The World Favored Creators

It seemed the higher-ups had started researching "divine power" long ago.

Borne fell silent.

Even knowing this, he couldn't stop them. He couldn't even guarantee that he wouldn't explore the realm of the gods himself one day.

But that was still a long way off. First, he had to become a Great Arcanist to earn the right to enter.

Borne then shared his discoveries and his theories about the Weave with the count.

"The Weave?"

"The Weave? The Weave! That's a good name. It seems the Source takes the form of a 'web' in your projected consciousness."

Looking at the count, Borne finally realized that he hadn't been the first to come up with the name "Weave."

At this time, every professional had a different "view" of the "world," just as people in his previous life had many different names for Heaven.

Haotian, God, Jehovah, Gaia's consciousness, and so on.

People gave concrete form to what they placed their faith in, imagining it in whatever way they saw fit.

The same was true of the world's origin. No one knew its true form—not even legends.

That was because it projected itself into each person's consciousness according to their individual "view" of it.

To some, it was a mass of fire; to others, a lamp or a spring.

Some even regarded a particular "person" as the origin.

Powerful spellcasters had once speculated that the first gods had actually been born from the earliest "views" of the world.

The world's origin had never had a single, agreed-upon name. But when the count heard Borne's name for it, he immediately felt it was so apt that it seemed like the origin's "true name"!

"'The web of magic'—that's a very apt name. This vast web truly covers the whole world, wrapping around it. No matter where you are, you can touch its threads."

After listening, the count looked pleased and patted Borne on the shoulder. "It seems the 'web' is the closest thing to the form of the 'world's origin.' You really are a born Arcanist!"

Borne was dumbfounded. How was he supposed to know what the world's origin looked like? He'd only read about it in books from his previous life. He'd always thought it was just like that.

He hadn't expected that, in the end, the name "Weave" would spread because of him.

Borne didn't know what to say in response to his grandfather's praise.

"Since you've already grasped the truth of the 'Weave,' keep moving forward in your own way. Remember..."

"The world favors creators!"

Evening.

When Borne left the Wizard Tower, his mind was still a little muddled. As he gazed at the fiery clouds on the horizon, he fell into thought.

He'd learned a great deal from his grandfather today. Their conversation had seemed to jump from one topic to another, but it had revealed a lot.

First, the Netheril elite might already have begun studying "divine power." They might only have touched on it at a preliminary level for now, but judging by the timing, that seemed about right. Netheril's attitude toward the "gods" in its middle and later stages seemed to bear that out.

Second, the life transition of high-level professionals was very important, and it affected the path beyond the legendary realm. The count meant for him to avoid advancing as a high-level spellcaster and instead advance directly as a high-level Arcanist.

Third, and most important, the world was conscious and capable of growth.

This consciousness wasn't consciousness in the human sense. It was a kind of universal awareness.

Just like the "planetary consciousness" proposed by Blue Star scholars!

It was only natural that the "planetary consciousness" of Toril, a world where supernatural power existed, would be more active.

The world needed to grow. But how did it grow? What did it consume?

Why did the world favor creators?

Or to put it another way, if you owned a company, which kind of employee would you like best?

The ones who slacked off and cut corners, or the ones who brought value to the company?

Employees who brought no value had to work hard and patiently build up their record before they could get promoted.

Those who made valuable contributions didn't just get special privileges. The company would promote and reward them, pushing them toward greater heights.

Damn...

So I'm just an outstanding wage slave!

No, I'm not even that!

Borne curled his lip and headed toward the shore.

This time, he didn't use Fly to get there. He needed to sort through his thoughts and digest everything.

The count had told him a lot, but much of it was just experience and personal insight, not a systematic body of knowledge.

All of it was the accumulated experience passed down through generations of the family.

Borne had understood it so quickly, and even figured things out, because he had help from another civilization.

That was what family inheritance meant.

The efforts of several generations weren't something one person could catch up with in a few years, or even a decade or more—unless they had a cheat.

One might surpass them in strength, but this kind of important knowledge took generations of exploration and careful summary to acquire, smoothing the way for those who came after.

As long as the next generation wasn't truly stupid, it would be hard for the family to fall—unless some natural or man-made disaster struck, or the dynasty changed.

Damn it!

Borne slapped his forehead.

"I'm such an idiot... Why am I thinking so much? Even if I'm a wage slave, I'll be the best-looking wage slave around!"

Since the world itself had acknowledged him, he had no reason to hide anymore. So what if he was a transmigrator?

There were plenty of transmigrators in Toril. Some even arrived in whole groups.

The Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs had originally come from other worlds, and now they were among Faerûn's major powers. The natives, by contrast, had been wiped out in droves. Netheril had only just begun to show its strength and was still a junior player.

Over the next few days, Borne holed up in the underground laboratory again. He'd made a lot of progress this time, and many of his theories needed to be tested.

Now that he knew the path to the high levels, he had to start preparing right away.

Over the next few days, Borne needed to "replace" his magic power!

In the count's terminology, that meant "purifying" it.

What did it mean to be high-level?

It meant reaching the greatest extent a living being could attain.

Put simply, it meant drawing out a being's inherent potential and pushing its organs, muscles, and bones to their limits.

Of course, "limit" was a relative term. The gap could still be as vast as heaven and earth.

Take high-level professionals, for example. Even if Borne hadn't taken that high-level Lizardfolk by surprise, he could still have killed it in a one-on-one fight.

But if he faced Count Ioulaum, who was also high-level, the count could pin him to the ground with one hand and grind him into the dirt.

Purifying his magic power early would make Borne's path to the high levels smoother.

That was the benefit of having "parents"—with elders to guide you, you could avoid a lot of detours.

The count had also advised Borne to keep improving his "ki," now that he had mastered it.

Though it was true that trying to do too much could leave you a master of nothing, that depended on the person. Others might have to specialize because they lacked the time or aptitude.

But a genius should be well-rounded.

The count's words made Borne feel a little embarrassed.

However, the count couldn't offer much advice on improving his "ki." Only two members of the Ioulaum House had entered that field, and the previous one had lived several centuries ago.

He hadn't left any useful notes or records, either. Borne would have to figure out how to improve his "ki" on his own.

According to what Borne knew from his previous life, the answer was to improve through grueling training. Simply put, it meant "torturing yourself"—training the mind, with the best results coming from tormenting the body and mind together.

Of course, Borne had no interest in "torturing himself."

Borne theorized that he needed to improve his "Psychic" power, perhaps by cultivating it through ascetic practices.

With the system's calculations, Borne drew on Indian yoga and Buddhist scriptures and actually managed to work something out.

He became more adept at using "ki." Before, he'd only known how to use it roughly. Now he could spread "ki" throughout his body and strengthen his limbs.

He'd even awakened two more special abilities.

[Lightfall] and [Ki Strike]

Lightfall allowed him to use nearby walls to slow his fall and reduce the damage from hitting the ground.

Ki Strike let him channel ki into unarmed attacks to damage his target, and the attacks also had a "magic-breaking" effect.

Borne cast Light Orb, then covered his palm with "ki." To his surprise, he actually managed to grab the orb.

From the sensation in his hand, Borne could tell he really had caught it.

[Light Orb] was an Evocation spell. This Prestidigitation had no physical form; it was merely a ball of light. Aside from emitting light, it had no substance, and it would pop like a bubble the instant someone touched it.

And now Borne had actually managed to "grab" it.

This was downright magical...

Borne also noticed that when he cast a spell and used Ki Strike at the same time, the two kinds of power in his body seemed to "conflict."

In theory, they belonged to entirely different systems and shouldn't conflict at all.

If magic power was like spiritual energy in cultivation novels, absorbed from the outside through the body, then "ki" was like internal energy, a force that came from within and flowed outward.

But the conflict between them wasn't great—just a little. If Borne's mental strength hadn't been so strong, he wouldn't have noticed it.

It wasn't just his body that was in conflict. The light orb in Borne's hand was also slowly disintegrating under the "ki's" erosion.

After 157 seconds, the orb completely collapsed and vanished in a scattering of light.

Borne stood there, hand raised, staring blankly. Then he cast another orb and grabbed it again.

He repeated this dozens of times before finally stopping.

"It's not a conflict. It's more like expulsion and purification!"

Borne muttered to himself.

This reminded him of when he'd first received "Enlightenment" and entered the Origin Space, where he'd "seen" the magic elements.

Those magic elements seemed like "little people," some big and some small, some clever and some dull.

Of course, Borne knew this was just a manifestation of his innermost thoughts. Magic elements had no physical form. They were simply elements.

The experience wasn't the same for everyone. Perhaps Borne saw people, while others saw all kinds of strange creatures—there were countless possibilities.

This only happened the first time someone sensed magic. It wouldn't happen again during meditation.

But Borne had always felt that there had to be more to it than that. Now he understood.

Magic elements had varying degrees of quality. Elements could be impure, too.

Magic power was actually the product of transforming natural elements through meditation.

Put simply, during meditation, you stamped the elements with your own mental imprint, turning a band of scattered soldiers into a proper army.

That was why magic power could be controlled directly, while elements had to be influenced through magic power to form spells.

But "ki" was different. "Ki" was more like the power of life, something akin to biological energy in Blue Star terms.

This energy was produced entirely by the body's cells and carried a much stronger personal imprint.

If "ki" was your own flesh and blood, then magic power was adopted.

It was only natural that they didn't fit together perfectly.

Elements, on the other hand, were complete outsiders.

You had to hit outsiders hard.

When a spell formed, it drew not only on the caster's magic power but also on the elements in the surrounding environment.

Magic power influenced the elements through various runic structures. In practice, this was like using leverage: a small amount of magic power affected several times as many elements, thereby amplifying the spell's power.

Borne was now using the properties of "ki" to filter and sort the magic power in his body, achieving a different kind of "purification"!

Borne began gathering the magic power in his body. Then he used the "ki" inside him to encase it. The magic power that came through the filter had all been screened and bore a strong personal imprint.

At first, a large portion of the purified magic power passed through quickly. But after that, the process grew less and less efficient. The amount filtered out dwindled, and the enclosed magic power began slipping out of his control.

Only then did Borne suddenly realize what was happening.

Oh no!

He'd been reckless...

He felt like smacking himself hard across the face.

Damn it, sometimes having things go too smoothly wasn't a good thing. He'd gotten used to everything going his way and hadn't carefully thought it through or tested it before trying it on himself.

Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of blood. His vision swam, and it felt as if someone had struck him over the head with a club. Then he collapsed to the floor.

The impact on his mental strength made it impossible for him to faint. His head throbbed as if it would split apart, and Borne could only force himself to control his breathing.

He focused all his attention on directing his "ki." After all, it was "his own flesh and blood," and it could heal injuries, too.

Three hours later, Borne could just barely move again.

Compared to the last time he'd suffered magical backlash, this time his internal injuries were more serious. Borne struggled up from the floor and quickly downed a healing potion.

He'd really been careless this time. But his reckless experiment had confirmed that his idea was right—he'd simply used the wrong method.

Borne smiled bitterly, then called up the Attribute Panel.

Name: Borne Iolum

Netherese human

Wizard 10/Arcanist 6/Monk 4

Level: 10

Base Attributes: Strength 2.3 (↓3), Dexterity 2 (2.5), Constitution 3 (↓2), Intelligence 14 (↑1), Wisdom 6

Main Status: Critically injured! Displaced organs, minor arterial rupture... (Recommended treatment: 1: Healing magic, 2: Medication, formula: ...)

"Looks like the injury was worth it. My Intelligence went up by one!"