Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1049: The Finest! (1)



A bold declaration had been made.

"...I am an alternate progenitor of all controlled, harmonised, chaotic and structured

energies. Where everything related to such is concerned, I am your guide, and should I desire, I will gift you what you seek."

Replicus froze again.

A progenitor of energies?

No, an alternate progenitor of energies?

What did that mean?

Just what was standing before him?

Also, did it just interfere with the guidance field? He saw the text on the illusory guide get scrambled when the entity spoke.

How in the world did it do that?

Replicus' thought phantoms seemed to have been waiting to debate about all the capabilities of this new version of the Ember, because right when the introduction was made, they went ballistic.

"Bro! [Unbound] gave a crystal a consciousness! A consciousness! Wait, did it already have one? Strong and old artefacts are supposed to be able to talk, right?"

"Progenitor of energies? Damnit, be more specific! You said it yourself, you don't have much time! Replicus Prime, get to asking what the deal is with this twig!"

"Guys, the implications are insane! If this thing lords over all energies..."

Replicus quickly recovered and maintained a dignified set of socket flames. Thankfully, the buzzing of countless ideas and hypotheses around his head went unnoticed by the entity before him; by the External Fragment of Realised Choices. It was good that it couldn't hear some of the things his numerous hims were saying.

The notion of limited time with this entity was true. Thus, Replicus immediately engaged.

'Are you saying you can manipulate any and all energies? Even those from the Null Verse?' he asked.

Null Life Essence wasn't the only thing there was in the Null Verse. There were also different forms of fire, different forms of ice and the likes. Did this mean the Fragment was the original creator of all these energies? Wait, did it mean that it was tied to the Null Verse?

The sculpted entity did not reply immediately. But then...

"You are truly ignorant about how your powers work, aren't you?" it said, its tone unchanging.

Replicus concurred. He was. He couldn't debate that. However, he did want answers.

"The ability you used on me just now caused me to evolve and become something greater within my own bounds; those dictated by this world. That already is beyond the normal performance of this skill, correct? In my case, however, the evolution I experienced went past this. After emboldening my previous parameters, it incarnated my existence into a fitting treasure within the Null Verse that possesses even greater powers, but within the same line of function. That treasure is what you see here."

--

Replicus... took a moment to process what the Fragment had said.

It was a lot, and it wasn't at all clear.

If he were any other expert, he may have asked a series of questions just to understand what had been said.

Thankfully, his thought phantoms did a majority of the heavy lifting where deep thought was concerned and soon...

'So, in a way, your grade and abilities were raised, and then you were turned into something from the Null Verse that works the same way, but on a far greater scale?' he asked.

"What's the point in repeating what I just said?" the External Fragment of Realised Choices asked. "But yes, that is correct."

Replicus shivered.

Really?

Usually when using [Unbound], the item he was upgrading would just be transformed into another one stronger from the Null Verse, and at random. What had happened with Temporary Max Evolution, was kind of the same at a broader view, but there was a difference. 'Doesn't this mean I can actually dictate what I want for once? The reason why the original item is augmented is probably to find a near exact match, which means the result is always very similar to the original. That must be how it works, right?' he thought, excited.

"I should emphasise how little time you have with me. If you wish to ask questions for the next four minutes and twelve seconds, I'm all for it, but do make sure that's what you want." Replicus' sockets blazed.

Right.

Time was of the essence. Damn those overly curious thought phantoms!

Replicus was almost getting too curious about the object and not its effects.

But wait...

Replicus' null heart sank.

"Your time in this evolved state is limited, but what about your effects? Do they only last for five minutes as well?' he asked.

"Of course not. How would that be a valuable use of 50,000 Null Life Essence units?"

'Right,' Replicus thought in relief.

Of course, that made sense. The limit here wasn't the powers of the Fragment, but the time he was allowed with it. He would have to earn an indefinite time limit with evolved artefacts at the next stage of [Unbound]'s powers.

'Let's get to it, then. What can you do for me and what limitations are there?' Replicus asked.

The External Fragment revolved around him while his subordinates watched silently. They didn't need much in the way of hints to see that the strange ornamental serpent and their Master were communicating somehow. Replicus' somewhat relaxed changes in posture also signalled that he wasn't in danger or anything.

The Fragment then spoke.

"Hmm. I'll be a little generous. Everything is up to me, for the most part after all. I am capable of accelerating the growth of any combination or configuration of essence or energy to its finest and most unique state. At the same time, I can merge countless concepts into one, given big enough sources of each to draw from. Of course, I can't simply make everything you want come true. I can bless four of your energies to their definitive highs and combine them if you wish. That is my offer."

...!!!

For the first time since this conversation began, Replicus felt a burn of certain victory.

'Is that so?' he thought, but the raging flames in his sockets flared madly, uncontrollably. This was something he had been looking forward to even before he used [Unbound] on the

Ember.

He had wanted to merge Disruption and Lambent Phosphor in order to create an avoidable attack that disrupted all techniques!

What he was being offered was beyond that though. He could choose to merge not two, but FOUR of his learned energies, AFTER they had been bolstered to their limit!

'Accelerate the growth of essences or energies to their finest and most unique states.'

Just how much growth was this?

What did the finest and most unique state of Disruption, an already ridiculously powerful

essence, look like?

What did that of Lambent Phosphor look like?

But wait.

There was something even better to be gleamed from what the Fragment had said.

'When you say any combination or configuration of essence... does that mean skills are

included as well?' the Penetrator asked.

"Of course," the Fragment answered simply.

Replicus shook. His hands balled into fists as he struggled to contain his emotions.

This...

This opened a lot of avenues for him!

'Then...' he said, 'Say I want to augment and combine only three energies or essences... does

that mean I can still get to augment one other configuration of energy, since it won't be

combined with the others?'

"Sure," the Fragment said, though its voice was starting to depict a certain degree of

annoyance. All these questions...

The skies thundered at that moment, and the huge shadows of the dragon Jerthrax swept over

the surface of the water.

Immediately, Replicus felt a great tug and then he was once again somewhere devoid of the chaotic blasts born from the dragon's battle with the Null Devil King. Everyone was there with him, as well as the External Fragment of Realised Choices, making him wonder just how Yuyui

'moved' them exactly.

Unfortunately, the powers of the great Herald crept near once more, as though the beast knew where he was, and as though the only thing keeping it from reaching him was the detestable

foes it was facing.

Surely, it knew he was alive.

'Yeah. I have more than one timer,' Replicus thought before turning to the Fragment once

more. 'Please merge Disruption, Lambent Phosphor and Spatial Lightning.'

The six eyes of the Fragment immediately glowed bright.

"As you wish."