Chapter 134: Version Comprehension Across Three Years
Hearing Barton’s words, Eivass raised his eyebrows with interest.
“…The Transcendent Path? Do you know what you’re saying?”
The true identity of “Knight” should be a reserve soldier in the light cavalry battalion. He might be a student at Avalon Military Academy University.
He came from a legitimate knight family, with at least a direct elder who was armored. He also said that he might be promoted to an aerial knight… This means he has just embarked on the path of the extraordinary, and has not yet completed his first promotion. The griffon assigned to him is a pure-blooded griffon without any discounts.
In other words, his family background is among the top in the Avalon Kingdom.
Even if he chose not to become an extraordinary, he could live a comfortable life.
But such a person… is now telling Eivass that he wants to walk the Transcendent Path?
Eivass’s heart stirred, and he retorted, “Do you know something?”
“I’m serious.”
Mr. “Knight” said solemnly, “It’s not an impulsive decision, nor is it a rebellious idea… I’ve just learned some taboo history with mysterious powers… and then I thought, perhaps we’ve taken the wrong path. Shouldn’t the Path of Authority align with the Transcendent Path?”
“If the essence of the Path of Authority is similar to its power, then the core of authority is power. Power is top-down, but power also changes, just as the positions of ministers go up and down. How can someone without ambition to rise earnestly treat their work?”
“—I think, the combination of top-down command and bottom-up promotion is ‘power’.”
…Interesting.
Eivass raised his eyebrows.
The knight was not wrong at all, just a bit too ahead of his time.
Avalon was destroyed in the last minor version of the first major version, [Glass Terraces].
In Version 0, the players and their companions resolved the troubles of the Church, obtaining the friendship and help of the Pope and the Saintess. In Version 0, Star Antinomy courted disaster and began an unstoppable split. Isabella also grew after defeating the Fallen Heavenly Envoy and gained high public prestige. With the help of the newly established Church, she organized a team to reclaim Avalon.
After defeating the bandits, traitors, and rebels of the old kingdom, as well as someone who was a puppet of Star Antinomy and had now become independent, summoning the Shadow Heavenly Envoy, Isabella defeated the Iris Flower’s conspiracy, recaptured Avalon’s land, and completed the restoration.
At that time, a fire burned away the decay, and the reborn “Avalon” was renamed Camelot, the Kingdom of Flourishing Flowers.
Eivass still remembered the CG after defeating the final BOSS, the Shadow Heavenly Envoy, in the Version 4 high-difficulty dungeon. It was one of the few CGs he didn’t skip—of course, it was also because he was numb after finishing, exhausted, and took a breather.
On the land corrupted by the shadows controlled by the Shadow Heavenly Envoy, where deathly stillness reigned, new shoots grew, dead trees regained vitality, and flowers bloomed again on the Earth. Queen Isabella, a half-elf with a youthful appearance, wearing a white robe, a crown, and holding a scepter, just like her grandmother Queen Sophia, gave a speech on a wooden platform entwined with vines, in a city full of life.
As the founder of the Kingdom of Camelot, Queen Isabella chose to voluntarily give up part of her royal power, transferring it to the cabinet and parliament. Camelot was transformed into a constitutional monarchy.
This led to a complete overhaul of the entire power system—knight families would no longer pass down their titles through bloodlines and remain aloof, and knights would no longer be armor-clad nobles in practice. This also meant that the mainstream authoritative system, centered on “Law” and “Royal Power,” which had been stable for over four hundred years since the establishment of Avalon, was broken. The ban and resistance against other Paths were also eliminated.
It was only then that the extraordinary beings of the Path of Authority realized… that the Path of Authority and the Transcendent Path were not in conflict at all.
Even the Silver Crown Dragon itself possessed characteristics of the Transcendent Path; like the Great Philosopher of the Path of Wisdom and the Twin of The Path of Beauty, they also had characteristics of the Path of Balance.
Since the high-and-mighty Nine Pillar Gods were not pure avatars of a single Path but had their own inclinations, mortals were even more so.
Everyone’s experiences, personalities, and talents differed, and few were “destined Apostles” walking purely on a single Path. Any two Paths had a high probability of combining, and while cases of three Paths combining were rare, they did exist.
—Ultimately, transcendence, which seeks change and progress, and rising above the established order, and authority, which emphasizes controlling will, wielding power, and leading others, can be understood as two sides of “power.”
Its essence and core remained authority, and it still carried elements of devotion. It was only after supplementing a bit of transcendence that this system finally came alive, capable of functioning normally rather than aging and decaying.
Authority, devotion, and transcendence running in parallel finally formed the three vertices of the Avalon Triangle. Queen Isabella’s The Path of Beauty happened to be outside this triangle, not interfering with any side… like the royal family standing apart from the core power, becoming the emerald jewel at the center of the silver Avalon Triangle.
This was probably why the Silver Crown Dragon remained indifferent to Avalon’s destruction.
To it, Avalon was no longer the knightly kingdom it had initially intended to build. This fire had indeed struck a chord with the Silver Crown Dragon.
Therefore, Barton’s understanding was completely correct. Three years later, this would be common knowledge, recognized by everyone as new common sense.
But because his understanding was too advanced, surpassing two major versions… if he spoke his mind now, he would only be called crazy or a heretic.
Furthermore, his ideology lacked a practical foundation.
Currently, new professions in the Transcendent Path that could perfectly harmonize with the revised Path of Authority, such as the Sin Scholar and the Ascencist, had not yet been born. The most mainstream professions in the Transcendent Path were still the Demon Scholar and its advancement, the Demon Avatar.
Even including Fiends and Ritual Mages, there weren’t many good ones. Even though Eivass himself was an extraordinary being of the Transcendent Path, he had to admit that the Transcendent Path was squarely a path for villains.
If the upright but not particularly intelligent knight were to touch the Transcendent Path at this time, he would likely be completely consumed and exploited to death by those people.
But the fact that the knight could think of this showed that he was indeed a talent—his presence here now hinted at his desire to contend for the Holy Lance. Even knowing that he absolutely could not contend with Alistair, he was unwilling to passively accept his fate; and after encountering Alistair, he did not beg for mercy or tremble, but merely wanted to ask one more question.
This indomitable spirit and courage to challenge the strong precisely fit the promotion requirements of the “Ascencist” profession in the Transcendent Path. It could also form a perfect dual-class with the melee professions of the Path of Authority.
But the process of mastering this profession was very troublesome. Currently, the Heavenly Envoys of the Path Adaptation had not yet been pulled down by the Ouroboros Ring ritual, making it too difficult for humans to shed their skin.
…Should he give him a chance?
After careful consideration, Eivass decided to save him rather than destroy him.
He said seriously, “In fact, when you asked this question, you already had one foot on the Transcendent Path.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. Humans are children of the Father Serpent and Son of Hengwo, a race naturally adapted to the Transcendent Path and the Path of Love. Everyone is greedy, wanting more and better, always filled with desire. This is the essence of human progress.”
This was what the Shadow Demon had just told him, and Eivass immediately put it to use.
“But the real question is, have you awakened and embarked on this path? Have you decided on the profession you want to master, or is it ‘anything in the Transcendent Path is fine’? Or are you simply starting to doubt the Path of Authority but haven’t decided on your next path?”
“Have you considered what extraordinary beings on the Transcendent Path will encounter? Have you thought about your family, your clan? Have you thought about the conspiracies, manipulations, and persecution of your family by those who are also Transcendent beings?”
Eivass earnestly advised, “If not, my advice is—you can keep this idea, but do not advance to the Transcendent Path for now.
“Not for at least a few years. After your career is truly on track, if you still have this idea, it won’t be too late to switch then.
“Extraordinary beings who can compatible with three Paths are rare, and most extraordinary beings can handle two Paths at their limit. You are still very young. Now you want to switch to transcendence, perhaps in the future you will want to switch to devotion, and later you might want to switch to adaptation, and when you are old, you will want to switch to twilight… If you want to leave some room for your future self, it’s better not to embark on a dual Path too early.”
It’ll be soon anyway, Eivass thought. In another two years, after the Butterfly Heavenly Envoy is pulled down, you can switch to “Ascencist.”
You haven’t even reached the second energy level of your first Path yet, why are you so eager about your second Path?
It’s like playing an online game and worrying about the stat allocation and gear for when you reach max level, when you haven’t even left the新手村 (newbie village) yet—we’ll talk about it when the time comes.
