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Enlightenment

As Max lay down, he felt a pull on his mind, and he let it take him. Soon, he felt his vision move from his body, yet he hadn't moved. As it moved up more, he looked around, seeing his own body behind him.

Yet it didn't last for long. He quickly saw the world fall apart before him, leading to a black background. No, not black. Something else, not the color of void, just… nothing.

He couldn't comprehend it, so his brain had replaced it with something else, something close enough to what he thought it was.

Yet this nothingness was colorful. Like the colors of a kaleidoscope, it shifted from a deep black to a blinding white, to a myriad of colors, of which Max wasn't sure he had ever seen before.

Max was enchanted, he spent what felt like hours just observing the shifting colors, stuck there. Stuck in time. Stuck, in this tapestry of color, bound by the strings of fate.

And so, realizing the unseen shackles that bound him, Max broke out. It was natural to want to be free, and so Max let himself free.

And with his breaking of fate, he realized something about time. Time wasn't a river, flowing in one way, it was an endless ocean, each "string," being a current of time, infinite in number.

And what Max could do was send ripples through these currents, navigating this ocean, as the sole pioneer.

And because of all this thinking about time, he thought of a conversation he'd had a few hours ago.

"Dad, why is 'time,' and 'space' so important? Mom said she needed some." Max asked this, though his serious tone made it better.

Leonhardt chuckled, though he decided to give a half-serious answer. "Time and space make up the world, they're the foundation of everything. So everyone needs some."

So Time and space were the basis of everything, taking the time and space out of them would make them… nothing.

And there was life, which Althea had spoken about, during her tending to the flowers in the backyard. Those flowers were so weak, it seemed as though they could be destroyed with two fingers.

Yet Althea cared for them, despite being so far above them. Life was to nurture other life, to continue the cycle. And to kill what threatened it.

So how was void different? All it wished for was the continuation of itself, and to spread, killing anything that threatened that.

Life, and its antithesis, Void, were simply two sides of a coin, neither good nor evil.

Separated only, by the thin fabric of space-time. Separated by fate.

And Max… could tear this barrier apart.

A sound like glass breaking in reverse rang out in Max's head, as the world seemed to rebuild itself, with Max all the more privy to its secrets.

While this had felt like hours, maybe even a day of these revelations, for Althea and Leonhardt, it was only a couple minutes.

Enlightenments seemed to defy time—especially so in Max's case—causing irregularities such as this.

"Max, are you feeling alright?" Althea and Leonhardt ran to his side, but he seemed perfectly fine.

Though a little out of it.

After an hour of recuperation, Max was feeling fine, though he seemed to act odd, like he was predicting their movements, with stunning accuracy.

So now, it was time to head to the Beast God's temple.

Ferthra was the holy land of the Chimrean Religion, though the reason they were going wasn't for a pilgrimage.

It was the only place they could think of with an Enlightened Stone. Aptly named, they sent out signals when a mana connection was made with it, which could be decoded into a list of affinities, and their strengths, and weaknesses.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Certainly some enlightening information.

The journey was uneventful, they only saw a dakon, which quickly ran away—a smart one it seemed.

Yet once they got there, they were in awe.

The temple was massive, reaching into the sky at least a kilometer, maybe multiple. It seemed to tear apart the clouds, to reach beyond the sky.

Gold, Glory, and God. All three seemed to be encompassed by this monolith of a temple, worthy of housing one of the three major religions.

It was a massive piece of Gothic architecture, adorned with a complex pattern of sharp triangles, and soft circles, intertwined in a mixture of arches and mosaics. The entire sculpture was gilded as well, shining with a golden radiance. Truly, a holy land.

When they stepped in, they moved past religious ceremonies, to a corner that led to a school for magic, with many students, perhaps thousands.

Though they weren't here for that.

"Hello, we want to get an affinity check for our son." Althea said this, with a pleasant voice, yet the receptionist didn't budge.

The receptionist in question was a picture-perfect receptionist, a good-looking young lady, with an amiable smile, and a pleasant aura. Her customer service smile was practiced enough to even extend to her eyes, which were sky blue, complimenting her golden hair. And… fox ears?

Beast folk were very common in the holy land, encompassing nearly the entire population. They were similar to humans, but they had stronger physiques and sometimes had ancestral wills for their entire race.

'The couple is entirely human. Why would they be here? Deserters? Be calm, but don't allow them leeway.'

She thought this, but actually, she said:

"Oh hello! Sure, but we need you to answer a few questions. Or, you can skip them by putting your hand on these Awakened stones! Well, other than one question. What religion are you a part of?" The receptionist said this all in one breath, talking fast, but keeping an affable air around her.

"Ah, we believe in all three gods," Althea chuckled, "It may be unorthodox, but it's our religion."

The receptionist looked at them weirdly but urged them to put their hands on the stone. And was understandably shocked by the result. Because the stone read classes, and the path one was on.

"Holy…! Sorry, Sir Leonhardt and Madam Althea, I need to get-" Her eyes glazed over, and she returned, even more shocked. "Sorry, Again. A higher-up in the church said you both have been allowed to go straight to a decoder, come with me."

The receptionist gestured for them to follow, leading them to a room that oozed a plethora of mana signals—another way to say "headache" to Althea.

It was a man, who looked particularly… average. Brown hair, brown eyes, and average looks. Except for the rat's nest he called hair.

When they walked in, the decoder was first looking for the person who was going to get their reading, then at the mage and swordsman coming hand-in-hand, then the fact they had a child, and finally at the age of their child.

"Come on, put your hand on it, and insert your mana signal." Althea moved Max's hand to the stone, which was much too big for him.

The stone seemed to emit a resonance, different from Max's.

As the decoder listened to it, they slowly grew more and more surprised, before entering his results in a flashy hologram producer, who produced an equally flashy, shimmering screen of Max's affinities.

[————==0==—==0==————]

‎ 『Affinities』

⁂ Fatebreaker ⁂

«The strings of fate had bound you tightly.»

«But you refused, breaking their grasp, and calling them your own.»

Element: Fate (Mutation: Time, Space.)

Effects: Lucky events will happen more, as well as limited precognition.

Affinity Level: Variable

Note: It seems that your son's affinity is a rare variable-perfect. It can take any level it wants to, even something beyond perfect. I'm honestly jealous.

⁑D∪@l W0r1ds⁑

«A v¡c!0∪s c¥cl€ 0f h@t€ ended w¡th ¥0∪.»

«Tw0 w0r1ds, b0†h sh0w th€¡r d¡ff€renc€s, wh¡ch ¡s wh@† m@kes ∪s 0ne.»

Elements: L¡fe, %\0¡^.

Effects: ¥0∪ c@n c0nn€ct tw0 0pp0s¡†€ d¡sc¡pl¡nes, 0r ¡d€0l0g¡€s v€r¥ €@s¡l¥.

Affinity Level: ?

Note: This entire garbled mess of a resonance is impossible to decode, I only got some of it.

⁎Duality⁎

«A dance of frost and flame intertwined.»

«Instead of canceling the other out, they multiplied into something greater.»

Element: Frostflame (Mutation: Water, Fire)

Affinity Level: S

『Ancestral Wills』

‎"A Dance of Frost and Flame"

‎Synergy

«An icy presence, which could freeze the world.»

«A lively fire, ready to build it back up from the ground.»

«A perfect union, a cycle contained within you.»

Effect: Your body and mind rebuild themselves constantly, allowing you to grow stronger, continually.

Will Level: S

Note: S for synergy! Haha! Anyways, I'm sure you noticed, but your child also has a dual resonance on top of all this, which pairs quite well. Too well. Is he an experiment?

[————==0==—==0==————]

Althea and Leonhardt sat in shock at the panel. Rightfully so. Until the note at the end pulled them out of their trance.

"Haha, indeed." Althea looked up at the decoder, who was rightfully scared.

"Thanks for all the compliments about our son." She said, as she only did it to scare the man.

This decoder would live another day, and perhaps strike a chord with the receptionist. Things in common were things to talk about, after all. So maybe it wasn't all bad.