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Chapter 354: Comprehending the Origin

Eventually, those who wanted to bet on Argentum as to whether he would be able to comprehend anything beyond the Cycle or not had finished, allowing both Tristan and Cardis to look at a massive pile of Mana Stones that would normally last even a Rank 9 Animate like Cardis for hundreds of years.

Seeing that no one was willing to bet anymore, Cardis looked at everyone surrounding them and asked once more, “Anyone else willing to bet?”

With no one responding to his question, Cardis lightly nodded to himself as he said, “Alright, then. Since’s no one’s willing to bet anymore, let us now close the betting station and see whether my friend here can achieve an understanding of the Origin beyond the Cycle or not.”

Swish!

With the simple snap of his fingers, a rift appeared under the massive pile of Mana Stones, which had been formed by Cardis in order to make sure that the stones weren’t pocketed by anyone else. Of course, Tristan could not help but frown after seeing Cardis do something like that, but since even Torvas was involved in this betting session, he decided to restrain himself as he thought that he would eventually get the last laugh.

As for Argentum, seeing the massive pile of Mana Stones disappear into thin air through a rift, he went ahead and looked at Cardis, asking, “So…what next?”

With a light yet apologetic smile, Cardis replied, “We’re going to head to the Origin Statue, the place where everyone comprehends their own meaning of the Origin…”

“…as well as the place where everyone forms their own Origin Core.”

After that, Cardis started heading towards a certain direction, prompting Argentum to follow behind him. Of course, since they had bet on Argentum, the others also followed him, including Tristan.

While making their way to the Origin Statue, Argentum could not help but think about the final statement Cardis told him, sending the latter a strand of his energy as he sent a message through it.

“What’s an Origin Core?” he asked, to which Cardis responded to an energy strand of his own, “It’s basically a part of ourselves that allows us to wield the element of Origin, may it be Lesser Origin or its more complex variants.”

“Without it, we would only have know-how to wield the element of Origin, but not the ability to wield Origin itself,” he continued. “Not only that, but it also allows us to obtain a deeper understanding of the Origin as time passes, allowing us to reach levels of understanding such as the three on the innermost pedestals back in the plaza.”

“Naturally, it goes without saying that once you understand more of the Origin, the more powerful the element of Origin becomes in your hands,” he said, ending his response, leaving Argentum in a pondering state for himself. Although Cardis had a feeling that Argentum still had a lot of questions regarding the Origin Core and even the element of Origin as a whole, he knew that it was better for him to learn it firsthand rather than have it spoon-fed to him.

Eventually, the crowd had arrived at a part of the Origin Pantheon that was somewhat far away from the plaza, located near the north-northeast region. Once the crowd had arrived, those who were in the area could not help but look at them with curious gazes, with some even having frowns on their faces as they did not like to be disturbed.

Nevertheless, the Origin Statue was a public area available to all those who had comprehend the element of Origin, so they couldn’t complain that much. At most, they could just let out scoffs with a hint of anger and head to a quieter place around the Origin Statue.

As for Argentum, after arriving at the area, he could not help but have his sense of vision fixate towards the massive white statue in front of him. Although he was not sure how tall it really was, he was certain that it spanned about a few kilometers in height, taking into consideration how the tip of the statue was quite close to touching the clouds.

As for its size, it was truly a sight to behold, needing about a thousand people to hold hands around it to even barely get an idea as to how wide it was at its diameter. Of course, the thing that made Argentum fixate on the statue the most was its appearance.

Though it may not seem like it due to how the robe the person was draped in had covered most of its body structure, the person’s dainty arm reaching towards the skies, as well as the finely-chiseled face that perfectly captured the essence of longing had instantly made Argentum that this statue was portraying a young woman at her more tender years.

“Is this the Origin Statue?” Argentum could not help but ask Cardis beside him, who instantly responded with a nod, “Yep. The one and only.”

Soon after replying to Argentum’s question, he then went towards those who were sitting cross-legged around the statue with their eyes closed, and shouted, much to Argentum’s surprise.

“Make way! Make way! We have a newcomer here undergoing his first comprehension! If you don’t make way, then don’t come begging for mercy when I use violence on you!”

After hearing Cardis’s words resound throughout the area, those who were sitting cross-legged all this time instantly opened their eyes as they hastily stood up, knowing very well that they were given the same level of treatment when they first came to the Origin Statue to comprehend the Origin.

Seeing how these people, where some even looked at him and the crowd with frowns and slightly furious gazes, move out of the way without hesitation through words alone, left Argentum at a loss for words as he asked Cardis through another strand of energy, “Does this always happen when there’s a newcomer?”

“You betcha,” Cardis replied, not even minding the fact that he was not using an energy strand to reply. Eventually, no one was left sitting cross-legged around the Origin Statue, with all of them standing around the perimeter in order to watch the show that was going to happen soon.

Naturally, that show was Argentum trying to comprehend the Origin for the first time.

“Alright. I’ve cleared up the area for you. Get as close to the Origin Statue as possible before sitting cross-legged and closing your eyes. After that, allow your understanding of the element of Origin, however weak it may be, to resonate with the Origin Statue and everything will happen naturally from there,” Cardis looked at Argentum and said.

“A piece of advice. Don’t be nervous. Allow your body to relax as much as possible,” he soon added, to which Argentum nodded in response as he took in a deep breath before making his way towards the Origin Statue.

Since the Origin Statue was quite large, it took a couple of minutes for Argentum to arrive at an area that he felt was good enough, given how he felt some sort of restriction barring him from coming any closer to the statue. Although he was curious as to why he felt a restriction over his body as he tried to get closer to the statue’s center, he decided to put that at the back of his head for now.

He then took in a deep breath as he repeated Cardis’s words of advice in his mind a few times, allowing his body to relax as he closed his eyes. Soon, he thought about the passive skill he had just obtained sometime ago related to the element of Origin, allowing it to communicate with the Origin Statue.

Surprisingly, just as he thought about allowing the skill to connect with the statue, an influx of foreign energy had entered his body, giving him the feeling that he had control over everything yet nothing at the same time. Fortunately, this sensation only lasted for a bit as his senses had returned to his normal, though there was a slight change to it.

At first, that slight change to his senses were faint, but as time passed, he could feel another type of energy that was foreign yet seemed to be compatible with his own enter his body. He allowed his senses to reach their full power as he followed where this new type of energy went, eventually finding out that it was heading towards his soul, transforming into an orb of some sort.

After looking at that orb, he instantly felt it resonate with a deeper part of his body. Not long after, this orb of energy soon sent out strands throughout the entirety of his body, gradually transforming into golden strands that returned to the orb and fused with it, gradually fusing with him, as if it was turning into an organ in his body.

‘Could this be…the Origin Core Cardis was talking about?’ Argentum could not help but think to himself, only to find out that this was the case as he felt the orb radiating the same type of energy that made up his body, but with a slight change.

Although he could not point out what this slight change was, the orb continued to radiate the same type of energy, allowing the energy it generated to fuse with the energy making up his body as he felt his soul move to a higher plane of existence of some sort. Combined by the fact that he felt his body still sitting on hard ground, it made him feel slightly nauseated.

Nevertheless, this nausea he felt instantly disappeared as an all-encompassing yet caring female voice resounded throughout his mind, asking him.

“What is the Origin to you?”

“The Origin…” Argentum muttered to himself as he pondered over the question. Not long after, the silhouettes of the four foundational elements appeared in front of him as he thought to himself, ‘Isn’t the Origin made up of the four foundational elements, given how [Lesser Origin Affinity] was formed by having affinity with the four elements?’

‘No…there’s more to it…’ Argentum continued to ponder over the question as the silhouettes in front of him gradually changed in shape. At some point, the silhouettes of the four foundational elements had combined as one in order to show one cohesive image.

‘Origin is more than that…I think. Although it could be said that Origin is made up of the four foundational elements, Lesser Origin, in this case, is considered a higher-tiered element, which means that it’s an entity of its own separate from the four foundational elements…yet at the same time, it is not.’

While Argentum continued to ponder over the question, Cardis and the crowd could not help but look at Argentum as they noticed that his body was now radiating a faint white glow, prompting one to shout, “Hey! He’s finally starting to comprehend the Origin!”

In less than an instant, everyone fixated their visions towards Argentum as they felt an aura that gradually became more intense as time passed. Surprisingly, the first thing they noticed from this aura was the sheer purity of it. Although everyone in the area was quite well-versed with the element of Origin, they had never felt such a pure element of Origin before, which even made some of the people in the area comprehend a little bit of their own understanding of the Origin.

Nevertheless, that only lasted for a few minutes as a white image started to form above Argentum’s head, instantly showing everyone that Argentum was about to form his own understanding of the Origin.

Whoosh!

After some time, an image of a cohesive blob that radiated the aura of the four elements soon appeared over his head, prompting some to let out gasps of shock and surprise as they could not believe what they were seeing. Although it transformed into an image of three blobs joined at one part from time to time, that did not hide the shock they were feeling.

Even Cardis, who believed that Argentum had a high chance of comprehending far greater than the Origin, was left at a loss for words as he muttered to himself in disbelief, “Isn’t that…a sign of…Unity?”

“Look closer. It’s showing two signs at once. At times, it’s showing Unity, while at other times, it’s showing the sign of three fused elements,” one of the people beside Cardis could not help but say. Unfortunately for the guy, the latter sign the guy noticed would eventually disappear as the image of a cohesive blob stayed over Argentum’s head, prompting the guy to let out an awkward chuckle in response.

As for Tristan, after seeing that the guy Cardis brought with him had comprehend the Origin to the level of Unity, he could not help but feel a hint of fear, though he tried his best to not show it on the outside. Of course, fate seemed to play out differently for Tristan as the image over Argentum’s head transformed into something else, giving off a far more intense aura of the Origin.

“Life…” Cardis could not help but mutter as the image over Argentum’s head transformed into that of a tree going through its various stages.

“Cycle…?” Not long after, Tristan could not help but say out in disbelief as the image of a ring rotating on its axis soon appeared over Argentum’s head a few minutes after that.

Eventually, a new image appeared over Argentum’s head, leaving the people watching over him at a loss for words as they felt that this image embodied the meaning of Origin far greater than the Cycle could. With that, only one question lingered in everyone’s minds.

“What does this image mean?”