Satisfied that he’d managed to convince Liam of the ability’s importance, Twelve explained with a grin.

“It’s nothing too complex. What you’re going to do is use Aura Manipulation to contain your Aura instead of expanding it beyond your body. That’s the most basic principle, really. With your degree of control, it should be fairly simple. Having some stealth Skills can inspire you to do fancier stuff with it as I do, but hiding your power level ought to be enough for you.”

Liam closed his eyes and focused. First, he tried to identify the amount of energy he was leaking. Using Aura Perception to do it, he soon realized Twelve’s words rang true. It was still discreet for him, which was why he’d never noticed it before, but the amount of energy he radiated was much higher compared to the Drakkhan standing in front of him. He used Aura Manipulation, trying to rein in this energy. It took him only a few minutes of trying to succeed.

Under Twelve’s watchful eyes, the leaking energy was sucked back into Liam’s body, but the youth didn’t content himself with just that. He thought to himself.

‘I can do better than this.’

Liam created the mental image of the entirety of his Aura and energy being contained within his Inner World. He pictured the energy he leaked flowing like water to the insides of his soul. Initially, nothing changed. But as the minutes and then hours passed by, the energy started to disappear. Hidden away in the corners of his soul, it was completely contained. Liam’s presence was now the same as that of a normal human without Aura.

‘Time to take it a step further.’

Pretending to be a normal human wasn’t enough. Twelve could make himself almost unnoticeable, so Liam felt sure that he could do something similar. It wasn’t about hiding his energy anymore, but his presence itself. He focused on using the same strategy as before, picturing his Inner World as something that enveloped and hid him. As this mental image flooded his mind and he tried to hide his soul’s presence, his body started being affected.

Liam opened his eyes, coming face to face with Twelve’s sitting figure. Unbeknownst to him, the Drakkhan had sat down and started meditating. It had likely been a long time since he started trying to hide his presence.

Twelve’s eyes remained closed. It was as if he didn’t notice that Liam had woken up. With an amused smirk on his face, Liam released his presence a little bit. He pictured a small gap forming in the Inner World that enveloped his soul. The result was instant. Twelve opened his eyes and mouth, but soon the words died in his throat as he realized, with a shocked expression, that Liam was already awake and smiling at him.

“…How long has it been since you woke up?”

“A few seconds. Watch this.”

Liam covered the gap he’d imagined, once again hiding his presence completely. Twelve’s eyes widened even further. A single word rang out from his reptilian lips.

“Incredible.”

Liam understood his awe. He wasn’t so foolish as not to realize what he had achieved. By hiding his energy and presence completely, it was as if he had turned invisible, but to an even greater degree. The only way Twelve knew he was there was because the soldier could physically see him. The Drakkhan spoke.

“I’m beginning to even doubt my eyes. It’s as if you’re an illusion; I can see you, but my mind doesn’t register it properly. For all intents and purposes, it’s as if you weren’t in front of me.”

Liam nodded, a satisfied expression plastered on his face. This was good enough for him. It was also the best he could currently do. The lizardman chuckled, before lowering his head and speaking.

“I’m ashamed. It took me a long time to master my stealth ability, yet you have surpassed me in only 50 hours.”

“It’s been over two days already?”

“Yes. You were in quite the trance.”

The youth rubbed his chin. This was happening often. Was it the effect of his Perception stat? He achieved a state of enlightenment rather easily. He was lost in his thoughts, only snapping out of it once the Drakkhan stood up.

“I will be going, then. I really can’t bear to stay here while knowing you have surpassed me in such a short time. I must allow myself to deal with this shame properly. I apologize.”

Then, resolutely, Twelve turned around and promptly left the training room. Liam shook his head with a wry smile, before standing up as well.

‘I’ll train until the voices come. Afterwards, it will be time to practice what I’ve trained in Cinzolia.’

Liam grasped Eynart’s spear, hesitating a bit as he noticed the state the weapon was in. With a sigh, he began dashing around the room and swinging his spear, working on his footwork and spear masteries. He slowly picked up speed, even bouncing on the walls to move at more unusual angles. He wasn’t too worried about damaging the room, as he had been told that it was the standard training room for Commanders. As if to prove this, the walls only shook whenever he hit them. He increased the intensity of his training gradually until he reached a point where the entire room shook as he moved. This training wasn’t just to improve on his mastery, but also to help him adapt to his new stats.

Time passed by quickly as Liam didn’t take a single second to rest. Three weeks went by in the blink of an eye.

A shirtless Liam stood still in the middle of the room, sensing that the voices were coming and standing at the ready. Soon, they arrived. The constant pain he felt intensified as he frowned. Whispers scratched at the edge of his sanity and crawled over his mind. Truly, this was uncomfortable no matter how many times it happened.

[You have become stronger.]

[We can now speak to you for a minute and a half every month.]

[But this much is not enough.]

[Being tied to the numbers in your Status Window will never allow you to reach your full potential.]

[Numbers are meaningless.]

Liam understood what they were saying. They were stating that at their level, and at the level of the Creator, their power could not be quantified. There was no number big enough to represent their strength. Liam guessed that if they had a Status Window, the stats would show up as “Irrelevant,” just like his species and race. At the same time, they were also validating the path he’d chosen of raising his Skills and masteries alongside his stats. It seemed like the voices wholly ignored levels and stats.

That was why Liam voiced the idea he’d had in the past three weeks, while deliberating on becoming stronger.

“Raise my Perception.”

It was the first time his voice didn’t shake or pause while speaking to the voices, despite the inhuman pain he felt.

[A dangerous path.]

[The higher your Perception, the easier it will be for you to master Chaos and Order.]

[However, you will also grow closer to our and the First Star’s true nature.]

[It is not something your mortal vessel is able to handle.]

[The damage to your soul might grow.]

Liam gritted his teeth.

“So my lifespan will be reduced once more if my Perception increases?”

[It is only true in your case.]

[Once your Perception increases, our existence will become clearer.]

[We will be able to protect you from the First Star, but the weight of our existence upon you will grow.]

[It is a weight that your damaged vessel will not be able to bear.]

In short, Liam’s mere realization of more of the voices’ true nature would increase the damage to his soul. His lifespan would be crippled even further.

“…What other choice do I have?”

[Only one.]

[This time, we have come to warn you that your current speed of development is not fast enough.]

[You must raise your Will.]

“Last time my Perception increased, so did my Will. Can’t we do it like that?”

[We can.]

[As long as your Will is strong enough to withstand the increased weight of our existence, it will develop further.]

[It means that raising your Perception might help you with raising your Will.]

Failure would mean that the damage to his soul would develop much faster, reducing his lifespan. Success, on the other hand, would allow him to grow quicker and increase his Will at the same time. It was a gamble. Liam was filled with steeled determination. He needed to take every chance he had to increase his power. He knew that the chance of failure was much higher than the odds of success, especially since the voices were so wary of increasing his Perception. Maybe it would indeed be better to raise follow the voices’ advice and only raise his Will. However, Liam felt that doing it like that wouldn’t be enough. It was only that; a feeling. He trusted it wholeheartedly.

“Let’s do it. Increase my Perception to the furthest limit I can possibly bear.”

[You must not fail.]

[You are our last hope.]

[O Star, grant us Order.]

Liam’s eyes shook. Every word spoken by the voices got unspeakably louder. Their tone was harrowing. It was as if their mere words were about to shatter his mind. His Inner World cracked. A few black System notifications floated in front of him.

[Perception has reached the value of 250.]

[Skill acquisition rate has massively increased.]

[Skill Proficiency rate has massively increased.]

[Comprehension has massively increased.]

There were no longer any warnings. The System no longer screamed at him not to raise his Perception. He had long ago surpassed the maximum recommended value.

Liam collapsed to the ground. He screamed until his vocal cords were torn, rolling on the ground madly. His sanity was slipping. Inside his Inner World, his soul was paralyzed with terror as it looked at the water beneath its feet. Only now could it begin to understand what sort of beings had made it their home. The cracks in the Inner World’s sky increased.

Only one thing held everything together from collapsing immediately.

[Your Will has increased by 1.]

[Your Will has increased by 2.]

[Your Will has increased by 1.]

Liam’s soul gritted its teeth. It trembled like a flame in the wind but remained standing. It had lost all control of its body in reality, but that no longer mattered. Its body could be destroyed countless times and regenerate after all of it. What mattered was keeping itself intact.