Sitting on the sofa, Erevan took a closer look at Nova, who seemed to be in his own world.
“Done staring?” Nova casually said after feeling watched by the former for almost five minutes. “What did you want to talk about? If it’s about the Gold coins, they’re inside those bags.”
He motioned with his head toward the bags beside the door.
Erevan shook his head.
“I’m not here for the gold coins… not fully, at least,” he said embarrassedly.
“Then?”
Clearing his throat, Erevan spoke slowly. “I want to know more about your Spear Force, the one you showed during the earlier fight.”
“Hmm,” Nova hummed to himself. “What exactly do you want to know?”
“For starters,” Erevan paused briefly before continuing, “what stage is your Force at?”
Surprised, Nova exclaimed, “Eh? You can’t tell?”
If he were to be honest with himself, Nova believed Erevan knew everything there was to know about the system, mana, and Force. That line of thinking wasn’t without fault, either.
Although Nova didn’t know just how strong a civilization Erevan came from, as he’d never asked for the details, that didn’t really matter. The fact that the latter hailed from a civilization that had already successfully undergone the initial evolution, and could possibly rank high even among other evolved civilizations, was enough of a status for him to believe that.
After all, what could he have possibly done that a powerful civilization had never seen?
In his opinion…
Nothing.
Erevan could partly tell what Nova was thinking but didn’t elaborate. Instead, he said, “I’m merely curious about it. If I remember correctly, you shouldn’t have even brought your spear skills to level thirty-five, yet you’ve already comprehended Force, which is rare even where I come from.”
“It must have been less than a year since you first comprehended it, yet it already looks strong. That made me wonder just how far you’ve gone with your comprehension.”
Although it was only for a moment, the strength of Nova’s Spear Force felt far too powerful to be newly comprehended. What is going on here? He thought quietly.
‘That also reminds me of something I’ve wanted to know for a while,’ Nova muttered inwardly.
“It’s nothing much, really. I’ve comprehended Spear Force to the early first stage.”
His words struck Erevan like thunder.
Early first stage? Only? Then how is it possible for it to be so strong? Even mine and Slade’s Force at the same stage is only on par with his, despite our bloodlines…
Is he lying? He has no reason to, though.
And if he is, if he has truly comprehended Spear Force to the mid or even late stage, that would be even more unbelievable.
For a while, Erevan couldn’t muster a single word.
There was a reason higher civilizations were, on average, stronger than the rest. Either they had refined their bloodlines to a higher tier, were bestowed bloodlines by higher beings, or were descendants of such beings.
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Those were the three most commonly known factors that separated lower and middle civilizations from higher ones.
It was a chasm that only a civilization forged through the blood and sweat of trillions could hope to cross.
Yet here, standing right in front of him, was someone who came from a civilization among the lowest of the low, and whose Force nonetheless stood on par with that of someone from a higher civilization.
It was eye-opening, to say the least.
“Since I’ve answered your question, it’s your turn to answer mine.”
Nova’s words pulled Erevan back to reality.
“Why do I feel like others’ Forces aren’t as strong as they should be? If not for a Force’s properties, then in my eyes, Oreto’s early-stage Wood Force wouldn’t have even qualified to be called Force at all. The same goes for many others I’ve seen fighting in the arenas.”
“But I’ve also seen someone whose Force reflects its stage, at least more than the others, and it belongs to that guy from a higher civilization, Astrah.”
“Can you tell me why?”
So he noticed the difference.
Erevan leaned back on the sofa and said, “Yes, there’s a large difference even between Forces at the same stage. It could be based on the type, or, if they’re of the same type, it could be due to other factors.”
He raised two fingers and continued. “The first factor, and also the most common one, is a difference in bloodline.”
“Bloodline?” Nova echoed.
“Yes, bloodline. To put it simply, think about this: what would happen if your bloodline were attuned to a certain element? That element would then be stronger in your hands. The same applies to other kinds of Force.”
Nova nodded thoughtfully before asking, “What about the second one?”
“Comprehension.” Erevan’s tone lowered. “It’s known that a deeper comprehension of Force allows one to further draw out its true potential, but…”
“But?”
A bitter sigh escaped his lips as he shook his head.
“But that’s far too difficult, akin to learning math for the first time by starting with abstract algebra. Usually, comprehension follows a distinct path.”
He continued, “Starting from the early first stage, you dig deeper and deeper into the Force, slowly building the foundation on which you add small blocks of knowledge, continually confirming your understanding. In this way, you’ll reach the mid, late, and peak stages, each bringing a minor transformation along with an increase in strength, before finally advancing to the next major stage, which grants the Force a qualitative transformation.”
“Now, if you want your early first stage Force to be stronger than someone else’s based on comprehension alone, then from the very beginning, you’ll have to reach deeper into that Force.”
A look of awe, one Nova had never seen before, flashed across Erevan’s face as he said, “From what I know, only the founders of my civilization managed to do that, and that’s also the reason they’re still respected to this day.”
‘I’m from Earth. There’s no way I have any special kind of bloodline. That means the reason my Force is stronger right now is probably due to comprehension, a deeper comprehension from the very beginning,’ Nova repeated those words in his mind.
‘If that’s the case, then there’s only one reason for my comprehension, and that’s the Spear King’s calligraphy letter. But there’s something that’s bothering me now.’
He looked at Erevan and said, “If a normal person slowly builds their comprehension, going through early, mid, late, and peak to grow a Force’s strength, then how would someone who comprehended more advance? Wouldn’t someone like that have already reached the mid stage while still at the early stage? If so, isn’t it just a matter of faster comprehension, not deeper comprehension?”
“That’s the most commonly asked question on this topic,” Erevan said with a slight smile. “Let’s put it this way: think of early first stage Force as number one, and mid first stage Force as number two. This way, the jump is clear enough for everyone to understand.”
“For someone who has a deeper comprehension of Force, their early first stage might be a 1,…, depending on how far they’ve gone. The same applies to mid first stage, late first stage, and so on.”
“A better example would be with elements. With them, it’s the difference between comprehending a fire’s heat and comprehending the entirety of fire. At the same level, the former, being only a part of the latter, can never win against it, no matter what.”
Nova’s eyes widened in realization.
‘How did I never think about this? It’s so obvious, yet it never crossed my mind. Fire, wind, lightning… all elements are made up of many different aspects, and only when they come together do they form a whole. Trying to comprehend an entire element is like trying to grasp every single aspect… No. It’s even harder than that.’
‘Comprehending each aspect individually is much easier than trying to merge them into a single whole. As Erevan said, an early first stage Heat Force will never be able to compete against an early first stage Fire Force, but how many people even know the difference between the two?’
He glanced at his Status, which for his Spear Force only read:
Spear Force — First Stage (Early)
A wild thought crossed his mind.
‘Does the system not even make a distinction between the two? But why? How many people out there think they’ve comprehended something when, in reality, they’re barely skimming the surface?’
He had no way of knowing, but in his opinion, there were far too many to count.
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