Despite the imprecise conclusion he got for his first growth mastery understanding experiment, that of having two final theories, Rune knew it was only his first experiment among many.

He was also aware that for him to completely understand his own growth mastery, he would need much more than 5 small rocks emulating a natural phenomenon.

‘I wonder if…’

Letting his imagination go wild as he looked at those 5 rocks he didn’t ask but still received, he realized something.

‘Is every material grown through a gardener that has any sorts of external effects considered natural phenomenons?’

Not giving much hope to this possibility, he still searched for “Gravity material gardener path” online regardless of vaguely remembering reading about such a subject and being told off pretty clearly by the Ether Law.

And 5 minutes of tempered hopeful reading later, he was once again told off by the Ether Law.

If he wanted a material that exerted a greater gravity than its mass should be able to create, this didn’t belong to the field of the gardener crafting path at all.

Better yet, It belonged to the elementalist path, and once he read about how it mixed energy engineering knowledge to create permanent gravity-related element particles to infuse a material, Rune knew creating an artificial natural increased gravity phenomenon was a lost cause.

Still, from this line of thought, he was reminded of an item of his to-do list he had added to his list of preparation to do imperatively before departing for years, maybe dying on the way.

‘I already planned to invest into the entertainment industry even at a loss, acquitting myself of the debt I owe this field for making me who I am today, so why not add the gardening sector with it? I’m rich with contribution, and it’s not like anyone would say no… Probably?’

Adding a “harmful natural radiation gardener investment” item next to his “entertainment culture investment” item, he closed the whole unintentional radiation rocks line of experiment, not even deeming it worth it to carry them on him all the time to try and grind his radiation adaptation.

‘So, next is obviously the 4 effects’ secondary specializations, the path of continuously upgrading my growth mastery. Like any other specialization path. It’s never too late to start, right? Don’t say anything cosmic mist! You’re an element but for me, you’re more like a fantastic color with some effects! I love you!’

Opening a document he prepared during his purge, a surge of expectation brought him to look down on his 6 mastery slots.

It was just too little.

After only filling them with the 4 basic specialized effects, he would have filled 4 and only have the space for 2 more.

‘If I find clues for some of my amazing crazy ideas… I’ll probably just do a second round. Not like a week will change anything.’

Taking a radiation rock in his hand, the process of creating a tertiary specialization went through his mind. He needed to take a precise part of the secondary specialization, which should normally have reached tier 2 and unveiled directly the effects, and do a very simple thing.

In elemental specializations like his cosmic mist, his personality would have shown him the path by giving it a few effects from which to learn the basics of “secondary” specializations.

In stats specialization, it was his subconscious that should show him the path once he reached tier 2, and it was the case for his cohesion infusion which he used to create his growth mastery.

In the case of growth mastery, however, their whole concept was based around incarnating at their creation a few effects decided by the creator, so Rune didn’t need to wait until tier 2 to have an indication about what his subconscious thought about his endless adaptation.

It would have 4 effects: Adaptation, Self, Isolation, and Rejection.

‘Let’s start with the most obvious one, which coincidentally is the only one I’m sure to know the effect of. At least that’s what my small dying spark of Ether Law common sense tells me.’

With his experience from having created a growth mastery, Rune’s ability to use a mental theater and mental imageries had long gone over the level of having difficulty with creating something as simple as specializations.

What’s more, he was holding a radiation rock in his hand to facilitate the whole mental process.

Looking intently at the fluorescent cyan his armor had turned into in the contact zone with the radiation rock, he imagined the whole process that was taking place.

He imagined his cohesion as being a sphere, and inside that sphere were 4 different things.

He didn’t even try to make the image more powerful or precise, as he only needed to push one of those 4 different, intangible things out for him to accomplish his objective.

And the identity of the thing he pushed out was the adaptation effect.

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Cohesion: Specialized Adaptation?

‘Yup. Make sure to fill the lowest slot. Simple, precise, no-brainer. And the description should also be like that.’

To confirm his theory about the adaptation effect having the most no-brainer effect once specialized, he opened the description window.

Cohesion: Specialized Adaptation

Specialized Slotted Mastery (Tier 1)

A tertiary specialization created to enhance in the most straightforward and basic way its target.

By specializing in the adaptation effect, your cohesion finds it easier to adapt to new environmental ethers, slightly increasing your adaptation speed.

‘And just as I expected. Is there something more straightforward to my endless adaptation than this effect? No. This effect should be the “greatness in simplicity” kind of thing.’

Scrolling to the adaptation effect segment of his document, he read through everything he theorized and confirmed that the most likely “Increase speed of adaptation” specialization path turned out to be true.

‘With this specialization path, as long as I want to continue forging ahead against the environment, I just need to find a place to chill in and take 3 or 4 adaptation specialization variants, and then wait. It does sound perfect for the Unending Mountain Dimension.’

Having confirmed the adaptation specialization path, he moved the few other theories he had prepared in case the most likely scenario didn’t happen to a new section.

Maybe he would use those weird theorized effects for inspiration or quaternary specialization in the future.

Once the adaptation part was finished and he noted down a few inspirations he got, he moved on to the 2nd out of the 4 things contained inside his cohesion.

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Cohesion: Specialized Self?

‘Yes.’

Repeating the same procedure, he started by opening the description window.

Cohesion: Specialized Self

Specialized Slotted Mastery (Tier 1)

A tertiary specialization created to enhance in the most straightforward and basic way its target.

By specializing in the self effect, your cohesion becomes more sensitive to things it has already adapted to, allowing you to roughly locate in a certain range where those are.

‘...’

Slowly, Rune brought his right hand to his shin.

Then he narrowed his eyes as if in deep thinking.

‘Hu… What?’

Trying to save his pride as an intellectual, he attempted to make sense of what he was reading and use it with what he theorized could be the effect of the self specialization path.

‘Like… The affinity stat’s ultra-long distance ether sense property but… With things I adapted to…’

Nodding a few times in mock understanding, he finally closed his eyes as he gave up.

‘Okay. I never even thought up about something like that. You got me Ether Law. I theorized everything from my cohesion becoming able to assimilate with the environment to crazy ideas like becoming able to somewhat manipulate what I adapted to. But that?’

Moving the whole self specialization path section to his “future inspiration” section, he moved on to note his initial feeling about this effect.

‘It depends on the range, but if the range is really extraordinary like those who specialize in the ether sense of the affinity stat, then it’ll be a specialization path worth a second look in the future.’

Rebuilding his mental imagery in an instant, he extracted the 3rd out of the 4 things contained inside his cohesion.

This 3rd thing was the isolation effect.

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Cohesion: Specialized Isolation?

‘Yes.’

Once he got it, he forgot about the prior pitiful conclusion and opened the description window of this new effect.

Cohesion: Specialized Isolation

Specialized Slotted Mastery (Tier 1)

A tertiary specialization created to enhance in the most straightforward and basic way its target.

By specializing in the isolation effect, your cohesion isn’t willing to remain tied up at being able to adapt to only one thing at a time, it wants to be able to adapt to different things at the same time.

When he read the description, his spirit became lively once more.

‘Well, I’m somewhat of an intellectual after all. 2 out of 3? For an adventurer, I should be above the commoner's mass, that’s for sure.’

Scrolling down just a bit with a few eyes sweeps downwards, he exited the isolation section and entered the rejection one.

There, he found an identical effect theory to the one his specialized isolation effect gave him.

‘So now it’s pretty much confirmed too that my cohesion cannot adapt to multiple things at a time. That’s very dangerous in case I’m in a hostile environment and an environmental event hits me…’

Coming up with the worst-case situation to remind himself that he was just an insignificant entity, he finished by comforting himself a bit.

‘In truth though, it doesn’t really matter if I adapt to one or multiple things as my adaptation to everything is pretty much nonexistent.’

And the moment he comforted himself, another worry soon popped up.

‘How will I ever get enough mastery slots… I can’t continue switching my masteries indefinitely if I want to reach tier 5, but at the same time, I know. I just know that half of the work relevant for my continued survival is my willingness to adapt.’

When he finished noting down his first impression and the future capital importance of this specialization path, Rune went on to create the last unknown basic specialization his endless adaptation was capable of producing.

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Cohesion: Specialized Rejection?

‘It’s just so easy.’

Neither agreeing nor disagreeing, he just let the text window float before him.

On a whim, he disagreed and the window closed.

Then he recreated his mental imagery and willed the rejection effect of his cohesion to come out again.

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Cohesion: Specialized Rejection?

‘That’s certainly a type of entertainment. I’m sure I can do so much more.’

Disagreeing again, he let his whims take him somewhere else as he found something fun to do.

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Energy: Specialized Green Element?

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Energy: Specialized Red Element?

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Energy: Specialized Baiting Orange Element?

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Energy: Specialized Pure Neon White Element?

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Energy: Specialized Firework Element?

Coming up with anything his mind wanted with a bit of energy manipulation, he disagreed with everything but still found how far he could push the Ether Law to be fun.

Once he had enough with the color element specialization, he moved on to have fun with his intent craft.

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Perception: Specialized Intent Creation?

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Perception: Specialized Cosmic Mist Intent Creation?

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Perception: Specialized Baiting Intent Creation?

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Perception: Specialized Intent Tinkering?

‘Of course it’s that easy. I wonder what the world would be like if everyone had an infinite number of mastery slots? But it would lose a bit of sense too…’

Rune pondered a bit on this fantasy he found really fun.

‘Ah~~ I don’t know~~ There’s an appeal in the two worlds! One where you optimize what you have and everyone is limited like you. Another where everyone, monsters included, can let everything become real and go in any direction at any moment without losing everything they worked for until now.’

Getting his fill of Ether Law exploitation and fantasizing, he got back to the last of his 4 endless adaptation effects.

*Ding* Do you want to fill one of your empty mastery slots with Cohesion: Specialized Rejection?

‘Give it to me, yes.’

The window went away in the same manner as when he said no, but despite not feeling anything, something had definitely changed.

He just didn’t know what.

Or he didn’t know until he opened the description window of this new specialization.

Cohesion: Specialized Rejection

Specialized Slotted Mastery (Tier 1)

A tertiary specialization created to enhance in the most straightforward and basic way its target.

By specializing in the rejection effect, your cohesion wants to fulfill its role in a better way, even going above the limits from which it should collapse, slightly increasing the threshold before your adapted cohesion cannot resist what it should resist.

‘To think I would have a specialization path having everything to do with my threshold…’

Looking at the document he prepared over an entire week of purge that had become useless again as he moved the whole rejection section to another place, he marveled at the working of his own growth mastery.

‘I wonder if it also works on the lower threshold limit? Not like it would change anything from what I understood the threshold is…’

This threshold, which Rune had started to read about and understand when he got the archive request, had everything to do with the theoretical end of a growth mastery.

What if someone created a growth mastery dedicated to only surviving against environmental restraints like Rune, and he actually got one of his adaptations to 100%? Would he have reached total immunity to it?

Well, some people found an answer to that before they even reached 10% resistance to an environment, or an element, according to their own growth mastery.

The truth he had gleaned from the archive request was that nothing could permanently render you invulnerable, there would always be a “threshold” after which even invulnerability or perfect adaptation wouldn’t be able to do anything against.

The perfect example he had read about used the gravity element against someone who reached a theoretical 10% gravity neutralization through his 2 000 strength stat, effectively feeling that 10g was 9g, or 1g felt like 0.9g.

And then the gravity element was pushed forward, 100g felt like 90g, 1 000g felt like 900g… At this stage, the entity under the gravity couldn’t move anymore, but his entire gravity neutralization still worked, so the test continued.

2 000g felt like 1 800g, 3 000g felt like 2 700g… And then the existence of the threshold was proved at some point when the effective gravity that should have been neutralized, 10% of it, was in fact not completely neutralized.

At 5 000g, only 500g were neutralized, and then at 5 500g, still only 500g were neutralized, and this value didn’t change anymore no matter how the total gravity was increased.

This experiment told in a legacy taught Rune that his 10 000 cohesion stat had a limit, a threshold from which it wouldn’t be able to show it had adapted to 5% or 10%.

This limit was of course high, and being the proud owner of a cohesion stat at 10 000, reaching his threshold would mean he would already be close to death and completely at the mercy of the environment.

Just taking the experiment told to show the existence of a threshold, the test subject had been paralyzed long before he attained his gravity neutralization threshold.

‘No, wait. Rune you genius.’

Feeling like he was onto something, Rune quickly jotted down his conceptual idea of a perfect mastery to have in a dimension ruled and defined by gravity.

‘The only thing I have to worry about is the high gravity, the ultra-high gravity which would slow me down astronomically when I reach it and have to fight under it.’

This worry of his was not only one for fighting, but it was also one for traveling, and now that he got inspiration on how to remedy it, he engulfed his mind into it.

‘A percentage will always be a percentage, even if I try to bullsh*t my way to change it to a numerical value, this doesn’t change the fact that the source material is a growth mastery, so it depends on time to grow more powerful. So I need to focus on this single bit of adaptation I’ll soon have!’

Mixing his knowledge on the threshold and the rejection specialization path he just discovered, he found a common point.

‘The key is to force my 1% gravity adaptation to act like it’s not 1% of the actual gravity, but to make this 1% adaptation reach my maximum cohesion threshold!’

And finally, his conceptual idea took form.

‘What if I can create an active rejection effect that will allow me to temporarily act in high gravity as if in normal gravity? Even if the cost is to sacrifice 100 or 1 000 cohesion per second… It will be completely worth it!’