.
.
.
"That boy… How interesting."
Magister Silas Ren turns back and stares at the corridor long after Isaac enters the infirmary.
I can tell I'm relaxed… My cadence and heart rate are lower than resting… That I'm sure.
But my posture feels much more jelly, as is my mind…
How could he not react to my prompts?
All he did was stare while being silent. Didn't even flinch under pressure… In fact, I would say his physical tells decreased as our conversation went on… Is that level of confidence possible for a Noble in front of me? Let alone a First-Year? And if so, for what purpose would he need to bolster his chest at me as he did?
No… No… No… I know I'm too much of a fool to pay attention to that.
Instead… Something more perplexing… Just WHAT was that boy experiencing before our talk?
I originally wanted to approach him out of interest. But NOBODY was around him, and he didn't move for nearly 10 minutes. I could only approach as a professor with concern… I mean, what kind of First-Year stands there like that?!
"Hahaha…"
No wonder h̸͍͆́͋̈̆͋̕͝ĕ̴̡̢̙̲͍̰̮̦͈̯ asked me to pay attention and take them.
A fainter thought forms at the edge of his mind as he turns on his heel slowly.
I should get closer to him.
And not just him… But the main target.
What the fuck were you planning, Orthellius? Enrolling both of them so closely?
The Magister heads back toward the faculty wing.
"Contingency plans. Don't you agree?"
"It would be unsavory to be caught off guard, Exarch Ren."
"Hah… I agree. Come."
.
.
.
The complimentary medical checkup provided for all students went smoothly. The only thing off about Isaac was his paleness and twitchiness during the examination. Maybe even his lack of hearing in one ear.
He had millions of thoughts racing in his head.
Isaac took his lunch in quiet satisfaction.
At least they do one thing well…
Yet even as he savored the meal, his gaze remained fixed upon the System Window that had been bothering him for the past 30 minutes.
It read:
Attribute: 'The Theater of Loci' failed to Archetextualize itself |
| Retry? |
An idiot would try again.
Deciding to be a genius this time.
Isaac finally uttered the words.
"Topological Anchor V2: Self Statistics."
Name: Isaac Mun
Class: Anomalous Entity / Apprentice-Class Mage
Class: Anomalous Entity
Title: "Eulogist of Every Truth", "Audience? of the Acts", "Adept of the Howling Void", "The First Anomalous Constant"
Age: 17 (Biological Age). 19 (Mental Age)
Stats:
- Strength: 1-Star
- Vitality: 3-Star
- Agility: 3-Star
- Intellect: 5-Star
- Stamina: 100%
Attributes:
Topological Anchor (Version 2): A true reminder that you're an outsider. After encountering the nexus, you have been granted the authority to 'perceive' into the baseline of this world.
- Mimicry #1 (Buff): Due to your jealousy of a certain character, your worldview is slowed by 15%
- Mimicry #2 (Buff): Due to your jealousy of a certain character, your memory has been enhanced to an Eidetic state.
- Mimicry #3 (Buff): Due to your jealousy of a certain character, your body is capable of attuning/creating one derived or unique Element of your own earlier than most. Its efficiency and efficacy will be that of, if not higher than, a Royal Derivative.
With sufficient acceptance, you may see more…
Hollow Frame (Curable Debuff): While the mind is expansive, the body is a hollow joke—merely a shell incapable of expressing full potential in the material plane, just as you have once hated.
Media Literacy (Perpetual Passive): A product of narcissistic reading comprehension. An abrupt and uncanny faculty that renders narrative structure perceptible to you as if it were a physical memory—you apprehend Introductions, Catharses, Complexity, Culminations, Depth, Developments, Dynamics, Ideologies, Internal Conflicts, Main Themes, Philosophies, and Symbolisms with the same immediacy as one reads a sentence, be it aspects of a story or characters themselves.
I Hate Therefore I Think, I Think Therefore I.M (Conditional Passive): A cognitive accrual triggered in contact with something you find genuinely disgusting. All facets of thought accelerate past what focus or interest alone could produce, back to what it once was. Loathing acts as the catalyst. The more repulsive the subject, the better your analysis.
Theater of Loci: With Three Attributes combined, here lies a Play in a World that does not exist. In this isolated Universe, there can only be one truth. Discovered as the logic repeats cycles and regressions of unfathomable repetitions based on facts you have absorbed, taking its place as parts of the theater, fixed in nature and position. You will watch what any performance would have to become without interfering.
All to Reach the End of the Story
Element Affinity:
Wind (Main Element): 2-Star
Mana Remaining: 300/300 MP
Wow… So many mocking changes… And not any to my own stats.
What actual bullshit…
The two new attributes are at least… somewhat… reassuring?
I mean, I still don't get what the fuck | Theater of Loci | does… But |I Hate Therefore I Think, I Think Therefore I.M | is a generally good ability… Seeing as how I fucking hate everything about this New EAA.
Though, my only issue… Why didn't it activate while talking to Silas?!
He's a part of this world that I execute… He's a character I also anathematized as a child for what he did to the cast and co… Yes… By all means, I ABHOR him and his group.
So why wasn't it there to help me clutch up?
You need not be a genius to know why.
Isaac felt a puke proliferate at the back of his throat, the lunch he once ate coming back up.
I shouldn't have thought about it… Hah… Even if I try distracting myself from it, it will always be in my conscience.
Nevermind…
As he savored the meal, his gaze remained fixed upon the Noësical Theory Textbook: Ways of the Wind. The Clause-Constructs within mirrored those of the game, familiar in name and effect.
| Attribute: 'I Hate Therefore I Think, I Think Therefore I.M' Activated |
Yeesh…
The In-Threading 'rituals', however, were from another story.
Gone was the mystic flourish; in its place stood science and equations. It was as if one took classical physics, tried their best to turn it into a magic system, and shoved it all into a book, understating the significance of the underlying passion.
Worse yet, every word had its own proof in practice.
He turned the pages with care, noting each key aspect as he went.
Most of it he had understood while Caelum and Darius were duking it out. However, the last Clause Construct, if one could call it that, of each Module was a completely unique sight to behold.
Zairu'jin (Martial Art)
How interesting...
A Spell that never appeared in EAA. Likely a product of the evolving rivalry between the Mages and the Cultivators in the Wùhuán Dàlù, or whatever other faction there is. Because of it, Mages have likely begun developing their own styles of martial combat other than combat sports.
From the illustrations alone, this technique, Zairu'jin, draws heavily from Bāguà Zhǎng.
Not to diss, a circular Chinese 'martial art' from Earth. But unlike its traditional counterpart, this form weaves Mana into strikes. Each punch and kick looks like they generate the rotational force to perturb the wind, which should seamlessly allow for casting.
Martial Spellcasting.
Interesting… That would mean Mages need to upkeep the calculation of Spells while performing their movements on top of doing hand-to-hand combat.
How the fuck… That's gonna be super difficult.
On top of that, why must Wind's 'magic Martial Art' be Bāguà Zhǎng, though? Why couldn't it be anything else? My base discipline is Boxing, and I wanna develop into MMA, not fuicking Taichi…
Hmm… Wonder what the other Element's 'magic Martial Arts' are then…
…
Wow~ the other 3 get all the cool stuff.
Hah…