Chapter 15: Quite Egotistical, innit?
Zone V-089, a zone located near one of the many internal borders of the Outskirts, a route that ignores the Slum and goes straight to the Outskirts.
The figure clad in a new black coat, atop his head was a gentlemanly half-top hat, obscuring his eyes was his gold rimmed black square glasses. Etched on his face was his empty smile, his facial muscle tensed as his focus intensified.
As expected, he already knew about our plan to monitor him, that's why the detector hasn't moved yet… He's really something, huh?
The voice of Vole echoed within his mind like a distant memory being recalled.
"How amusing…"
Gregory let out a laugh.
Long-Ranged Telepathy, such an amazing power left dormant inside the body of such a pathetic gambler.
He commented on his recent discovery through some experimentation with the system and his newly acquired EGO.
His discovery was that, everyone has an EGO laying dormant within themselves, there's all sorts of people with all sorts of EGO, some people have similar abilities but they have something that differentiates themselves.
It's quite convenient for me to just pull something out of my ass.
I mean, saying 'Ah, my anti-whatever-you-have EGO that I copied from a random crackhead' would be pretty absurd and funny.
He let out a laugh as he walked through the streets.
Not long after, he went upstairs and reached his apartment door, he readied a neutral expression as he twisted the doorknob.
He parted his lips as he greeted the one on the other side.
"I'm back, Naya."
Then, the vision blurred as his consciousness was dragged away, at least a part of his consciousness—it returned to its rightful owner.
"That was certainly something."
Nathaniel muttered with a smile on his face.
"How about it? It's pretty easy right?"
Lady Willow nudged his shoulder.
"I mean, it's very easy and quite useful to 'anchor' myself. I'm afraid of becoming too detached, though it might be less that I'm truly afraid but rather just a logical conclusion based on my situation."
He paused, then his obscured face turned towards Lady Willow's composed face.
"I should be afraid."
He added with a distorted voice.
Lady Willow called out to him, "Mr Lee, wake up."
Suddenly, Nathaniel was awoken from his strange state.
That was strange.
He eased himself and dispersed his humanoid form, returning to his former mana-based body.
That's better.
He couldn't explain the previous feeling, so he instinctively asked his trusted and knowledgeable companion.
System, why was I seemingly in a trance?
He awaited for answers as Lady Willow initiated a small talk with him.
"Mr Lee, what kind of life did you live before you ended up here?"
Her gaze landed squarely on Nathaniel's bottomless eyes.
"A rather uninteresting life."
Nathaniel turned his head away, avoiding the need to answer.
"Uninteresting? Well, you are your worst critic, tell me, I do like listening to stories, it's a habit I have developed long ago with someone dear to me."
She leaned her head over Nathaniel's shoulder, he remained motionless, taken aback by the fact that they're actually touching.
"I didn't remember turning myself tangible."
His voice almost inaudible yet his gaze drifted towards the figure leaning against him. Her long white hair, her beautiful face, her adorable expression.
Why did I barely feel a thing…?
A situation that called for an intense feeling to arise yet it never came, he felt a faint warmth for a moment yet it dispersed the second after.
He wondered if he was losing what essentially made him a human bit by bit.
Then, Lady Willow grabbed his face to look at hers.
"Calm down."
She commanded with an authoritative voice that shook the endless expanse of darkness.
The struggle within Nathaniel's mind died down as he recollected himself and regained his initial composure.
"What are you currently experiencing is what the Gods call; Psychological Fragmentation, an event caused by either an imbalance of a God's own value of 'influence' and 'existence' or it was caused by the fact that you over exerted your limited psychological capacity such as your 'personality' was splitted into too many active avatars."
She explained calmly then paused for a moment and sigh as she went to sit down beside him again.
"This thing wasn't necessarily rare or unheard of, in fact it was pretty common, there's many Gods that were always dancing on the verge of sanity and insanity, almost losing their grasp onto reality, detached from all things."
She added, her gaze drifted towards Nathaniel's expressionless face.
"I think you might've accidentally left the 'personality' you usually used for this form inside Gregory, that's why your mind is rapidly losing itself right now."
Is that how it is?
He closed his eyes, concentrated on himself and Gregory's psychic link, and entered his Mind Domain.
As his consciousness buzzed with life once again, he saw a new element of his now formless body. From the tip of his finger, there was an orange-colored string that floated into a certain translucent figure's head.
It was Gregory.
"I see, this orange string is the representation of my 'personality' and there's another that leads to Khaeron."
His gaze drifted towards his side as he noticed another translucent figure that had an identical orange string planted into its head.
He gently plucked the string from Gregory's head and it quickly retracted into his body causing an obvious change in his current demeanor.
"How amusing…"
He muttered as his consciousness began to be enveloped by the darkness before resurfacing in the expanse of darkness with Lady Willow sitting across from him drinking tea with a composed expression.
"So? Did you fix it, Mr Lee?"
She inquired, her tone curious.
"Yes, I fixed it."
He answered with regained clarity.
A lingering silence stretched for a while.
Then, Lady Willow broke the silence.
"How about that little friend inside you? Wouldn't you check on them?"
He stared at her in puzzlement then a stroke of realization hit him, his eyes drifting to the side and noticed the rectangular-shaped holographic screen filled with explanation.
"You could see it?"
He asked.
She answered, "Not necessarily, I just sensed it."
Is that so?
He decided to not pry further.
Though, another question lingered at the edge of his tongue as he casually inquired.
"I remember turning into my intangible form yet now I'm in my physical form, how did you do that?"
She took a sip of her tea and dematerialised the table.
The surrounding began to warp, the blackness exploded into a vibrant blue sky filled with birds singing in the sky.
The galaxies condensed into the giant sun illuminating the infinite ground and forest.
From the empty brown into a colorful field of flowers and grass that was breathtaking in beauty.
"What's the point of this?"
Nathaniel walked through the forest dragged by Lady Willow.
After a short walk, they reached a bench in the middle of nowhere, directly under the sun.
"Just like how you or I impose our imagination into this space, to change its property, change its appearance, create something out of nothing and reduce something into nothing. I could do the same to an entity or object lesser than myself which does include you."
She explained, her gaze soft and gentle, her smile filled with joy.
Nathaniel, seeing that, couldn't help but smile in response.
"I see."
Then, like a glass, it broke into pieces, the space returned to its former form, a massive black expanse filled with endless galaxies.
"It seems that my presence is needed somewhere else, farewell Mr Lee."
She bid him farewell.
"See you later, Lady Willow."
"See you later, Mr Lee."
Silence.
Status.
The rectangular holographic screen buzzed as the text changed.
——————————
Name: Nathaniel Lee
True Name: Ezykiel — The Amalgamation
Race: Soulborn
Status: Healthy
Lifespan: ∞
Tier: 1
Rank: E
Titles: False God, The Transmigrator
Bloodline: None
Physique: None
Symbolism: None
Spirit Beast: None
Attribute: None
Reactor: None
Affinity: Soul (EX-rank)
Talent: Origin of Mana (XXX-rank)
EGO:
— Formless EGO: Copy (EX-rank)
— Special EGO: Telepathy (A-rank)
— Special EGO: Structural Hacking (A-rank)
— Companion EGO: Humanoid Monster (B-rank)
— Gear EGO: Optical Instrument (C-rank)
— Special EGO: Presence Synchronization (C-rank)
——————————
System, can I copy an Affinity or Talent from Klein's world?
He was prepared to wait for a while yet the answer came crashing down the next second.
[ No. ]
I see, so it definitely can only copy EGO, giving to Klein or anyone from his world is useless because if my assumption is correct, then EGO wouldn't work as effectively the same way Magic is in Gregory's world…
I haven't really checked any specific description of anything I owned, does the system even have that feature?
[ Checking the description for - Formless EGO: Copy (EX-rank)? ]
So it does have it.
Let's check it out.
Yes.
——————————
EGO:
Formless EGO: Copy
— Rank: EX
— Copy Target: EGO
— Copied Amount: 5
— Limitation: Can only copy below or equal its own rank.
——————————
Nathaniel skimmed through the description and his gaze wandered off to see the concepts dancing around the endless canvas, some exploding into smaller fragments of itself, some warping into their supposed opposite and another fused with each other.
Chaotic. Strange. Yet quite entertaining indeed.
System.
He called out to the system.
Let's say, I have a concept that symbolize infinity in my hand and I also has a skill that would allow me to extend the space of a 'room' into 5 times its original size, can I use that infinity to change the previous skill's effect so that it would extend the space of the 'room' into infinity?
He waited for a while.
There was only silence.
He let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"Of course, what was I thinking? It was obviously impos-"
[ It is perfectly possible. ]
Huh?
So, it is possible.
That means, I just need to find a concept that represent Universality to make my EGO able to copy every other power system.
He couldn't help but smile.
His smile widened uncontrollably.
What great news, today is really such a beautiful day…
A sandstorm ravaged the desert, there were three hooded figures walking through the storm.
Finally, we reached this place.
I really hope we come at the right time, O' Champion of Rot…
Klein thought as he remembered the suffering endured by the person he was given the perspective from.
If Lord Solomon gave me the future knowledge through his perspective then it must've meant that he wanted me to save him.
He must be related to Lord Solomon in one way or another, well it's not like I wouldn't help him anyway.
He paused. Then, added.
I'm not that cold hearted.
To be continued…