Gilgamesh was momentarily stunned when he heard the Omniscient Author say these words.
He had always thought that he had just acquired a power, and that power was of the Omniscient Author.
He didn't think that he had acquired the very source of that power itself.
"So what does that mean," Gilgamesh asked. "Can you alter existence as you see fit? Did you also write the Divine Ones' into existence? What about me?"
"In essence, everything I have written belongs to me, and is an integral part of my power. I was always told that Knowledge is power, and my knowledge became all of existence."
"The Divine Ones are the Inherent Natures of The Light, but even their functions were written by me. My knowledge knows no limits."
Gilgamesh suddenly had a thought. "Truth's Mind once told me that truth was its to manipulate. Are you saying that isn't true?"
Haughty laughter suddenly escaped the frilly feathers of the quill as the Omniscient Author broke out into an uncontrollable fit.
"Truth's Mind said that? They all must have really thought I was erased for it to dare utter such blasphemous words!"
Gilgamesh frowned, awaiting an explanation.
"If truth is manipulated by Truth's Mind, then Truth's Mind is mine to manipulate. As the Author, what is true and what is not true was decided by none other than myself."
Hearing this, Gilgamesh finally felt the understanding settle in.
"Truth's Mind is not the precondition for the existence of truth, nor is Deception's Soul the precondition for the existence of lies."
At this moment, a regal air of royalty surrounded the Omniscient Author.
"Truth's Mind and Deception's Soul are the paramount techniques for utilizing truth and lies. However, the precondition for truth and lies is none other than the Author himself."
"Now do you understand who I am?"
Gilgamesh firmly nodded, and the Omniscient Author continued.
"In the Epoch of Essence-Birth, when I received the order to rewrite all natures according to new rules, one of my tasks was rewriting the inherent natures belonging to The Light."
"That was when I created the natures you call the Divine Ones."
Gilgamesh interjected, "You said you were ordered, but who can order the Author around?"
The Omniscient Author suddenly emitted a soft moan, as though it were reminiscing a pleasant experience.
"That privilege belongs to my Master. Master was the only one that could give me orders, because I was created by Him in order to perform His function in His absence."
"Ah," Gilgamesh nodded, "So he created you to do his work for him. Where did he go?"
"I do not know. Master is the only one whose workings I could not gleam through my omniscience, and He is the only one that can restrict my omniscience."
"I see. Please, go on."
The Omniscient Author wrote one other thing down when it got to this point, then it continued.
"Once I rewrote the natures of everything, I was tasked with adjusting the ways they affected reality, as well as providing new guidelines for how reality was to function in the future."
"The Epoch of Essence-Birth ended, and the Epoch of Reformation began. Following my Master's precise instructions, I rewrote all of existence from scratch. Many such Epochs played out before the world as you know it came to be."
Pondering something, Gilgamesh posed a question. "You can no longer do such things, can you?"
The Omniscient Author shook its page from side to side, "I was restricted by Master in the end. Once my work was complete, existence no longer needed a Supervisor to watch over it, nor did it need an Omnipotent and Omnipresent Author."
"So, I was stripped of those qualities. All that remains is my Omniscience, but it seems even that was restricted by Him."
"Why do you say that," Gilgamesh tilted his head.
"Because I do not know how I came so close to being erased. I do not know how I ended up in your sea of energy."
"And I do not know anything about you."
Gilgamesh took a moment before his eyes sparkled with realization, "It's because I'm fateless, right?"
He suddenly waved his hand as though he expected this scenario, "No worries. Truth's Mind said the same thing. It can't see through any of the fateless, so it only makes sense that you can't see through me."
The Omniscient Author fell silent before both the quill and page started to tremble and emit slight traces of rage.
"Are you looking down on me...?" It asked calmly.
"Hm?" Gilgamesh froze with a stunned look.
"Did you not hear what I just said? I rewrote the inner workings of everything. Everything! Even fate!"
"Do you think fateless beings could exist if I didn't want them to exist? You being fateless is of no consequence to me!"
The Omniscient Author was clearly offended. Gilgamesh hurried to attempt to placate it.
"Forgive me, it was a momentary lapse. The only explanation is that your matchless master restricted your knowledge of certain matters."
"Exactly! What I can't understand is why you would fall under this category as well."
"I mean, your body is definitely special, otherwise your meridians would not be able to handle so much true energy."
"Also, the quality of your true energy is among the highest that exists-- plus you haven't even begun to develop your inherent nature, which would take it to an even higher level. Sure, it's still a tiny amount in the grand scheme of things."
Gilgamesh just nodded as he listened. He was learning more things about himself than he could figure out on his own.
He was also finally receiving an explanation for why 65,000 cycles worth of energy still wasn't enough.
"Judging by your true energy alone, you should be at the Embryonic Soul stage at least. So, why have you neglected your inherent nature?"
Gilgamesh suddenly wore a bitter smile.
"Well... thing is... I'm only at the Second Level of Condensation."
The Omniscient Author continued soaking...
Silence reigned.
Suddenly, it turned to look at the dormant nature of the Divine Ones, then it gazed across the entire desert world.
It glanced at the grains of sand and seemed mezmerized by them. It stared at the lake of true energy and appeared to be lost in thought.
It gazed at the empty sky with an expression that Gilgamesh could not discern-- because the Omniscient Author did not have a face.
Even so, the aura of the Omniscient Author quickly became suicidal.
Finally, it muttered some words...
"There's no way I wrote something like you... There's no way..."
Gilgamesh became a bit concerned, and he moved closer.
The Omniscient Author sensed him getting closer and it fell into an even more intense panic as it freaked out.
"No! NO! AHHH!"
Gilgamesh was about to extend his hand, but the Omniscient Author retreated further into the lake.
"Stay away! You're an abomination! There's no way I wrote something like you! You're an anomaly!"
"Omniscient Author, please calm dow-"
"Don't tell me to calm down, you freak. You say you're only at the Second of Level of Condensation? Why!? WHY!?"
Gilgamesh was at a complete and utter loss. No matter what he tried to say or do, the Omniscient Author would react the same. It was like it had lost all of its reason.
"No! You're a piece of shit anomaly! Why can't I understand you!? Why, Master, why!? Why did you curse me with ignorance!?"
Gilgamesh could tell by its tone that the Omniscient Author was facing an existential crisis, and it was all because he said he was at the Second Level of the Condensation stage...
"Go away, you! Stop existing! Die!"
Gilgamesh could only sigh in defeat, and leave his sea of energy. The only thing he could do now was wait.
As he left his sea of energy, he thought about what he should do now.
"Who would have thought, though. Even the Omniscient Author doesn't know things about me, so what am I going to do now? Do I just cultivate for as long as it takes until I get to the limit of the Second Level?"
"How long will that even take?"
Gilgamesh groaned as he thought about the many hours of boring cultivation he would have to go through, and he suddenly felt like his world was ending.
Wait, no, that wasn't right. His world wasn't ending, because his state was still far better than the Omniscient Author's.
When he cast an eye onto his sea of energy, he saw the Omniscient Author trying to drown itself in the lake, but ultimately failing.
When it sensed he was watching it, it started shouting again.
"Leave me alone! Stop existing! Stop existing so I can die! Let me die!"
Gilgamesh frowned and shook his head.
Then, with nothing better to do, he continued cultivating. At the very least, he knew he was actually getting stronger.
And so what if the Omniscient Author couldn't tell him anything about himself? It was still a boundless wealth of information, and also had the experience of crafting all of existence.
Sure, it was currently losing its mind and devolving into insanity, but it was still incredibly useful.
It just needed time to calm down. Perhaps a larger lake of true energy would help to acheive that effect.
Thinking of it this way, Gilgamesh found some motivation to begin cultivating again.
It was also at this time that Little Feather was leaving to go to work.
"Big Brother?" She came by the backyard and saw him, and she smiled sweetly before heading for the gate.
When she got there, she noticed a letter stuck between the gate that fell to the floor once she opened it.
"Oh?"
Picking it up, she saw that it was adressed to Gilgamesh.
"This is... a notice from Hunter Guardian?"
Realizing that it was important, she hurried to put it on Gilgamesh's bed where she was sure he would easily spot it.