"This is just cheating!" Hildegarde huffed in annoyance. "How are all of your abilities so overpowered?!" she just couldn't understand this. Not only had Mane's base stats increased greatly, his limit was now beyond that of mid-level False Ascenders! It was admirable to see the first few things, but after that it was just unfair to everyone else who had to slave their entire lives and rejoice when their stats were ten percent of Mane's!
"Well Hildegarde, there is this thing called being born with a silver spoon in your mouth. To mortals this refers to a wealth of treasures and gold coins that assure them of a certain future. For wielders this is power. As someone born with superior talent and a bloodline that cannot be ranked even by Spirit Scan, it is my birthright to possess so much power."
Mane guffawed loudly in pride, prompting both Aurora and Crystal to look upon him strangely. Although they were behind him, Mane could feel their questioning stares. And he didn't blame them, for neither could see Hildegarde and know he was currently in conversation with someone. But now that he was a Noble, his mind was refreshed, and he cared little for what others thought. Of course the gazes he was receiving didn't last long. For both women reached the conclusion that their Lord was now checking upon his new abilities and was awed by what he was seeing.
"I see your ability to boast wasn't tampered with," Hildegarde pouted, but there was a little relief in her tone. Hearing and seeing Mane act the way he was definitely reassured her that his breakthrough hadn't changed him much. Although it wasn't supposed to change anything, the scale of his breakthrough was so large that Hildegarde worried about his general outlook on life now. Initially she had tried acting normally, but there was still that seed of doubt in her mind concerning her Tested. However, with his silly actions he had wiped away that doubt, and destroyed that seed.
"I know what you're worried about," Mane smiled and said. He could obviously see past her worries since he was much more sensitive now. And he understood why she was worried.
"I have indeed changed. My breakthrough allowed me to understand just how unreal of an existence I am. And why others will fear me. Although I know not what the prophecies about me say, I feel that they aren't good because even my own masters hesitate to talk about them." Mane added with furrowed brows.
If the prophecies were simply about his reign and the gods were scared of this, his masters and parents wouldn't have hesitated to tell him. But they didn't want him to find out anything concerning the topic. And this meant that whatever it was that was said about him wasn't good.
"And I know you know something as well." Mane added
Hildegarde was quiet through all of this. She had heard about Mane as well. Everyone who experienced the frenzy of the gods during the first three years of his birth as they searched for him knew of the prophecies concerning the Supreme. And when the noise died down, Asgard and Olympus swept through the realms, erasing traces of each prophecy told about Mane. This made it even more difficult to learn anything about Mane's prophecies now. Hildegarde didn't even know where to start from if she was to tell Mane what he sought. Should she tell him of the darkness? Or of the fact that there wasn't just one prophecy, but seven?
"Don't worry. I am not going to ask you for anything." Mane smiled faintly when he sensed her hesitation. The fact that she was shaken enough to consider telling him was enough for him.
"You won't?" Hildegarde asked in surprise. Mane needed information, and she was the best source of it now.
"Of course not. I am the Supreme. I will find everything out for myself." Mane chuckled lightly and said.
"Besides, even if these prophecies were kind, the gods will still come after me. For who would want their rule marred or even taken away completely? The prophecies are nothing but excuses to remove a good seedling from the universe." Mane shook his head lightly. The human heart was difficult to discern, but the heart of gods and goddesses were plain and transparent – simply too easy to see through. And that was because they always wanted only one thing – authority. When you knew a person's goals, it was easy to determine their steps.
"Well, that is true. The gods are notorious for seeking out budding talents and bringing them to their side. And when that fails, death is the only other way." Hildegarde sighed when she thought of the atrocities of the gods over the years. Although it was wrong to judge them all so harshly since there were just gods out there, those gods were not as many as the tumors that destroyed and did as they pleased. And even with the good ones, they were only considered good because they largely avoided conflict and did not focus on the happenings of the world. In the society of gods, you were good if you left mortals and conflict alone. That was how low the bar was.
"It is in their nature to do wrong," Mane stated, before choosing to drop this sour topic.
"Is there anything else you want to know?" he asked Hildegarde.
"Well, I do," she nodded her head eagerly.
"It must concern my skills and abilities only. You aren't allowed to ask anything else outside of that." Mane added swiftly before Hildegarde could begin her round of questioning, leading to an annoyed expression appearing on her face. Her mouth which was opened and ready to start shooting unnecessary questions was shut swiftly as she grumbled, "Wouldn't let me do anything fun," much to Mane's amusement.
He wasn't foolish enough to allow her to ask any questions she wanted. Knowing Hildegarde, she would start asking about his relationship with the women around him, and the parts of his memory she had only recently discovered were hidden from her. She was too curious to be given such a generous range. And Mane would surely find himself spending several hours, or maybe days, answering her many questions; sating the tiny little fairy's bottomless curiosity.
"Fine. How are you so strong now? And what does it mean when your Status indicates that the cap of your Peak Power Level can be removed?" The fact that the scope of topics had reduced, didn't mean she didn't have any questions lying around. And she was quick to fire with the first.
"Well, it is because of my heritage. When Harch came to me, it explained a few things. Asgardians grow stronger by nourishing and strengthening their soul weapons. The stronger their weapons get, the greater their power. And it has been so since the beginning. Which means that as long as my soul weapons keep getting stronger, my limit can't be fully calculated – not even by my own spirit."
Once Mane was done with his explanation, he could feel Hildegarde shooting him a nasty glare. He smiled bitterly, for there was nothing else he could do. Everything about him felt like a cheat now. However, he still had to fulfil his promise, so he explained the situation to Hildegarde thoroughly.
Every god had a weapon, and their weapons provided a massive boost to their strength. But this boost was usually about 10 or 15 percent – which was a great gain when one factored in the great strength of gods. But this was seen as trivial when compared to the Asgardians. Asgardians had the ability to merge with their weapons, leading to the birth of a new kind of weapon called soul weapons. These weapons could be nourished in the mindscape of every worthy Asgardian, and by doing so they would grow stronger.
Soul weapons could increase an Asgardians peak strength by two or three times, depending on how many that Asgardian could handle! And when one could also take in a Chief Soul Weapon, that increase could be up to five times! And the best part was, even if one wasn't nourishing their soul weapon – for it took an immense toll on the soul to do this constantly – they could keep it far away from them and still enjoy the benefits of their power! So even without the soul weapon in hand, an Asgardian could still possess up to 90 percent of their true power with it!
Mane had powerful Glows and Breaths, but that didn't mean he could use them recklessly with each other. For instance, Mane couldn't use both Takeover and Endless Wave together and hope for a six times increase in strength. They weren't complementary, but alternatives of each other. It wasn't possible to activate both at once, much less use them together. But that wasn't the same with his soul weapons. Their boost effect could multiply that of Takeover when they were used together! And that was a great addition to Mane's power right now.
The Olympian Gods were mighty, but their might wasn't in their weapons. Rip a soul weapon off an Asgardian and you drastically reduce his or her power. That didn't work with Olympians, who just like many other gods, used weapons in a complementary manner, and weren't dependent upon them. Take Cronos as an example. Although he possessed the Clock of Eternity, he was still a Time Wielder. Without it, he could still bend the hands of time, just not as swiftly or efficiently. So taking the artefact away, wouldn't cripple him. However, if Mjolnir was somehow ripped away from Thor's soul, his power would reduce drastically. The good thing was, it was difficult to destroy or remove a soul weapon from an Asgardian. How did Mane know all of this? Harch told him. Although Harch was a new born, he was very talkative. Mane wondered how bad his Chief Soul Weapon's constant blabbering would get when he could finally speak.
"Besides, there is something else," Mane added with a small smile.
"Oh? What else is there?" Hildegarde asked eagerly.
"Aurora; Crystal; both of you should step back a few hundred meters. Do so quickly." Mane turned to his two new subordinates and ordered. The two were naturally curious, but they obeyed. In in less than a couple of seconds, both had retreated to the distance. Once they had retreated far enough so that the mortal eye could only perceive dots in the distance, Mane nodded his head. He wasn't sure about what he was about to do, and that was why had had asked them to retreat.
"Chaos Shield" Mane mumbled. It was a basic skill of every Spirit King and was akin to an aura shield, only much stronger. A faint black shield made entirely out of chaos surrounded Mane and Hildegarde as well. By now, Hildegarde was like a chick. Her head bobbed up and down eagerly, waiting to see what exactly it was Mane wanted to show her. She knew it must be big for him to take so many precautions.
"Come, Chaos Set"
The soul armor Mane had put away was called the Chaos Set, and once it was called, it answered. Swiftly the armor covered Mane's body, its color changing every few seconds. Once the armor was summoned, the energy in the vicinity changed. It became more unstable, easily destructible and expectant. But this wasn't what Mane wanted to show Hildegarde.
"Come, Harbinger of Chaos"
*Boom*
Mane's words were nothing but that – words. Harmless they were. But the atmosphere perceived this not. For when Mane spoke, the pseudo sky above them churned and cried. Several loud rumblings could be heard, almost as though the platform itself was being moved. The place grew darker quickly as large storm clouds gathered within the vicinity. Chaos Energy, rich and pure, filled the place as several bolts of lightning appeared and consumed Mane's figure.
In his hands the large axe that was bound to him appeared, and it purred greatly, its trembling frame a trigger for countless more bolts of lightly that fell upon the figure of the Supreme.
"I cannot do this for long because he's still too young!" Mane screamed, and the awed Hildegarde could only nod.
"I am doing this so you can see his stats. So watch closely! It will disappear in no time!" Hildegarde was alerted by Mane's words and she prepared herself just as he asked that she should.
"Spirit Scan: Specify – Harbinger of Chaos"
Harbinger of Chaos: A Soul Weapon. Currently, all functions are not fully understood nor perceived. However, one ability has been dissected.
Domain of Chaos: As a weapon blessed by the Chaotic Flame himself, Harch is filled with the purest Chaos there is. Activating Domain of Chaos fills the space around the user with this pure Chaos energy, which improves Spirit Wielding (Spiritualist Path) and summons lightning made out of pure Chaos. It currently covers an area of 50 meters. As User grows stronger and Harch develops as well, the range, cooldown and power of this skill would grow. There is no drawback.
Cooldown: 25 minutes
"Return: Harbinger of Chaos"
"Return: Chaos Set"
Once Mane took back his weapons, the noise died down, and calm was restored.