Beginning of the End of the World (Edited)

(Beginning of the End of the World)

...

Two months…

Robert: / If I took that route or changed that… /

/ I don't understand… /

/ The training is complete /

- Why does it work? -

/ It's completely illogical… (#Click the tongue #) I'll try another way… /

/ one more time… again /

… Fifth month…

- (#slumber #) -

- (#sympathetic laugh # ) -

- (# Angry Laughter #) -

- (# Ironic Laughter #) -

- (# Happy Laughter #) -

- (# Very Happy Laughter #) -

- (# Laughter # ) -

- (# meaningless screaming #) -

… Seventh month…

- I lost a lot of time… if I disable auto-execution I can't use it at all, but if I use auto-execution, I can't control the skill as I want, much less understand it. Shit! A thousand times shit! -

/ one more time ... one more time ... I must try again /

... eleventh month ...

/ I have not been able to create a single useful circuit ... proficiency does not increase almost anything, it seems that I need basic skills before acquiring this ability ... shit, this is silly realistic, where is the fucking fantasy /

/ ... once again ... how?

Once again ... What do I use?

One more time ... damn it ... /

- Since when has there been one more voice? … -

- (# weird grunts #) -

… A year…

A whole year had passed since the world restarted.

Stuck to the ground like a slug, it had the appearance of a rotting corpse. A barely breathing lump of flesh was all that remained of Robert after a year.

Blessed by the goddess of fortune, he spent the whole year in the cave without any mishap, the immensely large creatures ignored him as prey, and the geological disasters affected him in the least; because although Robert doesn't know it yet, the elemental cloaks are extremely dangerous, designed for the strongest, most daring warriors, and Robert was just lost, but luck was on his side, and for many times actually.

Like an excited child on his first walk, he had also completely forgotten to prepare the necessary supplies to survive in that cave; but he was not the only one, the other players had similar conditions, for different reasons. So for the first year, the main system sent supplies and medicines every month to all users, but there was one more mistake for Robert. Crazed with his new desire, he had forgotten everything else. He worked until he fell unconscious, woke up, ate and continued working, until he fell again, without eating or sleeping properly throughout that year, every day his body takes on the emaciated appearance of a sick person.

In the fifth month he had already used all the materials that were given to him when he acquired his magic circuit inscription skill; and in the midst of his madness and despair he thought: "meat should also serve this purpose" and fearlessly, he tried to carve the patterns he learned on his left arm, obtaining a painful rejection, almost making him lose his arm. Saved at the last minute by the medicines, only left as a mark of his madness, a stain of a rotten black color, extending from his thumb to the middle of his forearm.

By the seventh month he had managed to reuse the materials once more.

By the eleventh month, all recycled materials became unusable dust.

Then he spent most of the last month, scattered on the ground. He was trying to think of a solution to his total failure, but there were no options. Day after day passed with him as motionless as a blur, until the first year was fulfilled ...

[Obtained: Skill Orb x1.]

The message appeared suddenly.

Like a corpse coming back to life, his eyes suddenly lit up, he had a new option. But why? Why today? It was a situation that was going to be repeated every year, or this would be the last one that he would receive, or perhaps he had met certain conditions by chance ...

This would be the last skill orb to be would grant or get you more. His future decisions depend on the answer to that question, he did not want to make the same mistake again, but in that cave there was no one to answer his questions. He could only pray that this one chance was enough to change everything.

His body was stiff and gangly, giving off a foul odor from the total neglect of a year; but it didn't matter at all, he had to try again, anything else was not important; He just wanted one more chance ... He

opened the inventory, a spatial door was generated, resembling a thin strip of dark light, like a line that cuts through space. As the information from the inventory content was transmitted directly to his brain. The inventory was almost completely empty, containing only medicine and food scraps, and also the new multi-colored orb, which slowly exited through the dimensional door. It was of a glass-like material, with a liquid of innumerable colors moving inside, it easily fit in his hand and gave off a faint hypnotic light.

Robert: In his eyes that light was reflected. / What I need? / he thought, in his mind there was only one answer - ... Control - he answered himself. And without further hesitation he began to meditate, or so he tried, but the crazed year in that cave had completely twisted his own being, completely changing him. He was unable to achieve calm as easily as before, exhaustion and madness kept screaming in his head. But old habits are not uprooted in such a short time, with the experience of a lifetime silencing their emotions, all the noise was silenced, even that single wish that was changing everything, had also disappeared, only a blank soul remained, with just one command: Control.

Slowly all the abilities were compared, thoroughly reviewed, until after several hours, the blank world began to take color ...

...

SFX: Slow and steady wind.

Green, it covered everything in sight, up to the distant mountains ...

The soft grass swayed with a huge blow, it was slow and it was soft; but it encompassed everything. He traveled each meter slowly, from the distant plains in the east to the blurred mountains in the west, keeping a steady pace as he walked over the hill of a mountain cut in half.

It was the second time Robert had gone through this situation, he was completely immersed in understanding it, but it was too realistic, the amount of information his senses received was too much to be just a dream. But there he was, seeing everything from the apprentice's eyes, as if he were himself, but just like last time, he couldn't act freely.

He was sitting on the grass, on a hill formed from the remains of a cut mountain, situated somewhere on a vast plain painted emerald green. The sky had vague traces of clouds, and it was bright, like shortly after sunrise, a clear but not blinding light.

The sky was very big, the plains were too, it felt so immense, as if everything was unattainable, giving an overwhelming and gigantic pressure, or just maybe, it made you feel so small and weak, like a small stalk of grass in this immense plain. It was an agonizing feeling.

As Robert was swayed by those emotions, his new hands began to pull things out of his bag. He was holding a clipboard full of white sheets, like you would find in any office, but also ink and pens that looked like they came out of a museum. He was not the only one, all the children like him took out their supplies too. Apparently there would be a class in this empty place.

After finishing his preparations, he looked ahead, further up the hill, there was a man who had always been, but even right now, he seemed not to be. He had an inhuman appearance, although he was completely human. But no matter how fixed I looked at it, I couldn't remember anything, as if that man were just a rock on the mountain, no, it was as if that man were this plain and the sky. It felt like just one of his fingers could crush you, that he could command the winds to blow, and nothing would remain. But it was not fear that he felt, the host like the rest of the children, all showed the same emotion on their face, pride, as if they obtained a reward unattainable for others.

Like the previous dream, Robert was influenced by the host's emotions, but that was the reason that drove him on this maddened journey. In the past dream, the sensation of how his hands carved the circuits, the possibilities, what he could create. It was an emotion that awakened his apathetic soul, and led him to live inhumanly in a cave. It was an emotion that even after failing so many times, it kept him from giving up.

And now, he was in the same situation again, influenced by the emotions within this dream. Feeling his soul prostrate in fear while these brats smile expectantly, it was an unacceptable humiliation, he had never despised himself more than today. But at the same time a new desire, power, was also born. In the past it was something that had never called attention to his apathetic existence, but after so many falls and failures, that feeling of helplessness, feeling that he walks without moving anywhere ... all that weakness that had penetrated deep into his bones, it made him hate feeling like that, he wanted to be like that man who controls everything, if he needed an achievement, he would advance, if he needed some material, he would get it, he would take what he wanted, he would do what he wanted. That apathetic soul, today, more than ever, wanted power ...

The man as still as a rock opened his eyes, and smiled. His smile was arrogant like the ruling noon sun, and the broader his gesture, the more pressure it exerted on Robert's soul, who was imaginatively prostrate on all four limbs, the more the man smiled, the more pressure crushed his soul. Little by little the pride began to shine fiery in the eyes of that man, who was like the earth and the sky, and for Robert the feeling of being crushed by the world became clearer, but no matter how much they pressed him, this time not lower his gaze, unlike when others ordered him, or silence his own emotions, as he had always gotten used to, today, even if his body turned to pasta and his very existence was erased; He wanted the power that was offered to him, that's why he kept looking into those arrogant eyes, even if he lost everything ... And once again, the man smiled again, but instead of being burned by the sun, he now gave the feeling of warm astro in the morning, and a sense of accomplishment he had never felt before. The immense landscape no longer gave the anguishing feeling, instead of looking so distant and immense, it was as if he could take it all for himself, just for a whim, that instead of climbing the mountains bleeding, they will prostrate themselves before you so that you upload them; it was an absurd feeling, but for an instant it felt possible.

And that man as still as a rock opened his eyes for the first time, it was easy to understand that it was a test, that even the uninvited guest had been approved. And it was time to start talking.

The man who is like the earth and the sky: - Well ... I see why you managed to get here ... You know who I am ... I ... I already found out about you ...

...

We will start from scratch ... even if ... you have the knowledge ... without interruptions ... -

The man spoke very slowly, between each of his sentences, but no matter how long it took to continue, no one interrupted even while breathing.

- Magic does not exist - were his next insensitive words. But, although they all managed to keep silent, shock was evident on their faces. It was a denial of his common sense.

- (# mute laughter #)… I know you come from privileged worlds… mana flows in the wind… feed the creatures… even… you benefit from it yourself… and although it exists… it does not exist… not by itself

...

Magic it is an aberration that bends the laws ...

(# Deep breath #)

All magic comes from a conscious being ... even "natural" magic ... is born ... from the interpretation of the collective will ...

Magic does not exist ... even if you don't understand it now ... -

SFX: Strong wind. Deep echo.

The wind waves their clothes, as if they were rising. His words were simple, but they were an aberration to children born in worlds filled with magic.

- You shouldn't try to understand it ... not now ... maybe ... it doesn't matter ... -

Robert felt calm when he told himself that they would start from scratch, but now, not only him, but the whole class was restless. For Robert the denial of magic was something natural, magic does not exist, it is common sense in the past, but right now he had already spent a whole year working with magic, even if he only failed, he knew that magic existed, so the correction was simple, magic must be created by someone conscious; or so he thought he understood, but the last words made him doubt, as if it were not so simple in reality, he felt that there was a missing piece, hidden in the meaning of the word "exist", but he could not find what it was.

- I wanted to start with something exciting… but it's been a long time… the children… I don't understand them… even so… continue…

(# Sigh #) - I continue speaking, although the students seemed somewhat distracted…

- They must understand… the stock conscious ... can be defined ... as the composition of three parts ... the body ... the mind ... and the soul ... all conscious creatures follow that rule ... if they are considered "alive", there are no exceptions ... never ...

One way to understand it better ... with a vessel ... imagine ... the body is the vessel ... the mind is the form ... and the content represents the soul ...

How resistant and strong it is ... it represents the characteristics of the body ... what materials it is made of ... the capacity it possesses ... determine how protected is the soul ... how stable and fixed is its existence in this world ... the body is the basis for perfecting magic ... if its body is destroyed ... its soul disperses ...

The mind is the way ... how you perceive and analyze the world ... your knowledge ... how smart you are ... just like that the shape of the vessel ... can change the space and distribution of the content ... the mind ... can increase its power and use it efficiently ...

And the content is the soul ... but the soul ... is also everything ... not just that fragment of incomprehensible energy ... it is not something really ... it is everything ... your body and your mind ... your failures and mistakes ... all your achievements ... what they did, what they want ... and what they decided to forget ... all that is their soul, their will ... all that that relates to you ... the people ... the places ... everything where there is a trace of your existence ... composes the soul ...

(#silent pause #)

If you understand it ... you can use a will beyond your own will ... a power that surpass yourselves… a will that transcends… but that is a distant future…

(#short sigh #)

Now the question… What is magic?

Magic is simple ... it's just wishing ... if you want enough ... with a will and soul big enough ... just wishing you can cut the heavens ... but all of you ... not even together ...

Magic is condensing your will ... making it tangible by the senses ... turn the ethereal into something physical ... it's very simple ... if I want to cut the heavens ... there are no heavens ... there is no me, no why ... only a cut ... -

SFX: Silence.

The wind stopped, for an instant and the skies parted, in a little line where there was nothing.

- Well ... using energy in this way ... it's inefficient ... that's why there are formulas ... the more illogical it is ... and the more laws in the world are broken ... the cost will be higher ... that's why knowledge is ... important ... - he looked at each of his students.

- You should try a leaf ... any herb will do ... - He spoke as if his demonstration had been nothing.

They all quickly took a sheet and placed it between their palms, dividing it in half.

- ah! Right ... I forgot to tell you ... all the external mana in your bodies has already been cleansed ... you must generate your own mana ... now ... - he turned slowly - obviously ... in this world no mana flows ... or it would have no meaning ... start ... - - he ordered.

Hours passed from that statement, and not one of all the genius children could perform that simple task. The sweat ran down their faces and the idea of ​​the beginning, began to take root, after all, magic does not exist. how you could perform such an illogical act, how you could cut a leaf just to wish it, is simply impossible, ridiculous ...

Although no one shared their thoughts, they all seemed to feel the same.

- The will is intangible ... - He spoke out of nowhere - scattered ... fickle ... changing ... to condense your will ... you only have to leave one way out ... it doesn't matter if you succeed ... or if it fails ... I don't exist, nor do you exist ... nothing exists, nothing matters ... all they want is to cut that blade ... their only wish in life ... and the reason why they die ... - still on their back, he crossed his hands - they just have to do it ... nothing more ...

(#sigh tired #) It's just the basic test to be a magician apprentice ... no named school will accept you ... if you can't do something so simple ... (#sigh #) it doesn't matter ... it's exhausting to talk so much ... -

Everyone started again, even Robert imaginatively sat, concentrated for long hours that seemed like days, they tried, shutting down every emotion, every sense, logic, the world, everything, until the blade split.

- Well ... - Only that he said, although everyone was exhausted - there is only the easy thing ... the magic circuits inside his body ... they are the channels where the mana flows ... they are built slowly ... with each use ... each day ... but ... with this method - a small sphere of light shone in his palm - You will be able to achieve in a month what a common magician achieves in ten years ... - he clapped and an equal sphere was transferred into each student - it is simply ... mana ... you can do it yourself ... as long as it is dispersed enough not to damage you ... and stable so as not to disappear ... for now just use it ... - the small sphere of energy floated inside the students, it could move just by thinking about it, and just it left a faint tingling sensation.

- The theory is simple ... like a drop of water on a slope ... take the path with the least obstructions to reach the ground ... magic circuits are the path with the least obstructions to transfer energy ... different parts of your body ... have resistance different magic ... this training will create the most efficient route ... but you can also modify it externally ... although it is the best natural option ... perfecting it is something ... difficult ... but not impossible ... in the future ... you must try ...

(#simple smile #)

Start ... alone You must move that energy from one side of the body to the other ... as many times as necessary ... until it always follows the same path ... do not force it ... (#sigh tired #) do it ... you should not worry about your previous circuits ... they are gone ... true - - He turned to look at them - How is it something that everyone knows, I will give you some advice ... your circuits must be ... at least ... thinner than a thread ... because even their own mana ... contaminates ... and damages ... maybe they believe ... some ... that it's a good one idea to turn the whole body into magic circuits ... just do it, if your wish is to die ... like water ... magic circuits where mana flows ... weakens ... is less resistant to magic ... so it can flow faster ... if your Magic circuits are bigger ... they will also be more susceptible to the magic of their enemies ... also ... the mana will have to be more refined ... to be able to flow ... and that's good.

Now… create a basic path that connects every part of your body. -

Everyone refocused. Robert watched the energy run through every part of his host's body, counting the cycles until he couldn't pronounce the number. Slowly the path he traveled repeated itself, with less and less changes, until after a long time, a faint line formed inside the body of its host ...

When they opened their eyes, they felt that they had spent many days in training, but still that always, the scene showed the same amount of light.

- Now, the last lesson of this day… (# small smile #) magic roots… they are part of the magic circuits… the same… only, they connect to the soul… and extract energy… they can be created anywhere in the body .. -

The man who is like the earth and the sky spoke without stopping, as if it were not important; but, although everyone was silent, the host's mind screamed, "What? Can you create magical roots? Are they not a talent to be born with?" Everyone was upset.

- the easiest way to differentiate them ... is simple ... magic circuits try to be physical ... while magic roots must remain ethereal ... when magic circuits are sharp enough ... they continue to exist ... for a while, after their death ... but … Magic roots connect to the soul… they must be ethereal… one step before the will becomes mana… its function… efficiently extract… energy…

both magic circuits and magic roots… They can be specialized… adapted to some element ... or that generate a certain type of mana ... but ... no shortcuts ... it must be done step by step ...

(# smiled #)

Creating your magic roots is simple ... let the mana flow through your magic circuits ... try to feel where it comes from ... dig deep ... try to connect with your soul ... Where? It doesn't matter ... the root can grow anywhere ... but each point has a meaning ... different ...

(# pause #)

Try to feel ... how the energy flows ... how it transforms ... create an entrance ... that is not firm ... but not scattered ... do not think of anything ... do not try to add a concept ... now ... is not the time ... play with the soul ... you still do not have the necessary power ... do not seek death unnecessarily ...

Now ... begin ... -

There was silence once more, and they all began to meditate.

Although everyone was initially shocked, now they were only invaded by emotion. To be able to take the talent given only to those blessed by the heavens, to be able to overcome with effort those who were born with talent, was an amazing gift; And although Robert did not fully understand the value of that information, he concentrated as always.

This time time seemed to have stopped, it felt neither slow nor extended like in the other trainings, it was different, too abstract ... When he managed to connect with his soul, everything felt strange, as if everything had ceased to exist, as if isolated in a distant place, where even time itself was meaningless ... It

was a dark place, seemingly empty, incomprehensible ...

He advanced slowly, building the magic root little by little, gathering the scattered energy, which was emitted from the center of that dark place.

He realized that even if he wanted to think of something, to give a concept to his root, he would not be able to do it, he was slowly absorbed by that darkness ...

He managed to finish his root, just a little before his consciousness was stolen. He heard again the voice of the man who is like the earth and the sky:

- Well done ... rest assured | Wake up | - the sounds overlapped and the dream ended.

…