[Unprecedented Oddity (Lv0)]: A title that defies categorization. Something in you refuses to process the same way others do.
When the weight of what you've encountered becomes too much for ordinary comprehension to hold, this title activates on its own terms, forcing understanding through regardless.
Effect: At an unknown threshold, grants a burst of accelerated and deepened comprehension of skills, situations, systems, or truths the user has been exposed to but not yet fully processed. Cannot be triggered manually. Cannot be suppressed once triggered.
Threshold: Unknown.
Duration: 10 seconds - 2 minutes.
Cooldown: (59 days, 23 hours, 57 minutes left).]
[+2000 Achievement Points.]
[+100 Days Left.]
…
His title's information greeted his sight when he opened his eyes.
Marcus took a few seconds to understand what had happened.
It had finally happened… but I couldn't tell that it was it. No wonder everything flowed so easily.
He then saw the countdown: I spent the whole 2-minute limit comprehending the first move of the Seven Desolate Swords, then Synchronization, and a fraction of Evocation.
"Ouch!" Marcus flinched and grabbed his head as a very painful headache assaulted him.
It felt as if his brain was slowly swelling.
He paused and collected himself, and then slowly began noticing a few changes in his mind.
And how his ability to sense his surroundings had been enhanced.
His senses had become sharper–sight, smell, and hearing–and his mind had gotten lighter, or so to speak.
Also, a certain spark of pride seemed to have been birthed in his way of thought. Almost as though something had been planted in him.
Marcus frowned, as it felt strange. Foreign, and yet intimate. Like it had always been a part of him.
Curious, he brought his status screen up.
…
[Name: Marcus Sirdi.]
[Age: 24.]
[Level: 2 (Mage), (Sage), (Warrior).]
[Race: Human.]
[Bloodline: Predator.]
[Mana: 3750.]
[Titles: Lord With A Will (Lv4). Unprecedented Oddity (Lv0).]
[Pathfinder: Will 83/60. Strength 49/100. Dexterity 70/120.]
[Achievement Points: 33705.]
[Arcane Knowledge Learned (Lv2). Advanced Technological Knowledge Learned (Lv2). Body Modification Knowledge Learned (Lv2). Futuristic technological Knowledge Locked.]
[Redo: 2.]
[Days Left: 50 months (1527 days)]
…
"What the hell!?" He exclaimed and jumped to his feet, backing away as if he was trying to put some distance between himself and the interface.
But it followed him.
"Why did my [Lord With A Will] climb to level 4!? No wonder I felt a familiar discomfort. That imbalance is crazy."
He frowned. His headache and brain-swelling sensation came from this imbalance.
His title had increased by two levels; in other words, his mental strength had doubled, far surpassing what he had before the enlightenment.
Even though the numbers on his Will stats didn't increase that much, their quality had doubled.
However, once again, his Will had surpassed his capacity. The mental strength he had gained was more than he could contain.
And until he was able to balance it, he would find it hard to control the ability. Especially since [Lord With A Will] has always been a passive ability.
Marcus began thinking of ways that he could quickly reduce his mental strength.
Three ideas quickly came to mind;
The first was to activate his Pulse of Seeing, enhancing his sight to a greater degree.
Marcus knew of the drain this act could cause, especially since he had used it a lot in the redo where Maney had used the Curse of Dalmon on them.
He had used Pulse of Seeing to observe the disease the curse had brought, and with it, he was able to quickly come up with a cure.
This would gradually deplete his mental strength…
The second option was to use his Rippling World. He would let it expand until his mental strength was drained. The more it expanded, the more it demanded; however, it still had a limit.
Its distance would increase if Marcus pushed, but his incorporeal Pulse Thought point could collapse.
Which could be dangerous. So this option would mainly rely on continuously maintaining the Rippling world. Its rate of consumption could be considered quick when compared to the first option.
And then the third, and more attractive option to Marcus at the moment, was to execute the first move of the Seven Desolate Swords.
A smile played on his lips when he thought about it.
"I have never used the technique successfully before. And it requires mental strength to execute it… Though I don't have Intent yet, Evocation should do the trick, right?"
Marcus immediately became tempted by this thought.
Moreover, his desire to see if this first move could be powerful enough to be a trump card against Maney was raw.
"What's the worst that can happen?" He thought to himself.
Marcus picked up his sword and looked at the reflection of his eyes in it.
It was just a few minutes after dawn. The soft glow from the sun warmed his skin as it illuminated his training ground.
He closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing. The thoughts that led to his comprehension of the first move slowly went through his mind again.
Marcus stood up straight and positioned his sword to his side.
"Ashes That Remember refers to the rage born from the fire that wrought the desolation." He uttered lightly, and the air around him changed.
He was taking his time mentally processing what synchronization really was, and then how he was going to evoke the technique.
Mental energy traveled from his body and into his sword. The weapon began vibrating, as though it had been struck.
Marcus was channeling the energy according to how the Seven Desolate Swords manual had instructed.
Suddenly, he leaned forward and rapidly swung his sword.
A raging spark manifested on the tip of the sword. It was only a spark, but it was so hot that Marcus felt as though he was standing at the mouth of an active volcano.
This spark carried the weight of a rage that preceded him.
His eyes trembled, and his bones cracked.
His sword hadn't even gone anywhere when Marcus released his grip, sending it flying.
It rolled several times on the ground before being engulfed by that spark and burning into ashes.
As for Marcus, he grabbed his head and fell to his knees, coughing out blood.
And then he began crying blood.
His throat was choked with blood, and his head felt as if his brain had been squeezed.
Marcus's entire body trembled as he folded into a fetal position. He was in so much pain and coughing so much blood that he couldn't even scream.
After some minutes, his body finally stopped trembling, and he had stopped coughing blood.
However, his eyes and nostrils were still bleeding.
Now he had the chance to digest what he had just done and what had happened.
This time, he trembled out of fear.
Even though he was the one about to perform the technique, the pressure and destruction within that spark were more than he could handle.
It wanted to… take from him. All of him. His entire being, body and soul. It completely drained his mental strength in a flash.
If he hadn't let go of his sword when he did and forcefully withdrew himself, Marcus was certain that that spark would have engulfed him and taken his life.
Marcus slowly realized that he had overestimated himself and underestimated the first move of the Seven Desolate Swords.
After all, he had only seen one person execute the move, and he had done it so easily.
Now, Marcus understood that he wasn't ready to execute this move. It was powerful, yes, even beyond his expectations, but it was beyond the current him
He had initially thought, after analyzing what Veronica had explained about Evocation and Intent, that the gap wouldn't be that great.
But now, he understood that there was more to Intent than he could possibly grasp at the moment…
"This is as useful as having no trump cards."
He muttered and forcefully swallowed back some blood.
I truly only know how to bite off more than I can chew.
He chuckled, mockingly at himself.
Marcus's mind had quickly forgotten the pain he had just experienced and started thinking of a way to get another trump card.
"Should I resort to that Forbidden Formation Array?"
The thought didn't settle for long before Marcus made his decision.
He couldn't possibly fight Maney without trump cards. Forbidden or not, he needed something.
With a thought, he pulled up his status interface.
…
[*. Belonging To None Forbidden Array. 0/30,000.
*. Robbing Heaven Forbidden Array. 0/30,000.]
…
Unlike other times when Marcus could browse a bit into what he was about to purchase, the system didn't let him do that with these.
He had to pay first.
This made him feel like he was about to gamble again. His "what's the worst that can happen" attitude had taken a real beating from Ashes That Remember.
And now, he wasn't as confident as before…
"Their names don't inspire any useful information in me… but if I have to choose…"
His eyes lingered on the second option for a while.
Robbing Heaven… it sounds domineering in a way.
A few minutes passed, and Marcus continued to deliberate while sitting in a small puddle of his own blood under the morning sun.
And then, he came to a decision.
"Robbing Heaven it is. If it isn't useful, then I'll have to grind for another thirty thousand achievement points." It sounded easy now to him.
But it wasn't cheap.
As soon as his achievement points were deducted, the information about the Robbing Heaven Forbidden Array appeared in full before his eyes.