Level Up Legacy

Chapter 1507 1507: Twinborn

The cosmos felt like a cradle for Arthur's lacking understanding of the universe. Truths lay bare in front of him, within arm's reach and at the same time, unreachable. The two spheres were the closest he could reach, and he tried to connect with them.

Arthur focused on the sphere of life, studying its radiant energy that brought existence into being. He was engrossed with the truths hidden beneath its surface, but they were too vast for Arthur to understand.

An unknown amount of time passed as Arthur reached to scratch the surface of the truths contained within, but his attempts were futile. It was like trying to scoop out the ocean with his hands and expecting to see everything in the pool of water in his palms.

In the end, Arthur had to take a step back and try a different approach. He focused on the next closest truth to the two spheres, and he found a star that was filled with unholy fire. It consumed everything in its path, but at the same time, it gave heat that warmed and nourished the soul.

The moment that Arthur looked at the small star in the distance, he remembered one of his earlier runes, Fire. It felt oddly the same, and he was soon connecting the two. The distant star seemed to let out a hum and radiate light after a while as Arthur received a notification.

[You have gained the Logos of Fire (partial)]

The moment the notification appeared, Arthur felt suddenly tired and the cosmos began to collapse around him. As if dragged by an irresistible force, he was pulled through a tunnel away from the cosmos and back to the couch he sat on.

Arthur found himself covered in sweat, as if he had run a marathon. He understood that his body wasn't tired, but obtaining that Logos had drained him of his energy. It wasn't a mystery as to what a Logos was, as he felt it deep within his soul.

Long ago, his runes would need a deep understanding in order to evolve, and Arthur spent months studying them while he created Runera in Alka. It was also his understanding of runes that led him to find Gaia and learn the language of runes in order to utilize them.

Arthur now realized that his understanding had been superficial, fueled with facts and geometry rather than a spiritual understanding of the runes. Gaia had also helped him take a shortcut to understand runes better.

Logos were the truths behind the runes. Understanding them would give him unimaginable control over the rune itself, and he was sure that his fire would be immensely powerful if he deepened his understanding.

The Cosmos Menu was about learning the truths of the universe rather than connecting to the stars or astral beings. It allowed Arthur to learn the truths hidden within the monolith he witnessed, which would allow him to advance his control over creation.

After the realization of what these stars were, Arthur also understood the two spheres were simply his understanding of creation and wrath, or oblivion—the result of his wrath. However, it seemed that the two spheres encompassed all the truths rather than a rudimentary version of his idea of wrath and creation.

If that was the case, he had a very long way ahead of him before he could obtain the Logos of Creation and the Logos of Oblivion. But Arthur was not in a hurry.

After realizing that wrath did exist in his legacy, Arthur tried to look inward. He even tried to summon a sliver of wrath on his palm, but to his dismay, he could not. A few experiments later, he was aware that his wrath was simply… gone.

The mountain of wrath within his subconscious still existed, but it was shrouded with a great golden mist that prevented Arthur from interacting with wrath and Eragon from affecting Arthur.

It was also the reason behind the sudden change in his personality. Arthur had felt like his emotions were always masked with a layer of anger, but now, that wasn't the case anymore. He felt… like Arthur. The same youth who was once excited to venture into the universe and unfold its secrets.

But a sudden fear gripped him. If the legacy now blocked his wrath, how would he contend against the gods? It made him nervous about entering the trial, a feeling that he hadn't felt for a long time.

He felt alive.

Arthur could only continue his research of his new legacy to understand what happened now. He opened the legacy again, and this time chose the final option for him, labeled Glory.

The Glory Menu had three entries that Arthur recognized from earlier, which were his achievements. However, there were more to it, allowing Arthur to understand his situation better.

[Achievement: He Who Awakens.]

[Description: an achievement given to those who awaken a legacy and create an endpoint.]

[Reward: Racial Evolution.]

[Achievement: Twinborn.]

[Description: an achievement given to those who can switch between two different life forms.]

[Reward: Twinborn Title.]

[Achievement: Reborn.]

[Description: survive the recreation of your body.]

[Reward: 1 Ichor Point.]

[Achievement: Harmony.]

[Description: an achievement given to those who achieve spiritual harmony.]

[Reward: 1 Ichor Point, Logos of Harmony.]

[Achievement: Manipulator.]

[Description: an achievement given to those who can kill a being simply by manipulating them.]

[Reward: 1 Ichor Point, Ruthless Title.]

Arthur stared at the entries and read them carefully, and they were simple enough. The last one made him feel misunderstood, but Arthur couldn't deny that he taunted the Liberated a little to make him break his oath.

The rewards were far more interesting than the title. It seemed that his racial evolution and class evolution came as a result of his achievements, not his reawakening. If the new legacy had the power to change him, then Arthur feared for his freedom.

But in the end, Arthur had chosen to create this legacy in order to reach his goal. It didn't matter if he sold his soul to the devil or became some astral parasite as long as he achieved his goal.

Arthur was dragged out of his thoughts when the two achievements for Harmony and Manipulator began blinking as if wanting Arthur to click them. He understood that he didn't gain these rewards unless he opened his Glory Menu and accepted them. Maybe it was to avoid interfering with a current battle or situation.

[You have received the Ruthless Title!]

[Ruthless: a 10% increase to all stats against enemies who are weaker than you.]

[You have received the Logos of Harmony.]

[Logos of Harmony (Early): understanding oneself can grant immense powers when one needs to overcome spiritual obstacles.]

[Effects: 50% increase to spiritual recovery and a tranquil state of mind.]

Arthur was surprised to see such immense effects from an Early Logos. He did feel calmer after reawakening, but he assumed it was the lack of wrath. As for the Ruthless Title, Arthur didn't like it, but it was still a boost nonetheless. If judged by his world's standards, this title gave him over 60 points in all stats.

The two titles reminded Arthur of the title he already had, Twinborn. He read the description again and confirmed his doubts. It was given to him because he had both wrath and creation.

[Twinborn: a title given to those who can switch between two life forms.]

Arthur was surprised to see that it had no effect, but maybe the legacy considered the ability to transform a reward itself. It also explained why Arthur had two trees in his Path instead of one.

He wanted to test out his transformation, but Diana returned with a large tray of several meals she cooked. Arthur noted some things that he didn't recognize, possibly from her homeworld, but he did see a few platters of steak, pasta, fried rice, and several others that he hadn't tasted in a long time.

"You cooked all of this?" Arthur asked with shock. "Since when did you become a chef?"

"It's just a matter of following the recipes, and I obtained a bunch of them from Julia," she said while placing the tray on the table that Arthur hurriedly pulled out. "And I did have the time since I came here and found you sleeping."

Arthur wanted to say that he wasn't sleeping and remembered that he might have spent some time inside the Cosmos. It seemed that he appeared to be sleeping when he was actually meditating.

The two of them sat down to share a meal while also going over the recent changes that Arthur had. Diana seemed rather elated when she learned that Arthur evolved into a new race. For some reason, evolution was considered a great feat by the demi-humans.

Arthur even explained his theory that he could transform now, and Diana raised an eyebrow with interest. She looked at him in a strange way that told Arthur she seemed to find his ability to transform somewhat attractive.

He was beginning to become wary of the difference in cultures between them, but nonetheless, forgot all about it after finishing their meals. It was the first time that the two were alone in a while, and they couldn't help but take the chance to enjoy each other's warm companionship during the cold nights of February.