Novel Full Chapter 1762: Forerunner
Chapter 1762: Forerunner
Seemingly noticing the mix of confusion and contemplation that was evident on Ataraxia’s face after he saw the latest line of text, the system decided to give the young man a better idea of what being a Forerunner entailed.
[Though it may not seem like much to you at the moment, becoming a Forerunner shall vastly open the possibilities that are available to you on your path to the pinnacle.]
[In fact, it could be even viewed as a ticket that would guarantee you a first-class seat that leads straight to the higher realms that exist above divinity.]
Unsurprisingly, the latter’s eyes widened at these string of words, not expecting such a random thought to lead to something that would greatly benefit him later down the road.
[Of course, sharing this piece of information with you is merely done to give you an idea of the potential effect your current idea could have.]
[…Especially once you reach a point in it that would allow parts of it to come to fruition.]
“…Well shit.”
Scratching the back of his head as he read the latest string of text that appeared on the ancient-looking screen, a number of various thoughts began to surface in Ataraxia’s mind.
Naturally, almost all of them had something to do with the research he had been doing on Mystic Runes thus far, as well as the result he had just obtained in that regard thanks to Marcus’ help.
Though that initial success gave him the motivational boost he needed to decode the other basic runes that make up the Mystic Alchemical Rune, that feeling of motivation was now being replaced by a feeling of intense pressure.
Specifically, it was a feeling of intense pressure brought about by the expectations the system itself had towards the idea.
’To be honest, the pressure I’m feeling isn’t really a bad thing,’ thought the young man as he pondered over his train of thought for a bit. ’In a way, it allows my mind to be sharper and more precise when it comes to decoding the other basic runes.’
’Plus, with the system offering to give me skills the deeper I get into the matter, I have a lot of incentive to see the entire thing to the bitter end.’
’But then again… that does bring up a question.’
With it in mind, Ataraxia returned his attention back to the screen as he opened his mouth once more. “Being informed of its potential effect is nice and all, but…”
“Only nine basic runes make up the Mystic Alchemical Rune I’ve been researching,” he said, his expression becoming somewhat serious. “Let’s say I’ve decoded all of the other basic runes that make up the rune. What then?”
“I know those nine runes aren’t all of the basic runes that could be formed through Mystic Energy. That number wouldn’t be enough to encompass the various effects Mystic Energy could take under the influence of one’s intent.”
As those words left his mouth, the young man took in a deep breath.
“To cut it short, once I’m done with the eight other basic runes, I’ll probably be forced to deduce the other basic runes through endless amounts of trial and error.” Ataraxia gave the ancient-looking screen a deep look.
“Am I correct in that assumption?”
[…Affirmative.]
The system answered succinctly, giving the question a bit of thought.
[With no other compound Mystic Rune to use as a basis, the possibility of you having to deduce what you described as the other ’basic runes’ of Mystic Energy is undoubtedly certain.]
[Though, from the manner of your speech, the Apparatus has a high level of confidence in assuming that you are asking whether or not the Apparatus shall aid you in the deduction process of these other basic runes.]
[Is that correct?]
“Exactly.” Ataraxia nodded without hesitation. “Though I’m willing to explore the possibilities behind these runes as much as possible, I don’t want to spend an obscenely long time on it if I could.”
“After all, I’ve yet to become a Myth, or a Divine-level being for that matter. The amount of time they could dedicate to something like this is hundreds of times longer than what I could dedicate to it.”
As those words left his mouth, the young man briefly thought about how long of a lifespan he had.
Of course, as someone who was originally from Earth, he instinctively thought that his lifespan was technically longer when compared to someone that was originally from Greater Beyond.
After all, with a time difference of 1:7 between the two places, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that he could live seven times longer compared to those from Greater Beyond.
Yet, as he gave the idea a bit more thought, the more he realized how wrong he was for thinking that.
As far as he could remember, the oldest human on Earth was around 130 years or so before they died.
Multiply that by 7 and that would just be a bit over 900 years.
Compared to a peak Rank 5 being that had control over a Force, their life would be about 20% longer.
But when compared to a being that’s just one rank above that, the one from Greater Beyond would beat the oldest person in lifespan.
And not just once.
Twice.
[Taking the being’s current lifespan and theoretical maximum lifespan into consideration…]
As the system listened to the words that left Ataraxia’s mouth, the screen went silent for a bit, seemingly calculating a great number of variables in a matter of seconds as it began to deduce the best course of action for the current situation.
Fortunately, the next set of words that appeared on its screen were somewhat in line with what the young man expected.
[The Apparatus has confirmed that your words hold great merit.]
[With that, the Apparatus proposes that it shall bestow upon you a skill that would drastically reduce the time and difficulty needed to deduce the other ’basic runes’ of Mystic Energy, making great use of the Apparatus’ computational abilities.]
[However, to gain access to this skill, you must first deduce all of the basic runes making up the compound Mystic Rune you’re researching and a form a basic theoretical framework of how Mystic Runes operate based on it.]
[Do you accept the proposition?]
“Why wouldn’t I?” After reading through the set of lines that appeared on the ancient-looking screen a couple of times, Ataraxia eventually looked back at the screen with a slight smile on his face as he nodded.
“Let us have a pleasant cooperation in advance, then.”
[The being has accepted the proposition.]
[Taking potential outcome and importance into consideration… proposition has been given Tier 5 priority and Tier 5 confidentiality.]
[Conditional Stage 2 access to the Apparatus Computation Core has also been added to the proposition. 2.5% of the Apparatus’ computational abilities shall be allocated accordingly once the requirements have been met.]
[This proposition shall now be enforced until it is either completed or one side reneges on the agreed-upon clauses.]
[…]
[Generating response to being’s earlier words…]
[…]
[…]
[May this cooperation lead to a wondrous outcome.]