Free Web NovelChapter 273: Chapter 261: Deep Sea of Consciousness
When Roland became an Enchanter and received a considerable Spiritual Attribute bonus, he had already noticed a thin yet exceptionally tough barrier deep within his consciousness.
Based on the information in his mind, he formed a theory.
His success in awakening the Consciousness Shallows was thanks to the boost in his Spiritual Attribute from the Spirit Summoning Potion.
This indicated that awakening the Consciousness Shallows didn’t require a special ritual; it seemed to happen naturally as long as one’s Spiritual Attribute reached a certain threshold.
’Then what about the Deep Sea of Consciousness, which is on the same spiritual plane as the Consciousness Shallows?’
’Do its awakening conditions also follow the same rules?’
’Does it merely require my Spiritual Attribute to break through some higher threshold?’
Now, Roland had his answer.
Plummeting.
It was the only clear sensation he felt the moment his consciousness touched the intangible barrier and finally pierced through it.
As if plummeting from an immense height into a lightless Abyss, a powerful sense of weightlessness seized the core of his soul.
The phantasmagorical landscape of the Consciousness Shallows—the boundless, gritty beach and the shimmering, shallow waters—instantly vanished without a trace.
In its place was a suffocating Darkness.
But this was not a Void.
It was a tangible weight, a viscous silence.
Roland felt as if he had sunk into a bottomless sea.
The icy water held an unimaginable power, crushing in from all directions as if to grind his consciousness into primordial particles.
Every shred of his "Perception" endured the squeeze of a thousand-ton vise, and every "ripple of thought" became agonizingly sluggish, as if wading through viscous, liquid lead.
His vision was not the sea of light and shadow with its hazy borders, as it was in the Shallows.
There was no light here.
Only when his consciousness sank to an ineffable depth would faint, profound glimmers of light occasionally streak across the edge of his vision.
But that light did not illuminate; instead, like the pupils of an Abyssal Giant Beast, it only served to highlight the even denser contours of the surrounding Darkness.
The light twisted into unnatural geometric structures, outlining the despairingly vast Shadow of the seafloor below.
It wasn’t grit, but something far more ancient and cold—skeletons and ruins that seemed formed from solidified Darkness and the sediment of Spirit.
If the Consciousness Shallows had felt to Roland like a relatively "warm" Domain where the Spirit’s active surface thoughts and shallow memories intertwined...
...then the Deep Sea of Consciousness, in Roland’s view...
...was more like the Spirit’s graveyard.
It was the slumbering ground for countless fragments of will—forgotten, suppressed, and worn down by time until only their hardest cores remained.
It was the deepest den of instinct and intuition.
It was the soul’s most tenacious, unyielding foundation, the sediment left after being scoured by the ages.
Every "breath" was like swallowing cold metal shards.
Every act of "Perception" was like touching Ice frozen for eons.
There were none of the Shallows’ clamorous light and shadows, none of its fluid, shifting grit; here, there was only a depth and weight that made the very soul tremble.
Here, the concept of time became hazy, and all sense of space was completely distorted.
Only the omnipresent, crushing pressure, and the whispers—like the grinding of ancient metal, forcibly awakened from the depths of his consciousness—proved the very existence of this Deep Sea.
"The Deep Sea of Consciousness..."
Surveying the nearly boundless Darkness around him, Roland raised an eyebrow.
"A bit different than I imagined, but..."
Recalling the time he had sketched the [Flaming Arrow] Rune in the Consciousness Shallows, he focused his Spiritual Power at his fingertip.
Although Roland didn’t know the runic trajectories for any Ring Tier Spells, the instant his Spiritual Power touched the Darkness of this Deep Sea, he sensed that it was possible to inscribe Spell Runes here.
Feeling the strange fluctuation at his fingertip, the corners of Roland’s mouth lifted slightly.
"It seems... I now possess the ability to cast Ring Tier Spells, but..."
Feeling the constant, and even intensifying, pressure from all sides, Roland slowly furrowed his brow.
"Inscribing Spell Runes here will likely be far more difficult than inscribing Trick Runes in the Consciousness Shallows."
At this thought, Roland took a deep breath.
With a turn of his thoughts, his consciousness once again passed through the profound tunnel and returned to reality.
The surrounding scene was exactly the same as when he’d left; not even the grains of sand by his feet had moved. This proved that everything that had just happened had taken place in a single instant.
’The massive increase in my Spiritual Attribute must be related to absorbing the Tower Magic Power... Right...’
Remembering the two opposing Powers that had become entangled within his body when he mobilized the Tower Magic Power, Roland took the ring Van Buren had given him from his waist pouch.
He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but the bright silver glow of the Round Ring seemed to have dimmed slightly.
’Those two Powers must have been Shire and Suren, then...’
After carefully examining the Round Ring for a moment and finding nothing unusual, Roland clasped it in his palm.
’Could it be that Shire was trying to drag me into the Abyss of death, and Suren intervened to help? But I’m not her follower...’
A chill ran through Roland at the thought.
But after a moment, the strange sensation of being watched by a higher existence—the same one he’d felt when negotiating with the Pikachu Fairy Queen—did not arrive.
Shaking his head lightly, Roland cast aside his conjectures about the two goddesses and stretched his body.
As a series of soft pops and cracks echoed through his joints, he recalled the previous battle and fell into deep thought.
’Although the Attribute Bonuses and various Traits my Professional Panel grants me are extremely powerful, they are mostly just one-sided boosts to my strength.’
’Compared to other powerful Extraordinary Professionals, my physical prowess is certainly not weak, but my offensive methods are still lacking.’
’To this day, my finishing blows in close combat are still heavily reliant on [Flowing Slash]. Perhaps...’
Thinking of Graham’s earlier promise, Roland began to walk back down the small path he had come from, lost in thought.
’I could ask Graham to teach me some Combat Skills. Also... what was with the Dragonification he showed when fighting the Witch Demon? Could he also have the blood of a Giant Dragon flowing through his veins?’
At this thought, Roland glanced at the text on his Professional Panel.
[Human Race + Dragon Race]
[Current Bloodline Fusion Level: 76%]
’Using the Breathing Technique in one battle after another has kept my Bloodline Fusion Level on the rise. I shouldn’t be far from changing my Profession to [Dragon Descendant].’
’Perhaps I can subtly probe him for information then. I might get an unexpected reward out of it.’
As he was lost in thought, the Professional Panel in his vision, which had already fallen silent, suddenly reappeared without any warning.
Accompanying it was a line of text, stained with the color of blood and fire.
[The Path of the Knight has been forged within your flesh and soul]
[Yet, all Knights who raise their swords, vowing to guard or to conquer, must anchor their conviction in a higher existence. This is the source of Power, the foundation of will, and the path to a deeper might.]
[Examine your path, choose your banner]
[Faith will infuse you with Power and open the path before you]
[Faith: None]
[Currently Selectable Faiths: None]
