Chapter 436: Embracing The Dark

It was like the snap of a cord...

His connection to the lingering trail of will was severed in an instant, the essence state of will cut off from his senses.

He hadn’t only lost the attribute; he couldn’t even perceive the force anymore. Will was an ethereal force a cut above essence itself, a form of energy that had existed in all life before the origin descent ever came to be.

The descent of the origin had merely provided the path to cultivate it...

Suddenly the raging tide in Seth’s mind went still, his consciousness blanking for a second as his mind reeled from the loss.

The pain ceasing as he was graced with a moment of peace...

But the medicinal properties of the Will Forge Elixir were still active, and extremely potent, letting his mind recover fast, his sea of consciousness settling while wisps of will formed and dispersed repeatedly.

But Seth couldn’t act on them. He couldn’t feel their presence, couldn’t feel anything at all, his mind entirely isolated from his body.

Almost like a prisoner in his own mind...

Yet Seth remained calm, his mental waves settling like still water; for a moment it was almost like he was back in the coma.

Drifting in an endless sea of darkness, feeling nothing, seeing nothing, his senses cut off, his mind dragged into a state of null, only this time by his own hand and not by circumstance.

Right now Seth was running on pure instinct, and even that instinct had gone silent.

He didn’t panic. He couldn’t panic...

His mind hung in limbo, the silence of darkness embracing him whole as the clock ticked by. Slowly it slid into a state of flow, the same enlightening feeling he had known during the blood order mission, only this time it wasn’t forced by the stifling pressure of battle.

His consciousness slowly sank back into the realm of the soul, and suddenly a sense returned to him, not a physical one but an empirical perception that let him perceive his own soul.

And with a snap, everything ignited — the nothingness swapped for a grand scene, a small interstellar field filled with stars.

Each star glinted with a distinct brilliance. As his mind roamed the vast void of his soul space, he understood that each star marked a critical part of him: some gene skills, others attributes, and many more.

His mind drifted until it settled on a dim star. He could feel its presence, but he couldn’t perceive it, and Seth didn’t need the full effectiveness of his intelligence to know what this was... the will attribute.

For countless years, long before he had come into existence and before the origin descended, countless individuals had cultivated will without needing the system’s directive.

Their way of handling will was different, and Seth knew this firsthand. It was crude, but it did not depend on any failing means... and they had achieved it in their own way.

Seth wasn’t planning to defer to cultivation; interesting as it was, it was still an inferior means.

But the mere fact that people could manipulate will without the system’s medium made it clear he could do the same. He just had to wait for his mind to attune and perceive it again without the essence stem as a bridge.

It was a very difficult task, akin to telling someone with a fractured spine to walk without relying on a spine.

Such a thing might have been impossible in the past, but in this new reality it was an everyday feat; he had done it countless times in battle, executing actions without relying on his biological function.

And today, he was going to do the same...

This was his only way out, his only path to ascension; if he lost this chance, he might as well give up his identity as an evolver.

His focus narrowed to a single point, and the force of his mind plunged into the dying star, the manifestation of his dwindling will attribute.

Back in the physical realm, upon Seth’s finger, his latest prize, the greed mantle, began to pulse with a pristine emerald sheen...

The divine spirit’s faceless head tilted slowly as it watched its master. "As expected of the master, to think he would comprehend this path without any guidance..." its soothing voice murmured.

The ring pulsed with rapid intensity, the veins around the finger it was wrapped around bulging green as an ethereal force of emerald sheen was injected straight into his veins.

"I hope you don’t mind the assist, master..." the divine item spirit whispered, before it sank back into dormancy.

The injected force raced through his system, the veins bulging green wherever it passed, riding his bloodstream and funnelling right into his heart.

The beating organ pulsed with a faint brilliance as it welcomed the energy...

Back within the soul space, Seth’s mind sank into the imperceptible, dimming star; he understood that relearning to sense will would take time.

Meanwhile a faint ripple of green settled over his soul space, wisps of it absorbed into his floating sphere of consciousness, reinforcing his mental waves and stacking upon the medicinal effects of the will forge pill.

Seth could feel the building intensity but didn’t know what was fueling it, nor did he care; it was beneficial, and that was all he needed to know.

He didn’t waste time. Using the boost efficiently, he sank deeper into the star, yet he still couldn’t perceive anything.

"Not deep enough!"

Without hesitation, the blob that was his consciousness sank deeper still into the dying attribute star, the risk of losing himself growing with every moment he immersed himself in what was lost.

But for Seth it was all or nothing!

What was the difference between being a vegetable and living with the fact that he could only watch others climb higher on the ladder of power while he himself remained stagnant?

Seth didn’t mind dying as long as it was on his own terms... and this was on his own terms!

The notion echoed again, driving him deeper as the pressure of the attribute star built, his connection to the other stars slowly waning...

And instead of hesitating, his mind held tight to the notion... All or nothing!

His consciousness plunged. Its individuality dimmed. He was being stripped of what made him... Seth.

The "I am" cognitive effect that lay in the heart of every sentient life began to dwindle in him...

But his determination refused to relent.

His soul strained, struggling to hold it all together.

And just when he stood at the verge of losing it all, his fading blob of consciousness dropped into the core of the attribute star.

A raging force swept through his mind as his perception locked onto the dwindling force of will packed at the core, now alien to him.

But at this moment, his instincts finally flared...

Devour!!

Without hesitation, though Seth didn’t know the why or how, he instantly flexed his mental wave into a vacuum-like current.

Devouring the attribute star from inside out!

It all happened in an instant — what felt like days was merely seconds — yet he devoured the entire star, and a familiar voice echoed through his consciousness...

[Congratulations! You have assimilated the will attribute source!]

[Will stat has been restored!]

[Congratulations! The will stat has reached maximum effectiveness!]