[Attempt 2/100]
The cold winds of winter have been clearing up recently; it seems like spring is about to start.
The last couple of months have been a living hell for me. I was only a scientist in my previous life; I had never thought my life would take such a drastic turn in such a short amount of time.
Recently I have been experimenting on a new method to start refining my Time Path Runes, a method that doesn't require any external help or supplies.
It all started off with Rivens's journal; in the last couple of pages, he documented an experiment that he spent his entire life trying to complete.
It was close to finished, but unfortunately, he died before he could finish it, leaving the rest up to me. Although it's been extremely difficult and painful, these past couple of weeks or months have been in a way enjoyable.
But aside from that, the snow has definitely been slowing down. I went exploring the past couple of days, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Expect for 2 things that I found: the Lake of Sorrow is completely frozen. It seems that you can now travel on top of it to reach the ice castle in the middle of the lake.
I vaguely remember Riven talking about how dangerous these 2 places were, so I think I'll avoid it for now.
The other thing is something that I haven't yet seen but is something that was written down in the journal.
Around the last couple of pages, it talked about artifacts. Now I think I understand the gist of artifacts and what they do.
Artifacts are split into 2 different types: convergent and divergent. Convergent ones are extremely simple to understand.
You simply create them using Runic Material of the same path, and then you can use your mana to use the special abilities that they have.
That was extremely simple and straightforward; no questions about that. The one that I was extremely confused on was Divergent artifacts.
According to what Riven wrote, divergent artifacts could be considered a type of inheritance left behind by the Path Master.
Divergent artifacts are extremely strong; convergent don't even compare to it. But the downside is how rare they are to get.
A divergent artifact is created when a Path Master dies; his accumulated skills will bind together and create an artifact that allows a person to use it freely, all the skills that a Path Master has accumulated could be used at will.
But that wasn't even the best part; the artifact itself will consume manas from its surroundings, or nature's mana to be exact. This will allow a Path Master to use the skills without having to spend much mana.
This is extremely important to everyone in this world. A single divergent artifact can completely change the tides of a fight.
There are only three downsides to a divergent artifact: durability, rarity, and it cannot be upgraded. The durability of all artifacts are set at a certain point. Every single time you use an artifact, you have to be wary of how much you can use before it cracks and breaks
Although it usually regenerates naturally, if it is cracked or damaged too much, you have to replace its Runic Materials.
But that's only for convergent artifacts; what about divergent artifacts that aren't made of Runic materials?
The simple answer for now is that you cannot fix it. No matter what you do, you will not be able to fix the artifact, leaving it extremely fragile, and you have to make sure not to overuse it.
The second problem is its rarity. Most of the time, when a Path Master leaves behind the artifact, it is left to an inheritor or to whatever organization the Path Master was in.
Unless you are a high-ranking member or have extremely good connections, it's almost impossible for a person to get a divergent artifact.
The last problem on this list is the lack of upgrades it contains. Convergent artifacts allow a person to upgrade its ability overtime by using higher-ranked Runic materials.
Divergent artifacts are set into place and will not allow a person to upgrade it. Most low-level Rank 1 Path Masters don't even have a skill; the ones that do usually progress their rank higher and higher and leave their inheritance to an inheritor.
Aside from that, the death of a Path Master is extremely monumental. According to what Riven wrote inside this journal, if a Path Master were to die, a divergent artifact would be one of the few things that you could obtain.
The next thing that would happen is the Runes from within the Path Masters body would leak out and create a Runic Land.
According to Riven, a Runic Land occurs when a Path master dies. The refined rune within the Path Master will leak out, corroding the land around the place where he died.
Take the lake of sorrow, for example. A Path Master who had originally died there died there, causing its runes to spread out and corrupt the lake, turning it into a runic material that couldn't be accessed by anyone.
Evidently, when a Path Master dies, a natural quest will occur that allows the person to inherit everything that the Path Master owns.
from the Artifacts and the Runic Materials. Everything was unaccessible until a person could finally meet the requirements and obtain access to it.
This is the reason why people couldn't just take the water from the Lake of Sorrow, and instead they would be affected by the corrupted runes and fall under its influence.
Riven's journal didn't mention any more than that; even though everything was clearer now and I could understand it better, I still have one last question.
What about Rivens inheritance?
The last couple of days I have been waiting patiently for the snow to clear up while I try to improve on this method that Riven created.
Using mana from nature to refine one self's runes, which can bypass the problem and allow a person to become a Path Master without any help.
Even though I spent most of my time thinking about this and wondering how to create it, today has given me an opportunity once again.
The snow reached an all-time low, and the temperature was quite warm. This was a perfect opportunity for me to see what has happened to Riven's inheritance.
I didn't expect much after all; Riven's inheritance could've been taken already and already been claimed, but I still wanted to check just in case.
I decided to leave the journal behind just in case, but I also didn't need it at the same time. For the last couple of months, all I've been doing is reading and surviving. I spent hours each day memorizing the map to this forest.
If the journal would disappear somehow or get lost, I couldn't rely on the journal for everything; I had to memorize it all down.
I took my leave and left the cave, entering the forest filled with specks of white. As I walked along the forest to reach Riven's inheritance, I also wanted to check around the places he marked in his journal.
Recently I didn't have the opportunity at all, and I was hoping for a place just like the one I was staying at. If it was just as important as the cave that I'm currently in, then it would be nothing but amazing.
But of course, the main objective was to reach Riven and explore the place. When I come back later, I could try and explore them
As I walked to Riven's old wooden shack that he lived in, I could see the grand and vast lake next to me.
The Lake of Sorrow truly was an amazing sight to see; the lake was frozen, giving off a shining look to it when the sun was looming overhead.
Towards the middle of the lake held the Castle of Detachment, a beautiful crystal-clear castle that shone with gorgeous light.
"Maybe I could walk across the lake and try to explore the place."
The castle gave off this eerie but powerful aura. The lake was the exact opposite; it held this warm yet approachable aura that led unsuspecting people to touch it and fall under its influence
After walking along the coastline for a while, eventually I could see a glimpse of a figure in the horizons.
Seeing it, I started to hasten my pace, and eventually it turned into a run. My heart was pounding, and my breath was quick and shallow.
The snow and the sun gave off this bright light that made it hard to see from a distance, so I kept running closer and closer to the figure.
Slowly but surely, I had made it to the shack where me and Riven had once lived; unintentionally, my eyes widened, and my jaw gradually opened.
...
"What the hell am I looking at?"