Free Web NovelChapter 138: Esoteric Magic (I)
On the surface, this was just a magic that controlled blood. But as it coursed through Uhtred’s arm, he knew it went beyond that.
It entered into a realm of the incomprehensible, as though the foreign blood corroding his body had a mind of its own.
How does one fight against something they did not understand?
Of course, Uhtred was without limits. His core was formless, unlike other ascenders who were locked to whatever attunement they received at the moment of their integration. But, despite his limitless, formless core, there was still a fundamental layer of understanding that had to be crossed before he could even begin to imitate or counter any spell.
He needed to understand the underlying mechanics of how a spell worked. The System didn’t hand out any freebies, and there was no shortcut to power.
...But what if I’ve been thinking about this the wrong way?
The thought crossed his mind like a quiet whisper.
His hand remained pressed tightly against his shoulder, his cosmic essence pushing back against the blood corrosion trying to spread up his body. Barely a few seconds had passed, and the Homo erectus general was only starting to speak again, but Uhtred’s focus was already elsewhere.
He could see the general’s lips moving in his ancient tongue, but he was entirely consumed by the sudden realization shifting through his mind.
What if, like the Homo erectus general said, I’ve been limiting myself to just my understanding of science and how the physical world works...?
Without the Homo erectus general saying it, Uhtred would never have known there was such a thing called Esoteric Magic, something that didn’t follow the hard, logical laws of how the world worked.
What if there was truth to the general’s words? What if he had indeed set an unconscious limit on what he could or couldn’t do?
He was limitless. His core was formless. If elemental, logical magic wasn’t the boundary of cosmic essence, then a whole floodgate of possibilities had just been opened to him.
And in fact, who’s to say elemental magic itself has to follow logic to the letter?
Uhtred felt a sudden realization dawn upon him, as though a veil covering his eyes had been lifted.
If he was to remove every subconscious notion about what cosmic essence could or couldn’t do, then even for elemental magic, why should he assume it was only driven by scientific logic?
Krijn, the Neanderthal general, had wielded Earth magic and metal magic with insane proficiency, yet he was an ancient variant without any scientific understanding of those elements.
Then in that case...
Uhtred’s attention returned to the present for a brief second. He caught a few traces of the words the Homo erectus general was saying. The general was talking about a "prior battle" and how his species had already been "previously victorious" on Earth already.
It was the same thing Krijn had already revealed to Uhtred during their discussion back on the main continent, so he didn’t even bother to listen this time.
Instead, he was thankful the general was so willing to boast. It gave him the perfect opportunity to try what he wanted to do.
He withdrew his focus from the Homo erectus general, leaving only enough external awareness to show he was in pain and seemingly listening.
The vast majority of his attention was turned inward, focusing on his cosmic essence flow, specifically the blood corrosion trying to spread past his shoulder.
He instinctively began to sense what he could of the corrupting energy, attempting to analyze the spell. Then, he stopped himself. That was his natural response as a modern human — trying to scientifically understand how a spell worked before countering it, when in truth, the blood corrosion was just the Homo erectus general’s personal expression of magic.
If Uhtred went by his new realization, then there were infinite ways of achieving the same result. It all depended on his own intention.
So, instead of trying to imitate or understand the general’s blood spell, for the very first time since the integration had begun, Uhtred attempted to create from scratch.
First, he flooded his blood with the cosmic essence that was already fighting against the corrosion at his shoulder.
The cosmic essence he had pooled there to serve as a barrier started to suffuse through his bloodstream.
He didn’t stop to think about what made up blood, even though instinctively his scientific mind wanted him to move in that direction.
He didn’t think of hemoglobin, white blood cells, red blood cells, or any biological components, instead, he focused entirely on the vague, raw intention of what he wanted to achieve.
He focused on the singular goal of pushing back... of fighting against the corrosion spreading through his arm.
He began to think of his blood not as a biological liquid, but as an extension of his intention.
Burn...
Burn down the foreign energy...
Burn down everything that is not my cosmic essence...
Burn away and die!
The intention started like a low, internal drone, until it was the only thing fueling his mind in a state of crazy rage.
He no longer saw the blood corrosion magic as a poison, or as something he didn’t understand. He identified it simply as a virus, one that he did not want in his body for any reason. He didn’t care what shape it took or what expression it was formed with. He just wanted it to burn.
At the back of his mind, Uhtred faintly heard the Homo erectus general choke on his words and go silent, but he was too far gone in his current state to care.
He knew he should probably be preparing for an imminent attack, but he didn’t. All that colored his mind was the raw intention to burn the foreign energy.
And burn it did.
A terrifying force began to surge through Uhtred’s bloodstream, pushing back slowly at first, and then with increasing pace against the blood corrosion.
Uhtred’s cosmic essence suffused through his blood and turned into a raging inferno within his vessels. His entire right arm began to scald over on the surface, but Uhtred was too far gone to care.
Blinding pain shot through his body as, in the process of forcing out the foreign energy, his own raging essence began to damage his tissues.
But he was too crazed at this point.
His blood was literally boiling underneath his skin, destroying the nerve endings in his arm as it pushed the Homo erectus general’s magic all the way back, forcing it out of his pores.
Even when the energy was completely gone, Uhtred didn’t realize it. His mind was still locked onto the singular intention to keep burning.
His right hand began to vibrate violently. The air on the surface of his skin charred over in thin, smoky lines. His skin wrinkled under the immense heat, and even his bones began to feel a severe strain from the pressure.
His blood was pulsing with so much cosmic essence that his right arm had entered a completely unnatural state.
The Homo erectus general, despite watching the entire sequence unfold, was utterly dumbstruck. He didn’t even react to take advantage of the moment.
He was trying to process what was happening, unable to understand how Uhtred, clearly an Elemental Mage, had been able to drive out his blood magic... an Esoteric magic that was supposed to be the counter to any elemental-type ascender.
