Shen had made a terrible mistake. He had forgotten to deactivate his Lion's Roar when he asked if Alicia had any questions.
Soon, he found himself surrounded by people and showered with questions. After a few moments to organize everything, he was standing on a podium he had purchased for 10 AP—a sacrifice for humanity—and mostly everyone was standing nearby to ask questions.
"How do you know all that?" a woman in their mid-twenties asked.
"Duh," a fifteen-year-old girl replied before Shen could, "we had classes in the third stage. He asked the right questions and got the right classes."
Shen had carefully crafted an explanation of his origins. He would mix truth and misdirection. He was against lying, but his Emperor had ordered him to do so for the greater good, and it wasn't something as terrible as killing an innocent. He would do it—to a point.
"I am a cultivator," he said, interrupting the discussion between the two girls. "Instead of mana, I use vital energy, qi, to grow powerful. I learned how to do it from my family but couldn't do it until the Alliance arrived because I had a condition that prevented me from doing so. I was taught in the cultivator way, but not everything because my condition was incurable. When I turned sixteen, I was put to sleep for a long time, perhaps thousands of years." The Emperor had commanded him to hide anything about the Eternal Empire, and Shen would do so. He would conceal nothing else.
"I don't know how or why my family did that, but they did. When the Alliance arrived and healed everyone, they also healed me. So I know some things, but my training is incomplete. I'm telling you everything I know."
He sighed and decided to do something he would rather not: ask forgiveness. "Someone once asked me where I am from. I lied, telling them I was Chinese. I was trying to protect myself, but that was a mistake for which I ask forgiveness."
When the Chinese boys screamed bloody murder at the end of the fight in this stage, he realized his lie might cause more issues than help. If everyone knew he wasn't from this time and age, they might try to capture him to study him or rob his knowledge. However, the countries of this world and their people had their politics and prejudices. Getting mixed with it could be even worse and would only end with lies piling on top of lies until he got buried underneath them all.
"Wait, so you're an old dude?" a girl from his age group asked. "Shouldn't you be with the seventy-plus?"
Shen shrugged. "I am confident I haven't aged one day since I was put to sleep. Though I don't know the specifics, I heard of ways to freeze someone in time completely. Think of it as if thousands of years passed while I felt it was but the time I took to blink. I am no older or wiser than any of you. That said, I will only answer questions about Laws, Concepts, and Path. My life is my own. I only shared what I did to explain where my knowledge comes from and why it's incomplete."
"...either a good liar or crazy..." he heard someone say, and many seemed to agree.
None of those in his age group said anything of the kind. Instead, he saw eyes wide of realization in their faces. Finally, they understood how he seemed much better prepared for the tutorial than them.
"He's not crazy!" Alicia yelled, to his surprise. She was angry, very angry. "I met him in the second stage. He was clueless about the world. He wants to use a smartphone and fly on an airplane. I was there when he ate his first burger, and you can't fake that reaction. Ever since I met him, not even once did he show to be anything other than what he said he is: someone from the past with a lot of training."
"Yeah, right, says his girlfriend," a middle-aged man in plate armor said.
"I don't care if you believe my past or not," Shen interjected. "I'm helping you because honor demands it, not because I'm seeking your approval. Ask your questions or leave."
No one left. Instead, a girl in her mid-twenties said shyly, "I believe him. Maybe not his past, I'm not sure yet, but the things he said about Concepts and Laws and Paths. It fits. It clicked with everything I was thinking about and feeling."
"That's how charlatans work," the middle-aged guy insisted. "They push you into a certain belief. I'm trying to help you guys here."
Before anyone could continue, Evelyn asked, "How many Laws are known? How many theoretically exist? How many Concepts?"
Shen shook his head. "I know only about some Laws: the five base elements, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood; the complementary elements, Wind, Ice, Lightning, Light, Darkness, and Sound, among others; the cycle of life, Life, Death, and Samsara; the grand ones, Space, Time, and Spacetime—but I don't know why they are both divided and together; special Laws like Karma, Origin, and Annihilation; most weapons from my time, like Sword, Spear, and Bow.
"But how many are they? I wouldn't know. I suppose there should be dozens, maybe hundreds. Who knows, they might be thousands or even millions. As for Concepts? You might as well count the stars on the skies. Laws define everything, and they can be split into almost any Concept you can think of."
Almost before Shen had finished speaking, an old man asked, "Why are there even Laws of the Sword and Spear? They are tools, not some fundamental part of reality. I never heard of a 'Spear Constant' or 'Sword Theorem.'"
"I don't know," Shen answered, realizing for the first time that the man was right. Then, he noticed a mistake. "However, I never said Laws are a fundamental part of Reality. I said they define everything. Maybe the Heavens deemed it necessary to create Laws other than basic ones to help determine how things interact with everything else. Maybe there's another explanation I'm not privy to."
The same old man asked, "So, is there a Law for literally everything?"
The middle-aged who doubted Shen snorted and assisted in the question, "Of course. Wait for him to tell us about the Law of the Slightly Malformed Pebble, the Law of the Cut Off Bloody Finger, and the Law of the Gaming Chair."
"No," Shen said. "I don't know how it works, but the Laws are not endless. Concepts might as well be, as they are smaller and more specific parts of the Laws. Sharpness is but a tiny bit of everything a Spear is." He made a pause to think but raised his hand for no one to interrupt. "I never heard of a Law of the Chair, but it feels unlikely to me. Then again, I've also never heard of a Law of the Shield, but it wouldn't surprise me for it to exist. I might be wrong."
The old man concluded, "So Laws tend to be related to fundamental parts of reality and ways to battle each other, with a few exceptions."
Shen frowned. He hadn't realized that before. "That... seems like a fair and unexpected assessment."
"Speaking of fundamental stuff," Alicia said, "are foundational Concepts more powerful than secondary ones or just more influential on your Path?"
"You could say both," Shen explained. "They aren't more powerful per se, but because they are constantly affecting you, you end up using them all the time, which makes you usually understand them better. The more you understand a Concept, the better you can use it and the grander deeds you can use it for. For instance, if I were to suddenly master Sharpness, I'd be able to cut things I can't with my current understanding of Sharpness."
Another fifteen-year-old asked, "You can master a Concept?"
"Yes. If you think of a Concept as a page from a book that is a Law..." he proceeded to explain how mastering Concepts worked. "So, there's a threshold that, once met, is considered mastery, even if you can always learn something else from that Concept. You'll know when you reach it. It's also a requirement to reach D-rank."
"How do you know that?" the skeptical man asked. "You special family told you? They were also fortune-tellers that could tell how the Alliance, which would arrive thousands of years later, functioned? Or maybe they were already part of the Alliance? Oh, they can't be, can they? They couldn't heal you. Can't lie about that, can you?"
"Dude, fuck off," a muscular black man said. "We're listening here. Leave or shut up, but don't get in our way."
"I want to see you make him shut up," a middle-aged woman beside the middle-aged man said, standing up to him.
"Stop," Shen commanded, raising his voice for more impact. "If you start fighting here, this may escalate into something much larger. Not only will we waste time, but we can create enmities that will make it impossible to cooperate against the final boss. My knowledge is probably not worth forfeiting the Achievement.
"He is an asshole, but he's not entirely wrong. I'm a stranger to you, and I'm not a hundred percent certain of what I tell you because of the limits I told you about. Take everything I say with a grain of salt and confirm it whenever you can. I'm doing my best, but even then, I might inadvertently mislead you."
"See," the asshole said with an I-told-you voice, "that's how charlatans do; they leave themselves a way out."
The black man seemed ready to attack, but a teen older than Shen interjected, "I can confirm that's the requirement. I have enough points for a rank up, but the system said I don't meet the requirement, mastering a Concept."
The subject change was enough to deescalate tensions a little. The black man mumbled something like, "...get away, or I'll kill him..." and moved away from the asshole.
"Is it possible to exist a Law of the Shotgun?" a guy asked.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Yes," Shen said. "It sounds more likely to me than the Law of the Chair. But that's just how I feel from my upbringing; I might be wrong."
A guy in his early twenties cleared his throat and flushed while asking, "I... Hmm... Read some xianxia before... And... Is... Hmm... Dual cultivation... A thing?"
The system translated xianxia, and Shen wasn't surprised to find mortals had developed myths and legends based on cultivators of the past.
"Yes," Shen said, feeling a bit awkward to discuss such a thing like this, but it was necessary. "That is actually a crucial subject I should've broached.
"Whenever you have... relations... with someone, you very souls intimately touch each other, and thus you can exchange things that are impossible or very hard otherwise, including power. In the distant past—my distant past—powerful cultivators used to have many concubines to grow their power. Some individuals even had unique constitutions that made them more desirable for this sort of thing. Harems were common, as many sought to offer themselves or their offspring in exchange for protection from the strong. Evil cultivators forced themselves on others, as some nefarious rituals allowed one to steal power like that.
"Then cultivators much wiser than me noticed that intimate relationships also affected one's Path. I'm not sure about the specifics, but it becomes marginally easier to get enlightenment in the Laws and Concepts of your partner's Path. The more relations you have, the more your insights get 'polluted.' A person's time is limited, so getting enlightenment in another Law means you're not getting enlightened into the Laws of your own Path. It affects your progression speed.
"No one realized it because the stronger you become, the easier it is to get enlightenment on different Laws and Concepts too. All Laws affect the same Reality, so the more you know of a Law, the more equipped you become to learn of others affiliated with it. The sharing of Concepts makes it notably easier to flow from one Law into another. Paradoxically, the stronger you are, the harder it is to advance.
"So, people got strong and started harems, usually after they got stuck for a while in the same level of power and wanted to relax, then didn't find it strange when they got enlightened in Laws alien to their Paths and found themselves stuck for good. It even created a regional hierarchy of sorts. People from smaller towns reached the peak power of their village and got themselves harems. Then they got stuck, and their children did the same.
"Of course, other factors affected it. Not everything is about dual cultivation. But this is the question I'm answering.
"Anyway, in my time, those who cared about their Path sought... the pleasure of flesh... with people walking a similar Path. Harems were much rarer but not unseen. Even then, it was typical for great geniuses or the ambitious only to marry once, and only after they got stuck on a level for a very long while and had to have children due to social pressure or other considerations. Of course, marriage for love, uncaring of one's Path, still happened, but it was expected for love to blossom after marriage instead.
"You are your Path, and your Path is you. Think well before polluting it with other people's Path."
"Couldn't they just use artificial insemination?" a youngster asked.
When the system translated that to Shen, he had to use all his willpower not to let his horror show, and he probably failed. "We're people, not golems. We like s— sex too," he hated himself for stuttering. "I suppose some might do what you said, but I never heard about it."
"If that polluting thing applies to us too, common people are still fair game, right?" To Shen's surprise, it was Scott who asked. "They don't have Paths to pollute our insights."
Shen was even more surprised by the question. "I... don't know. There was a social hierarchy in my time. Cultivators can live for a long while, and mortals die young; why marry someone who would leave you with a heartache soon enough? Also, the powerful would seek other powerful to establish alliances through marriage and keep their people's power; mortals didn't classify. Finally, strong cultivators tend to sire children with more talent. It's not an absolute rule, and there are many exceptions. I don't know the specifics either, but if there's even a ten percent chance your child would be stronger by marrying a cultivator instead of a mortal, wouldn't you do that?"
"We have a duty to the Alliance, you know? We're at war!" Scott said ironically. "But I'm not talking about children or marriage. I'm talking about having fun with random people. You called them mortals, right? Can I fuck mortals without messing with my Path?"
As much as it troubled him to answer Scott, it was a valid question. "I suppose, but I'm not sure. I wouldn't until I confirmed it."
There was some discussion after that, especially about religion and modern ideology. The skeptical asshole said something about fundamentalist lies, but Shen had started ignoring him. After a while, someone asked a new question.
"Do our foundational Concepts have to be derived from the same Law?"
"No," Shen replied, "but I don't know if it would have negative consequences, just as I don't know if having multiple foundational Concepts can be harmful to you in the future. I would only do it if I really felt my Path asked it of me. I suggest finding that information somewhere else."
"How many Concepts can you have in your Path?"
"As far as I know, countless. But as I said before, the more Concepts in your Path, the harder it is to grow stronger later. At least for cultivators, though I don't know why."
Many other questions followed that had him explain things he had told them in greater detail or just generally repeat the same information.
An old lady eventually asked, "How abstract can a Law or Concept get? Is there a Law of Concepts? A Concept of Laws? A Concept of Concepts? A Law of Laws? A Law of Everything. A Law of Nothing?"
"I don't know," Shen said. To be honest, it felt terrible to acknowledge his ignorance so many times in a row.
The old lady insisted, "You talked about the Laws of Karma and Annihilation, and they are very abstract. Is there a Law of the Mind? A Law of Wisdom? A Concept of Speed? A Concept of Victory?"
"A great question that reminds me of something else I should've explained," Shen acknowledged. "Speed and Victory are Concepts I know of. However, there's something called the Rule of Self. Attributes that pertain exclusively to one's mind cannot become Laws or Concepts—and, once again, I don't know why.
"Mind and Wisdom are not valid Laws or Concepts. Persistence, Acceptance, Boringness... None of these are valid either. Pure emotions are also out; Happiness, Sadness, and Anger can't be Concepts, even though the Concept of Explosion will define an explosive personality. I told you how I doubt there are Laws of the Chair, but they are still possible. Anything except what's under the Rule of Self is valid, as far as I know."
"Why?" the old lady pushed. "You told us you don't know, but why do you suppose that is so?"
Shen frowned to show his displeasure at her insistence but answered, "Do you remember when I said to control yourself and your Path? I currently believe one's will is a unique property of Reality meant to rule it rather than define it—though how it could exist without being defined by that very same Reality is beyond my wildest guesses.
"You can see that when your willpower fights another's at spellcasting; it happens because you're both trying to apply your will to define the same piece of Reality. Your innate soul protection exists because your soul holds your mind, so it has all your understanding of Reality and rejects an alien will trying to change its own Reality—that of being whole and healthy.
"However, the innate defense fails when faced with the full might of the Laws. So if a physical fire burns your body, your soul's willpower isn't enough to prevent the full weight of Reality itself, just as it can't stop any physical object. I understand that's how offensive magic causes damage—fire gets close enough while the willpower in the mana touching the soul gets negated.
"If my supposition is correct, a strong will could theoretically ignore Reality itself.
"A class I took in the third stage also hints at that. I was told D- magic is needed to overwhelm a non-sapient's soul, and B- magic to dominate a sapient.
"We know that we need to master a Concept to reach D-rank. If the pattern holds on the following ranks, C-rank would require us to barely understand a Law—not just a Concept—and B-rank would require us to master a Law.
"When we reach such a point, we'll be able to affect Reality in such a fundamental way that it'll have the same power of a Law doing so. That's why we'll be able to overcome a sapient's defenses.
"However, I also believe that the wisp teacher was talking about mortals, not Guardians. The more you understand the same Reality, the higher your innate soul defenses will be. There seems to be a close relationship between knowledge and willpower, as proven by the magic stat. And what knowledge is better than the very Laws of Reality?"
"So we're manipulating Reality when we use magic?" Alicia asked. "As in the fabric of existence itself?"
"Yes and no," Shen said. "There's one aspect where magic feels like qi manipulation: both push the boundaries of a Concept or a Law. I can use Sharpness-imbued qi to make my spear sharper than it physically is. I affect Reality when I do that, but I'm not changing anything fundamentally or permanently, only momentarily applying my will to change how much a Concept or a Law affects something. That ties to what I said about one's will ruling over Reality rather than being defined by it."
That gave people a lot of food for thought. New discussions arose. Shen answered a few more questions until a new good one made most pay attention to him.
"Is there a Law of Mana?" an old guy asked. "Law of Qi? Law of Metaphysical Energy?"
"Probably a Law of Energy, metaphysical or not," Shen answered. "I feel the other two are less likely but still possible."
"Could you modify a Concept from your Path slightly?" another teenager asked. "Like, you said you know the Concept of Sharpness. Could you turn it into, dunno, Concept of Cutting or something?"
"No," Shen said. "Nothing prevents you from adding the Concept of Cutting—if such a thing exists—to your Path, but once you add something, you are stuck with it. You can only turn a Concept foundational or secondary, but even that can have consequences I'm ignorant of. You cannot change or remove a Concept.
"Not unless you're willing to start over, that is. You can give up on your Path at any moment and start over; you'll instinctively know how to do it if you meditate on your Path. However, that'll remove all knowledge on those Concepts and Laws from your mind. I'll create huge gaps in your memory. Only those very early in their Path—like you, I suppose—ever do that. Or those who get some enlightenment about their 'true Path' or something of the kind later in their lives, I guess."
Then they finally got to the one question that he knew would create discord. It was xianxia-guy who eagerly asked, "So you know mythical martial arts and stuff, right? Can you train us?"
That attracted many hopeful looks, especially from the sixteen-year-olds who had seen him fight.
Shen shook his head. "No. My family's techniques can only be taught to those willing to exchange this knowledge for fealty. I understand my family is gone, so it falls to me the responsibility of rebuilding it from the ground up. But even if you were willing to pledge allegiance to me, I doubt it would help much, as the techniques use qi rather than mana. The system repeatedly told me both energies are incompatible with each other. When I reach C-rank, I won't even be able to purchase stats anymore because the system uses mana to improve us."
"And that's hook and bait, everyone," the asshole said. "You're ready to bite and become his little bitch."
"He doesn't even pretend to care about humanity even more, huh?" his female companion completed.
"Wait," Alicia said, "how does the system even affect us if we have soul protection?"
"I don't know," Shen replied, but few were paying attention. The asshole's latest declaration seemed to have sparked a fire of discussions. The lesson was clearly over.
"That's it," he said, once again increasing his voice's volume. "The class is over. I want to say a few things before we finish.
"First, I provided you with knowledge of Laws, Concepts, and Path for free, yet instead of thanking me, you condemn me for not giving you everything I have. Have you no shame?
"If I shared a technique, you would ask for two. If I shared two, you would ask for three. There's no limit to human greed. Yet, I haven't seen any of you share what you learned from your classes in the third stage, much less the naysayer who keeps making noise.
"Second, my techniques are my own. They are private property and can only be exchanged for things of equal value. Nothing you say will make me change my mind. You're welcome to try to pry them from my brain after you kill me.
"Third, I care about our overall union, but I never said I'm a saint who would ignore all offense." He pointed his spear at the asshole and the middle-aged woman. "You've offended my honor time and time again. Now, you aim to make people unite against me. Apologize, or I shall make my personal goal to make sure neither of you will leave this place with an Achievement, even if it costs me the Achievement too."