After slaying the giant Basilisk, I didn't leave right away. There was still the matter of making sure no other monsters of such caliber were lurking nearby. Thankfully, after scanning the area thoroughly with my mana senses, I confirmed there were none.
With that settled, I made my way to the nearest town and headed straight for the Adventurer Association. The moment I arrived, I wasted no time in reporting everything that had transpired in the forest.
The staff didn't delay. Within minutes, they dispatched their agents, who quickly assessed the situation. It took barely half an hour for the entire mess to be evaluated.
As it turned out, the chaos had been caused by some idiot monster hunter who'd been attempting to tame the Basilisk as a companion. The hunter was only a low Rank 2 and had apparently grossly underestimated the creature's potential. He couldn't have known that the Basilisk, which had been weak when he found it, would grow into such a terrifying anomaly in just a few short years.
Most likely, the Basilisk's unique mutation had forced the surrounding monsters to adapt and grow stronger in response. That explained why the forest had been teeming with such powerful creatures.
The Adventurer Association wasn't pleased, and I could imagine the Monster Hunter Alliance would take this even more seriously. A reckless act like this endangered countless lives. Considering the Basilisk had reached High Rank 3, it could have easily overrun most towns if they weren't equipped with proper defenses.
Mana barriers, giant mana cannons, and other fortifications could only hold off such a beast for so long. The Alliance would likely sentence the hunter to life in prison, if not something worse.
With the crisis resolved, I finally took a moment to rest. It took nearly an entire day for the investigation and cleanup to conclude before I could head back to the city.
"Blightfall City," I muttered to myself as I boarded the transport vehicle. "Here I come."
Despite the ordeal, I couldn't help but view it as a valuable experience. I had ventured deeper into the world, met new people, and faced challenges that pushed me to my limits. But the most significant gain from this encounter wasn't just the battle experience—it was the insight I'd gained into merging conceptual powers into my attacks.
As the transport hummed along the road, my mind drifted to the concept of conceptual power. Honestly, it could be categorized as an entirely separate power system in its own right. Unlike mana manipulation, which relies heavily on willpower and direct energy control, conceptual power operates on fundamental truths of reality itself.
There are five foundational bases for conceptual power:
Gravity: Control of mass, gravitational pulls, and spacetime. Advanced users can bend light, create black holes, or manipulate orbital paths. One could even use it to bend spacetime, opening space-time portals, and even universal singularities is also possible. However, to do that, the only constraints are energy and stabilization.
Electromagnetism: Control over electricity, magnetism, and electromagnetic waves. Advanced users can create EMPs, manipulate radio signals, or generate plasma. Other things include using it as a shield against cosmic radiation, and it's also used in the runic circuits in my family's starships.
Thermodynamics: Manipulation of heat, cold, and energy transfer. Advanced users can freeze objects, ignite fires, or alter energy flow to achieve perpetual motion systems.
Now, this might seem quite weird as one can simply channel mana and use their will to do most of these, but using conceptually based power allows one to do the same but with barely a tenth of the cost, and the scale can be infinitely large or small depending on if one possesses enough energy.
Quantum Mechanics: Manipulation of probabilities, wave-particle duality, and quantum entanglement. Advanced users can teleport, create paradoxical states, or influence outcomes. Now this part is tricky, as some of these powers are used by Diviners and Astromages.
However, some of the latter stuff can only be used by beings who have entered a certain state of existence. Simply having the best possible physical and metaphysical body won't do, as the one's whole state of existence as a whole only matters.
It can be compared with how an ant can never match the might of a star; the ant can grow bigger, stronger, and even with access to otherworldly energies, at best, the ant can only reach a certain level before it is held back by the constraints of its own level of existence.
Now humans and even the other high races face the same problems; otherwise, with their high mastery of energy manipulation, this dozen of beings should already have powers close to that of biblical gods.
Biology: Control of biological systems, DNA, and cellular structures. Advanced users can heal injuries, enhance physical capabilities, or create lifeforms.
This roster of power is usually used by Lifemancers and Necrons. There is even a profession known as Gene Lords. The crazy part is this base of power is usually forbidden for most people, and if found, most are punished or even killed on sight.
For whatever reasons, the people of this world aren't as advanced in this aspect if compared maybe a century or two ahead of Earth's own biotechs. The fact is, even humanity, one of the youngest species in Xylaris, has been around for 8 to 11 billion years.
Perhaps it's a result of the Doom Wars, catastrophic conflicts that have repeatedly annihilated civilizations, forcing them to start over. Humans, one of the youngest species in Xylaris, have existed for 8 to 11 billion years. Yet their advancements are modest compared to what they could have achieved without such setbacks
As the transport neared Blightfall City, I shook off my long internal monologue and focused on the towering walls and gleaming spires ahead.
"Damn," I muttered, stretching my limbs. "That was a long train of thought, even for me."
The city loomed closer, its grandeur a stark contrast to the untamed wilderness I'd just left behind. Despite the hardships of the hunt, I felt a sense of accomplishment and determination.
The Basilisk was just the beginning. Challenges are much more to come.
"Blightfall City," I said again, a faint smile on my lips. "Let's see what you've got for me next."