Paths Ahead

There is a certain air and attraction that draws people into medieval times, and that is why everyone is fond of stories from said times, from magical adventures to epic sagas of conflict and war.

And it is indeed strangely comfortable to look at a medieval city, especially from the sky, maybe it is in our DNA to appreciate the architecture.

After making sure Rimuru was not close and I had lost him somewhere in the Jura forest during the past few hours, that man-turned-slime was more annoying than I had expected, I slowly flew down.

I landed somewhere near the royal capital of Blumund, there was no better way than flying inside the city to get unwanted attention which I did not want. I made a pair of scissors and cut my hair from the waist down instantly, its absurd length was problematic.

Now I was ready.

The scent of grass and something foreign to me was quite noticeable as I approached the city, it was not bad or good, just something new. Perhaps that was the scent of medieval-style cities?

I stopped a few dozen feet from the entrance, usually entering cities like this required some fee, especially the capital and I had no money on hand, so using item creation I created plain coins made of gold, by the time they would disappear, so would I.

The moment the guard asked for a fee of some bronze coins, but seeing the golden plain coin I tossed him, his eyes lit up and he ignored me.

I looked at everything with interest as reality truly set in, from stalls and stores by the sides to unique architecture everywhere. Everything was real, and I was in another world.

I stopped in my tracks and saw someone buy food, focusing on the coin he carried, I used item creation and made some in my pocket identical to the silver he used. I used the silvers to buy some street food I did not know the name of and began thinking while I ate.

What was power made of? Several parts; First was raw physical might, the second was supernatural and magical ability to affect the world, the third was mental and intellectual prowess/capability, the fourth was influence and resources/wealth, and the last one was knowledge.

I wanted them all and there were two paths ahead of me, both sharing similarities and differences.

One was the path of evolution, leading the way to becoming an enlightened human and then a saint. Evolving would possibly strengthen my skills, if possible they could become ultimate skills, and give an immense boost to my large but still insignificant magicule capacity. The other was the path of cheating by the endless potential of Power manipulation.

The similarity between the two was that I needed to research on how to evolve in the first path, and on the other I needed to research the workings and nature of magicules. I also needed wealth in both scenarios plus superintelligence.

The difference was the way; To evolve I needed to take personal actions and do risky things, take part in combat, and all sorts of trouble. The second one was safer, I just had to hide somewhere, do my research, and if I was right regarding my ideas, and a little luck, then Boom, I would get insanely powerful.

The only good thing about evolution was the added lifespan, so the choice was clear since I didn't need to evolve in order to have immortality, with a few shards it was achievable. And evolution could be achieved later anyway. There was no compelling reason to do that first.

With my plans clear, I closed my eyes, the food was finished.

'First and foremost is wealth.' I thought and began creating a power.

It was certainly possible to use item creation and fool merchants and such and become rich, but I didn't want the unwanted attention when the fake items vanished, it could prove to be dangerous. Being overly cautious never hurt anyone.

Improving item creation to make items permanent needed shards that I did not have, with the 4 on hand there was a better way.

I used 2 shards. The power was created.

Transmutation.

The amount I could transmute depended on my magicule, which was around 100 kilograms with my current capacity if I used it all. A neat way to measure my magicule capacity.

I could not make non-magical things into magical ones, and I could not change the state of the matter like turning gas into liquid, etc.

This power worked on whatever I touched and then expanded to everything that the item had physical contact with. I could turn a few tons into gold at most at every use interval and needed more shards to lift this limit. It didn't work on living things, and lastly, I could change the shape of things with high precision.

I picked a small pebble that was beside my feet and activated my power, it quickly morphed into a golden scalpel made of 100% pure gold.

I smiled, I was officially wealthy beyond measure, now I just needed to not crash the market.

I began working on the second power I needed.

The power to help me learn everything extremely fast while active, read books in minutes and memorize them while comprehending everything inside; Give me enhanced creativity and ideas plus inspiration and solution to problems.

Superintelligence.

This one was going to increase my IQ to roughly 200 when in use and give me perfect memory only when in use, that was it. I could keep it up for around an hour every day then my magicules would be depleted.

I activated this new power with anticipation and my mind expanded.

Endless ideas exploded in my mind as a heavy thirst for knowledge engulfed me.

'Just what are Magicules? How do powers and skills work? What is the system that governs this world called the voice of the world? Could it be hacked to achieve omnipotence? What is the spirit really? Ahhh... My mind is going to explode.' I turned off the power.

'Am I really so dumb?' I thought dejected.

I had always thought of myself as smart, but the truth... When the power had activated, I felt like I had always been slow as a snail with barely any imagination and suddenly I had turned into a fighter jet going at Mach 2.

'No matter, It's time to read all there is to know about this world from books, set up a lab and base, and then dive into experimentation.'

---

Power Manipulation Shards:

[Self-Healing x2] [Pyrokinesis x1] [Enhanced Durability x1] [Flight x1] [Item Creation x1] [Transmutation x2] [Superintelligence x2]