Amon replied: “I have just passed the test. It is as if I am born again. I am like an infant. I need a safe place to grow and recognize this new power. It’d be better if I stay here, so that I can help release you as soon as possible.”
Schrodinger: “You are so thoughtful that I feel guilty to urge you. You are indeed right about the new power. You should take as much time as you need. I will stay here with you.”
Without considering other factors, the best time for Amon to leave Ejypt would be when Moses arrived in Duc Plains. According to the speed at which they were travelling through the wilderness, it would take at least half a year. Amon did his best to arrange everything, but he was not unnecessarily anxious about it. Other than being a little worried about Maria’s situation, this Supreme General was calm and relaxed.
Amon’s practice of the power of two sides had reached the eighth level. According to Schrodinger, it would be completely different from any methods of training known publicly. It would be like a brand new start. The more the power grew, the more he started to understand what it really meant.
In the silent night, Amon closed his eyes in meditation. It was what he used to do to practice the magic power, but now, it was the power of his bloodline being slowly recovered. No. It was not the power of bloodline, nor was it the magic power. In front of him floated a bow, the unique bow once used by Gilgamesh. The bowstring silently pulled back, and an invisible arrow of pure energy was formed. But Amon did not shoot the arrow, otherwise the house would have been destroyed.
Then the bowstring relaxed and the arrow disappeared. After making a spin, the bow landed softly on Amon’s lap. He opened his eyes in the darkness and sighed. “So it was. I should have understood this earlier.”
He stretched out his hand and retrieved a short knife out of nowhere. This dagger was one of the most ordinary weapons Amon had on him, and it was the small hunting knife given by Mayor Dusti back when he was exiled from Duc. The knife flew into the air like a fish back into water, evolving to a thread of dazzling light, leaving crossing traces in the dark. It spun rapidly and a circular shield appeared. Finally, it made one quick slash ahead before jumping back into Amon’s hands.
“This is Enkidu’s final attack.” he mumbled to himself, “except that it was a thousand times more powerful. I survived because he died before it reached me.”
Amon called the power he had been practising the power of two sides, because the power he used to have can be regarded as the superposition of magic power and the power of bloodline. The new power, however, was different. It came from the deeper understanding, like what happened when he passed the test to the seventh level. This time it was the deeper understanding of himself.
Gilgamesh’s bow was impossible to pull unless one was born with great physical strength or had advanced into a supreme warrior. But Amon did not hold it in his hands. At the same time, if he wasn’t a supreme mage, he wouldn’t have been able to conjure the arrow of energy. When he was at the seventh level, he would have used magic to pull the bowstring and conjure the bow. But now, in his mind he was pulling with his arms. There was no difference.
It was different from either magic arts or body arts, or a combination of both. It was the new power. It was about connection. When the right elements connected, the right things happened at the right time. And the new power was the source of the connections.
It made him think from a completely different angle. There was no need to practise magic arts or body arts. Of course he could still practise them, but there are more possibilities.
Enkidu was a pure warrior. He only practised body arts all his life. But when he reached the peak of the ninth level, he understood the new power too. This power had existed since the beginning of everything. Bloodline power and magic power were two sides of this power, but to thus describe it as the power of two sides was not enough. It could be the power of a hundred, a thousand sides. Bloodline power and magic power were just two possibilities. They were so defined because common people didn’t have the chance to see or even imagine the others.
The same applied to Bair, Crazy’Ole and Amon. They have been limited to the knowledge they had. This was why Schrodinger called it “your so-called power of two sides”. Amon was lucky to have Bair and Crazy’Ole as his instructors. Even so, he still had made detours. But now he finally went on the right path. Had he not practised the “power of two sides” but any ordinary body arts or magic, he would be at best like Enkidu, understanding it only at the last moment of his life.
He closed his eyes and fell into deep meditation, completely forgetting everything outside his body and immersing himself within the realm of his soul. If he had been able to understand the truth earlier, he would have had access to much more means and techniques during combat, but experience and knowledge do not come from thin air, they had to be earned. Since he had been learning the body arts and magic arts of this world, he was naturally influenced by the preconceived ideas.
Amon recalled the technique of Duc. In fact, that was the power imparted by a goddess. It was not divided. It was not magic, nor body arts. He slowly thought back to every step he had taken on his path, starting from the elementary things, trying to figure out how to directly practise “the power”.
The path was finally clear to him. It was completely different, disruptive. It was based on the negation of negation. He also realized that it was more difficult to directly awaken this power compared to awakening the magical power or the bloodline power, or even the power of two sides.
Who could awaken this power? Perhaps the great warriors and the supreme mages. When they achieved the supreme level, they had the chance to get in contact with this power. The lucky ones could start over with this power and go on the right path.
Crazy’Ole could have taken this path. But then he would still have to pass all the tests once again. He was too old for that. But at least he figured out the real goal that he had been seeking all his life. Amon thought of Golier, who said that he had been attempting a different path, just as Enkidu had done. There might be more than one way to get to the secret of the gods. There was some truth to his words.
Crazy’Ole, Bair and Amon had opened up a unique path. It started from Crazy’Ole a century ago. Now Amon finally saw the hope.
In the darkness, Amon forgot about the outside world, even his own existence. Tears streamed down his face, but he didn’t feel it. He thought of Nietzsche and Bair, as if they were standing right before him. He told them that he made it. Thanks to three generations of talent and hardwork, they revealed the secret of the gods.
In the following days, Amon refused all guests. Even the servants around him were not allowed to bother him, only Hardedef knew where he was. Living in the village built by Moses and his people, he began to practise from the lowest level once again. Rather than actual training, it was more of experiencing and mastering, since he had long achieved the levels.
Hardedef was the only disciple still around him, so Amon called him. “I once taught you the technique of Duc along with meditation. You were able to integrate the restless energy within yourself and become a supreme warrior. Later on, I taught you the power of two sides and made you practise magic and body arts. Today, I wish to point out the true path to you. Abandon all your previous ways of thinking and follow my instructions. Use this method to practise everything that you have learnt so far.”
Hardedef said with joy: “My Lord, are you going to awaken another power for me?”
Amon shook his head. “This is not another power, it is what you have been practising all along, but now it will point towards the true path. The awakening for this power will be extremely difficult, but for those who are already supreme warriors or supreme mages, they only need to feel it and understand it.”
Amon imparted what he recently understood to Hardedef, and Hardedef asked: “My Lord, Misphi is an advanced warrior, is she able to practise this power as well?”
Amon smiled. “Not everyone can succeed. Right now, she has two choices. The first is to continue practising body arts, and after she becomes a supreme warrior, I will then guide her to practise this power. The second option is to hold an awakening ceremony for her now. If it succeeds, she can start practising from the beginning.”
Hardedef was both surprised and overjoyed. “My Lord, you have agreed?”
Amon nodded. “Yes, but I will not teach her anything myself. Whatever you get from me, you teach it to her. I need someone who can help me to hold the awakening ceremony, and this person must achieve the seventh level with the power. When you achieve that, you will be the host of Misphi’s awakening ceremony.”
……
The latest edict from the new Pharaoh was quickly delivered to every city as oracle. Those who had an idea of what happened like Amon belonged to the minority, so the oracle shocked the whole empire.
“For the sake of protecting the Empire, the great king of gods Horus was injured. He has returned to Aeru. Ra, born from the lotus of origin and residing above the source of the holy river, the father of the gods, appoints Seth as now the protector of the empire.”
It was not going to be easy to change what people had believed in for a thousand years. What the new Pharaoh did was to legitimize the return of Ra. This would not change the people’s habits overnight. Ra would still be called Atum-Ra for people in Upper Ejypt, and An-Ra in Lower Ejypt. The next oracle was what really surprised Amon.
The oracle stated that Ra was the “only god” in this world, and all the other gods were now known as neteru. Seth would be known as the first or prime neteru, representing and leading the other neter, formerly known as god or demigod. He would be the patron of Ejypt in service of God”. Ordinary civilians were unable to make sense of this for the moment, as the Pharaoh not only gave the highest status to Ra, he also specified Ra as the only god, while renaming the other gods neteru. Seth became the most important neteru, and he now actually occupied Horus’s position, as the king of gods.
Schrodinger used to be one of the gods in the Ennead, but she had never even seen Ra before. The ancient father of gods had already gone into retreat a long time ago. With this, there was a subtle change in the status of the Ennead gods. Ra became the one and only god, while the rest were all subordinate to Seth. In reality, Seth was now in charge of the Ennead.
Not only that, as the oracle recognized Ra as the “only god”, all the other gods from other divine clans were deprived of the title of “god”.
Amon thought of this matter in another way, and he even thought of himself. His disciples called him God, while Moses and his people viewed him as their only god, Allaha. If one day, he became a real god, and his disciples also became gods, this would give rise to a new divine clan.
Then how should he maintain the clan so that conflicts won’t break out just like it happened for the Anunnaki and Ennead clans? The “one god” decree issued by the new Pharaoh was one way of solving the problem. Most likely, the Pharaoh did not come up with the idea by himself but was guided into doing so by a certain true oracle. At the same time, there were practical motives for doing so.
If it really had to do with an oracle, surely it meant something, since gods always do things with purposes. Unfortunately, this was beyond the understanding of Amon. Even Schrodinger could not be sure of it.
For the succession of the new Pharaoh, besides the new decrees, one of the latest orders specifically targeted the Supreme General Amon. Amon was once again rewarded with a new piece of land just west of his current territory.
In reality, such a reward was quite meaningless. The territories of the Empire were incredibly vast, and it included much inhospitable wilderness which were both unsuitable for living and not worth the effort to develop. West of Amon’s territory was an area of wilderness which had been uninhabited since the ancient times, and past Mount Horeb was the desert.
Rewarding Amon with new land was only a means for the Pharaoh to give a new title to him. His previous title was slightly changed, and it now read “Supreme General, glory of Ra, guardian of the two lands, protector of Cape, great in victories known by all the states”. The part referring to Horus had been removed and now only Ra was mentioned in the title.