“Mortals can become gods, but the path should begin by waking the power of both sides. I think the gods have plotted together to hide this secret from the mortals. They divided the path to immortality into two, the well-known routes of magic and body arts. Neither of these two paths reaches immortality individually.”
“Practicing magic allows one to obtain the power given by the gods, even to get a precious glimpse of divinity. But he cannot pass the final trial. Practising body arts allows one to gain the power of the bloodline, even to be an invincible warrior. But it cannot win him eternal existence.”
“Some great warriors managed to have a second awakening of power, which allowed them to practice some magic, making them more powerful. I’ve put most of my effort into studying the legends and records about these great warriors. The research has been complicated. I’ve been through a lot of hardships. Combined with my teacher’s results from throughout nearly a century’s meditation and many others’ bitter experiences, I’ve arrived at a final conclusion. ”
“It’s hard to awaken the power given by the gods, but it’s even harder to awaken the power of two sides. The great warriors who have succeeded in the second awakening of power could have actually awakened the power of two sides in the very beginning. After all, among countless commoners, there are certainly enough geniuses. Some of them just weren’t qualified to learn magic. They didn’t have the chance to awaken the magic power before they became a warrior.”
“Along with the awakening of the power of two sides comes the desire from both. By passing this test, one will be able to practice first-level magic and body arts.”
“The next test would be the purification of one’s body. It should be a test in the practice of body arts. By passing this test, one can practice the second-level body arts, then he will need to practice magic and become a second-level mage.”
“The third test will be ‘faith’s confirmation’, which is considered to be a test for the mages. By passing this test, one can practice third-level magic, then he will need to practice body arts and become a third-level warrior.”
“The fourth test is the purification of one’s bloodline. It should be a test for the body arts practitioners. By passing this test can one practice the fourth-level body arts, but he then needs to practice magic and become a fourth-level mage. ”
“The fifth test is coined ‘devil’s temptation’, which is considered to be a test for the mages. Passing this test can allow one to practice fifth-level magic, but he then will need to practice body arts and become a fifth-level warrior.”
“The sixth test will be the breaking of one’s limit. It should be a test for the body arts practitioners. Passing this allows one to practice sixth-level body arts, but he will then need to practice magic and become a sixth-level mage. ”
“My exploration of the true path ends here. I myself am but a ninth-level mage and sixth-level warrior. The above is all that I can verify myself.”
“The coming content will be pure speculation. The next test should be the ‘Faith’s Fusion’, as is noted in most records about magic. In passing this test can one become a supreme mage. This step is very difficult, proving to be an overwhelming blockade for the large majority of advanced mages from acquiring the ultimate power. As for the practitioner of the power of two sides, the difficulty is unknown. I hope someone can continue this exploration.”
“I have to note that from what I know and have verified, this path is much more difficult than the path of magic or body arts. The higher the tier you achieve, the harder it will be. There might be some key points that I have missed. It is also possible that this path can’t lead to eternity at all. Regardless, very few can even take on this path. Whether a practitioner could reach the end of this path and find out the secret of the gods may depend not only on his courage and wisdom but also on this world’s willingness to accomplish this transcendence.”
“If the one who is reading this message is my dear teacher, please always remember the three things I’ve told you in the other message. I won’t mention them here, nor the reason to do so.”
The message recorded in the Gods’ Tear ended. When Bair described the tests, he had also added many side notes in smaller characters. Amon forced himself to fully concentrate on the message. He was so enthralled that he couldn’t notice that Schrodinger had already closed its eyes and begun to take a nap. The cat was excited to come to this place, but now it appeared to be deeply disappointed and lost.
The glittering text eventually disappeared. The Gods’ Tear was still emanating the light glory. The whole place was quiet. Amon stood for a long time on the altar, speechless. Forgetting the reality around him, he was in deep serene meditation, trying to record everything he saw in his mind.
Bair had made a detailed summary of the steps to practice the power of two sides, which he obviously confirmed himself. A ninth-level supreme mage and a sixth-level warrior at the same time? Amon had never heard of that.
‘Desire’s awakening’, ‘faith’s confirmation’, ‘devil’s temptation’, ‘faith’s fusion’. They were tests in the practice of magic that one faced when transitioning from a commoner to a supreme mage. They were well documented in history. But Bair had his own interpretation of ‘faith’s confirmation’, which coincided with Amon’s understanding.
Though they had never met each other, across the decades, they achieved the same understanding. From Bair’s message, Amon confirmed his own knowledge about practising.
As for the practice of body arts, there were tests that Bair called ‘body purification’, ‘bloodline purification’ and ‘limit breaking’, which couldn’t be found in any documentation. Crazy’Ole had already found the rules in some phenomena, but Bair had obviously gone further.
The path was now clear for Amon. First, awakening of the power of two sides, then pass the all the tests of ‘desire’s awakening’ — ‘body’s purification’ — ‘faith’s confirmation’ — ‘bloodline purification’ — ‘devil’s temptation’ — ’limit breaking’
This was the part Bair had verified. The final segment of the path was for Amon to explore. As far as Bair knew, no one could be a supreme mage and a great warrior at the same time.
Although Bair had left many notes, some details remained unclear. For example, he didn’t mention much about the awakening of the power of two sides. One who hadn’t experienced it wouldn’t be able to fully understand it, perhaps except Crazy’Ole.
Bair also noted that leaning on one branch when practising the power of two sides wouldn’t be too big of an issue. Some practitioners might prefer fighting with the sword or spike whilst others might prefer casting spells. In fact, one could only learn to meditate, neglecting the magic casting skills, if he wanted to stress on practising body arts or only strengthen his body power, avoiding to learn any martial arts if he wanted to stress on practising magic.
It was reasonable to save one’s energy from mastering both magic and martial arts skills, since the path itself was difficult enough, almost demanding too much time to accomplish.
Amon still had two questions after reading all of the messages Bair had left. The first question was about the bone. It was said to be Osiris’ Rib, a sacred item of the Isis Shrine. Amon’s guess was right, it was a god’s bone. Maybe Nietzsche was right, eternal gods could fall one day, or that Osiris was just a demigod.
All Amon knew was that Osiris was the father of Horus. He had seen the statue of Isis and Osiris in the shrine of Horus in Duc. As for the rib, Amon had no idea how it was related to that god. Holding it in his hand, Amon felt surreal. But the touch couldn’t be more real.
He couldn’t sense the rib nor the cat with Detection Eyes. Was the cat a deity too? Strangely, Bair had mentioned nothing about Schrodinger.
Amon threw a glimpse at the cat on his shoulder, only to find that it was sleeping again. He found it impossible to associate this limp lazy animal to a deity by any means.
Amon was amused by this crazy idea. Perhaps in this cat’s body was sealed a human spirit, which would explain how the cat knew how to write in hieroglyphs. But could it also explain how this cat could travel the long way in the forest to Duc and had remained unchanged in the last thirty years?
Forget it. Schrodinger will tell me if it wants to. If even Crazy’Ole couldn’t know that this cat could write hieroglyph in the thirty years he fed it, Amon would not likely figure out its secret in a short time. It was this cat who had guided him to find Bair and all this knowledge. What he should do was simply to thank Schrodinger.
The Gods’ Tear was still floating in the air. The most important thing to do now was to retrieve the precious parangon. Crazy’Ole’s token could only be used to read the message in it. Amon found that the only way was to use Osiris’ rib. He already knew its usage from Bair’s message. Theoretically, it required at least a third-level mage who mastered advanced magic, and Amon happened to qualify in that.
For safety, Amon first experimented with some other objects dropped on the ground. A good spatial artefact could contain more than one object. Carrying one was like carrying a walking depot. Amon already had two of said curiosities that most mages could only dream of — the Ventussalte, and this rib.
On the ground were various weapons, armour, staffs, accessories and unused scrolls. They were the best ones that stood the test of time. Even the fragments were good materials. Metatro was making his living by smuggling Damasc iron ingots to Bablon City. Now Amon had forged Damasc iron scattered in front of him. Wasting was a crime. Even if he couldn’t use them, he could sell them later.
Looking at the intact artifacts, Amon thought of Metatro. He didn’t have a decent set of armor. And Lynk didn’t have a real staff, just a parangon on a bone.
Amon waved the rib around and activated it with his magic power, focusing on every artifact on the ground. In less than a second, all artifacts were connected with the rib, then disappeared! He had succeeded!
At the same time, Amon let out a short cry, and fell to his knees, dropping the rib onto the ground. A sharp pain lanced through his shoulder. The rib had suddenly sharply increased in weight, nearly dislocating his shoulder. If he had let go the rib an instant later, his forearm would probably be broken by the downward force. Even a third-level warrior like Amon, whose strength could allow him to kill an ox in one punch, was unable to hold it for more than an instant in his hand.
But the bone had dropped to the ground as lightly and noiselessly as if its weight had never changed. This feeling was so unreal. When it was in Amon’s hand, Amon felt the weight of all the things inside. It seemed that the weight was only exerted on the one who touched it!
No wonder Bair had said that a third-level mage could only use it in a theoretical manner. There was a reason that spatial magic was an independent branch of supreme magic. As of yet, Amon was unable to reach this realm.
At least Amon couldn’t carry the bone like this, so he had to take the items out. Still kneeling, Amon reached out to touch the bone, activating it with magic power. He could feel a large space connected to him through the bone, where all the objects lay. He focused on them one by one to take them out of the bone, till the space was empty and the bone was light as a feather again.
Standing up, Amon meditated a good while with the bone in his hand. Finally he decided that, since he couldn’t take everything with him, he would start with the best ones. He put in the objects one by one, till he could carry no more. Being a third-level warrior, his strength allowed him to take quite a bit.
He didn’t recognize many of the items, nor did he have enough time to carefully examine them. He only picked the intact ones, including two whole sets of armor, four swords, a shield, three javelins, two axes, three staffs, eight magic scrolls and even nine standard parangons. As the last of his collection, he took Troni’s tiara into the bone too.
These things added up to far heavier than a commoner could carry. Amon could barely hold the bone in his hand, but he tried an experiment. He carefully slipped the bone into his bag, and loosed his hand. As he expected, the bag’s weight didn’t change much. It meant that the weight he felt was psychological, the bone’s weight didn’t increase as much as he had felt, otherwise the bag would drag him down now.
It was troubling that the weight of the objects in the space was only imposed on the one who touched it. Fortunately it didn’t impose that weight on nonliving things, otherwise he would have had to carry the weight all the way. When it wasn’t expanded to a boat, it could still store a lot of things, except living beings. Amon had already verified that when he turned the boat back into the bone, the five Ironbacks were automatically thrown out to the ground.
The experiment was over. Amon took out the bone again and pointed to the Gods’ Tear in the air. As he wished, the golden glowing parangon disappeared from the air and appeared in the hidden space of the bone.
The cave went completely dark again. Then Amon heard the roar from the Ironback and sounds of water striking on the rocks. Amon hurriedly took out the parangon and fixed it in the air again. The cave was filled with gentle white light. The Ironbacks ran into the cave through the aisle. They were all wet.
The moment Amon collected Gods’ Tear, the transparent wall at the entrance outside disappeared. A wall of water flooded in, devouring the Ironbacks. Frightened, these ignorant beasts rushed in to notify Amon.
As Crazy’Ole had said, Bair was most skilled in message magic and spatial magic. No one could compare to him in those area in the Empire. The “cliff” was a magic space he had created using the Gods’ Tear. It was a camouflage, an insulation and a seal at the same time, leaving everything happened encased in the mountain, till Amon’s arrival.
It was already getting dark. Amon didn’t want to drive across the flood when the storm was still strong. Besides, exhausted from using magic all the time, he really needed a good rest and deep meditation. The cave plunged into darkness again after he had taken the Gods’ Tear back. Amon spent the whole night in silence, sitting on the altar, with his back to the wall with carved characters.
The storm raged on the next morning, the thunder’s roar never seemed to cease. The aisle was inundated, the outer cave was exposed, and the platform was totally under the water. The sky was dark under the heavy clouds, but Amon could still recognize the silhouette of the far mountains.
Amon expanded the bone to a large boat again. Carrying Schrodinger and the Ironbacks, he started the journey back through the flood.
No one broke the silence on the way back. The boy, the cat and the ironbacks, each of them had their own concerns. The invisible boat slowly floated on the torrents. The items Amon had taken the day before were piling up at a corner in the boat. Amon had thought that Schrodinger would be very interested in them, since it had been so excited when running into the aisle. But he was wrong.
Amon found that there was something wrong with the cat. It looked sad. Schrodinger used to be lazy and gluttonous, but Amon had never seen it being so sad! Amon was unaccustomed to dealing with a cat soaked in melancholy.
Crazy’Ole had died, and it was confirmed that Bair had died thirty years ago. It definitely wasn’t good news. Although Amon had gotten the information he was looking for, which was great for him, his face was full of sadness. He desperately wanted to talk to someone but he could find no one to talk with. So he spoke to the cat, “What’s with you, Schrodinger? You look sad. Are you sad for Bair and Troni too?”
The cat sat on the front of the boat as if it had heard nothing, as Amon’s words flew by like a gust of wind.
Amon continued to ask, “Did you fail to find something you were looking for, Schrodinger? Can you tell me about it?……And maybe you can tell me your own story too? How come you know the hieroglyph writing?”
Schrodinger still gazed forward sadly, as if Amon was a mass of air.
After a long thought provoking silence, Amon chose to bring out his conjecture, “Schrodinger, are you a deity? Why can’t I feel your existence through [Detection Eyes]?……Or, have you been sealed in a cat?” Schrodinger sneezed, then lay down to take a nap. It chose to completely ignore Amon.
At last, Amon became desperate, “Are you hungry now, Schrodinger? You haven’t eaten anything since last morning. Let me prepare something for you!”
Schrodinger showed no reaction. Instead, the King Ironback sneezed and glanced at Amon, making a snoring noise. There was no food in the boat. What material could Amon use to feed his cat? The Ironbacks?
……
It had been a day and a night since God Amon had suddenly left the village. Lynk and his clansmen were worried. They didn’t know where he had gone, so they waited at the entrance of the village from the early morning. Lynk was panicky, as if he had lost some of his most important things.
When noon was close, somebody suddenly cried out in surprise, “Look, it’s the god’s cat! The holy cat!”
At distance, a melancholy cat trailed out of the woods at a lazy pace, ignoring the crowd. Lynk went out to it carrying his bone staff, but all of a sudden bounced up and ran backwards, leaving a frightened scream.
Five huge Ironbacks came out of the woods in a line, in the middle of which strode the King that had almost killed Lynk. But now these beasts looked strangely different. They crept slowly behind Schrodinger, like five docile kittens.
The screaming “fearless” headman caused a panic in the crowd. Some even were running back to the cave to get weapons. But then a voice arose, “Don’t be scared. These Ironbacks are under my control now. I brought them here!” Along with the voice, Amon walked out of the woods with his iron staff.
The screams in the crowd turned into a resounding cheer. Lynk, who was running back to the crowd, turned around and shouted, “Oh my god! You are finally back! We were all waiting for you! You brought us a miracle!” Delighted as he was, Lynk didn’t dare come close to the beasts, making a detour to reach Amon, fear still on his face.
Amon said, “I had something to do in the flood, and saved their lives when passing by. Don’t worry for me. Come with me, I have something to talk to you about.”
After the clansmen went away, Lynk followed Amon to his house. He ordered his men to bring some roast antelope that they had hunted the day before. The meat was nicely roasted with various spices, sending out a great scent. Amon first gave a dish to Schrodinger, then invited Lynk to sit down and eat together.
The Ironbacks tamely stayed outside Amon’s house. The cavemen all ran far away from them. Even Lynk was dragging Amon’s clothes when entering the house, not dare to take one more step away from him.