Chapter 137: The Birth of Machiavelli

Author’s Note: Here’s to another volume and another journey in this novel! Big congratulations to me for completing the first volume. I had a tough time writing it because I’ve only gotten back into writing in the past few months, and I’m still trying to find my writing style. But I’m getting the hang of it.

I had to stop writing because of university back then. I mainly wrote Romance and Fantasy stories, sometimes with a little bit of Mystery. I even wrote a Detective-Sherlock-ish type of novel back then. Kekeke. I still have some of my novels in my drafts, but they were incomparably shorter than this one.

Volume II will be a blast. There will be many fights in it, and the worldbuilding will be amazing! I’m trying to make this novel with the thought that it should mostly be unique. Cheers to more Chapters and volumes!

I will bring out quality Chapters for you guys.

(ᵕ ´ ∇ ˋ ˶)

By the way, Volume II’s first Chapter will be a bit long, but the succeeding Chapters will be shorter. Also, updates will be slower because I need to write more Chapters on my other novel faster. It needs to catch up before October hits. But I will still update at least one Chapter every day! Good news also: privilege Chapters will be cheaper in October! It’ll be very, very cheap!

Anyway, best of luck to me! Btw, if you’d give me a Castle, it’d be wonderful! (Practically begging.)

Let’s dive into the Prime Continuum now!

◇ ─────────── ◇

Marek died that day on Earth.

It took him quite a while to get back on his feet after everything that happened. His mother leaving him was better than what happened to Mara. The former was temporary; the latter... well, permanent.

Now, he was left all alone, like a broken kite that had tried to fly higher until a gust of wind pushed it back to reality. He only wished he could have the power to defy reality and bring his sister back, but none of that could happen.

Even when he had powers. Even when Rhovan had some unusual powers. Even when Venielle was a High-Cycle herself. Death was inevitable for all beings, something even the most powerful ones could not reverse.

Marek was forced to accept that reality, but it did not mean he was just going to leave it at that. If his mindset before was to get stronger because he wanted to find the truth about his father, this time, he wanted more. He wanted to reach the stage where he could bring his sister back to life.

He wanted to make it possible!

"Are there cases in the Prime Continuum where someone could bring another person back to life?" he once asked Rhovan.

Rhovan just looked at him while leisurely lying down on a self-made golden recliner. "There are."

That ignited something inside Marek.

He desired to reach that stage.

"However, first and foremost, there’s one thing I want to do," Marek said. "I’ve already killed a person before, so why not add that woman to the list?"

Rhovan, who heard Marek’s thoughts, shivered at the thought. He was not afraid. He just felt ecstatic and thrilled about what could come next.

However, for the first several days after the funeral, Marek was found just sitting in the corner of an institute. No one bothered to talk to him. Not even Rhovan tried to comfort him. They just left him alone. As some people would say, solitude heals you better than having someone trying to comfort you. It would not apply to some, but they thought perhaps Marek preferred solitude.

"You have to eat, Ophiarch," Rhovan said. "It’s been days since you last ate. You’ve become thinner and thinner. It hurts me to see you like this."

Even the quirky Nadia chimed in and said, "Yeah, I agree. You need to eat. If you want to avenge your little sister, you have to keep moving forward."

What Nadia just said switched something inside him. From that moment onwards, it was like something pushed him to do everything he could to get his body into shape. Unlike the first days when he only slept whenever exhaustion kicked in, he’d sleep early and wake up early just to do some workout routines.

He ignored everything else. Even the government notices did not seem important to him anymore. People were looking for him, he knew, but he didn’t care. He could hide inside this institute for as long as he could. He had people around him who could help, people who still believed he could weather through these hardships with them.

"You feel more alive, kid?" Dario asked, his voice sounding concerned.

"Ophiarch—"

"He sure does," Kellan cut Rhovan off. "He’s a strong kid. Look at him doing push-ups like he was in the military. I would not be able to do that every day. That’s too exhausting."

"I watch anime a lot, so perhaps he’ll become the next Saitama?" Silas entered the conversation, which earned him strange looks from the others there. "What? Didn’t Saitama do the same every day until he got so overpowered?"

"You never told us you liked anime that much," Nadia remarked. "I thought you were all just investigations and stuff."

"I also have a life outside that, okay?" Silas complained.

"Heh! So you like anime, huh? You probably liked those girls in those anime—"

"I also saw you watching p*rn earlier. You saved the videos on your phone and named the folder Back-Up. I was surprised you were able to keep a phone while you were in the detention center. Your family must be filthy rich."

"You—" Kellan’s face heated up. "I’m not watching things like that on my phone!"

Silas grinned. "No need to deny it, Kelli. I have enhanced senses, so I can see little details."

Rafe then raised one hand and said, "I can attest to that. I’ve also seen him watch it several times."

"See?" Silas grinned even more. "Rafe agrees."

"You guys are disgusting!" Nadia shouted.

Dario, from the side, also blushed as he thought about it. Eren just looked at the group with amusement. Rhovan, on the other hand, was annoyed because they ignored him.

"Fuck you all!" Kellan just went to one corner and hugged his knees, gripping his phone in one hand.

"I thought you went to one corner just to jer—"

"Shut up!"

Their days after Mara died were just filled with those. It wasn’t bad, and it kept Marek sane while he was training with them. Apparently, all of them had to train hard. Rhovan had specifically told them that even the Ophiarch himself trained like there was no tomorrow; what right did they have to slack off?

"With that wooden sword in your hand, crafted by none other than me, I think we can start training now, Ophiarch?" Rhovan said as he looked at Marek’s determined expression.

Marek just nodded and thrust his sword toward Rhovan without thinking about anything else. His mind was as clear as a still ocean. Well, the thought of avenging his sister contributed to it the most.

As the training went on, Rhovan told him many things.

Although he could contain dangerous conditions inside his Astral Mark, it didn’t mean he could fight by relying on that. If he encountered someone who wanted to kill him, the probability of him surviving was close to none.

Hell, it was even quite a miracle that he survived everything back then. Lady Luck must have been with him that time.

"Lady Luck?" Rhovan asked, confused. "There’s no such thing as Lady Luck, right?"

"Gentleman Luck doesn’t even exist," Marek joked.

Then, they continued.

The others also had to train their asses off because otherwise, Rhovan would torture them like a demon. He would just grin widely at them with a golden whip in his hand. That terrified them the most. Even Nadia and Kellan, who were usually verbally active, were traumatized and barely spoke anymore.

Rhovan’s first lesson for Marek had nothing to do with the concept of Authority. He just made him recognize some useful things when fighting someone. If he was fighting a group of people, he should be able to recognize which among them would attack first. He should also know where someone would naturally move when protecting an injured arm, or even how to lead a fight toward something he’d planned to do before the fight could even begin.

After that, Rhovan taught him basic footwork, quite similar to dance-type footwork, feints, and how Rhovan could predict every move he would make, even just by looking at his shoulders while they fought.

After several days, the difference between the group who wandered through the city and the group as they were now had become glaringly obvious. They’d even do group fights, where it’d either be Rhovan as their sole opponent, or they’d divide themselves into two groups and fight against one another. Rhovan was apparently trying to see their group dynamics and how they’d work together against an opponent.

There were some recognizable habits, but after Rhovan pointed them out, the group would do their best to avoid them, especially if those would be detrimental to any one of them.

Day after day, they trained probably harder than anyone on Earth. While the government and everyone else were busy with administrative and mundane tasks, the group continued to improve themselves.

Kellan had apparently reached Degree IV, the Integration Stage, of the Way of the Aries. He was so happy that he got ahead of the other detainees and thought of celebrating his achievement by challenging Rhovan.

Well... he could not even last four seconds.

He even tried to defend himself by saying that the ground was slippery for him to move properly, but everyone knew he was just babbling nonsense. They just let him be, except for Silas, who did not give him any face at all.

Silas also reached Degree IV next. However, his advancement was almost anti-climactic. He never announced it like Kellan did. In his fight with Rhovan, Marek noticed that he was harder to fool than that fool Kellan himself.

Eventually, Nadia also reached the same Degree IV.

Meanwhile, Eren and Rafe remained at Degree III, Stability Stage. Both kept a poker face, seemingly unbothered by how the others were ahead of them. Eren had better control over his Authority than before, while Rafe had improved at maintaining routes through damaged areas. Navigation was always his thing, and his Authority in the Way of the Sagittarius was miles better than before.

Dario, on the other hand, did not talk much about his advancement. Whenever training had become more physical, his Taurus Authority would shine more than most. After all, his Taurus Authority technically represented great strength and vigor.

On the other hand, Marek had reached a point where bruises and wounds did not bother him anymore. ’What are wounds and bruises when the prize I could get from this is becoming stronger?’

One afternoon, while Kellan was complaining about how Silas and the others still teased him for watching inappropriate stuff, Rhovan got himself an old portable board. He dragged it into the institute’s yard like a teacher prepared to teach his students some magic and cool stuff.

On the board, Rhovan wrote, in Earth’s language, the Sunblind Periods for the Thirteen Signs, highlighting especially the six detainees’ Signs and Marek’s.

Marek had already memorized every date, while the others were still blind to some of the concepts behind them.

Aries — April 19 to May 13.

Taurus — May 14 to June 21.

Gemini — June 22 to July 20.

Libra — October 30 to November 22.

Scorpius — November 23 to November 29.

Ophiuchus — November 30 to December 17.

Sagittarius — December 18 to January 19.

Looking at the dates, Kellan scratched the side of his head. He didn’t quite understand everything, just like the other detainees, especially Dario, who was clearly brawn over brains.

Dario slapped Kellan’s back and said, "You’re first in line, man!"

Silas just looked at Kellan.

Eren and the others were just staring at Rhovan, seemingly waiting for his explanation about these things.

Rhovan set his eyes on Kellan. "Kellan, you’re first, so you have to listen well, although you may not understand it well. Yours will arrive in about three days. After all, you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed."

Kellan glared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Still as clueless as ever," Silas said, sighing. "Just listen."

"Anyway," Rhovan continued, completely ignoring him. He then materialized a thin golden stick and pointed at the Aries’ Sunblind Period. "You don’t need Degree V for Sunblind to affect you; that’s what every one of you should remember. Your Degree III or IV won’t excuse you from experiencing it. Every one of us, including me, will go through the same thing."

Then, he moved forward.

During a Sunblind Period, the Authority belonging to a specific Sign would weaken. Techniques that they had mastered or had basically become comfortable using would suddenly require more effort. Things that an Astrant unconsciously relied upon became easier to notice because they would stop working during this period.

At Degree V, however, it was a different case. That weakness was there for another reason. An Astrant could truthfully satisfy the Condition or requirement belonging to the identity of their current Cycle and become eligible to cross into the next one.

Eren and the others had not reached that point yet, and Rhovan actually thought they were geniuses themselves because they were faster than anyone else he knew in terms of advancing from one Degree to another.

"Humans often make the mistake of thinking that Sunblind only matters when you’re prepared to advance. Sunblind doesn’t prepare you for anything, actually," he explained while Kellan was practicing behind them and nearly struck Dario in the face. "Kelli, stay put and listen first."

"I told you not to call me that name! Fuck!" Kellan looked incensed.

Rhovan, however, once again ignored him. "Where was I? Hmm, so yeah, humans only care about the reward at the end."

Marek took notes and then asked, "So what happens to someone who isn’t Degree V?"

"They suffer," Rhovan said. "They suffer the weakness they were never used to."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Rhovan. The term "suffer" was something that had existed in their vocabulary ever since this all began. However, they did not yet know on what scale they would suffer during the said Period.

"However, if they went through it, they’d be stronger than they were before," Rhovan continued, not bothering to explain how they would pull through it. "So basically, an Astrant who went through Sunblind before full Mastery of their Authority had nothing to cross into. They could not complete the formal transition into another Cycle, but they could still experience what remained when their current Authority stopped carrying as much of their weight."

According to him, it was like sharpening yourself like a knife. They’d become better and better the more they experienced Sunblind Periods. While Degree V is the limit of their mastery over their Authority, as they always said, limits were meant to be surpassed.

Some of the Astrants’ habits disappeared after the Sunblind Period. Sometimes, they’d have better control over their techniques because their control over their Authority had improved by miles.

Rhovan called this process shedding.

Three days later, Kellan entered Aries’ Sunblind Period.

Within the first two days, his Authority weakened. Some movements that he was comfortable doing before started to become taxing. They required more effort to perform.

"Do not force your Authority out. Let it settle and weaken," Rhovan advised. "Again!"

Kellan kept on repeating the same exercises Rhovan made him do before until he could fight properly without relying too much on what his Authority could do.

On the fifth day, Kellan, having lost so much of his Authority, became more noticeably exhausted after training. However, while his stamina went down, he learned how to stop wasting his movements. Even his Authority failed to respond the way he expected it to respond.

Marek observed everything from the side and immediately understood what Rhovan meant. They could get stronger with each Sunblind Period. Everyone followed. The next was Dario’s Sunblind, followed by Nadia’s, and finally, Marek’s was just a month away.

One evening, Marek asked Rhovan, "Can a Cycle I defeat a Cycle II if the former has experienced more Sunblinds than the latter?"

Rhovan, sitting on his golden cushion-like recliner, nodded with grace.

Kellan and the others, who had finished their Sunblind Periods, enthusiastically sparred with one another. They had gotten stronger than before and could easily defeat Silas and Rafe, who had yet to experience their Sunblind.

"WAHAHAHA!" Kellan felt so good when he was able to easily defeat Silas and Rafe, especially Silas, who always mocked him. "Serves you right!"

"A hollow victory," Silas taunted. "Don’t count your chickens before they hatch."

"No matter! I still won! WAHAHA!"

Marek ignored them and went back to Rhovan. "Does Cycle still matter, then, if someone has experienced more Sunblinds than a higher-Cycle Astrant? Won’t everyone choose to remain within the Cycle until they think they can beat everyone higher than them?"

"You’re thinking about it incorrectly, Ophiarch," Rhovan began, sipping on some juice he got from somewhere no one knew.

"How am I incorrect?"

Rhovan then sat upright and looked toward the detainees who were still fighting, both verbally and physically. "Cycles still matter, Ophiarch. Higher Cycles, after all, possess greater Authority, greater access to that Authority, and things lower Cycles simply could not reproduce. While I agree that a Cycle I can beat a Cycle II, there are only a handful of them who could do so in a fight using pure Authority alone. Moreover, the higher the Cycle is, the more useless this mechanic becomes. Unless one advances to the same level as the one they want to defeat, they need to cross their Cycle and enter a higher one."

At lower levels, it would still be useful, since being Cycle II did not automatically mean someone was better than every Cycle I. A higher floor would still collapse if its foundation was weak.

Marek then asked another question. "If I reach Cycle II soon after my Sunblind, will I become weaker than a Cycle I? Could I remain at Cycle I and delay the fulfillment of the Condition I need to pass through during the Sunblind Period?"

Rhovan’s expression changed into something else. "You?"

"Yes, me. What’s wrong?" Marek frowned. "Did I say something inaccurate? I was just asking."

Rhovan then shook his head as he sighed. "That’s not it, oh Dear Ophiarch. It’s something else entirely."

"What do you mean?"

Rhovan then smiled at him. Something about that smile projected a sense of resignation. "You’re built differently, Ophiarch. I can feel it. You don’t need that constant shedding like everyone else. As far as I can remember, in the past—"

A headache coursed through Rhovan’s head as he grabbed his hair tightly.

"What happened?" Marek asked, looking at Rhovan, who was grimacing in pain.

"My head hurts..." Rhovan replied as he felt better after a while.

’I’m built differently? What’s so special about me? What does Rhovan know that I don’t? Why did it feel like there were some things he couldn’t say?’

Marek was riddled with such questions and even more than he could list. His existence itself was questionable, as he could see some kind of interface that other Ophiuchus could not. Apparently, he could no longer hide it from Rhovan, but the latter felt so happy that he strangely jumped around the institute like a grasshopper untied.

’What’s going on with him? And who’s Rhovan really?’

By the time Marek’s Sunblind was less than a month away, everyone prepared themselves to leave Earth completely and enter a wider world. While he could not go directly to the House of Gemini to demand an explanation, he thought he’d build his strength first before anything else.

And where better could he spread his influence while also discovering something else?

It was his only lead to his dad. This was the only House he could think of going to. After all, going to the House of Aquarius might not let him meet his mom. It would be stupid for his mother to remain there when Marek could just go there and find her.

So, there could only be one House he could go to.

The House of Libra.

However, there was one problem left. Rhovan brought it up one night while they sat on the institute’s roof, talking about some things. Far below, Kellan and Nadia were arguing, while the others were enjoying it like they were watching a movie.

"If you crossed one of the Roads using your real identity, the Prime Continuum would receive a nineteen-year-old Ophiuchus from Earth named Marek Vale," Rhovan said.

From the university to the exhibition center, his name was on every record as a special one, an Ophiuchus who could diagnose anyone with words only he could see. Too many people already knew who Marek Vale was.

Dr. Mercer might already know who he was. Venielle, who disappeared from them, already knew him. Sareth, especially, a Cycle VIII Errant, also knew him.

Marek had been thinking about that for several days.

Finally, on the day they were about to depart, he said, "I’ll use another name."

Rhovan did not ask immediately and waited for Marek to tell him the name he chose for himself.

Marek looked beyond the edge of the roof. Earth was still there. His mother’s last trail was still here, and Mara’s grave was here as well.

And so was he.

"Newton," he finally said.

Rhovan raised one brow, curious about what name the Ophiarch would choose.

"..."

He then completed the new name he had chosen.

"Newton. I will be Newton Machiavelli."