Having settled on a plan, he got to work immediately. Grasping his spear and moving to the center of the room, he got back to executing Eynart’s set of movements. Every time he moved, he was reminded of his now-deceased teacher. He missed Eynart dearly.

‘Watch me from the afterlife, old man. I’ll become so powerful you won’t even recognize me.’

With renewed determination, Liam trained without rest for the remaining week. While the training hadn’t been enough to push him to his very limits, the intensity was still high enough to be beneficial to him. With his increased stats, his actions were faster and stronger than ever before, allowing him to take the training up a notch.

At the end of the first month, Liam stopped, wiping the sweat off his brow.

‘It was a good workout.’

Then, he looked towards the pond. The white Ether seemed to be calling out to him. Before entering, however, Liam opened the Library once more. This time, he looked at the Aura Skills. Since the pond helped him with his Aura pathing and provided a variety of other benefits, there was no reason for him not to try to maximize his gains by learning new Skills as well. If he could learn one or two pathing-related Skills, the training would have already been worth it.

‘These should be good.’

He picked two Skills that synergized with Aura Condensation, hoping for all of them to merge, and three related to pathing and Aura efficiency. He didn’t hope to learn all of them since he would be focused on the Ether, but around two should be manageable. Liam turned to the stand beside the pond, picking up the Aura solution. He poured it on the Ether, watching it sink below the surface. There was no reaction.

‘It’s gotta be working, right?’

Feeling unsure, he watched the pond for some time, but it remained unchanged. Mentally slapping himself for wasting time, He took off all of his clothes and dipped his toes into the pond. An electrifying feeling immediately shot up his leg, rushing throughout his entire body. It felt wonderful, but not in a pleasurable sense. It was as if he was entering pure energy as it incorporated into him. He couldn’t compare it to anything he had ever felt.

Gradually, he submerged himself in the Ether and closed his eyes. For almost a minute, he simply relished in that sensation. Due to Aura Incorporation, there was a permanent flow of Aura in his body, and he felt the substance around him react to it. It followed the Aura from the outside, slightly diverging from its path every so often. Liam tried to imitate its movements, realizing it made his Aura flow more quickly and smoothly.

‘It seems like Arimiar was right.’

The pond really did help him improve his Aura pathing. Slowly, he started to actively circulate his Aura. The Ether immediately reacted. The entire pond shifted and turned, following his Aura flow. The Ether in front of him coalesced into a figure that looked like himself, much to his surprise. The figure was transparent, allowing him to see the flow of Ether inside it with his Aura Sight. It was a bit different from his Aura’s own. Grasping the situation in an instant, Liam tried to mimic its flow. He immediately felt the difference, though it was slight. The more he tried to imitate the flow of Ether inside the transparent figure, the faster and better his Aura circulated.

Before completely focusing his mind on the figure, he dedicated part of his concentration to trying to acquire the Aura Skills he was aiming for. It couldn’t be considered multitasking or anything like it, as the difficulty was much higher. It was as if he had two brains, one that watched the figure in front of him and another that worked on the Skills. This was only possible because of Divided Thinking, which had now become Depths of Knowledge and had its ability amplified several times over. Realizing the power of Passive Skills once more, Liam then entered a trance.

His actions became almost automatic. He would watch the figure and try his best to mimic its flow, even though he couldn’t find all the correct Pathways, while also moving his Aura in specific patterns and at a certain intensity to help with acquiring the Passive Skills. This was the best he could manage at the moment. Still, it was a beautiful rhythm that only got more streamlined as time went on. At this moment of absolute peace, relishing his growing power, Liam felt his mind being drawn away from his body. It was only a sensation, but he felt it getting further and further away. His consciousness was being elevated to unprecedented heights, without losing control of his body. It was almost indescribable.

Whether it would be considered an epiphany or even enlightenment, Liam didn’t know. He did not bother wasting his time with such thoughts. All that mattered was the information rushing through his mind, knowledge being unearthed and buried once more at a nonsensical rate. Old and new memories intertwined, just like all that he knew and could think about. Skill descriptions fused, becoming entirely new ones.

‘I can merge these. No, maybe it would be better to acquire this Skill and then merge all of them.’

Every Skill he had ever come in contact with flashed through his mind’s eye, even the ones he’d only glanced at. In instants, he contemplated all of their possibilities, all that they could become, and the ways he could use them. Then, he stopped. They lost their meaning. Simple, trivial, and ultimately insignificant, Skills were not worth spending time on. Not when he was in a state he’d never been in, his mind faster than ever before, without knowing when it would end. He should ponder deeper matters. Yet, what would he think about, when everything seemed so minor? What should he deliberate on, when it was all laid bare before his gaze?

For a few seconds, his mind wandered without a destination. An illusion started to form around his mind’s sight. He looked down, seeing his naked body. Underneath his feet, there was water. An enormous, endless ocean.

‘What?’

Wasn’t he in the Ether pond? How had he ended up here? In his state of enlightenment, a possibility soon crossed his mind.

‘Is this my soul?’

It would make sense if the body he could see wasn’t his actual body, but instead a mere astral imitation.

‘I guess it isn’t surprising that my soul looks exactly like my body.’

Of course, that was only if his conjecture about his current self being his soul was correct. Somehow, he felt like that couldn’t accurately describe his situation either, but he soon dropped the issue. There were more important things to consider. Liam started to walk. He walked over the still water, into the horizon.

Adrift in the sea of his perception, Liam realized there was no harbor in these waters. There was nowhere to go. Then, why not ponder the nature of the sea itself? He looked down at his feet, trying to see beyond the water’s surface. He felt like he could see something.

[WARNING!! WARNING!!! Perception has increased by 5. It is HEAVILY recommended that the host does not increase it any further.]

[Skill acquisition rate has massively increased.]

[Skill Proficiency rate has massively increased.]

[Comprehension has massively increased.]

[WARNING! Risk of insanity has increased.]

Yes, that was the answer. Only reality itself warranted serious consideration. He remembered the Creator’s words; Perception was related to the “arcane truths of existence.” If so, then did that mean he was getting closer to those revelations? Liam smiled. He wasn’t worried, for it was not necessary. He had a feeling that as long as he figured all of it out, he would be able to crush the Drakkhan Empire like it was nothing. That was the only thing he cared about.

And so, he dived into the sea. He sunk. He let the waters take him ever deeper, every droplet providing him with a rush of information. He began to feel existence itself passing by, concepts stopping to be applied to him. He was approaching a place beyond everything he’d ever known.

[WARNING!! WARNING!!! Perception has increased by 10. It is HEAVILY recommended that the host does not increase it any further.]

[…]

[WARNING! The Perception statistic has reached the value of 30. It is HEAVILY recommended that the host stops as soon as possible. Henceforth, the host is in serious danger.]

[…]

[Risk of insanity has massively increased.]

He was getting closer. Closer to the answers. Liam continued to sink until all that remained around him was darkness. While his body was still in the Ether pond, the dark that surrounded his mind felt even more real. Below, an even deeper shade of black awaited him. Determined, he dove headfirst into it. That was when he heard them.