This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.
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CH38: TATICS COMPREHENSION AND NAMING
[What just happened?] The Symbiote asked.
"Nothing much. I came to an understanding with the Laws of Time." Korede Balogun replied.
Though confused, the Symbiote didn't ask any more questions since it involved the Laws of Time.
Korede shifted his attention back to the Will Tactics scripts in his mindspace. He made a connection with each of them to understand what they were and what they did.
"The explanations that come with these Tactics are so simple that it is almost useless at the same time."
[It's like that so you don't get a narrow-minded idea of each Tactic. Only with a broad mind can you make valid comprehensions. Can you tell me what the scripts say? Remember I can't read them.]
"{Training Space} - Five Golden rings- 1 silver ring (Lv1) - 10 minutes = 100 training days. Once per day. 60% Will fatigue. Low Energy detected: Suppression in Effect. 10 minutes = 20 training days. 75% Will fatigue. Once a day.
Requirements: Comprehension.
{Increase Attribute} - 1 silver ring - Increases an attribute of one's choosing by a percentage. Attribute yet to be chosen. Warning: Attribute can only be chosen once. Effect is permanent.
Requirements: Comprehension
{Life Communication} - 4 golden rings - 1 silver ring(Lv1) - communicate with lifeforms to certain degree. Dependant on conditions.
Requirements: Comprehension
{Existence} - 3 golden rings - 1 silver ring(Lv1) - Allows one to control their level of existence in the world.
Requirements: Comprehension
{Mindhunter} - 3 golden rings - 1 silver ring(Lv1) - Prey on the mind of others.
Requirements: Comprehension
{Sense Booster} - 4 golden rings - 1 silver ring(Lv1) - increases senses.
Requirements: Comprehension
{Non-Life communication} - 3 golden rings- 1 silver ring(lv1) - communicate with non-living entities to certain degrees. Depends on conditions.
Requirements: Comprehension
{Combat Master} - Four golden rings - 1 silver ring(Lv1) - Combat is life.
Requirements: Comprehension
{Sealed} - No rings- Unknown.
Requirements: Unknown."
Korede 'read' out the scripts of each Tactic, one after the other. The more he read, the more annoyed he got. The names and explanations of the Tactics were both helpful and useless at the same time.
However, he did realise that it seemed intentional. The names and explanations were meant to guide but not restrict one's comprehension. Different people with the same Tactic can easily come up with different meanings of each Tactic, allowing for a wide diversity of skills from them.
[As expected. It never seems to disappoint me. No matter how many times I have come across them, the Tactic description always seems so obtuse yet acute at the same time.]
"Obtuse yet acute. That's the definition of a riddle."
[Huh?]
"It's something a friend said to me back in Secondary School."
[You had a friend in Secondary School? You mean acquaintance, right?]
"No, I consider her a friend."
[That's a shocker. How come I couldn't find such an important detail in your memories?]
"Are you, by chance, mad that you didn't see all my memories? You know how wrong that sounds?" Korede said, not knowing how to feel. Angry? Amused?
However, the Symbiote ignored him. It seemed to have entered its own world as it mumbled.
[If I didn't see it, it must be a precious memory that was kept secured away. Now I'm curious, what kind of person became his friend?]
Well, the symbiote couldn't exactly be blamed for his surprise. Something common to the Balogun family members is their lack of friends before adulthood.
Friends, not acquaintances.
This can be traced back to a family teaching which stated that a friend is one of two people. First, one you can give your life for and would do the same for you. Second, someone who was there for you during your time of greatest need.
Outside of these two kinds of people, Balogun members don't consider others as 'friends' but 'acquaintances'. Since it was difficult to find those two kinds of people before adulthood, most Baloguns tend to only have 'acquaintances'. Hence, the Symbiote's surprise that Korede had a 'friend'. The story between Korede and his friend is interesting but it will be a matter for the future.
Korede chuckled at the Symbiote's reaction.
"You and she would get along" Korede murmured.
He turned his attention to the {Increase Attribute} script. His consciousness connected to it and he chose an attribute. He didn't have to think about it before he decided which attribute to pick. The script changed.
{Increase attribute} ---> {Increase Speed}
Immediately the change occurred, 5 golden rings appeared around the script causing Korede to furrow his brow. He felt as if he had spotted a pattern. He intuitively felt that understanding the pattern could help in his comprehension of the Tactics.
After a while, he still couldn't figure out what he thought he saw. He sighed and turned to the Symbiote who was trying to use their bond to peek into Korede's memories. Sadly, it didn't succeed.
With the strengthening of the bond and, most especially, Korede's growing Will, the memories he had access to are now few and far between. It sat down on the grass in frustration, mumbling how it wanted to know Korede's childhood friend. As Korede watched its antics, a memory surfaced in his mind.
About Eleven years ago
A boy and a girl were sitting in a classroom. The boy looked deep in thought as his right index finger tapped the table. The girl watched on with a smug smile on her face. Eventually, the boy scratched his head in frustration.
"I give up. I can't figure out the answer" The boy said. "You win"
The girl's smile became as wide as it possibly could. "So that proves you are bad with riddles. Please, don't make excuses just accept it." She said.
"Fine, fine. I'm bad with riddles. Happy?" The boy accepted his defeat.
"Happy, very happy. I finally have something I'm better than you at. You don't have any idea how frustrating it is to always lose to you." She said.
"I do now, Ok? Besides, you're the one that turns everything into a competition."
The girl laughed while the boy silently watched her.
After a while, she finally stopped. Then, she stood up. She was about to leave when she, suddenly, turned around and said, "I really find it surprising that a smart guy like you would be this bad at riddles. Being the nice lady that I am, let me tell you something I noticed. Riddles, by nature, are obtuse yet acute. Their answers are usually very simple and straightforward. Stop over-thinking it, Korede."
With that said, the girl walked out.
Memory ends
"Stop over-thinking it, huh?" Korede mumbled. Then he laughed. "You are always there when I need you Z. As I would when you need me." (1)
With a smile, he turned back to the scripts. This time, he tried to look for obvious clues. Then finally, his mind caught something.
"The golden rings!!" Korede exclaimed, so loudly that it caught the Symbiote's attention.
[Yeah? What about them?] It asked.
"The rings indicate how much a Tactic was improved by the laws of Time. The larger the number of rings, the greater the boost, right?"
[Yeah, obviously. So what?]
"The world is fair/balanced." Korede said with a smile. "You said the Origin runes are a sort of Law. That means that Will Tactics written in them can be considered a Law. I don't think one Law can influence another with impunity. There has to be a limit. Am I right?"
[Of course.]
Korede got more excited. "What if the number of rings also tell us the relationships Time has with that Tactics. Look at it.
The Tactics with 5 golden rings are {Training Space} and {Increase Speed}
4 golden rings Tactics are {Life Communication}, {Sense boost} and {Combat Master}
3 golden rings Tactics are {Existence}, {Mindhunter}, {Non-Life Communication}
What do you see?"
The Symbiote's eye flashed with understanding. [You mean…]
"Yes" Korede continued, "The greater their relationship with time, the more the Law of Time was able to improve it. The greatest advantage of {Training Space} is that it provides more 'time' for training.
{Increase Speed}, well, increases speed. Speed is a quantity dependant on 'time'
For {Sense Boost}, perception is a type of sense. Perception of 'time' is a type of perception. Hence, perception of 'time' is a type of sense.
{Combat Master} deals with combat. 'Timing' of strikes is very important in combat. Also, a very important attribute in combat is speed and speed is related to time.
{Existence}, {Mindhunter}, and {Non-Life Communication} have no relationship to time that I can see.
From this, we can see that all Tactics directly related to Time have 5 rings. Those indirectly related to Time have 4 rings. Those without any obvious relationship to Time have 3 rings. The only one I can't fit in yet is {Life Communication}."
[That's an interesting observation but what use does it have?] The symbiote said, amused
"Can't you see? As long as I can understand how Time works in these Tactics, I can use the comprehension to improve the level of my Tactics."
Wanting to start immediately, Korede sat on the grass and was about to begin his search for the understanding of the role of Time in these Tactics. Alas, man proposes, God disposes. A vortex appeared above the {Training Space} and it began to crumble.
"What's happening?" Korede asked.
[Time's up]
"What?! How is that possible? I thought you said we had 10 days?"
[This IS the tenth day.] The Symbiote dropped what was akin to a bomb on Korede.
Before he could say anything, however, his consciousness was dragged out of the space. He found himself back in the guest room of the Hattori residence. He felt as if he had just woken up from a dream. It wasn't until he checked his mindspace and found the Will Tactic Scripts floating there that he was sure it wasn't a dream.
'How is the ten days' time up already?' The youth asked the Symbiote.
[You had originally spent 3 days to check your Tactics affinity. Then, another six days were used to improve them by the golden waterfall. The presence of the waterfall degraded the stability of the space causing it to break down a few hours before it should have.]
'It took that long? It felt like minutes to me, an hour at most.' Korede said in astonishment.
[Well, that's how it works. You know the saying, 'Time flies when you're having fun'. The same applies here. A word of advice. Whenever you want to breakthrough in your Will-related abilities/techniques, try to always do it in the {Training Space}. It saves a lot of time. Imagine wasting 9 days being in a trance. That can be avoided by using the {Training Space}]
'Noted'
The advice came in time because Korede had wanted to begin his comprehension plan immediately. He quickly shoved it away for later after hearing the advice.
He was about to sleep when he realised something, for some reason, he had always overlooked.
'Oh yeah. Isn't it time you tell me your name? Calling you Symbiote all the time is getting weird.' Korede said. The symbiote was stunned.
[It's that time already? It has just been a little over a week and he has already reached this stage.] The symbiote murmured. Its voice was so low that Korede was oblivious to what it said.
[I don't have a name.] It said to Korede.
'How is that possible? Every living being should have a name. Not to mention long-lived ones like you. What did your previous Hosts call you then?'
[For most lifeforms, having a name is compulsory as it is a contract that binds them to this world. My case is different. My name is a contract that 'binds' me to a Host when we reach a threshold in our bond strength. Every worthy Host has to give me a name. Now, it seems it's your turn.]
'Just keep your previous name.' Korede said.
[It doesn't work that way. You have to give me a new name.]
'Why can't you just keep your old name? Let's just say that's the name I chose as your Host.' Korede said.
He felt sad for the Symbiote. A name is something we take for granted but it might be more important than we realise. A name is an identity, a mark of our history in this world. Losing one's name is like losing one's history and identity.
[It doesn't work that way. First, the name can be traced back to my previous Host which can't be allowed. By now you should have realised that the world is not as simple as you thought. They're definitely people who can trace back my previous Host with just a name.
Most importantly, it's sort of a test. Only when the bond between myself and my Host has reached a certain important threshold, will my Host ask for my name. As a reward for reaching this threshold, my Host gains the right to give me a new name.]
'So it's my turn to give you a new name?'
[Yes.]
Korede hesitated. He started to think hard about what name to choose. Eventually, the Symbiote had to say, [I know how bad your naming sense is. I don't mind. Just pick a name already.]
Though Korede didn't like what it said, he quickly settled on a name, 'How about Aon?"
[Aon from Aeon, huh? Since I have lived a long time or I am immortal. It's not as bad as I expected. Alright then, I accept.]
Korede heaved a sigh of relief as the Symbiote… Aon didn't reject the name. He said, 'You should also stop calling me Host. Just call me Korede.'
[Alright, then]
Somehow, Korede felt they had become closer.
[Korede, you should get some sleep. This might be the only time you have to get a good night's sleep in a while.]
It was then Korede recalled that from now on, his schedule would be packed. Warrior's ritual regimen, Swordsmanship training, Karate training, Will training, Will Technique training, Will Tactics training. The more he thought about it, the more a bitter expression appeared on his face.
[That's the price for becoming strong. You train while others play. Don't worry, though. The {Training Space} will help you gain more time and make it easier for you.]
Korede wasn't encouraged at all by this. Having the {Training Space} simply meant more training. He also won't have a good excuse for failure if he doesn't meet his six months training targets.
'So much for a Rest and Relaxation(R&R) Leave from duty.' Korede sighed as he went to sleep. Unbeknownst to him, Aon was laughing at his misery and looking forward to his future sufferings.
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]
AUTHOR'S NOTE/RAMBLING
1 Z pronounced 'Zee' and not 'zed'
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]