Chapter 113: You Have Made Your Choice

It was the first time that Elias had seen the Commander freeze in shock, and with his perfect memory, it was a sight that he was never going to forget.

Her voice grew cold, making Elias almost feel as if he was not hearing a person speaking but a block of ice, “Repeat what you said to me, Elias?”

“Uh, Commander, this third Art is at the common level. It is called the Art of Stone. However, there is no description beside it, only the grade. Do you recognize this Art?”

The Commander fumed, and then she chuckled coldly, “It appeared that I had been outplayed. My dependence on Fate’s hand must have been seen through and Stone Monkey.” Glancing at Elias, and then at the altar, she scoffed, “I know of this Art, and it was primarily cultivated by slaves during the time of the gods and daemons, and now it has mostly been discarded, since it gives little benefits for the amounts of efforts required, and most believe it is a tool for torture and not for growth. Still, a Common Grade Art should have no core; there might be other secrets to this Art that are unknown.”

“Hmm… interesting,” Elias muttered to himself while wondering what relationship this seed had with his Stone Blade and the Ascendant Swarm.

“Anyway, we are running out of time. Have you made your selection? Of these…” she frowned, “three, which would you pick? Remember, Elias, this decision would affect you for the rest of your life. The Heaven Grade Art is complete, and it would give you the sort of power that would make the world obey your will. The Lumina Scripture’s potential is matchless; it suits your Void nature, but it is incomplete, and there is no assurance you may be able to find the rest, and this third Art, should not be very useful, but there may be hidden mysteries behind it that I do not yet understand.”

Elias cocked his head at the Commander’s final words, “Do you know any secrets behind this Common Art Commander?”

She frowned, her eyes shifting, but then she exhaled, “I am the Daughter of the White Lion, and so I can touch a part of Fate. Before I selected these Lumina Arts, I had called upon the power of my heritage, and I had an intuition that all three of these Arts are linked to you.”

“My hand was involved in picking out these Arts, but Fate’s own was also in it as well, and in some sense, I did not have full control over this matter. Ultimately, the choice is yours. These three Arts represent three paths forward, and I would have taken out this last Art, but I would be going against Fate if I do so.”

“Anything you choose, this decision shall rest on you alone, my disciple. You could even choose not to pick any of these three, and I may present you with other Lumina Arts in my collection… even my own.”

Elias closed his eyes, all the words from the Commander entering his heart, and he opened them. His decision was already made up.

The Heavenly Grade Art was enticing. The vision he had seen of the Blood Sovereign was so profound that he knew that nothing he had seen up to this point could near it, and the only thing that exceeded the image of the Blood Sovereign was the vision he had seen while in the Fragment, of the dead goddess and the unknown figure in the sky holding a bolt of lightning.

To be able to control not just his blood, but others around him was a seriously messed-up ability, and from what he had seen from that vision, he could create monsters from that blood, and this could perhaps be a small part of what was capable with a power like this.

Elias felt that this path was suited to his close combat style of fighting, and could match up well with his abilities to create weapons, giving him a diversity in combat that was, well, unmatched.

The Art of Stone, on the other hand, was an enigma. And for that reason alone, there was a crazy part of Elias that wanted to pick it. His Ascendant Swarm was not a simple ability, and with the vague connection that this Art would have with this ability, Elias was extremely tempted to pick this Art, even if it would shock the Commander.

But at the end of the day, what was most important to him was the ability to get stronger outside what was offered by his Elder Talent. The reason he had been able to level up had been quietly answered by this Lumina Scripture with its Core Concept.

Which was to embrace contradiction. To be able to hold infinity inside finitude, and contain the uncontainable.

Elias knew he was hardly peeling at the surface of what this concept was capable of, but these were the missing parts of him, and other Art here was just complementary.

He knew that he would be pained from missing out on wielding the power of that Heavenly Art or knowing the full mysteries behind the Art of Stone, but he would regret not picking the Scripture of the Hollow Monarch.

His Void Nature meant he held both Miracle and Condemnation inside him, and no other Art would be able to balance this disparity, and Elias feared that without a suitable Lumina Art, he would not be able to truly control his powers in the future.

“Commander, I have made my choice. I will be going for the Lumina Scripture. It suits me more than the others.”

Commander Yseult nodded, expecting that choice. “Good selection. You have ascertained the risks and rewards, and the Lumina Scripture suits you the most. I cannot fault your decision, because I may have also chosen the same with the information available to me. Now, let me teach you how to place the core in your soul. Stretch your hand forward…”

Without any hesitation, Elias stretched out his hand, and the Commander held it with one hand in a firm grip. “This would hurt,”

Then, using the sharp nail of her finger, she pierced the skin of his palm, and she began to draw a rune upon it. Elias gasped at the sudden influx of pain, almost as if she was not etching runes into his palm but in his entire soul. However, the pain was not as bad as he had expected; at least, it was not more painful than his death inside the Fragment and the eternity he had spent inside that darkness, clawing for his life.

Noticing Elias’ steady demeanor from a pain that would have more powerful Siphons screaming their lungs out, she nodded in appreciation. The strength of the boy’s will was spectacular, and for this alone, he was more than worthy of being her disciple and her being his master.

Elias tried to see what she was drawing on his palm, but his eyes began to turn, and a feeling of nausea overtook him.

“Your soul is not powerful enough to understand the runes I am etching upon it. Part of your lessons in the future would be to learn this mystical art, but for now, know that what I am doing is creating a bridge to your Lumina Pools; it would act as a passage for the Core of these Lumina Arts to be rooted into your Lumina Space.”

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