"What kind of race is this... a Half-Primordial Elf?" Punk was too drained to mock this race name that practically reeked of melodramatic nonsense. Although Primordial Elf did sound rather lofty, ancient races were not necessarily powerful in this world. Even according to evolutionary theory, the newest species should have been the best. A world where ancient gods walked everywhere while modern mortals outnumbered dogs would only arise after an advanced civilization had been wiped out and a new civilization had just begun. Although this Multiverse somewhat fit the latter situation, at least in terms of bloodlines, the gap between ancient and modern times was nowhere near that great.
Just like Punk's Primordial Elf bloodline—only half of one, at that—it merely gave him slightly more efficient use of life energy, better looks, and greater agility... that was all. Aside from proving that the race had gone extinct very early, the title "Primordial" might only be somewhat useful when exploring the ruins of certain ancient relics!
So Punk was utterly speechless about this Half-Primordial Elf bloodline. Where was the promised ancient divine power? Where was it?
Aside from this bloodline, which was currently of no apparent use, there was also the "lifelong learning" left behind by the original owner's parents—something that looked profound and extensive, but was actually a chaotic mess. With the system's help, Punk spent more than a month by Earth's standards sorting this fragmented, trivial "knowledge" into categories. During the process, he also gained a preliminary understanding of this brand-new world.
First was this world's history. The ancient Netherese Civilization had left behind a deep and lasting influence. For example, Netheril had unified and improved the casters' Meditation Method, then made this incomparably perfected method—one that could be cultivated all the way to the Legendary realm, with progress beyond that relying entirely on one's own comprehension—completely public. Even now, whenever mages saw warriors fighting to the death over an unverified secret manual of battle aura, they sincerely thanked Netheril's Archmages.
The Netherese Civilization had also spread knowledge on a massive scale and implemented free education, allowing even ordinary people without the aptitude to become professionals to understand the world. Thus, even now that knowledge had once again become monopolized, the planes once touched by the Netherese Civilization would never see the absurd sight of commoners worshipping professionals as gods.
Moreover, the plane where Punk currently resided—the Faerun plane—had been reinforced because it was the birthplace and base of the Netherese Civilization. The Netherese Civilization's final battle had also taken place here. At the same time, most of the Multiverse's gods had their ultimate fortresses—and ultimate prisons—their divine kingdoms, moved near the Faerun plane by Ao for the war against Netheril. Thus, the Faerun plane had become the undisputed core plane of the Multiverse.
As for Netheril Remnants... the Netherese Civilization once made a declaration: "As long as one upholds the will of the Netherese Civilization, one is a member of the Netherese Civilization. As long as one strives for Netheril's revival, one is a Netheril Remnant."
Though it sounded loose, Punk felt an indescribably immense and stirring sense of unity within that declaration.
It was precisely because of this that, even though the Netherese Civilization was now nearly destroyed, the name Netheril remained an eternally brilliant banner in the hearts of countless mages.
If I get the chance, maybe I'll join the Netherese Civilization too. Though I don't even know what the will of Netheril is right now... Punk thought.
Another extremely important piece of information was this world's hierarchy of power:
The lowest-tier combat professionals were levels 1 to 4, the Apprentice Level.
Levels 5 to 9 were the Journeyman Level. Compared to the Apprentice Level, this was an increase of one minor realm. Journeyman Level professionals were several times stronger than Apprentices.
However, levels 10 to 14 were the Formal Level, a qualitative leap. Compared to the Journeyman Level, this was an increase of one major realm. Any attack below the Formal Level could not break the defenses of the Formal Level and above, while any attack at the Formal Level and above ignored all defenses below the Formal Level. This meant that in this world, challenging someone across a minor realm still offered a slight chance of survival, but challenging someone across a major realm—even with more people or more protagonist's luck—meant only one thing: death!
Levels 15 to 19 were the Master Level, an increase of one minor realm.
Levels 20 to 39 represented another major leap, known as—the Legendary Level! It was equivalent to the true body of a god with weak divine power!
Above the Legendary Level were three further minor realms:
Levels 40 to 49—the Morning Star, equivalent to the true body of a god with lesser divine power.
Levels 50 to 59—the Radiant Moon, equivalent to the true body of a god with intermediate divine power.
Levels 60 to 69—the Shining Sun, equivalent to the true body of a god with greater divine power.
Levels 70 to 79 represented another major leap—the God Seat!
A special note: God Seat was the name of a realm, not a reference to gods. Unless gods broke free from the slavery of their divine offices, they could not surpass the Legendary realm!
However, for reasons unknown to anyone, since the destruction of the Netherese Civilization, God Seat powerhouses had been forbidden from interfering with the universe in any way. This rule was far stricter than Ao's restraints on gods. Many who could not wholeheartedly pursue the mysteries of the arcane did not dare glimpse the splendor of the God Seat, but those powerhouses who pursued their free souls had never stopped. Of course, after achieving the God Seat, every one of them vanished without a trace.
Levels 80 to 89 were Transcendence—transcending the universe. This was another major leap.
Levels 90 to 99 were the Void—roaming the Void. This meant truly wandering freely through the Void, creating and destroying universes with a wave of one's hand. Punk had merely been fortunate enough to drift with the current in the Void before, and even that had been extremely difficult. He had not even possessed the ability to move!
Legend had it that if one continued advancing beyond the peak of level 99 in the Void, one would enter an incomprehensible realm. To use an analogy: if everything in the endless Void were a fictional story in a book, then those above level 99 could transcend that book and enter reality.
Only upon reaching the Legendary tier could one possess an endless lifespan and gain even a slight qualification to contend with the River of Fate. Legendary Level casters would also be qualified to learn powerful, destructive Legendary Magic—commonly known as Forbidden Spells. From the information available, Punk learned that even the weakest Forbidden Spell was dozens of times more powerful than a hydrogen bomb from Earth.
"Looks like I need to work hard to become Legendary."
And so, Punk gained a "small" goal—becoming Legendary. This world was filled with surging winds and gathering clouds; he would never allow himself to exist as a weakling.
After sorting out the information on the power system—most of it concerned mages, since the source of the knowledge had been a mage—Punk began organizing the knowledge concerning alignments.
This world was divided into six alignments: Lawful Good, the legendary self-righteous saints; Chaotic Good, certain heroic thieves; Lawful Neutral, most ordinary people; Chaotic Neutral, those who acted as they pleased but still had their bottom lines;
Lawful Evil, organized evil forces; and Chaotic Evil, psychopathic murderers.
A special note: although there were many methods of identifying alignments, alignment was actually judged according to the person's inner values. In other words, if a madman sincerely believed, from the depths of his heart and subconscious to the deepest part of his soul, that everything he did was good, then even if he spent every day destroying worlds, his alignment would still be "Good."
Therefore, alignment classifications were merely references. If someone treated them as absolute truth... they would definitely suffer horribly for it.
Aside from this information, there was only some scattered "common sense."
For example, the high-level professionals of this world were practically on the verge of transcending the universe, while ordinary people at the bottom still lived medieval lives.
For example, the world's population was so vast that no one could count it, the Continent of Faerun was more than forty times the surface area of the sun from his previous life, and Common Tongue was used by the overwhelming majority of races...
There was also some knowledge and fragmented memories left behind by his "parents" concerning the customs of common races. After all, the original body's parents had only been Master Level professionals, and the kind who lived in seclusion with nothing but bare walls around them. From the information they left behind, it seemed they had wanted to gamble on breaking through to the Legendary Level. Fearing that their child would not survive if they failed, they created this green egg for their child to develop within and left behind a knowledge inheritance!
Judging from the result, the outside was now in ruins, so the original body's parents had clearly failed. In this world, breaking through a major realm had always been a matter of success or death. There was no third outcome.
Fortunately, Primordial Elves were still elves, after all. Once fully developed, they possessed the body of a roughly fifteen-year-old youth. Otherwise, Punk would have had a hard time adapting to an infant's body.
I wonder what my "parents'" origins were. Do I have all sorts of relatives, like aunts and uncles?
Thinking about such random things, Punk finally found the most important knowledge in the final portion of the fragmented inheritance—the knowledge of mage cultivation!
Additional explanation due to reader feedback!
Punk had merely managed to survive in the Void with great difficulty. His soul was still at the level of an ordinary mortal, and he could not compare to true Void powerhouses at this point. It was like a speck of dust and a supermassive black hole both existing in the universe—did that mean a speck of dust was on the same level as a supermassive black hole and equally powerful?
Therefore, "barely surviving in the Void" was not "roaming the Void." The difference was enormous~
Perhaps the earlier explanation had been incomplete, so this clarification has been added.
Additional explanation due to reader feedback!
Punk had merely managed to survive in the Void with great difficulty. His soul was still at the level of an ordinary mortal, and he could not compare to true Void powerhouses at this point. It was like a speck of dust and a supermassive black hole both existing in the universe—did that mean a speck of dust was on the same level as a supermassive black hole and equally powerful?
Therefore, "barely surviving in the Void" was not "roaming the Void." The difference was enormous~
Perhaps the earlier explanation had been incomplete, so this clarification has been added.
Before you continue