Chapter 1936 - 1936. Systems

Noah gasped in surprise before wearing a pensive expression. His mind quickly analyzed King Elbas' words to see if he could find some sense in them, but everything felt out of his reach.

The primary energy could turn into everything. Noah had created his first version of the darkness with it. He had even used that fuel in many techniques, and his hybrid status had taught him its remarkable properties.

The lack of nature of the primary energy was the very reason why magical beasts could absorb different types of "Breath" without requiring special techniques or similar methods. Yet, those were rules that applied to the human and heroic ranks. Noah and King Elbas were gods. They dealt with laws. They had already abandoned their search for stronger energies to focus on deeper meanings since that was the source of true power.

Noah treated the higher energy as a superior fuel and the main material for his creations. The dark world's ability to modify the environment surpassed the power applied by domains, and Noah could even adapt it to different situations.

Still, the nature of his dark matter had some value only if it reached a decent level. The fact that it was a higher form of energy didn't matter on its own, and the same would apply to anything superior.

Noah could see the benefits of gaining access to something even stronger than the higher energy, but he didn't know how it could become a path toward the ninth rank. Moreover, he couldn't understand how it could gain what King Elbas was claiming. It was one thing for a fuel to have no limits in the number of shapes it could achieve, but the opposite sounded impossible.

"I know what you are thinking," King Elbas announced. "I have no actual proof that the state above the higher energy will generate the effects that I hope. I've only seen it for a brief moment. I know it's possible, and that's enough."

Noah inspected King Elbas' expression with blank eyes. He didn't want to show anything, but the expert knew what was going through his mind. King Elbas could see Noah's doubts and worries.

"If I die, I die," King Elbas added as determination filled his gaze. "I can't deny my nature."

"So, the hydra was only a test?" Noah asked.

"Indeed," King Elbas confirmed. "I can't approach this path arrogantly. I have to recall how it was back then when I first started cultivating. I need to start with small things and perform countless tests until I can finally seize results."

Noah scratched the side of his head as everything became clear in his mind. He couldn't use King Elbas' method to improve his companions. He had struggled for a long time to push his attacks past the state of singularities. The sole idea of doing the same for his dark matter without ruining his existence sounded impossible.

Noah wouldn't even know how to approach that project. He couldn't use King Elbas' tactic because his knowledge in the inscription methods was non-existent compared to the expert. Moreover, he didn't even feel curious about that path. His ambition usually pushed him to jump on everything that could give him more power, but it found that experiment too unrealistic even to appear interesting.

"You have actually managed to leave my ambition speechless," Noah commented.

"The sky might shatter if you said that again," King Elbas laughed.

"How would it even work?" Noah asked while standing up and releasing part of his primary energy.

Darkness and dark matter followed before creating three spheres that contained the different fuels. Noah saw only a simple difference in density and power level there, but King Elbas thought of that as a system that ended with something above the higher energy.

"The energy of the magical beasts existed before Heaven and Earth forced the "Breath" to be the new baseline," King Elbas explained. "The initial energy gained elements on its own and acted as the foundation of laws.

"The higher energy goes beyond that. It might be too young as a branch to study a general functioning, but I believe it can touch the realm of laws even if its base power shouldn't allow that."

The suppression that Noah could apply with the dark world in the heroic ranks resembled a weaker version of the domains. He could accept King Elbas' statement, but the latter was still far away from connecting everything to his idea.

"I've noticed a common trend in the higher energy," King Elbas continued. "It gets more general and tries to envelop more aspects of the world in most cases. You have your dark matter, but my flames are quite flexible too. I don't know how much I can use Divine Demon since power goes against everything I exist for, but I have found something similar in your woman."

June's black lightning was an energy that allowed her Perfect Circuit to generate more power. The desire for an endless battle existed inside that power, but King Elbas' statement sounded on point. It was definitely more general than the "Breath".

"This trend should lead to something even broader," King Elbas concluded. "It should be the final energy in the field created by the magical beasts' energy, and I believe it will have opposite but similar properties due to its position in the system."

King Elbas talked about primary energy as if it were only one of the possible basic fuels in the universe. The topic felt completely normal to him, but Noah found himself reevaluating his ideas on the matter.

"Sword Saint's breakthrough has only proven me right," King Elbas exclaimed when he recalled something. "He has shown how there are rules that go beyond laws, systems inside systems. I'm trying to gain full mastery over this one, to put it simply."

"And you dare to call me crazy," Noah smirked while dispersing the energies in front of him. "Maybe I affected you after all these years spent together."

"You definitely did," King Elbas said in a tone that sounded like a curse, "But you don't get to call anyone crazy. I know that what you have in mind is even worse than my idea."

Noah limited himself to smile and check the insides of his mind. His thoughts went on the sword cultivator's cracked and flawed existence, Shandal's ability, and Isaac's skill. He looked at Supreme Thief's technique too, but he didn't linger there for too long.

"I told you mine," King Elbas stated. "You tell me yours."

"You know I can absorb core abilities from cultivators that prove themselves unworthy of their power, right?" Noah began to explain.

"It comes from Supreme Thief's power," King Elbas responded. "I know. It wasn't hard to connect everything once seeing it in action. Though those requirements are strange."

"Most abilities are expressions of an expert's existence," Noah said while ignoring King Elbas. "My stronger mind gives me access to proper aspects of a law. In theory, I can steal aspects and existences that suit my ambition and use them to deepen my understanding. It won't be random like with Heaven and Earth. I plan to bring a stable and constant improvement to my foundation by hunting down rank 9 experts."

"That might actually fit you," King Elbas revealed after an initial moment of surprise. "You have managed to help Alexander with your mental waves too."

"Another thing," Noah added. "I can simply throw away the aspects or existences that I get, so I can potentially give them to you all."

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Author's notes: Hopefully only one hour for the third chapter.