Chapter 1852: What is Origin Essence?

Seeing how ready Zenith seemed to answer his questions, Valyr faintly nodded as he wondered if he should ask it first about the task that he had accepted in exchange for the skill.

But, as he gave the idea more thought, he decided to ask the other thing in his mind that had been bugging him for quite some time.

"What is Origin Essence, really?"

"...Pardon?"

Expecting the young man before it to ask about the task he had accepted, Zenith was caught off guard by the question.

"Origin Essence, what is it?" asked Valyr once more, not minding the reaction whatsoever. "What is its relation to ether? Is it a purified version of it? A modified version, or...?"

"Well..." Having calmed down from the surprise the former’s question brought it, Zenith closed its eyes for a bit as it rummaged through its memories.

"You could say that Origin Essence is the most advanced and purest form of ether," it said after a while, spending a bit of time finding the right words to say. "It’s the final type of energy the civilization of Thymesion had made use of."

"In terms of what it can do, it’s similar to mana in most aspects. In fact, that’s more or less the reason why the civilization of Thymesion had chosen to use the energy as the basis for its power system," it continued. "However, it also does something that mana doesn’t."

Valyr raised his eyebrow in curiosity.

"It has the power to amplify itself," said Zenith in response, only to then turn silent.

"The power to amplify itself..." muttered the young man in return, the gears in his mind turning as he pondered over it. "Do you have to learn a skill to use it, or...?"

Zenith shook its head at the question.

"So... always active?"

The being nodded.

"Damn," the young man could not help but say. "When you say amplification, it means what I think it does, right?"

"It increases the potency of whatever it is used for, yes." Zenith nodded once more. "If you’re wondering how much it amplifies, it depends on how much Origin Essence you use."

"For simple spells like those at the Sage-to-be, Origin Essence boosts their potency by around 10%," it continued. "But for spells at the level of the Grand Sage, a 50% boost to potency is pretty much guaranteed."

"Wait..." Although Valyr was surprised to hear that the energy could boost spells to that extent, it also made him wonder about something else. "Since you mentioned that Origin Essence is the most advanced form of ether, then doesn’t that mean ether has that capability as well?"

"It does." Zenith nodded at that. "However, unlike Origin Essence, you would have to awaken that ability within the energy first through a series of spells."

"Then again, the first one to notice that ether has that kind of ability is none other than Veradine," it added, leaving the young man pondering over its words for a bit.

"The skill mentions that I have to first sense the trace existence of Origin Essence in the universe to practice it." Deciding not to think about her words any further, Valyr returned his train of thought back to where it was earlier. "If I’m understanding it correctly, does that mean I can try practicing the skill here?"

"You could practice the skill here, yes," answered Zenith. "However, it would be far harder to sense the existence of Origin Essence in a place like this, especially with time moving far faster here compared to the actual universe."

"Say it takes me a week to sense Origin Essence back outside," said Valyr as he gave its words a bit of thought. "If I were to try my hand at sensing it here, how long would it take me?"

"Best-case scenario, a year," replied the being without hesitation. "Worst-case scenario, five."

The young man could not help but suck in a breath of cold air after hearing that.

Zenith chuckled back at his reaction.

"Well, if it’s any consolation, since you’ve decided to help me out without knowing what it is, I’ll help you with practicing the skill," it said after some time, prompting the former’s eyes to widen in surprise. "But only up to the first realm of Origin Essence, though. After that, you’re on your own."

"Even getting started is more than enough," said Valyr as he began to thank Zenith. "But why did you specifically mention the fact that I did not know what I’d be helping you out with?"

"Because you would’ve gotten a worse version of the skill if you did," answered Zenith with a faint smile on its face. "If you asked me about it, you wouldn’t even know about the seventh realm. To be more specific, you wouldn’t know the existence of the realms at all."

"Reaching the first realm would be the ultimate limit for that skill. No further realm whatsoever," it said, giving Valyr the chills.

"...Is it really necessary for me to not know what I have to do before accepting it?"

"Yes." Zenith nodded as it conjured a barrier that separated them from the universe once more. "Because it involves information that the Apparatus is extremely wary of."

"...Creators?" asked Valyr, thinking back to the messages he got, as well as the lines of thought he went through just moments earlier.

Though, when Zenith heard the young man mention this term, the being looked back at him in complete surprise.

"Exactly." After spending a bit of time regaining its composure, the being replied to Valyr’s question. "Anything related to the Creators are things that the Apparatus keeps a very close eye on."

"I see." Hearing that, Valyr finally understood why both Vaughn and Zenith had conjured around them before approaching the topic. "So, what do you need help with?"

"In essence, it’s pretty simple," Zenith replied. "You just have to unite both Azradas and Veradine’s wills."

"...By that, do you mean I inherit Veradine’s will and have the two combine?"

"Precisely."

"...Can’t I do that now, though?" asked Valyr in return. "Seems simple enough."

"As I said, it’s simple in essence," Zenith reminded him. "Actually doing it is difficult. The memories you’ve obtained from Veradine is only a small chunk of it."

"For you to fully inherit her will, you would have to become an Ancient Sovereign at the very least," it continued. "Preferably, it would be best if you reach the Divine level first before inheriting the remaining portion of her memories."

"...It can’t be that bad, right?" said Valyr after a bit of silence.

"You almost lost your sense of self only after experiencing 25 years of her life," replied Zenith in return.

"...Right."

The young man fell silent once more.

"Now that I think about it... is there a reason why I have to unite their wills as one?" As he thought back to their conversation thus far, Valyr could not help but feel like the task Zenith gave him seemed off in some way. "Did something happen between them back then?"

"Something happened, alright." As Zenith responded to his question with a vague answer, the being sent a beam of light directly into the former’s forehead.

Whoosh!

Caught off guard by the beam, Valyr became angry at first, only to then realize that the beam contained what looked to be a snippet of a certain memory.

Curious to see why Zenith sent him a memory, he went and took a look at what it was.

Though, once he watched the two in the memory do some unspeakable things, he realized that when Adam said that the relationship between the two went beyond being on good terms...

He truly meant it.