Starting off he first wanted a description of the world so he went to a different book, titled with an old style mimicking youtubers from back then.
" Understanding the world for dummies" he began reading through it and was actually surprised by how much they could hide from public view.
His understanding of the government grew more terrifying by the second as accomplishing these things were not simple in the slightest.
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The book starts off by detailing the history of how the world came to be.
Saying it started off with a bang caused by an explosion of weaponry- a war between the gods caused by a feud made a million years before, between two ruling factions this led to a silent tension brewing over the millennia which later lead to that war.
It says the war caused the death of many gods but as nature works what dies must be risen anew.
Which made the world as we know it but also made some unsuspecting variables which happens when there is a clash with the blood within.
This leads to a never ending sickness that later turns you to a void.
A combination of primal instincts to evolve and take what once belonged to you. Some say they are whispers of the past gods desperate to return among the living-
Whilst others call that false due to the contradicting statements that would lead to. As the books say, the dead gods later become the world we inhabit.
So this led to an ongoing debate, an ongoing topic to this day.
The book then talks about how lingering thoughts and excess parts of these gods later made artifacts a way for a new era to truly awaken by fully stripping the gods of all their power .
These artifacts acted as a link or gateway toward the spiritual within the world due to it being the only way to talk with the spiritual.
'So that's what that golden apple is, no wonder I hear whispers every now and then.' His eyes flashed with a blinding intrigue.
He was thirsty for knowledge and luckily he found a well to fill it.
After reading the whole thing kade decided to read the next one as time was of the essence.
Opening the book he was greeted with a letter within. Its leather like material stood out intriguing him
Reaching out to grab it he decided to look inside but immediately halted his action when he saw how pristine its condition was.
'She clearly never opened it even though it was directed at her.
It seems this master of mine has a rather bleak past but lets be honest dont we all.' He mused feeling a tad bit sad for the lacy.
'Welp no use mopping around if im going to kill her so lets get back into it' still keeping his thoughts to himself as his suspicion of being watched grew more grounded.
If his master does ask why he was reading he could just jot it down to wanting to understand the world so he can help her better which sounded fine after he understood the process she put him through.
That thing where he got baptised in that pool of water was to receive a blessing where she is the blessed forcing me down a path of worship. To sum it up she has forcefully indoctrinated me into her religion where she is the god.
narcissistic right, a truly menacing ritual but it aint cheap and that means this woman loaded so why did she want me working in that apothecary.
He felt it was a gap in his hypothesis, it felt annoying akin to an itch you couldn't reach.
His instincts screamed at him, beckoning him to connect the dots.
His eyes trialled aimlessly looking for a sliver of inspiration, then it landed a word tattered on a book.
'learn to yearn'
He thought back to the thoughts he had back then, the ones of obsession. Wait a minute I've become indoctrinated but not trained.
oh she is using it to temper me after finding out my abnormal affinity to fire.
This woman is so conniving i wouldnt have known she was training me and strengthening the contract at the same time.
' I just would've went throughout my days whilst slowly getting a better impression of her might've been one of pure lust' Kade laughed at that last thought
Thinking back he connected some dots from the stories and myths he came about and finally priced everything about that place together.
Those slaves from back then weren't scared from the side effect of being in the furnace for a long time but rather one of the contract getting too strong to the point one's soul wanted to enter the embrace of its master.
Taking all knowledge and heritage with it and thinking I almost felt sorry for her.
She just wants my abilities.
Well then I shall obliged, wasting a perfectly good source of resources would be a sin that my hearts could never bear.
Reading the book he saw the stages for a bunch of things but skimming through them he searched for the main ones he would be needing right now.
He started by finding the one for physical ability which actually scales by how much freedom who body can exhibit, starting from;
Stage 1 - Tethered
The first state.
The user is still held down by fear, habits, expectations, and hesitation.
Strength remains at normal human levels. Movements feel heavy and restricted.
Stage 2 - Unlatched
The user removes their first internal lock.
Reactions sharpen, balance improves, and the body moves slightly lighter.
A taste of freedom enters the muscles.
Stage 3 - Unbound
A major restriction breaks.
Strength increases clearly, fatigue reduces, and precision rises.
The body begins to act according to intention instead of doubt.
Stage 4 - Unshackled
Emotional weight begins to fall away.
The user moves with speed and burst power beyond normal limits.
Reflexes clean up, as if the body finally trusts itself.
Someone here like alliteration kade joked though still cringing towards it, "sometimes habit must die" he said directing it to no one but himself.
Though he was kinda surprised on how he actually ranked because when you think about it he's only been in this world for a couple days.
Lately he feels like the master's previous deduction is a little outdated because the control he had upon his desires was almost omnipotent.
He could decide when he was hungry horny or tired though this only includes the feeling one like hunger and tiredness would still be there he just wouldn't feel it.
Then his muscles were a whole other thing, as they were literal instruments that he could play to his whims. If he wanted to be bulky he could, a bit fat why not. He had literally become a walking meat chameleon if that was a thing.
Moving on he went and studied the stages of different artifact and they were;
Vagabond/ stray
These artefacts have no spiritual or physical root to uphold the meaning or they have forgotten it. they just drift around looking for a purpose often referred to as a shell.
Cogitate/ ponder
These artefacts are one who try to remember what they were or try to find something to anchor to
Evoke
It is at this stage that it can be called an artifact because they have an identity and this is where they gain some ability to effect the world though it around the confines of it's identity.
Resonate
This is where the artefacts start acting out its identity and doing whatever to grow to understand it, almost becoming something similar or the same as its past.
Mine seems to be at evoke stage as he could faintly feel the concept its domain is in though it did feel a bit bound.
If anyone could hear him say that of an evoke artifact they would literally stake him to death from jealousy alone and the fact he diminished the strength it had all because it domain didn't feel whole.
They wouldnt mind making new methods of torture just for him.
Understanding his current predicaments, Kade decided to take extreme measures on his training because his master only knows his previous bodily state yet she still went through many measures to train him.
Now what might she do if she understands the current one, wouldn't she outright kill him.
Or stuff me in a vat of that obsession stuff but now that I think about wouldnt that just make me evolve more.
If that happens she is going to find out that I have an artifact and plus the only way to quickly raise your physique in the first place is to have an artefact to connect you spiritually.
I'm starting to think my talent might be a curse. Wait there should be a book to hide these stuff because i didnt sense the master used her artifact.
Looking at the time he saw he had about 30 min before he had to leave, causing to go quicker in his search then he found it or what he thought was it.
The book title was peace within, which kinda sounds like a calm lake that can equate to silence within, right…?
Opening the book, he started reading and joyous as he was, it was the right book. The gods finally took pity on him.
The skill worked on concepts he seems to already have mastered. It used the ability in masking using nothing but desire. This is done using your diaries a person leaks out to create an almost fake atmosphere around him.
Similar to when encountering sadness or depression, so he literally secretes weak hormones in a way. It was fast effective wll that was about to be put to the test and if it wasnt then he was royally fucked.
As now one would risk such an anomaly within their house, not even god.
'damn , just when life was getting peaceful. Someone just goddamn had to fix the code.'
Calm down kade you've been through way worse and instantly made went calm almost robotic if you thought about it
' seems this total control really is useful and the perfect skill for a chameleon the perfect path for me i think ' his thoughts wavered just.'