Chapter 837 Four Pillars: Signs and Echoes
Though Sellifer only told Valyr that he might have just discovered the actual start to the path of Azure Energy, this only ended up making the latter a bit more confused than he originally was.
After all, he had been led to thinking that the Azure Trace was the most basic form of Azure Energy to ever exist.
Yet, the creator herself told him that he had stumbled upon a form of the Azure Energy that was more basic than the Azure Trace?
Thankfully, with a slightly lengthy conversation about the topic, the confusion Valyr felt from the whole thing had finally disappeared.
Instead, excitement covered the young man's face once more as he realized that the heavens weren't actually messing him.
But rather it was due to his current comprehensions of various concepts that his form of Azure Energy ended up turning out that way.
"For quite some time after discovering the five stages of Azure Energy, I wondered to myself whether the Azure Trace was actually the most basic form of Azure Energy to ever exist," said Sellifer as she began to talk about a time far in the past.
"With that, I decided to break the Azure Trace down, deciding to head down the rabbit hole of introducing impurities into the energies themselves."
"Of course, I've eventually come to realize that it was the wrong approach, even more so thanks to what you've shown me just now."
"In terms of the quality of both energies, we've confirmed that 3rd Cleansing is undoubtedly the bare minimum to step onto the path of Azure Energy." Sellifer looked at the young man at that, who nodded back in response.
"And instead, the part that actually dictates the stage at which one's Azure Energy is at is none other than one's comprehension of concepts."
"Having Intent Seeds related to Shadow Energy and mana allow one to step into the true first stage on the path of Azure Energy." As she said these words, Sellifer generated a ball of azure haze on top of her extended palm.
"Compared to the Azure Trace, this stage only contains a minuscule hint of what's to come. Nevertheless, it's still better than the braided energy by a significant amount."
"Seeing as it could be considered a sign of the path of Azure Energy that awaits them, let's call this stage the Azure Sign."
Whoosh!
After manipulating the ball of azure haze on her palm to take on a few shapes and forms, Sellifer then infused a bit more of her power into it, causing the entire thing to lose its shape.
However, even though it had lost its shape, the energy hovering above Sellifer's hand contained far more power than before, pulsating as if it were a beating heart.
"Surprisingly, this is the stage that comes after the Azure Sign," said Sellifer, moving the pulsating energy around her. "If Azure Sign needs Intent Seeds, then this stage needs one's comprehension to advance to full Intents."
"For a while, I thought of naming this stage the Azure Pulse since the energy at this stage pulsates every so often."
"However, with how I've named the stages on how close they are to the final stage, I've decided to name this stage the Azure Echo, seeing that it echoes out the sensation of Azure Energy with every pulse it gives off."
After that, Sellifer went through the five other stages the two of them gone through so far, briefly talking about the requirements needed for each stage in terms of energy quality and concept comprehension.
In the end, thanks to Valyr's accidental discovery, rather than the path of Azure Energy having five stages to sum up its journey, the path of Azure Energy now had seven stages.
Though it seemed that the two additional stages made the entire thing a more burdensome journey than it already was, Sellifer did not think of that way.
If anything, she thought that the two newly discovered stages complemented the already discovered stages nicely, forming a smooth progression that would allow one to reach the pinnacle of Azure Energy.
"Thanks to you, the requirement to learn Azure Energy has been lowered from needing to be a Legend to being at the class rank where one could start comprehending Intents." The woman smiled at Valyr, her expression showing the immense gratitude she had for him.
In response, Valyr merely let out a sigh of relief as he smiled back, understanding that his journey on the path to Azure Energy was now over.
Of course, six other stages still waited for him once he left the barren grounds he and Sellifer were in.
However, that was something he'll pursue at a more relaxed pace, lest if there was a great need for him to improve the quality of his Azure Energy.
'In any case, I've gained a lot from this,' thought the young man to himself.
Not only had he obtained a type of energy that would allow his Shadow Serpent Manalancer subclass to reach greater heights, but he had also improved his Intent Seed of Shadow Energy and gained a new Intent Seed along the way.
Aside from that, he had refitted all of his skills to work on both Shadow Energy and mana, making Valyr quite eager to use them on the battlefield to see how much his combat prowess had improved.
'I guess the biggest gain I've gotten from this was personal development,' thought Valyr to himself, reminding himself that he had spent the past two years in near solitude.
Because of it, his perseverance and determination had grown by leaps and bounds, prompting him to wonder where his new limits lie after going through such an ordeal.
'At least I'll be less prone to getting angry from now on if what I'm forging is taking too long.' Valyr chuckled to himself, letting out a faint sigh soon after.
'Two years, huh… I guess, in a way, I'm 19 years old now.'
As this thought came to mind, Valyr knew that he would only be considered 19 physically due to how much time he'd spent in dilated time.
But once he was back in Veldanyr, he would still be considered 17 with how much time had passed.
'Or I could already be considered 18 once I return. After all, I've spent way too much time in this place.' Valyr scratched the back of his head at the thought.
Deciding not to think about the complications of time dilation to his age any further, Valyr decided to try out his newly obtained azure energy on his skills.
Choosing to use it on his most basic skill once more, Valyr transformed his energy into the Azure Sign first before conjuring it into a bolt.
"[Arcane Shadow Serpent Magic Style]."
"[Arcane Shadow Bolt]!"
Whoosh!
With the entire thing taking on a hazy azure, the bolt moved through the air at great speeds, reminding Valyr of a specific element that he could have infused into the bolt before letting it loose.
Though, just as the thought came to mind…
Whoosh!
The azure bolt transformed into a dragon all of a sudden, leaving the young man at a great loss for words.
Ding!
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺