Too Stubborn to Die

Panting and taking a moment to admire his new loot, Aaron straightened. The Well of Truths sounded pretty cryptic.The description said that it helped the truths of its beholder, and he wondered what exactly that meant.

“Have you recovered yet?” Yendal said.

“Getting there,” Aaron said. “One more Rattus con caramel and I should be good. By the way, what’s a Well of Truths?” he said, gulping down the chunky milkshake he had fished from his scabbard and smiling.

“Something you’d best figure out for yourself. Truths are delicate things. Concepts that govern how you understand the world. Something as simple as an explanation could influence your understanding of the object—” Yendal coughed. “I’ve already said too much.”

Aaron’s brow arched. What a curious answer, he thought. Were truths so delicate that someone explaining theirs could alter one’s own? Or was it the power difference between them? After all, Aaron was but an infant looking at a god.

“Fine. I get it, or at least I think I do. Anyway, I’m down,” Aaron said, scooping out the last of his chunky shake from the cup with his finger.

The shake was one of the lesser recipes he had come up with, and didn’t provide worthwhile boons. However, it still filled his stomach, and there was no point wasting good food.

“Wipe your mouth.”

“Oh, my bad.”

“Better,” she sighed. “Okay, before we jump back into training, I wanted to talk. You did well with that Skill mutation, but we have limited time, and soon enough, you’ll need to head back to the trials.”

“You’re right about that.”

“We want to make the most of your time here, but that doesn’t mean you have to rush things. Unless there’s another Title you think you can grab within the trials, we might as well focus on delving deeper into your path. The inspiration within my divine realm is unlike anything you’ll experience for quite some time.”

“Right… I might be able to grab another Title. I’m not entirely sure. There’s none that particularly stand out, but I haven’t put as much effort into it as I probably can.”

“I see. Titles are some of the most valuable assets you can pick up in the multiverse, and the trials are one of the best places to get them. That being said, there’s no point in missing out on both. For now, we focus on training, see how far you can push. If you work hard enough, you should be able to return to the trials with a few days remaining. And if you train here with that title in mind, your progress toward achieving it will be much quicker than it would be in the trials.”

“Makes sense,” said Aaron, nodding

“Now onto the important stuff. As I mentioned, divine realms are filled with inspiration. They are an embodiment of god, after all. I’m sure you’ve felt it by now. My truths and the inspirations from my ascension are what hold this place together.”

“Building blocks that date back to the very start of it all. The ideas that took me all the way from a clueless mortal to godhood, so many eons ago. My divine realm is an accumulation of all my ideas—a record of my Path. In a way, you could say my divine realm is a much truer representation of the Martial God than I am.”

Aaron nodded with fascination as she spoke, eyes locked on hers the entire time.

“This is what makes training in a divine realm so valuable for someone such as yourself. Even I myself am affected by the power of this place. So, you can probably grasp some understanding of its ability to supercharge your inspiration and help propel you toward progressing Skill mutations. If you had more time, perhaps it would help you reach even greater achievements.”

“Wait, so being here isn’t going to mess with my own truths? Also, why now? Why bring me here with such limited time? Why not after the trials, or something?”

“Firstly, no. As long as you’re only using my divine realm for inspiration, it shouldn’t have any negative effects. And secondly, because I can’t. The barrier around your universe will block most things, and whilst there are limited means of getting around it, I won’t be able to bring you here. Perhaps I could have attempted bringing you here earlier in the trials, but you had to convince me it was worth it. After all, you’re the first mortal I’ve brought here in eons.”

Aaron’s eyes widened at that. Yendal taking his training seriously wasn’t new to him, but was entering her divine realm as a mortal, really that rare? That surely meant something, but he tried to hide shock from his face. Now wasn’t the time for distractions. He had to train.

“Don’t worry about all that,” Yendal continued. “What I want you to do is take some time and think about your progress. To consider which Skill you might want to improve, and focus on it. With your focus concentrated, the inspiration in this place will coalesce and empower your drive more than you have ever experienced. This is how we’ll drag out another mutation before you have to leave.”

Aaron nodded. That sounded like something he could do.

With that thought in mind, he considered his options. First, he began by excluding the Skills that he wasn’t ready to mutate. For example, his Reverse Cycle Faux Core had already mutated and was neither sure where to take it from there nor confident he could mutate it a second time so soon. The same could be said about Turbocharged Haymaker and Spectral Bullet Punch. Whilst Equal and Opposite was an extraordinary divine Skill passed down from Yendal, and he doubted he could create anything better, and so it too was crossed off the list.

As for Soul Vortex, he had only just received it and hadn’t even had a proper chance to test it out. Even if he could mutate it already, he had no idea what he wanted to do with it until he could test it out properly.

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Next up was Soul Shattering Strike, which was already OP as it was. Could it get stronger? Maybe, but that wasn’t a risk he wanted to take. The last thing Aaron wanted to do was to go messing around with his strongest Skill and screw things up. Especially not when he didn’t have a clear idea of how to improve it.

He also crossed off Gorgon’s Time Dilation. The main reason was that he didn’t know how it worked, let alone how he would go about improving it. The only obvious option was a version that required less mana to use. And whilst time dilation was undoubtedly useful, he wasn’t entirely sure how he would use it to beat Mo’han. It was a powerful Skill, sure, but against someone like Mo’han, it would only give him marginal improvements to his reaction time and would otherwise just let him watch in slow motion as Mo’han punched a hole through his chest. Although a version of the Skill that more seamlessly integrated with the rest of his style did seem like an interesting upgrade for a later date.

As for his Profession Skills, he crossed them all off the list. And whilst Adipose Fusion and Conductive Gut were undoubtedly powerful Skills that were useful in combat, he felt fiddling with them would be best done under Oozagh’s guidance. He also wasn’t entirely sure how he wanted to improve them beyond just making them better.

Which left him with something he had wanted to upgrade for a very long time. Gust Step.

The rather simple yet effective Skill had become a cornerstone of his style. And furthermore, it wasn’t even a Skill he had unlocked through his Class, but something he had been rewarded in the trials.

Not only that, but he could also think of countless ways to improve it. Lower energy cost was an obvious answer, but he had to choose; he would make it faster and propel himself over greater distances. He already used it as a speed boost, so if he could delve deeper into that aspect of the Skill, it would be a great boon.

But there was more to it than just that. He wanted the Skill to be his own. Something that matched his path more intimately than the current Skill did.

“I have a Skill called Gust Step,” he finally spoke up, breaking the long silence that had formed.

“Very well. Come, let’s meditate. Find your foundation, and then test it against the clones when you’re ready.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They made their way to a calming room, and a monkey gently banged a gong as Aaron lowered himself to sit cross-legged opposite Yendal.

“You’ll find that meditation here within my divine realm is supremely more powerful than anywhere else. Just close your eyes and forget about everything but the Skill you want to focus on. Let your inner truths guide you. The ambient power of this place will subconsciously aid you.”

Aaron did as he was told, closing his eyes and almost instantly drifting away. He hadn’t expected that. For a hot-headed thrill seeker, he had gotten awfully good at meditation. However, doing it within Yendal’s divine realm was on a completely different level from the meditation room in the trials.

It was as if something were guiding him, and his inner mind wandered off on an adventure of self-exploration almost as soon as he had closed his eyes.

The destination he took was a dreamy blur, but it somehow made sense as if a greater tapestry was gradually forming within. Something that meant something profound, but was yet to understand itself.

This was the concept behind his path, Aaron realized. It was disjointed and confused, but that was synonymous with where he was in his journey, and it was of little surprise to him.

Wandering through this murky and mysterious place, his meditation dragged on for hours, and gradually, he started to comprehend the foundations that he had started to lay.

Almost immediately, he understood his desire to mutate Gust Step more than ever before. In truth, it wasn’t a terrible Skill, but it wasn’t him, or at least the way it formed wasn’t.

At its heart, Gust Step was a wind-based Skill, and as he delved into it, letting his inner mind feel the Skill as if he were one with it, he found himself soaring through cloudy skies at breakneck speeds.

He felt the wind rushing around him, and tornadoes forming as the sound barrier burst around him.

He felt himself delving deeper into the truths of the sky itself. The rushing wind and the gentle breeze. The relationship between temperature and pressure.

The sensation was utterly amazing, and for a moment, he had forgotten what he had come to do, basking in the swirling wind all around, but suddenly, it all felt very wrong.

Aaron gritted his teeth and willed himself back from the metaphorical edge, and his eyes sprang open.

He had let his mind wander too much, with too few constraints, and he had felt himself at a precipice, close to making a very big mistake.

However, as dangerous as it was, it had come with a realization. He could feel it. The truths gathering within. He had come very close to accidentally embracing an affinity.

He wasn’t sure why exactly he had come so close to embracing wind when Gust Step was his only connection to it. He was meditating about Gust Step, but embracing an affinity shouldn’t have been that easy unless…

Was the divine realm truly that powerful? So powerful that it could bring on a breakthrough with an affinity that he had little connection to? The answer was probably yes, he thought. And it hit home for him just how much of an advantage coming here was.

He considered for a moment changing what he was meditating about. If he could do it with wind, it seemed very likely he could find another affinity, but he restrained himself. An affinity would no doubt be powerful, but as powerful as affinities were, they were also restrictive. Adding an affinity would forever alter his mana, and he wasn’t yet ready to take that step.

With a reluctant sigh, Aaron strained himself. He needed to understand his path more before deciding which affinity suited him, as it wasn’t something he could just change on a whim.

Also, if Yendal had considered it a good idea, she likely would have mentioned it.

Returning to his meditation, his close call made him a little wary of delving too deeply into his Gust Step, but then he got an idea. Part of his problem was that Gust Step was a wind-based Skill.

He wanted to make it his own, right? Well, then that needed to change.

His brow bent as he wrangled his inner eye. This time, he didn’t let himself wander aimlessly, but pressed his spirit into his thoughts. He focused on himself and what made him powerful, drawing from his spirit and aether as he envisioned himself flying through the sky, powered by his own soul.

The lucidity of the vision grew as the meditation session dragged on, and he stubbornly molded the Skill to his own desires. The wind called to him, but he rejected it, instead forcing his mind to focus on the mobility aspect instead, and how it would merge more closely with himself. Combined with the fact that he was drawing on his aether as he meditated, a new version of the Skill soon began to form in his mind.

This was what he wanted, he realized. This was what had been bothering him. A chink in his armor that needed repairing.

Aaron mightn’t have been ready to pick an affinity, at least not until he knew more of what that entailed, but he was ready to embrace spirit power over wind power when it came to his Gust Step.

Several hours passed as he was lost in meditation before Yendal broke it with a snap of her fingers that resounded like a boom.

“I can feel it. Inspiration. You’re overflowing with it. We should make our way to the training grounds.”

Aaron smiled as his eyes peeled open and nodded. It was time.