Ch 175 – A Mysterious Dream
Nox Aeterna's naked body slowly floated around in the rainbow-colored magical construct. In the middle of a pillar of rainbow runes, a strange floating bubble can be seen where Nox lay afloat in a fetal position. He was curled up; his hands hugged his knees while his rainbow hair swirled around like it was underwater.
He stared at the lightly illuminated room he was currently in, but in reality, he was actually delving deep within his mind and felt the surge of comprehended laws that changed his very view of the reality around him.
What are laws?
They are the very essence of the universe. They are the light you see, they are the air you breathe, they are the earth you walk on, they are the fire that burns, they are the gale of winds that brushes against your body, and they are everything and anything!
The higher one comprehends the truth of the world, the laws of reality, the more one will find themselves living in a more profound world!
The fire that just burned can be deconstructed into heat, light, combustion, chemical reactions, magical scriptures, principles of magic, scientific principles, and such. Everything one experiences are directly correlated to the laws of reality.
Laws can be comprehended through countless means. From magic, science, aura, martial arts, ki, chakra; countless methods are developed by countless worlds and countless beings, each with its own origin and starting point.
Earth once developed through the path of science, but under the influence of God-like beings who wields far higher comprehension over the laws of reality, introduced the presence of magic to humanity and forever changed the course of humanity.
But in the end, no matter the method used, no matter what path one takes, and no matter what kind of technique one uses, they are all leading to one goal: To understand the Laws of reality.
Magic and science, though seemingly far away from one another and living in different worlds, have the same core principle. They delve, comprehend, and understand the underlying principles of the world around them to control it, to wield the laws for their own!
And Gods, Gods are considered the pinnacle of what comprehending the laws stands for. They wield might that can end planets with a wave of their hands, they can cause life to flourish with their very will, they can cause divine intervention if they wish, and they can bring forth countless possibilities from a single law.
Their understanding is far beyond the comprehension of mortals, they view their laws in a way that can be considered eldritch. But even such beings don't know the 'truth' of their laws, they only comprehended their own understanding through their unique perspective, which is what allows multiple Gods that specialize in the same Law to exist.
There can be a God of Fire that has flames that burn for eternity, while there is another God of Fire that has flames that can burn even the fabrics of time!
Gods are unique existences, and those that reached this level are all monsters.
'Gods, Godhood…' Nox Aeterna lightly inhaled some fresh air as his pair of eyes gleamed with excitement.
To have the comprehension of countless beings in the palm of his hands using his cheat, that mere fact just shows how absurd his potential truly is. To have the potential ability to even comprehend the 'principles' of other Gods at his wish, it makes one shudder at what monster would be born once he truly ascends in the pathway of dreams.
Dismissing his wild thoughts to the back of his mind, Nox Aeterna lightly exhales and calmness ensues once more. Godhood was still a far thing for him, in fact, reaching Z-Rank was still a far notion for him considering he's only B-Rank as of now.
The stronger one gets, the larger the gap between ranks becomes, along with how long it takes to reach the next stage. That's why it's easy to reach E-Rank with decent talent, D-Rank is harder, and C-Rank is nearly their limit.
As Nox Aeterna closes his wide, child-like eyes, the feeling of sleep slowly overcame him and his power activated. Quickly, a mystical force grabbed his soul and plunges it into a strange space unknown to most beings in the world.
He opened his eyes, and he was greeted by a vast cosmos. His body was merely a white speck in the middle of this rainbow-colored void where countless stars glittered with their own magnificent color and laws.
If one were to even just stay in the realm of dreams, their comprehension of the laws would increase as 'meaning' continues to emanate from those vast countless stars in the area. But that was inefficient for Nox Aeterna's standards, exploring dreams is where the true value lies.
Just these past few hours that he has been relentlessly exploring the dreams of Z-Rank entities increased many of his law comprehension to Z-Rank, and it even accelerated the reintegration of his original body's comprehension over to his current body.
At this moment, his battle strength has already astronomically risen as multiple qualitative changes were brought by attaining multiple Z-Rank Law Comprehension. If he were to reach S-Rank, his battle strength would easily contend with any Z-Rank entities as having multiple Z-Rank Law Comprehension means he can exert abilities far beyond what they are supposed to be able to achieve.
A measly fireball would evolve and have strength capable of even damaging Z-Rank entities!
Not only that, but the synergistic effects that laws have with one another would mean his measly fireball might even be more powerful than the fireball of a fire path Z-Rank entity!
But even with so many Z-Rank comprehensions, it would never contend with the single God-level attainment of a God! A fireball of a God is imbued with the Law of Fire to the extreme, causing it to have an effect far beyond the mortal realm!
That was the difference between the mortal realm and Godhood!
'I already have the five basic elements comprehended along with other laws that complement well with one another, so finding a law more in-tuned with the Law of Dream would prove to be beneficial. I wonder if there are any dreams of God-level entities that specialize in the Law of Dreams located here? Maybe they all know the existence of this realm and have found ways to not only hide their dreams away from here but also even enter this realm and explore other dreams?'
That notion is much more likely than one would think. Considering the universe is so vast, along with countless worlds contained inside it, having multiple Gods of Dreams is to be expected. But Nox Aeterna was still a mortal with very little understanding of the world of Gods even with the Akashic Library as his access to some knowledge is of course restricted to let him grow more effectively as a tool for Braun's schemes.
But as Nox Aeterna was mulling over his thoughts, his eyes suddenly widened when he saw a distant star that emanated the presence of a law that made him feel immense greed.
'The Law of Sleep!' Nox Aeterna stopped in shock, his eyes widening with disbelief after sensing the Z-Rank aura of that distant star.
What is the Law of Sleep? It is a Law closely related to the Law of Death, and the Law of Dreams! If he were to attain Z-Rank attainment in the Law of Sleep, it would boost his understanding of those two Laws and perhaps even more!
Even back in Tellus, Isaac Deathwill only managed to raise his comprehension of the Law of Sleep to S-Rank! But that alone caused a qualitative change to his Law of Death, and boosted his battle strength by a marginal degree!
Imagine what would happen if he were to attain the Z-Rank Law of Sleep!
And so, without any hesitation, Nox Aeterna swiftly flew through the rainbow-colored void and passed countless stars along the way. From red, yellow, green, blue, violet, and such. He even ignored the multiple Z-Rank Law Comprehension Stars without looking at them.
But the nearer he got to the star, the more he could slowly feel a voice that urged him to stay away from the star get louder. It was like a gut feeling, a sixth sense of sorts that warned him from any possible danger.
'Do I avoid this dream?' He questioned in his mind as his speed slowly went down, but he still charged forward.
That ominous feeling, though superstitious for others, was the thing that saved Isaac Deathwill's life a lot back in Tellus when he was still alive and hadn't attained immortality. It was his highly developed danger sense, his deep sixth sense trained from facing countless dangers in the dangerous world of Tellus.
Even though he is merely a clone of a clone of Isaac Deathwill, he still retained a fraction of that sixth sense, so it's only normal that he would listen to the voice that nagged him from the back of his mind. Even though the cloning process has gone awry, his abilities are merely a fraction of the original, and his sixth sense is like that of a baby's compared to Isaac Deathwill, that 'baby-level' sixth sense still had its merits.
One shouldn't underestimate the clones of a peak Z-Rank entity, especially when one as old and as experienced as Isaac Deathwill! Even a fraction of his abilities is enough for a mortal to rise through the ranks and reach S-Rank with enough time and effort.
A passing book he wrote back in his younger years gave birth to a legendary adventurer back in Tellus that has slain a Hydra. A random research paper he accidentally dropped when traveling on a horse allowed a mortal to give birth to a new path of magic. A random potion formula he made that an alchemist accidentally gained allowed them to create a revolutionary change to the potions of Tellus!
A random ring he created for fun became the national treasure of a kingdom. A flimsy sword was used to slay a powerful Dragon. His mere words enlightened a monk and drove him to madness, eventually, the monk became a vile S-Rank Monster named the 'Three-eyed Blood Monk' that brought countless beings to their deaths.
Even his mere words allowed a righteous monk who would never hurt an innocent human to transform into a monster that can kill anyone if he so wishes.
And those? Those are merely the least-famous legends of Isaac Deathwill! He has lived for a thousand years, his name rings through the annals of time and history as Tellus' Emperor of Death! His legends are endless, and his tales were grand!
And as such, though merely a clone, Nox Aeterna holds the weight and history of a thousand-year-old lich behind him. He holds the experience of a being who has reached the peak of Z-Rank and was one step away from the realm of Gods! He holds the name of the Emperor of Death behind his back! His prestige, though grandeur and seemingly fake, are all real!
Any being who has reached Z-Rank are legends, heroes, and champions. They are all entities who hold heroic tales behind their names and titles!
So, trusting his own judgment and the fraction of his originally highly-trained sixth sense, Nox Aeterna wielded his astral body, his soul, to slow down.
But, as his speed slowly came to a halt, he noticed something that made his eyes widen in fear. He couldn't stop!
He stared at the shining gray star ahead of him, and he could feel its immense suction force grabbing hold of his soul. The nearer he got to the star, the stronger the suction force became! Until finally, he noticed what that peculiar feeling was.
'THIS IS THE DREAM OF A GOD!' He blurted out in alarm inside his mind as immense fear struck deep within him.
Just as he was about to activate his cheat and escape the realm of dreams, a wave of exhaustion and drowsiness overcame him, and just like that, Nox Aeterna's eyes slowly closed and he entered the gray star of mysterious origins.
AN: This chapter has 2047 words.
(October 14, 2022 – 324th day of writing)