huh?' Varian waited for it to continue.
Varian felt the 'view' shake and the next moment, he found himself staring at the uncharted territory.
He came to the end of the road! In front of him was pitch darkness.
His Origin was far behind!
Varian looked back and saw a line some distance away from the end of the road.
That must be level 9 entry.
That meant—
'End of the road was peak level 9?' He asked.
[Yes. At peak level 9, Origin would be on the edge of the road.
Next is the important step. Binding.
This needs both internal and external efforts. Of course, geniuses can do the internal step unconsciously.
But most need to know what to do.
Let's say you're a normal awakener with a single path.
After reaching peak level 9, your origin reaches the end of the road. Now, you need to 'sense' your Origin and gain some degree of control over it.
Then after gaining control, you'd need to 'bind' the Origin to the Divine Path.
Visually, it's just making the floating Origin land on the road.
What's actually happening is that the closer your floating Origin comes to the avenue, the deeper the connection.
Your affinity increases drastically.]
'What happens when the Origin touches the road…I mean, Avenue?'
[They're bound together. Your affinity improves. And the Divine Path extends forward.
Your Origin also takes a step forward and enters the Celestial Rank.]
Varian rubbed his chin and asked in an incredulous tone. 'So I just need to gain some control over Origin and I'm a Sovereign? That sounds too easy.'
[It is anything but easy. Of course, given your talent, you have it easier than others.
But think of it as something equivalent to controlling your involuntary body reactions a normal person.]
'Whaaat?!'
Controlling your heart beat, blood flow and breathing rate as a normal person? Is that even possible?
[Level 9s have the divine vision, but most cannot control their Origin. It's incredibly hard.
But once you gain control, you become Sovereign.
And the closer you bring it to the avenue, the harder it becomes to go further.
That's why some Sovereigns are stuck.
The final step—touching the avenue with Origin is the hardest.]
Varian looked at the distance between Origin and Avenue. It was around…100 cm?
How hard could that be?
[Sovereigns typically move 0.1mm, 0.2 mm with each try. And it only gets harder and harder. And 100 cm is 1000 mm.]
Varian shut up promptly.
He knew how a single path awakener became a Sovereign and then a Celestial Ranker, but what about Dual Awakeners and Triple Awakeners?
[Their situation is a bit special.] System started and Varian was sent back from the edge of the road to his current level.
Five Origins stood just before level 6 line while one stood after level 6 line.
[Dual Awakeners awaken in two paths. So, their Origin simultaneously exists above two paths.
But there is only one Origin.]
'Then how can it exist above two paths simultaneously?'
[Origin isn't exactly a physical entity. Think of it like memory, a memory can exist in two heads at once.
But Origin isn't exactly an idea either.
It's unique.
You can think of it like Origin splitting its 'existence' into two. But make no mistake, each of the Origin above the two Divine paths is one Origin.]
'….What the fuck was that supposed to mean?' Varian was confused. Was this the same stuff he heard during his quantum mechanics class?
Shaking his head, he decided not to think too much.
[Anyway, Dual Awakeners can reach peak of level 9 without any problems. But then, they need to 'Bind' their Origin to the Avenue.
Here comes the problem, one Origin can only be bound to one Avenue. If you try to form bonds with two avenues at once, you'll make no progress.]
'Ohhh.' Varian nodded in understanding.
'But haven't other Dual Awakeners tried to make bond with just Avenue?'
[They have. But even then, Origin is also on another path. It becomes impossible to form a bond.
To start a bond, they need to 'bring' the second Origin to the avenue they want to form the bond with.
For example, if you're a Space and Fire Awakener, and you want to be a Sovereign of Space Path, since being both is impossible.
So, you have to bring the Origin floating above the Fire Path to Space Path.
Then these Origin will seem to 'merge' visually.
In essence, the Fire path gets 'locked'. You cannot progress on it anymore.
You are now treated as a single path awakener. Just follow the normal steps and you'd be a Sovereign.]
'I see. So no one knew that they had to merge the Origins.'
[Humans are still new.
So, there aren't many dual peak level 9 to begin with.
All of them are assigned with important duties. They wouldn't dare to try play with their Origins.]
'Indeed. But now, Bali can set an example.' Varian sighed. 'Even though he'll lose a path, he can still be a Sovereign.'
Suddenly, Varian's eyes widened and he asked. 'What about me, System? Would I also other paths when I need to be a Sovereign?'
[Normally, reaching Sovereign in two paths with one Origin is impossible and unheard of.
But host, you…have a chance to do the impossible.]
'…' Varian felt a weight on his shoulders without knowing.
He needed to figure this out.
If he couldn't, he would waste all his other divine paths and become a normal Sovereign.
But if he could find a way…then Varian didn't dare to imagine his strength.
By now, he already had 6 Divine Paths. Perhaps he might awaken in 1 or 2.
Imagine a Sovereign of 8 Divine paths!
He'd sweep the floor with all Abyss Kings with one hand.
"Fuck it! I'll find a way!" Varian clenched his fist and decided.
'Wait, I already have a head start!' He suddenly realized.
One Origin will only bind to one avenue. But one avenue contained three or more divine paths.
That means, even if he bounded his Origin to Sage Avenue, then his origin is only bound to Sage Avenue.
But Sage Avenue has body path, mind paths, and morpher path.
Others would be satisfied with this already, but Varian wasn't.
'Why settle? I don't want to settle. I want them all!' He was determined.
After a while, he calmed down and 'willed' to leave.
The view changed and Varian was back in the ghost ship.
Boo greeted him. "Phew. You woke up. Bali will reach Mars in 10 minutes. When are you going to talk to him?"
"Now."