Chapter 1855: Putting into Practice

‘…Looks like there’s more to him than meets the eye.’

Noticing that the aura around the young man was undergoing a massive shift, a faint smile appeared on Zenith’s face as it thought about how long it took Valyr to start sensing the existence of Origin Essence.

To be honest, even before it had given the skill to him, Zenith already had no expectations for the young man whatsoever. In its eyes, the only thing that he needed to fulfill was to be the inheritor of Azradas’ will.

If he showed any sort of affinity for Origin Essence during his attempts, then great. But if he took the longest amount of time needed to sense it, then that was fine too.

After all, that was why it brought out the orb of True Origin Essence in the first place.

Plus, with the knowledge it had access to, it knew that Origin Essence was a type of energy wherein an affinity for it could only be sought after.

Then again, it wouldn’t be called one of the strongest types of energy in the universe for a reason.

But because it was one of the strongest types of energy in the universe, it was also one of the rarest types of energy one would naturally encounter in the universe.

With that in mind, it wasn’t surprised that Valyr’s attempts in the first two weeks yielded next to no progress in sensing Origin Essence.

However, when it decided to give him a bit more advice on how to sense the energy, it definitely did not expect the latter’s progress to speed up all of a sudden.

By the third week, the young man had finally found the opening he was looking for.

By the first month, Valyr had begun to hone in on the specific sensation Origin Essence gave him.

Spending a couple more weeks after that, the young man had seemingly pinpointed on the exact sensation that allowed his senses to resonate with Origin Essence.

And by the time two months had passed ever since he started his attempts…

Whoosh!

As if a set of jigsaw pieces were finally falling into place, the aura surrounding Valyr underwent a qualitative change, causing him to give off the feeling that he had become the center of the Void Core.

However, that feeling only lasted for a brief moment.

Soon, the otherworldly aura surrounding him began to disappear, eventually stabilizing at a level where Zenith felt like the young man had become a part of the Void Core instead.

Feeling like Valyr would meld with the Void Core as long as it took its eyes away from him for even a second, the smile on the being’s face grew wider as the young man opened his eyes with a calm expression.

“How do you feel?” Zenith asked him.

Glancing at the former for a bit, the young man turned to look at his hands, only to then shift his attention towards his body.

“It feels… weird,” he muttered, still processing his thoughts. “But it also feels like it should have been the case from the start.”

“It has that effect on you.” The being nodded in understanding. “Then again, it’s not called Origin Essence for a reason.”

Valyr nodded at those words.

“So, what finally allowed you to sense its existence?”

Hearing the question, the young man briefly went silent as the gears in his mind turned.

“There was one piece of advice you gave me,” he said, clenching his fists as he adjusted to his current senses. “You mentioned that Origin Essence exists throughout the entire universe.”

“I did.” Zenith nodded once more. “Was that the breakthrough point?”

“Partly.”

“Partly?”

“It was when you reminded me that sensing Origin Essence doesn’t rely on comprehension,” Valyr replied. “When I heard that, it felt as if the fog ahead of me had begun to clear up.”

“Then, there was the advice you gave,” he continued. “Now that I’ve sensed the existence of Origin Essence, only now do I realize that I should have focused my attention in that direction from the very start.”

Recalling the skill’s description, the young man remembered reading that he needed to first sense the trace existence of Origin Essence in the universe before he could practice the skill.

However, rather than keep that thought in mind, he instead took on a more abstract approach during his first attempts.

Even though the fact that he was trying to sense Origin Essence within the Void Core further proved the skill’s point.

“Once I focused on that point, everything eventually fell into place,” the young man said, only to then look at Zenith with curiosity. “Speaking of which, how long did it take me to finally sense Origin Essence?”

“Two months,” the latter replied, causing the former to look back at it in slight surprise. “The fact that it only took you that much time with the orb tells me that you have a decent affinity with Origin Essence.”

“In any case, now that you’ve finally sensed its existence, it’s time for you to try the skill out.”

Being reminded by Zenith’s words, Valyr took in a deep breath to compose himself as he prepared to practice [Seven Realms Origin Essence Physique] for the first time.

‘Sense, absorb, convert, and assimilate…’ Bringing up the step-by-step instructions needed to practice the technique in his mind, the young man spent some time familiarizing himself with the four steps.

Of course, with him having finally sensed the existence of Origin Essence, most of his attention were on the three other steps, which involved moving the Origin Essence he absorbed along a specific pathway through his body.

Once he felt like he had more or less memorized the pathway needed for the technique, Valyr let out a soft exhale as he began his first circulation.

Whoosh!

Closing his eyes, he attuned himself to his surroundings as he focused on the feeling Origin Essence gave him.

Then, utilizing that feeling, he began to tug on it, causing trace amounts of Origin Essence to seemingly manifest out of thin air as they all began to make their way into Valyr’s body.

Gathering all of it at a certain point in his body, the young man stopped gathering Origin Essence from the surroundings after the Origin Essence in his body had reached the size of a rice grain.

Although the size made him wonder whether that amount was enough for him to complete the first circulation, moving on with the third and fourth step allowed him to understand that it was indeed more than enough for it.

Eventually, after two hours had passed, the young man slowly opened his eyes as he felt his body become slightly stronger than before.

‘The improvement isn’t really all that noticeable.’ Spending some time acquainting himself with slightly increased strength, Valyr inwardly shook his head. ‘Then again, it’s only the first circulation. I still have 99 more to do if I want to complete the first realm.’

Recalling how the skill mentioned that each circulation improved the body to varying degrees, the young man went ahead and brought up its description to see how much it had really improved.

Ding!

————

[Seven Realms Origin Essence Physique] (Lv. MAX)

Rarity: ???

Detection, absorption, conversion, and assimilation.

Most of the description has been omitted.

Current Realm of Origin Essence: Conceptual | 1%

Realms Yet to Be Achieved: Illusory, False, True, Void, Chaos, Primordial

Current Effects:

> 0.02% boost to all stats

> 0.02% boost to Attack and Defense

> 0.1% boost to maximum HP and MP

> 0.2% boost to HP and MP regeneration rate

Additional Effects from Origin Essence:

> None

[Note: Reaching the realm of True Origin will undoubtedly attract the attention of the Apparatus. If one does not have what it takes to become a Defier of Fate, one is highly advised to avoid pushing the technique to the realms of Void Origin and further.]

————

‘Huh.’ After finding out how much one circulation gave him, the young man briefly fell into pensive thought as he calculated how much the skill would boost after he completed all 100 circulations.

‘It’s actually good,’ thought Valyr after he got his answer. ‘In a way, it’s equivalent to an Epic or Legendary-grade title.’

‘And that’s only after I complete the first realm.’

Curious to see how much his strength would improve after exceeding the second realm, Valyr soon began his second circulation as he went through the four-step process all over again.

‘If the skill already boosts my abilities to that degree after completing the first realm…’

‘I can only imagine what kind of additional effects the skill would have the moment I ascend it.’

Hope to see you there!