5 minutes earlier
Neo and his Shadow were locked in high-speed combat.
While the Shadow continued to press its advantage, Neo’s mind was focused on something else.
‘I still can’t understand it. Why can we talk without having a mouth or a body?’
He tried to think hard for a solution.
Eventually, he noticed something.
‘The Shadow’s voice is the same as mine.’
‘How am I hearing it without having ears? How can I see without having eyes?’
His bloodline and elemental affinities were bonded to his soul.
It made sense how he could use them without a body.
But his physical senses were different.
The answer was obvious when he thought about it.
‘I can’t see, or hear, or talk.’
‘Then what is this right now? How am I perceiving my surroundings?’
Neo hadn’t realized it, but he was entering a state of enlightenment.
It was true Neo had mediocre talent.
For someone like him, enlightenment was something he could never hope to achieve even once.
But Neo had a unique advantage.
He had lived long.
Far longer than one could imagine.
The experience he gained from having thousands of years’ worth of memory taught him a lot.
His enlightenment wasn’t born out of overflowing talent.
It was the fruit of his wisdom and efforts.
‘Let’s think of it step by step. How do I talk without a mouth?’
His thoughts continued to churn.
Despite being locked in a death battle, Neo was focused entirely on his enlightenment.
‘…Ah!’
The answer came to him in a flash.
‘Intent.’
Intent was the only field where he had talent. After all, he had overwhelmingly strong Willpower.
‘I can talk to Elementals with Intent. I don’t need to use my mouth for it.’
People spoke Incantations to talk with Elementals, but it was to strengthen their Intents.
Those with strong Intent, like Neo or Zeus, could use Incantations without saying them out loud.
This technique was called chantless incantations. It involved projecting one’s Intent outward and communicating with Elementals.
‘So my Shadow and I’ve been talking with Intent.’
‘But what about my other senses? Why can I hear the clashes of our swords and see the Shadow take a stance?’
‘Is it because of Intent too?’
It was as if Neo’s body was on autopilot.
Neo continued to fight the Shadow while analyzing Intent.
He tried to delve deeper and focused on his surroundings.
And.
‘….!?’
‘What is this?’
The moment he understood he was talking thanks to Intent, he realized another fact.
All of his senses were working by perceiving Intent of his surroundings.
To Neo, it was as if a new world had opened up.
‘Everything has Intent.’
‘The sword, the ground, even sounds. They all have Intent.’
He had been short-sighted, thinking only living beings could have Intent.
‘I thought the abilities born out of Intent manipulation were limited because I had a powerful Intent and there wasn’t much I could do with it.’
He had wrong. Very wrong.
‘There is more to Intent.’
A smile played on Neo’s lips.
Finding the answers he had been searching for months made him happy.
Neo finally focused on the Shadow.
He could ‘see’ countless Intents the Shadow was emitting.
Its desperation, fear, anger.
All of its emotions were clear to Neo.
‘This is what Intent can do.’
He tuned out the unnecessary Intent he was absorbing from the Shadow and focused on the Intent that contained the Shadow’s thoughts about Neo.
Instantly, he saw countless lines originating from the Shadow and landing on different parts of his body.
‘These are the attack paths the Shadow is thinking of using to attack me.’
Intent allowed Neo to read the Shadow’s thoughts.
He dodged the Shadow’s attack and murmured,
So this is [Flow of Battle].
Neo realized one thing.
Flow of Battle was a small part of what Intent could do.
According to Kane, Flow of Battle allowed one to predict their opponent’s attacks.
But Neo could also see his opponent’s thoughts and emotions.
Unlike others who gained enlightenment due to their talent and didn’t understand how their abilities worked, Neo’s enlightenment came from his experience.
He understood everything about the Flow of Battle technique because he had learned it from the scratch.
After talking a bit with the Shadow, Neo decided to end things.
Divine Swordsmanship, Eight Form—
Suddenly, Neo stopped.
He lowered his sword.
Never mind. It’s a waste to make you the first person who would experience Kane’s eighth technique, Neo said. I want it to be someone who deserves this technique, not low-level monsters I can defeat easily.
His words gave the Shadow a pause.
The monster’s face contorted.
How dare you…. How dare you call me a low-level monster!
The Shadow pounced on Neo, but he dodged the monster easily.
The ease with which Neo dodged the attacks made it seem as if he was predicting the Shadow’s attack.
I am you! A Shadow knows the original better than themselves! If you can use that technique, then I can too!
The Shadow dug into its memories.
Due to having a high synchronization with Neo, it had a lot of Neo’s experiences and memories.
‘I can gain enlightenment if I use his memories and experiences!’ the Shadow thought.
I wouldn’t recommend looking into my memories.
Hahaha, you are trying to stop me from gaining enlightenment. Don’t try to hide the good stuff, Neo—
The Shadow stopped speaking, and it froze.
Silence.
A few seconds later, the Shadow started to laugh.
Then it cried.
whataretheSEmemorieswhyAREtheresoMANYmemroiesIcannotbearSOmuch
The Shadow hit its head on the floor repeatedly, laughing, crying, and shouting.
It threw the sword away and started to claw at its throat.
That’s why I told you to not peek into my memories, Neo said.
Your synchronization with me isn’t 100%. That means your Willpower isn’t as strong as mine.
There is no way you can stay sane after seeing all of my memories with weak Willpower.