Chapter 125: Ixor Arkhavel, Self Deception
Nearly a month ago...
Imperial Zenith School Library
The Librarian Lady shot Caelum an annoyed look.
After searching through countless shelves and archives, she had finally found the books he requested.
The books looked old and their covers were worn, and the paper used in them was noticeably different from modern papers.
"Next time, give me the proper title of the book, I don’t have unlimited free time!" she said irritably.
After all, searching for books based on a single keyword was a bit time consuming.
’This is clone though,’ Caelum wanted to say that but he didn’t.
"Okk..."
He immediately took the books and retreated before she could scold him further.
Finding a quiet corner of the library, he sat down and began reading.
’Why is there no Omni-Net here even though this is a magic world, it should have something similar...’
He couldn’t help but complain internally.
In his previous life, the Omni-Net had been humanity’s greatest invention.
It was a massive information network that recorded nearly all human knowledge, both past and present.
As long as one remained within humanity’s planetary domain, any information was just one search away.
Compared to that, searching through old books felt painfully inefficient.
After flipping through several pages, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"There it is, the Boundless Warrior’s Physique."
This was the physique he had possessed before it evolved into the [Eternal Immortal Physique].
After spending hours skimming through different historical texts, Caelum finally pieced together a rough understanding of its origins.
The Boundless Warrior’s Physique had belonged to the First Hero of Humanity, the Genesis Hero: Ixor Arkhavel.
According to the records, when Great Evil ran rampant across the world, it was Ixor Arkhavel and his Hero’s Party who traveled across the continents fighting against it.
Unfortunately, the texts became frustratingly vague whenever they described the Great Evil.
Some historians claimed they were Demon Kings, others believed they were manifestations of nature’s wrath and some even said they were divine punishments sent by the gods.
The truth was unclear.
Or perhaps the truth simply wasn’t available to ordinary people.
Even so, the records regarding Ixor himself were surprisingly detailed.
He was described as both a peerless warrior and an exceptional mage.
His mana reserves were said to be nearly limitless, his stamina resembled that of an immortal beast.
His body could continue fighting long after others had collapsed.
Yet despite all of this, he was still completely human.
Caelum found that part particularly interesting.
The records also repeatedly mentioned various characteristic.
Every time the Hero escaped a life-threatening situation, his strength would increase dramatically.
The closer he came to death, the stronger he became afterward.
And whenever his life was truly in danger, he would somehow awaken even greater power.
Reading this, Caelum could only arrive at one conclusion.
"Ixor was basically the protagonist of his era..."
The Hero’s Party was also recorded.
Unlike the small four-person groups common in stories, Ixor’s party was enormous.
If he had to describe job wise it would be the Sage, Dragon, Priest, Thief, Hunter, Knight, Beast Tamer and many more.
Each one possessed their own legends and achievements.
Caelum briefly considered reading about them but decided against it.
Those waters looked far too deep.
Instead, he focused on the information related to the Boundless Warrior’s Physique.
Several descriptions repeated the same point over and over again.
Ixor Arkhavel grew stronger through adversity, especially life-and-death adversity.
The more desperate the situation, the greater the growth.
Caelum slowly closed the book.
If the Boundless Warrior’s Physique truly worked that way...
Then to awaken the power of his physique, he would likely need to experience a life-threatening situation.
Or create circumstances where his body and mind believed it was facing death.
***
The Past and the Future slowly opened their eyes as both of them immediately looked around.
Their expressions became puzzled.
[Why are we not in that space?]
The Future questioned. The Past also frowned slightly as she observed their surroundings.
Meanwhile, the Present was nearly exploding with rage.
[He is a deceiver! From the very beginning, he possessed the means to end this fight! Yet he deliberately refused to use it!]
The Present struggled violently.
Unfortunately, the [Soul Banner of an Evil Cultivator] remained firmly embedded within her.
No matter what she did, she couldn’t remove it and she could feel another spirit residing within the banner.
That spirit was continuously draining her strength.
"I am not a deceiver, this was simply a case of bad compatibility!" Caelum immediately defended himself.
As he spoke, two talismans materialized before him, they emerged directly from his forehead.
The talismans floated in the air for a brief moment before igniting.
One was a [Partial Mind Sealing Talisman] and the other was a [Memory Suppressing Talisman]. Both were Tier 3 talismans.
The first had sealed a portion of his cognitive abilities and the second had suppressed specific memories for a period of time.
As the talismans burned away, great clarity gradually returned to his eyes.
When he had first arrived in this Drifting Dimension, he had purchased them along with the [Soul Banner of an Evil Cultivator].
The Soul Banner naturally possessed dominance over spirits and souls.
Because of that, it was exceptionally effective against the Present and its minions.
Even so, her strength was nothing to scoff at.
If not for the interference of the Past and Future, along with the efforts of everyone else, victory would not have come so easily.
Caelum quietly looked at his companions.
Throughout the battle, he had trusted them to fight but he had also prepared several backup plans just in case.
After all, he didn’t want his friends getting seriously injured.
Unfortunately... he had also unintentionally witnessed many of their hidden trump cards which also gave him shock.
Thinking back, his original objective had been simple.
The moment he had found this opportunity, he wanted to create a situation where defeating the opponent alone was nearly impossible.
He also wanted to test his newly improved strength, swordsmanship and most importantly test his theory.
Whether his [Eternal Immortal Physique] retained characteristics similar to the Boundless Warrior’s Physique.
To do that, he needed to place himself in genuine danger.
The closer to death he came, the more likely the physique would react.
However, there was a problem.
To create such a situation, he first had to deceive himself, because, if he was sure of getting out of the situation, he didn’t think the power of the Physique would stir.
Only now did he understand why he had felt so strange during the battle.
The talismans had been influencing him all along.
The Present immediately pointed at him again.
[SEE?! Your eyes had dulled just like your judgement!]
Caelum ignored the trio’s rambling and instead, he looked toward Bonjour and Jojo.
The barbarian was covered in injuries and the panda was still pale from overexertion.
A complicated feeling emerged within him.
’Am I feeling regret?’
That thought surprised him.
For some reason, he felt uncomfortable and maybe even hypocritical.
He had wanted answers and strength.
But if gaining those things meant seriously endangering his friends...
Then the entire idea left a bitter taste in his mouth.
No matter how curious he was about his physique, he didn’t want to place his friends in danger merely to satisfy that curiosity.
Though to be fair, he had also suffered quite a lot himself.
His sword had shattered, his body felt as if it had been beaten repeatedly with a hammer, his mind was exhausted too.
The battle had certainly not been pleasant.
After taking a deep breath, Caelum looked toward the Present once more.
"Let’s finish this, this has already taken far too long..."
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