Chapter 418: Conceptual Magic
Edward looked at the title description and reward and felt it was underwhelming; he thought they should have given something better, given how grand the description sounded.
'Huh?" he muttered as he looked at the description of "bending certain rules of reality to their whim,' thinking of something.
"So, Conceptual Magic is a lesser form of Reality Warping? Then, why not try to become a reality warper?" Edward was sure there was some world out there that made it easier to become one of the devastating Reality Warpers like Max Faraday.
He's a comic character Edward once read about. He was nothing but an ordinary person but accidentally downloaded something on his computer called the Creation Equation. After reading it, he gained the power to alter reality to his whim. In front of someone like Max, Edward guessed even Tier 11 Entities like Truth would be nothing but a joke.
"Reality Warpers are broken. I should look into them."
Edward accessed the record and searched for information about reality warpers and if there was a connection with Conceptual Magic.
'So, that's how it is,' he muttered with some understanding. Ninety-nine percent of Reality Warpers are limited by the universe they are from. As such, if they travel to another universe, they lose their omnipotent power. However, Conceptual Magic can be used in most universes as long as a mage's Willpower reaches eight and can be used in every universe once it reaches 10. Furthermore, Archmage can use their conceptual magic to fight reality warpers and acquire some level of immunity.
Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Some of the reality warpers are as omnipotent in any universe. And the ones who used Chaos or Eldritch Magic, like Wanda Maximoff, can also bend reality anywhere.
Furthermore, Tier 12 Powerhouses are immune to most reality warping.
"That makes sense. Otherwise, Conceptual Magic is not as important as I believed it to be," commented Edward before preparing to see what benefit his increased authority level granted him.
"Hahahaha."
He suddenly heard a burst of familiar laughter and closed the screen before him. He saw an old man looking at him with a brilliant smile.
"You've achieved Conceptual Magic so soon? I thought it would take longer," said Old Man Merline with a smile. "And you only did in Tier 8. Not bad, not bad."
"You seem too happy."
"I was tired of the other old guys always talking about how great their disciples were. Now, I can finally brag my disciple is as good as them–if not better."
Merlin seemed to think about something and laughed again. "Besides that guy Toussaint, no one can laugh at me again."
"Tousaint?"
"Toussanit Louverture."
"The Haitian general that led their rebellion in the 1700s?" he asked after searching his memories of Earth's history.
"Yes, him. After his death, he was chosen to reincarnate from Primordial Earth into a world of magic. He rose from the bottom to my level. And his disciple is another monster, acquiring Conceptual Magic at only Tier 7."
'Toussaint, Salomon, and the old man: that's the three big shots I know,' thought Edward, not caring about someone being better than him; he was never arrogant to believe he was the best–especially when he knew how vast the Omniverse was.
. "Is it hard to acquire conceptual magic?"
"Willpower is a unique attribute in this universe, hence the reason that even Tier 10 entities will only have a scale of 2. Most people will only develop conceptual magic after Tier 12 and even higher. However, some genius can get it in Tier 10, and only the golden generation will acquire it in Tier 9 and 8."
Edward pondered for a while and felt when Merlin talked about the universe; he was referring to the Omniverse, not just one universe. Furthermore, there might be some bigger secret behind the Willpower attribute.
"What's the golden generation?"
"Basically, they are a few of my peers' talented disciples that underwent extreme and cruel training."
"Am I a part of the golden generation?"
"No, but if you want, I can put you in the program."
"No, thanks."
"Good, I didn't want to send you anyway."
Edward ignored this old man's eccentricities as he was used to them. "Why?"
"They are too extreme, so I don't like them."
"Extreme?"
"Yes, even compared to you, they are too extreme."
Edward did not know what to say. Although he always considered himself Neutral Evil, he knew many of his actions were simply villainous and irreprehensible. But Merlin described these people as extreme compared to him, so he could not imagine how bad they were.
More importantly, why were these horrifying bosses training their disciples to be like this?"
"Don't think too much," said Merlin. "However, be prepared. After you reach Tier 12, I will give you some missions, and you might have to interact with them. And as you reach higher Tiers, I will send you to the battlefield."
Edward nodded before asking another question, "Is conceptual magic so important?"
"To reach my level, control of the rules is required. So, the earlier you contact them, the more advantage you will have in the future."
"I understand." Edward read a few Chinese light novels in his youth and could understand the concept.
"Okay, I have to leave," said Merline. "Kid, I'm proud of what you've done. But you must begin challenging yourself, travel to higher worlds, and face perilous situations."
"I will."
"You must also do the same for your family," he added. "Since you don't want to be powerless in the upcoming chaos, they must train them appropriately. And you also need to train your mind for the possibility of losing them."
Edward's pupils dilated as he squinted.
"That's all I have to say." Merlin disappeared as if he was never here. For the next half hour, Edward did not speak as he was lost in his thoughts.
"Morgana."
"Boss?"
"Design an illusion for me where I lose my family. The parameters are no matter what I do, I cannot save nor revive them."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Okay, but when you say family, do you mean one person or all of them?"
"All of them, one by one."
"Master, are you really sure this is a good idea?" He knew his boss's feelings about his family since they were his anchor. If he lost them, he would lose his mind. Even if it's an illusion, it could negatively affect his mind and soul.
"Do it."
"Alright." Morgan agreed, but she will also take time to place some safety measures in case something goes wrong.
Edward returned to what he was doing, checking the Akashic Record.
[Name: Edward Bones (Christian Stuart)
Origin: Primordial Earth
Gift: Eidetic Memory, Extreme Magic Affinity, Limited Cosmic Awareness
Willpower: 8
Mentor: Sir Merlin
Current Residence: Universe #127490374 (HP Universe)
"Authority Level: 2
Age: 932
Rank: Tier 8 Solar System, Legendary Arcanist
Titles: Arcane Emperor, Civilization Creator, Sage of Wisdom, Divine Artificer, Pathfinder, Dark Explorer, Voyager, Wizard King, and Archmage.]
After checking, Edward learned the price of knowledge would decrease by 5% with his authority level. Furthermore, he had access to certain knowledge that he previously did not. Moreover, the Akashic Record has a mission list for its members to increase their mission points.
Now, the number of missions had drastically increased, allowing him to analyze and deduce more information about the record.
Edward immediately did not care about these rewards after seeing the last one: he can recommend two people to the records. And after passing a trial, they can also join.
"Now, I don't have to search for the tokens or do these missions."
The only other way he knew to join the record was to find one of the tokens they leave in certain worlds for people with a destiny connection to the record. The other is to accomplish numerous missions to raise the level.
'The issue is who gets these two spots.' He wanted his wives to take advantage of the Title system to better themselves. He decided to let them decide.
Edward then used the search function and typed something:
Lord God.
Chapter 419: Lord God
"Lord God, also called God Space, Reincarnation Hall, or Samsara Temple. There are two forms of Lord God: a species or an object. The species is born in the void and have the innate ability to travel to the Omniverse.
"By disturbing a world's plot or set destiny, they can draw a bit of the world's source to increase their power. As such, Lord Gods usually capture ordinary people and send them to different universes with missions and rewards.
"Because of Primordial Earth, there are many projections of Earth across the Omniverse. The Lord God usually picked people from these projected Earths because some have high potential because of the connection to Primordial Earth and their knowledge of the plot.
"When it comes to the object of Lord God, they also like to choose people from Earth as their owner–albeit this rule is not absolute."
Edward read the information, and much of the information was things he had already theorized and could finally have concrete proof. For example, he learned all God Space had the ability to steal a timeline and hide from the Universe's Will.
However, there is a difference between powerful and weak ones. Powerful Lord Gods will reset the timeline after stealing from the World Source and repeat the process; they're like leeches who will not give up after taking a bite.
Meanwhile, weaker Lord Gods cannot reset the timeline, so they have to steal another timeline once they mess up the plot of one.
Edward squinted his eyes as he remembered a story he had read during his light novel phase. It was about a young man who discovered a God Space Artifact and used it to become a supreme being.
Because of his weak strength, that young man could not completely use the artifact's power, so he had to participate in missions like everybody else to reach the top. Of course, he had many advantaged that others had since he was essentially the boss. Furthermore, the other "reincarnators" he chose to help were gathering World Source for him without them knowing.
And as that person gets more powerful, he gains more and more control of the artifact.
Edward sent Rowena and Luna on a mission across the multiverse to search for a weak Lord God, and the watch they discovered is another sign of a weak Lord God. Powerful Lord God will eliminate anyone who spies on their "reincarnator" and will not leave any proof connecting to them.
Edward plans to send a clone into the God Space and become a reincarnator. Then, from the inside, plan a way to steal the artifact and become its master. With it, Omniversal Travel will become easier. He won't have to rely on the Akashic Record; he can acquire World Source and study the Artifact to recreate it on his own.
"World Source," he muttered. As the name implies, it is the source of energy of the universe. It's why life exists, why planets and other celestial bodies can be formed, or even the rules can exist. The amount of World Source determined the universe's size, its space's stability, and the highest Tier any creature can reach. It's also one of the factors determining the Willpower level required for an Archmage to wield the power of rules.
'There should be Lord God in one of the parallel timelines of this universe. If I plan correctly, I might be able to pick at their secrets and even get my hands on some world source.'
He interacted with World Source two times in his journey: the first was when he took the rules of Space-Time and Death from the Full Metal Alchemist World. By then, he caught a small part of World Source, which was fused with the Time and Death Staff. Regrettably, he knew nothing about it back then, so most of it dissipated and returned to the world.
The second was when he stole an entire timeline from the Black Clover World and took a small portion of World Source. Since then, he has been studying this strange and all-encompassing power. Based on preliminary data, this power can do everything: increase mana, aura, and all forms of energy he knew. It could heal the hidden damage of Rowena's Void Experiments and increase talent.
Edward suspects its power can break the limit of the soul, but he has not done enough research yet to determine the validity of this conjecture. However, if it is true, he has a way of dealing with the soul limitation. His plan is for arcanists to help the universe in some simple form, and Cronai will grant them some World Source to break their limit.
'Although this method has a high chance of success, it's only applicable as long as we have a good relationship with Cronai. Once things become sour, the entire Arcane Civilization will suffer. So, let's label it as Solution B for now.'
He still needed to find a way to break the Soul Limit, and hopefully, something in this world will help. Otherwise, he can only deal with the problem after going to the next world: Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Edward has no plan to go to the Marvel Comic Universe until he is Tier 12. And even then, he will be extremely cautious.
'Let's prepare to find the stolen timelines.'
Rowena and Luna have data on doing such a thing, but the problem is finding the correct timeline with a weak Lord God. This will require some time and effort.
"Before then, let's test my new power.'
He disappeared and instantly teleported to another galaxy hundred of thousand light years away.
'This is not my limit,' he thought as he teleported again, traveling more than five galaxies away. Edward controlled the Rules of Time and continued to teleport further and further.
"I have always wanted to see the end of time but was very restrained in my universe. Let's try in this place.'
Edward pushed the boundary of his powers and traveled to the end of the universe where there was no time, no space, no matter–only him.
"What a beautiful yet horrifying sight," he muttered as he watched it happen. His understanding of the universe increased, including its rules and machination, space-time, death, and even destruction and rebirth.
The experience was both a spiritual awakening and a learning experience. His soul sublimated, and his spiritual energy drastically increased, reaching close to the limit of Tier 8.
On instinct, Edward went to the time of this universe's birth, completing this spiritual awakening. His spiritual energy finally reached its limit.
Edward sighed before returning to the lab. Because of the wonder he experienced and the sudden increase, his spiritual energy leaked, alerting the others to rush to his lab, thinking something had gone wrong.
"What happens? Are you alright?" asked Tsunade.
"Sorry, I was mesmerized, so I lost control."
"Mesmerize? Which women can make you lose control? I would love to see her."
"What woman? I just experienced the birth and death of the universe."
"Birth and death? Are you saying you travel forward and backward in time to see how our universe was born and died?" asked Tobirama.
"Time is not linear, but you can understand it as such."
Tobirama was speechless. Every time he thinks he has grasped this man's power, something shows him all his overestimation still underestimates this man.
"So, how did our universe end?" asked Orochimaru. "Is it natural or man-made?"
"Both. The Otsutsuki God tried to swallow the universe to achieve ultimate power and transcendence. However, he failed and died due to the backlash. However, his actions also destroyed most of the universe, accelerating its natural death.
"Less than a million years after his action, the universe died."
While traveling the river of time, he saw many things.
"Wait, doesn't that mean the universe will end soon?" asked Tsunade. She had heard of this so-called God from Edward and knew he was alive.
"Not for another 3.7 billion years. By then, the Otsutsuki's plans would be complete, and they will try."
"Why do I feel that's not a long time?"
"In the grand scheme of things, it's not," replied Edward. "Alright, I need some space to calm down."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
LazySageDao
LazySageDao
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