[Death]
Mastery: Savant (High)
Concept: Eternal Sleep
.
[Darkness]
Mastery: Savant (High)
Concept: True Darkness
.
[Time]
Mastery: Savant (High)
Concept: Nullhour
.
[Water]
Mastery: Savant (Mid)
Concept: Aqua Nihil
.
[Shadow]
Mastery: Adept (Peak)
Concept: 60%
.
[Life]
Mastery: Adept (Peak)
Concept: 20%
.
[Holy]
Mastery: Adept (Peak)
Concept: 0%
“Sub-ranks of masteries are Lowest, Low, Mid, High, Peak.”
“I got quite a few masteries back already.”
His mastery of Death, Darkness, and Time had returned to what it was before he gave everything away to Daniel.
Water was only a single sub-rank away.
For Shadow element, he was creating a new Concept.
His previous Concept was not weak, but he gained a new understanding of the Shadow element when he saw the Supreme Deity of Shadows.
“Shadows are one,” he muttered.
He frowned.
The words he had spoken did not embody his Concept perfectly.
“I guess my Concept would have been completed if I could put it in words.”
Neo’s gaze shifted to his masteries of the Life element and the Holy element.
“These elements….”
Neo’s Concept of Life and Holy were not very useful for ‘healing.’
It was similar to how his Concept of Death killed by putting others to sleep which – strictly speaking – wasn’t killing.
His Concepts for Life and Holy were not for healing and purification either.
This was why he was hesitating for Life and Holy elements.
Should he regain his previous Concept or try to create a new Concept for both?
“I can’t be careless. If I mess up, I won’t be able to heal Elizabeth.”
Neo clicked his tongue.
His gaze went back to his mastery of Death, Darkness, and Time.
“Hey, Velkaria.”
‘What is it?’
“How do I reach the peak of an element’s Savant mastery?
“My masteries have been stuck on Savant (High) for centuries.”
‘You need the World’s permission to reach Savant and manifest a Domain.’
‘Until Expert, your masteries must have come from your hard work and talent.’
‘But from Savant, you need to serve the World and hope it bestows you the masteries.’
Neo’s expression darkened.
“So the mastery won’t increase no matter how much we train?”
‘No, not exactly.’
‘The masteries won’t increase unless you train and have the World’s blessing. You need both. Just having one won’t be enough.’
Velkaria’s mood soured as it explained how masteries worked.
During the Shadow Trial, Neo could never reach Savant Mastery after the World Core was destroyed.
It was why Velkaria was not worried about his infinite revival.
No matter how much he ranked up, he could not kill Velkaria unless he became a God or Angel.
The Gods were already dead after Velkaria destroyed the World Core, so Neo couldn’t become an Angel.
His only choice was becoming a God to defeat Velkaria.
However, Neo could not become a God.
To reach Godhood, one needed to go beyond Supreme mastery in an element.
This put Neo in a difficult position.
The World Core had been destroyed, and it was impossible for him to increase his elemental mastery.
In other words, he could never become a God.
It was a checkmate for Neo.
It should have been a checkmate.
‘But no! This fucker chose a third path.’
‘Since he couldn’t become an Angel or a God, he became an Ascender!’
Velkaria wanted to cry.
She had seen a lot of geniuses. Neo was not one of them. But she would rather face a hundred genius than face Neo again,
“What are you talking about?”
‘Nothing.’
Velkaria decided to change the topic.
‘You are saying your mastery is Savant already?’
“Yes, most are High Savant.”
‘That’s weird. You shouldn’t have been able to reach Savant Mastery without the help of your planet’s World Core.’
‘Reaching Savant mastery, even if only Lowest, is what allow someone to create a Domain.’
“Maybe it’s because I’m an Ascender?”
‘Yeah, it might be that.’
Neo thought about it.
It seemed he didn’t need the help of the World to increase his mastery of Element.
Unlike others, he could do it by himself since he was an Ascender.
‘But then why aren’t you reaching Peak Mastery?’
“It might be because I haven’t created a World Core yet.”
Neo wondered if he should use the Primogenitor skill.
Primogenitor would tell him how to create a World Core.
While busy in thoughts, he opened his Primogenitor skill’s menu.
[Q1. What would be the best way to create the 9th form of the Divine Swordsmanship?]
[Ans. Have a Sword Intent strong enough to cut a Stage-0 world.]
[Q2. How to become a God?]
[Ans. Go beyond Supreme Mastery in any element.]
[Q3. How to do I increase my World Energy generation rate with least amount of effort?]
[Ans. Defeating an Elder Dragon and absorbing its heart would allow you to increase your Energy generation and recovery rate.]
[Q4. How to achieve a Soul Fusion Transformation (Divine Transformation) with Obitus?]
[Ans. All your elements need to reach same mastery.]
[Q5. What is Sword Intent?]
[Ans. Intent formed by fusing the understanding of a Sword with your Willpower.]
[Q6. How do I become knowledgeable enough to create, modify and upgrade the World Time Spell by myself from the scratch?]
[Ans. By entering the Sea of All Consciousness.]
Neo smiled bitterly as he stared at the questions.
None of them seemed like they could be completed anytime soon.
[ Monarch of Death]
﹂ Death
﹂ Immortal
﹂ Eternal
﹂Primogenitor
[Primogenitor, Grade 1]
﹂ Progress: 98%
[ Mind Invasion ]
﹂ Mind Invasion
﹂ Mind Control
﹂ Empathetic Bond
[Emphatic Bond, Grade 3]
Allow user to share their emotions with the target through physical touch. (Max emotions that can be shared at once = 3)
﹂Progress: 60%
Empathic Bond was the evolved version of Mind Control, which was a skill belonging to his Mind Invasion Trait.
After everyone died, Neo had no one to use his Mind Control on. He couldn’t train his skill.
His skill level had stagnated as a result.
Thankfully, he had received a ‘link lock’ as a Quest reward long ago, and he had used the link lock to bond Monarch of Death and Mind Invasion.
With link lock, as long as his higher level Trait ranked up, his lower rank Trait would also grow.
It was how his Mental Control skill’s level increased, and it evolved into Empathic Bond.
“I guess I finally understand where my status is,” Neo muttered. “I shouldn’t have any problem dealing with a Paragon Demigod.”
Since Stage-1 Gods were as strong as Paragon Demigod, it meant Neo was on par with Stage-1 Gods.
However, that was only on paper.
The result of the actual battles would difficult to predict.
For one, even if Neo, an Ascender, could harm Gods, the Gods’ mastery of elements were beyond Supreme rank.
Neo had only Savant rank mastery.
“But I have my swordsmanship too.”
In the end, he would need to fight an Angel or a God to find his exact combat strength.
“I know a place where I can find plenty of Angels.”
Neo took out his Grim Reaper badge and activated it.
A portal made of swirling shadows appeared before him.
“The badge works,” Neo was pleasantly surprised.
He stepped into the portal.
The sensation was disorienting.
He felt a shift.
A beat later, he was standing at the end of a giant hall.
The air here was thick and heavy with dark-type elementals.
At the other end, a giant three-headed dog-shaped monster sat.
Its glowing red eyes scanned the room, each head moving independently.
It looked ferocious.
The monster was baring its teeth when it saw Neo.
Its growl vibrated through the hall like thunder.
Suddenly, it stopped, recognizing Neo.
“Woof!”
Cerberus’ eyes shone, and it rushed towards Neo happily.
Its massive paws thudded against the stone floor, and it wagged its tail.
Neo, on the other, hand, started to bleed.
Cerberus’ powerful Intent was weighing down on him.
He buckled over and his knees hit the ground.
His heart started to beat loudly.
“Cerberus….?” He muttered as he struggled to raise his head.
The air around him felt suffocating. The sheer pressure of the monster’s Intent was pressing down on him like a mountain.
“Can… you do…. Something about your Intent?
“I think I’m going to die.”
“Woof?”