Aurafall: Fragments Of Power-Chapter 49: Stupid System Descriptions
Name: [Leo Atlantis]
Noun: [Solstice of Despair — Child of Light]
Recognition: [Sole Witness of the Silent Redact]
Path: [Bastard]
Volume: [Advent]
Rank: [Capricorn]
Tree: [Weapon Will]
Grass: [Intent Mastery]
Mark: [Pride]
Vestige: [Yielding Spine], [Shell of Dread]
Leo felt somewhat victorious after seeing his status. Back in the Seek, the night the sea monsters attacked, the system had called him a weakling and pathetic. Now, displaying this impressive status, he couldn’t help but grin.
"Who’s pathetic now, huh?"
Come to think of it, if he hadn’t suffered so much, he wouldn’t have achieved this status. He had earned the [Shell of Dread] after battling Aquafina in a place where reality was in a frenzy. His [Pride] Mark must have come from his discussion with Elowen—well, he had been prideful since birth, so it wasn’t much of a surprise.
His Noun was still a mystery to him; the only part he understood was that it was neither a Celestial Noun nor a Tenebris Noun. It was a Bastard Noun.
’Hmm, that sure has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?’
He decided to study his status one element at a time, beginning with his Noun. He assessed the full description:
[Noun]: "Solstice of Despair — Child of Light"
[Description]: "Igrit was the first of his kind to attain apotheosis. The first of other kinds to surpass apotheosis. They are a blinding light. A solstice that won’t stop growing. Yet in that blinding light lie countless flaws... There was no other way; it had to be done. They had to clear all their mistakes. Will it be worth it in the end?"
Leo frowned. "What jargon is this?"
The description truly made no sense. It was the same issue he had with the [Shell of Dread]. No, actually, this one was much worse. It was as if the system’s descriptions just kept getting more cryptic.
He understood the part about the mysterious Igrit attaining and then surpassing apotheosis—which meant Igrit had reached the rank of Pisces, then moved to a subsequent rank, and another. It was an endless evolution. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
But what about the part: "There was no other way; it had to be done. They had to clear all their mistakes. Will it be worth it in the end?" And why were there so many ellipses between the messages, as if the text were incomplete?
If it truly was incomplete, what was the remaining message that joined the two parts together to make them whole? And who even was Igrit?
As far as Leo knew, apotheosis was the ultimate ceiling. It was the point where a mortal ceased to be a biological entity and became a fundamental law of the world. To reach the rank of Pisces was to stand at the edge of divinity; surpassing it meant reaching apotheosis, but the description of this Igrit implied that the edge was just another step on a much longer staircase.
Igrit had further scaled those stairs and continued. Leo presumed the mysterious Igrit was from the Forgotten Era of Humanity in the Seek, since he wasn’t in any historical records of this timeline.
Deciding not to dwell on it any longer, he skipped [Recognition] and [Path] to assess his [Volume].
"So it’s actually the Advent Volume, hm." Leo sighed. "I guess they have been overjoyed for no reason."
The organizers had exaggerated things to give the people what they wanted to hear. Then again, the Bastard path could be considered a Volume in terms of social standing, since it was a Path that exceeded the two primary Paths, granting the user endless evolution and reach.
However, it couldn’t be considered that way within the Aura System, as it was still a Path, and his powers would only be determined by the actual Volume he attained. He was lucky, though, as he had received the mysterious Advent Volume, making him one of only three in Primoria with such a Volume—alongside Fang Rui and Mirage.
Leo continued by studying his [Tree] and
[Grass].
[Tree]: Weapon Will
[Rank Type]: Skill
[Description]: "The user now has high affinity for weapons. The higher they rank, the more related abilities they earn."
[Branch]: Weapon Fluidity
He assessed his [Branch]:
[Rank]: Capricorn
[Description]: "A fundamental ability that breaks the rigid limitations of a weapon. It allows the user to treat all equipped armaments as a single, unified entity."
’So this Tree is meant to increase my martial skills. How is that a strong ability?’
Then again, it was a great ability. Every ability can only be used efficiently if implemented through martial arts. Martial arts was the foundation of evolution, so gaining an ability directly related to it was a huge boon.
His Capricorn Branch was the first step in that evolution. The ability to treat all his weapons as a single entity meant they were directly linked to his soul; it would take him little to no time to use the ability flawlessly. He would be able to use a spear like a sword and a sword like a spear. This would boost his martial skills and make him far superior to most Capricorns.
Leo nodded to himself as the realization sank in. In high-level combat, the split second it took for the mind to switch from "defense" with a shield to "offense" with a blade was often where warriors died. With [Weapon Fluidity], that delay was gone. If he held a dagger in one hand and the [Yielding Spine] in the other, his soul would see a single, continuous system of violence. He could flow from a block into a thrust as if his armor and weapon were made of the same liquid metal.
Satisfied with the Tree, he shifted his focus to his [Grass].
[Grass]: Intent Mastery
[Rank Type]: Skill
[Description]: "The user’s intent becomes much more potent as they evolve."
He then checked his [Survival Intent], which proved his point that it was purely meant for... survival. It was quite obvious. The confusing part was that he hadn’t earned all the intents immediately after awakening. Normally, an Aura Farmer with a Grass was supposed to earn all of them right away.
"I guess I’m just... different."
He didn’t bother to study the [Pride] Mark, already understanding what the system implied. With a sigh, he returned his attention to the [Yielding Spine].
