"Ebner, you're finally awake!"
The worry on Fors and Xio's faces completely faded, replaced by bright smiles.
Seeing their clearly weary faces, Ebner's gaze softened.
Even though he had already "seen through" everything Fors and Xio had done for him over the past few days within just a few seconds of awakening, he still pretended confusion and asked:
"What happened?"
Of course, he also wanted to know how he returned here—
after all, he couldn't "see through" anything involving the Goddess during the earliest part of his slumber.
"You're asking us what happened?
You've been asleep for almost four days! Do you know how worried Xio and I were?"
Fors scolded him as she brought over a bowl of reheated congee.
"You're hungry, right? Eat something first. Once your stomach adapts, we'll ask the butler to prepare real food."
So meticulous… As expected of a medical student.
But I'm a demigod. Even if I ate an entire cow, it wouldn't kill me…
Ebner complaint silently, but still accepted Fors's kindness and finished the congee spoonful by spoonful.
Xio pursed her lips and said:
"I won't ask about the details since it involves angels…
But I hope you'll act more cautiously in the future!
"To be honest, ever since you became a demigod, you've been a lot more reckless than before. You don't calculate everything ahead of time like you used to."
That's because after absorbing Giuseppe's memories, it inevitably influenced me…
And I've already reflected on that. This time I was extremely cautious— I called five angels and a Goddess to deal with the Catastrophe Demoness.
The fainting afterward was probably an accident…
Thinking this, Ebner still nodded obediently and repeated:
"So what happened? How did I get back?"
"Fors suddenly came out of 'Alvin's Answering Labyrinth' and found you already unconscious…
Oh, right. According to Fors, your clothes were shattered all over the floor—
like someone had just ravaged you!"
Xio said in a teasing tone.
Fors nodded vigorously. The scene back then had indeed been shocking.
Ebner's mouth twitched.
Right… my clothes did burst when I took on the incomplete mythic form.
I originally planned to conjure new clothes after advancing to Sequence 3, but I fainted immediately afterward…
Which means… was I naked in front of the Goddess?
Nope. Stop. Cannot think about that. That's divine blasphemy just imagining it!
He shook his head. Even though he couldn't "see through" the exact events, he could roughly guess why he fell into slumber.
So there really was an "Unknown" being deep within the Unknown Land…
Who is that? "Liu Bo"?
Hard to imagine I'd have that much "status."
After chatting a bit more with Xio and Fors, Ebner got up to have breakfast.
The servants were not surprised at all to see their viscount appear.
But watching Fors and Xio follow him out of the room, they couldn't help but carry faint hints of disdain, envy, and admiration.
Ebner, of course, wasn't surprised.
He had already "seen through" the reason:
To cover up his unconscious state these past few days, Xio had been using her Hundred-Faced Silk to disguise herself as Ebner and appear publicly on his behalf.
After breakfast, Xio left for work at MI9,
and Fors went to the steam train station to receive her teacher Dorian, who was arriving in Backlund.
Soon, the large bedroom was quiet again—
only Ebner remained.
He lay back on the bed, placed a pillow behind him, and began examining himself:
"So the potion finished digesting right after I drank it? At least two-thirds of it…
Which past version of me prepared this in advance?
"Hm… based on all current information, the acting method of a Cognizer has three directions:
"First, seeing through the structure and rules of all things.
"Second, seeing through the origins and future of all things—fate.
"Third, seeing through the logic and internal relationships of all things, especially between people—philosophy.
"All three must be fulfilled.
"The first is relatively easy.
The advancement ritual already requires analyzing mythic forms—
and mythic forms are essentially massive bundles of interwoven knowledge.
Once I succeed, especially since I've fully analyzed all 22 paths,
this part naturally completes itself.
"And I have countless lifetimes of accumulated experience.
Unfair advantage, really."
"The second is extremely difficult.
Even though advancement greatly improved my predictive abilities,
I still can't freely observe others' 'River of Fate.'
To act properly, I would need a huge amount of preparatory investigation…
"But—I cheat!
The Wheel of Fate uniqueness combined with the Virtual All-Seeing Eye lets me observe the fate-rivers of others far more easily.
"And I've already done similar things during the Prophet stage—
so I've pre-acted some of it.
"Still not enough.
I need to see through the origins and futures of entities at higher tiers.
"Heh.
Nothing fits better than my original plan—
seeing through myself."
"The third—philosophy…
I've somewhat acted that already.
After all, like Klein, I was a 'keyboard warrior' before transmigrating—
who didn't analyze society online?
"But still not enough…
Do I have to write a full philosophical treatise?"
"In summary, the scope of 'Insight' is the three expressions of 'Wisdom':
Creation, Foreknowledge, Philosophy.
"Hm… in my previous life, Einstein (scientist), Zhuge Liang (strategist), and Plato (philosopher) were all considered men of 'wisdom,'
each representing one direction.
"And the next sequence is 'Angel of Wisdom'…
So eventually it all ascends into the Authority of Wisdom?
"What would the Authority of Wisdom include?
Creation? Omniscience? Philosophical Weapons?
"I'll test it with the Pure White Eye later."
"As for the next stage of digestion:
"One: fully understand the arrangements of my previous selves and complete the multi-generational secret technique.
Two: complete Lilith and Vera's missions—see through the secrets involving Sefirot and Outer Gods.
Three: construct my own occult worldview."
After confirming the advancement effects and contemplating the future, Ebner began analyzing his abilities—combining newly gained occult knowledge, his own divine inscriptions, and his Cognizer insight:
"First, all abilities like Analysis, Prophecy, Backtracking, Information Extraction, Absolute Rationality…
have fused into the core ability Insight, and fundamentally strengthened.
"Now, as long as I will it, I can 'see through' a person or object's past and future, structure and composition, strengths and flaws—
even certain private details and interpersonal 'connections.'
"This is nearly on par with Arrodes.
The only difference is:
I cannot see information from nothing. I must either observe or have a fate-level connection."
"Second:
Based on Insight's understanding of structure, the Simulation ability has gained a hint of the Authority of Creation.
"I could already manufacture materials within the White Tower.
Now I can even create Beyonder characteristics, though only up to Sequence 4.
"And when I want to use abilities from other pathways,
I no longer need to simulate—
I simply 'create' a Sequence 4 characteristic of that path in the White Tower
and gain the same abilities as a demigod of that sequence.
"One of a Cognizer's core combat abilities—
transforming into other incomplete mythic forms—
is possible because of this.
"After all, if I have the characteristics of a path,
I can naturally transform into its mythic form.
"And since I completed analysis of all 22 mythic forms during the Prophet stage,
I can now create 22 different Sequence 4 characteristics.
"Unfortunately, created characteristics still cannot enter reality—
otherwise, selling fake characteristics alone would make me the world's richest man."
"Third:
Because Insight grasps structure, rules, fate, and connection,
I naturally grasp the leverage needed to shift the world or target with minimal effort.
"I haven't reached the level of
'The White Tower opens its eyes— all phenomena converge,'
but I can already solve extremely difficult problems
with extremely small costs."
(End of Chapter)