MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1633: Breaking Barriers: The Final Trial (2)

”...I see.” Mulling over what Aeramis told him for a bit, another question soon popped up within the young man’s mind.

”Now that I think about it... is there a specific way in which I have to use the 15 opportunities? Or am I free to use the 15 opportunities in a way I see fit?”

”More of the latter,” replied the man, only to then clarify, ”However, I must remind you that you are not permitted to use all 15 opportunities on a single mark. You can only receive an infusion from a single mark three times at maximum.”

”Aside from that, however you use these three opportunities is solely up to you,” he continued. ”You could choose to use all three opportunities on the first mark, then use a single opportunity on the second to fifth marks... entirely up to you.”

”Understood.” With him obtaining clarification on the only doubt he had regarding the trial’s mechanics, the young man nodded in response to his words... only to pause for a bit as another question popped up in his mind yet again.

”Sorry if I seem like I’m asking too much questions, but...” Spending a bit of time to clarify what he wanted to ask, the young man let out a faint sigh as he finally asked Aeramis what he had in mind.

”You mentioned that the grades I receive from the five marks I choose would be averaged out by the end of it.”

”I did.” Aeramis nodded at those words.

”If that’s the case...” Ataraxia looked at the man with a slightly raised eyebrow. ”What kind of grades would I be able to receive during the trial?”

”There are four possible grades the marks can give you,” said the man in response, showing Ataraxia that the former was already prepared for the question long before he even asked it.

”The lowest grade you could obtain from a mark is superficial understanding.” The man’s expression was calm. ”From the name itself, it shows that your comprehension of your selected mark has only barely scratched the surface of what the mark has to offer.”

”Though such a level of understanding might make it possible for you to make use of the abilities attached to some of the marks, it goes without saying that the efficacy of an ability pales in comparison to what you could achieve with a higher level of understanding.”

Pausing for a bit, he then added, ”If this trial were placed in the middle of the entire trial order, the minimum threshold you would need to reach would be this level of understanding.”

After that, he shrugged with a slight smile. ”However, since this is the final trial, there’s no need to meet any minimum threshold of some sort.”

”Moving on to the next two grades, that would be deeper understanding and essence peering, respectively.”

”Similar to my explanation of superficial understanding just now, both deeper understanding and essence peering are quite self-explanatory.”

”Achieving deeper understanding means that your comprehension of the mark has reached a level below the surface, giving you the ability to retain parts of information on the mark outside the inheritance while also making greater use of what you’ve comprehended.”

”As for essence peering, it shows that you’ve reached the crux of the mark itself, giving you the ability to retain almost every facet of information that’s contained in the mark.”

”Aside from that, you’re able to use the ability or concept you’ve comprehended to a level near or at the same level of efficacy I’ve infused into the marks themselves.”

”Speaking of which, achieving this grade is my threshold for considering whether or not you’ve reached the limit of the fifth trial,” said Aeramis as he let out a slight chuckle.

”After all, with you having peered into the essence of the marks I’ve laid out, it’s only a matter of time before you reach the final grade for this trial, which is assimilation.”

”I suppose there’s no need to explain that part, yes?”

Though Ataraxia remained silent throughout the man’s entire explanation, the former nodded in response to the question, showing the latter that he understood what assimilation meant.

Then again, by giving it just a bit of thought, the definition of assimilation was also pretty self-explanatory.

If essence peering meant that one was able to reach the essence of the mark and make full use of what they’ve comprehended, then assimilation meant that one now had the ability to transform that essence into their own thing, giving one the ability to go far beyond the limits of what they’ve comprehended from the mark.

”Any further questions?” Seeing as the young man forwent the explanation for the final grade of the trial, Aeramis decided to officially start the trial then and there, only to hold himself back just in case Ataraxia still had more questions to ask.

Fortunately, the latter’s response showed that he was more than clear with what he needed to do for the trial, prompting the man to go ahead and give Ataraxia free rein over the nine pedestals he had laid out.

”Since there’s no more questions... let the fifth trial begin!”

Whoosh!

Considering that he had already taken a cursory glance at one of the pedestals before the fifth trial even began, Ataraxia felt that his best course of action for the meantime was to take a look at what each of the pedestals contained before proceeding to choose the marks he wanted to comprehend.

With that in mind, the young man asked Aeramis whether his opportunities would be eaten up if he were to only take a brief look at what each mark contained.

In response, the man told him that he was free to take cursory glances at the nine marks as much as he liked, though he also mentioned to Ataraxia that he should have included the question alongside his other ones before the trial began.

Wryly smiling at Aeramis’ words, the young man soon made his way towards the eight pedestals he had yet to take a look at, going over them one by one as he received a decent amount of information from each one of them.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Making sure that he wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the information the marks were giving him, it took him around half an hour to collate everything he received from the nine pedestals, giving him a better idea of which among the nine marks he should choose from the trial.

”Hmm...”