CHAPTER 111: HIS ROOTS

’Hmm... so it would require an ALU.’ Zephyr mused.

"Just take things one at a time and you’ll get there soon enough." The sage nodded. "For now though, I’m more interested in what word you comprehended."

Zephyr debated giving him a comprehensive explanation or just something vague. He was a Pathfinder after all. And this was supposed to be what would later be called his own Pathway Inheritance.

"Before you went in, I debated giving you an idea as to what the next word was based on the other inheritances, but for us to know with absolute certainty that you were a Pathfinder, and put all doubt to rest, you needed to go in there with just your own knowledge." Sage Maximus explained. "...So what word did you comprehend?"

Zephyr made his decision to be vague and quickly thought of another word he could use that would not give the whole idea away. He knew they already had logic gate equivalents here, but he didn’t know what they called them.

"Decision switches... or filters if you will..." Zephyr said. "These little things that make use of the flux switches—transistors—in a specific layout to decide what to do with a mana type to get the spell effect you intend."

Sage Maximus grinned and looked at Zephyr like he wanted to pry into his head. "You’re on the right track. At least with the Cromwell Inheritance. It also has something similar to this decision switch you speak of as the next step after comprehending a flux switch. The Ashworth Inheritance on the other hand... it doesn’t address this until the fourth step," he explained. "This should further prove it has major flaws. If you, a new Pathfinder, have also forged this as the next path, then that means the Ashworth Inheritance might be wrong in that regard. That must be why anyone who practices the steps can’t seem to go past Tier 3... aside from Pascal." Sage Maximus pointed out.

"What is the next step in the Ashworth Inheritance?" Zephyr asked with intrigue. He wanted to know whether it was something recoverable. Maybe he could just correct it and use that as another pathway for the Half-Exalted here.

"...I cannot tell you that now." Sage Maximus grinned. "I would not want to taint your knowledge. Continue as you are and forge your own path. Later down the line, you can check the other inheritances to see."

Zephyr smiled wryly. He already had the image of the Cromwell Inheritance in his head, and he already knew it was correct on this point. He was simply curious about what the Ashworth Inheritance would have written for the next step in place of a Logic gate equivalent that would have been so drastic enough to prevent progress later down the line.

’Maybe they went for something like ’memory’ next instead of Logic gates.’ Zephyr thought to himself.

"How do you feel?" Sage Maximus asked him.

"... mostly good. The hunger pills really helped."

"You still need good food and rest for a few days." The sage warned. "Hunger pills are not substitutes for food. They only provide the necessary things your body needs so it doesn’t fail. And too much consumption would lead to adverse effects a few days after consumption."

"You’ll need to consume real food for a few days before everything is flushed from your system." Sage Maximus said. But Zephyr didn’t really think it would take that long. And besides, his body had passive toxin resistance, so he knew for sure he wouldn’t suffer any ’adverse effect’ from the pills. But just for the sake of being cautious and also the fact that he didn’t want to reveal some things, he decided to follow the sage’s advice.

"Alright sir." Zephyr nodded as the Sage tapped his chin in thought. "Come to my laboratory when you are fully healed. You may not be allowed to look at any Inheritances right now, but at least you can gain inspiration from some of my works..."

"Your work...?"

Sage Maximus chuckled, "Boy. The spell models you see us weave are not made from thin air. We need to calculate a lot of parameters beforehand and know where which symbol goes and what works, unlike you Exalted..." he said with an unfocused gaze and a slight tilt of his head like he was listening to something.

"Duty calls?" Zephyr asked.

The sage nodded. "Until later, young Zephyr. Make sure you are well rested before you come to see me." He made to move his hand to start a spell before he recalled something. "—Oh yes! Pascal will be coming in later this week to discuss a few things about your Pathway and engage in some sparring with you,"He said before teleporting out of there.

Zephyr sighed, "Pascal huh?" That would mean he needed to get his thoughts together before their meeting. That guy seemed like a smart person, so Zephyr needed to prepare if he wanted to bullshit properly.

He yawned, feeling a bit tired. ’Yeah, I actually need some rest... but after that I’m hitting the training room for sure.’ He was eager to try a lot of things out. He wanted to see how much difference having Logic gates embedded inherently in his mana node made to casting times and versatility. The short air burst spell earlier had been near instant... and that was a spell he’d never cast previously, so he already knew there was a significant difference, but he wanted to test it out fully.

As he made his way to his room, he played with a few basic spells. Ones that he previously had, like the basic fire and water spell, and others that he just created as he walked—the other basic elemental spells. Earth was the hardest to conjure from thin air, and he was only able to create something so flimsy and flaky, it couldn’t even be called an earth spell.

It basically just used up the dust in the surroundings to try to form something hard enough, but it was too brittle.

’That’s another thing to test out...’ Zephyr noted. He figured having the material on hand was going to give him a different result, but he’d try all that later. For now, he needed rest. He had reached his room and he immediately slumped onto his bed.

And out of the blue... he thought about Bjorn. Old Bjorn. The dwarf who had practically raised him.

Was it because he had played with earth magic just now? He remembered how good Old Bjorn had been with earth magic. But the dwarf usually used it just for forging...

Forging.

Zephyr had not smelled a furnace in months not to talk of doing any smithing or rune inscribing. He wondered how his skill in the craft would fare now.

That was one more thing he needed to do when he woke— ask for information about anywhere he could try practicing so he wouldn’t get rusty.

As his eyes closed slowly, he pictured Old Bjorn’s face very vividly. His short, squat frame and ever present scowl. What was going on over there in his world? Was Old Bjorn looking for news about him?

Whatever the case might be... He hoped Old Bjorn was doing okay...