The Quest for Knowledge (2)

'In the Pre-Dreamroot Period, nearly 7000 years ago, the world was populated by tribal societies, each with its own unique culture, traditions, and belief systems. They survived by hunting, gathering, and basic agriculture, and conflicts between tribes were frequent. Magic was rare and rudimentary, and the tribes had only limited control over elemental forces...',

'Around 5000 years ago, the Dream Plants emerged, marking a turning point in history and also the first year of the current calendar that most of the world uses. The discovery of these magical plants granted extraordinary abilities to those who consumed them. As word of their power spread, fierce competition arose between tribes and clans to secure these valuable resources. The most capable and cunning individuals monopolized the Dream Plants, taking control over their clans and laying the foundations for the Noble Houses.',

'The once chaotic and unpredictable world had suddenly transformed into a more stable and structured society, where the commoners enjoyed a degree of protection and security that had been absent during the warring states period. The Dreamroot Empire had brought order and predictability to their lives, enabling them to build more predictable and prosperous lives. However, even if they were living better on average, the inequality between them and the nobles like myself also skyrocketed...',

'These proto-Noble Houses developed distinct magical specializations based on the types of Dream Plants they controlled. As their influence and power grew, they established a new social order, setting themselves apart from the commoners and enforcing their dominance through the caste system. Their strength provided them a huge leap over commoners in terms of other resources too like mana absorption materials used for all kinds of magical technology, therefore wealth generation and mana enhanced armors and weapons that knights nowadays usually use, hence additional brute force advantage stacking on top of the last ones too...',

'Later they even learned how to cultivate those Dream Plants themselves separate from the place they were found at various top secret and heavily fortified locations that only their patriarchs knew about. My current family, the Valthoren family acquired a Dream Plant called the Voidroot...', Elysar marveled at the power and potential of the Dream Plants and the role they had played in shaping the course of civilization. He was currently recollecting all the knowledge that he cemented just now, first starting from the history of the world. He was sure it would help him later.

The essence of those Dream Plants could even be used to power up technology in various ways as seen throughout the whole Valthoren residence in various places. They could even be added in minuscule amounts onto their servants' weapons to make them many times stronger in protection against foreign adversaries.

However, the essence must be carefully blended into the weapon material so they could never take it out and therefore leak their oracle of success, the Dream Plant essence, out of the world and dissolve their bloodline advantage. The servants could usually just use them for fighting and it is only useful while wielded amongst large numbers.

The Voidroot was an unassuming tuber-like Dream Plant with a dark, almost black exterior that belied its true potential. At first glance, it appeared unremarkable, but when harvested and prepared correctly, its consumption by successive generations of the Valthoren family members led to a significant enhancement of their genetic makeup, endowing them with a myriad of unique and exotic spatial abilities.

Commoners, even the most talented among them without access to such specialized powers, could only perform rudimentary elemental-based spells or, at best, combine some of them into singular attacks. However, these combined attacks paled in comparison to the level of strength, finesse, and versatility that the dream energy-based powers offered to high-ranking nobles like the Valthoren family.

The spatial powers gained from the Voidroot enabled the Valthoren family to manipulate and control space in ways previously unimaginable, from distorting distances to creating localized spatial anomalies. These extraordinary abilities not only set them apart from the commoners but also elevated their status and influence among the noble houses of the Dreamroot Empire.

They were the strongest of the strong, the strongest of the all high-ranking nobles currently in the empire who also had monopolized various different Dream Plants. That's why middle and lower-ranking nobles also paled in comparison to them. They used specialized, different swordsmanship styles, and had also superior bloodlines to the commoners, however, without monopolizing some of those Dream Plants themselves, they were still vassals of different highest-ranking noble houses like the Valthoren noble clan.

Elysar suddenly recalled his 'Essence Awakening' ceremony, which happens when a noble scion is usually five years old, with a tinge of disappointment, 'During the ceremony, the original owner of this body underperformed due to his unfortunate destiny. He only managed to awaken the ordinary variation of the Valthoren spatial abilities – the close-range "twisting" technique... Whereas his older brothers developed far more advanced powers...', He thought, feeling the weight of that day. It was one of the worst days in the previous Elysar's whole life. It was one of the crucial moments that shaped him to become somewhat of an outcast later.

The Essence Ascension ceremony, which administers Dream Plant essences to young scions of noble families, was a significant event for House Valthoren, as it awakens and enhances their innate genetic spatial powers. The ceremony begins with a gathering of family, and esteemed guests, creating a solemn and celebratory atmosphere.

Before it starts, a revered spiritual guide prays to the ancestors for blessings and protection. Skilled alchemists prepare the family's Dream Plant, the Voidroot, into an essence, which was infused into a ceremonial chalice. During the ritual, the child wears ornate attire adorned with symbols representing the Valthoren family's spatial powers. The parents hold the chalice together, guiding their child to drink the potent Voidroot essence. As it flowed through the child, their latent magical abilities awaken, and their spatial powers begin to manifest.

He was now grateful, however, that there were no follow-up ceremonies designed to further enhance the abilities of the more talented heirs by giving them more dream energy essence. Otherwise, Elysar was certain that he would have been left behind even more, with his two brothers widening the gap between them. Therefore, he still thinks that he has a chance.

The succession ceremonies within the various noble houses might have been relatively fair, but the world as a whole was far from it, Elysar suddenly realized, there were usually no advantages for a firstborn son and the 'Primogeniture', common for these types of worlds from his previous world's fiction writings.

Instead, the competition mattered as the Dream Plant powers could materialize in different forms for various noble offsprings. It was not the case that sometimes the youngest born heir awakens the strongest variation of the Dream Plant power variation recorded in history, therefore the patriarch usually has to hedge their bets to the utmost.

He couldn't help but feel the stark contrast between the nobility and the rest of society. The merchants, upper-level commoners, lower-level commoners, serfs, and slaves all paled in comparison to the immense power and influence wielded by the noble houses, especially the highest-rank ones. Their world was fair, but the whole world wasn't.

Some noble houses, such as House Valthoren, took an even more comprehensive approach when evaluating potential successors. They not only assessed their heirs' innate dream power talent but also examined their overall strength, governing abilities, scheming prowess, and political alliance capabilities. This holistic evaluation method offered Elysar some comfort as he absorbed the original Elysar's memories during his coma.

House Valthoren's role in the world as the ceremonial "royal house" played a significant part in their evaluation process. Positioned as the strongest house during the founding of the Dreamroot Empire, other noble families had appointed them to this esteemed role.

Though not true monarchs, House Valthoren functioned as "first among equals", responsible for managing disputes among various noble families and ensuring the smooth operation of the empire. Their role helped maintain the hierarchy of noble families and eternal total dominion over commoners.

As a result, House Valthoren prioritized finding intelligent and wise heirs, who could adeptly navigate the various political aspects of their unique role, rather than focusing solely on strength. This approach led them to adopt a comprehensive evaluation process, ensuring that the overall performance of their heirs was valued, ultimately selecting successors who were well-rounded and capable in various aspects.

Even so, an heir's strength remained a crucial factor, albeit not as dominant as in other noble houses. The resources and yearly "fees" or "taxes" paid to House Valthoren by other high-ranking noble families justified the slight sacrifice of the patriarch's personal strength. The wealth they accumulated through these exclusive contributions enabled them to enhance their abilities in alternative ways, making up for any potential slight deficiencies in the raw power of their sitting patriarchs.

The empire itself was more akin to a federation, where each noble house controlled its territories, laws, and taxes. The noble houses paid a small sum to the royal family to maintain their privileged status and the enforcement of rules that benefited everyone,

'It's more like a "managerial" position rather than an "owner" position like many royal families had in my past life... Once I take over the family, I should definitely change that. I can absolutely do it; I'm the only one who can. There should be no others of similar status to me. I will control this whole world. I'm the only one with such an outsider perspective, a superior and ambitious, relentless mindset, and a high enough starting position to actually pull it off...',

Elysar thought, suddenly clenching his fists a little. The mere thought of such power, in the future, brought him great excitement. He actually really thought that he great chance to pull it off if he played everything right just like he envisioned back then during that previous limbo state.

Elysar was born into a family that constantly belittled and demeaned him. To make matters worse, he suffered from a debilitating chronic illness that left him physically weak and unable to participate in normal activities. The illness was also quite costly to maintain, inciting wrath from his other more "superior" siblings when they had to put up with less money and allowance because of him from the moment they were little.

His family, especially his high-achieving siblings, then saw him as the black sheep, a burden that they had to bear. His parents and other relatives also constantly compared him unfavorably to his siblings, criticizing his comparably lower intelligence and extremely weak physical stature. Sometimes, the current Elysar thought that the only reason they all didn't simply throw him out like garbage was to keep up their reputation in their social circles. He was overall just an "embarrassment" to them.

He couldn't study and academically achieve the level they expected him, he could never repay them and will always be a costly burden for them to maintain. The current Elysar also wondered if there was some kind of a "psychopath" gene running in that family. Because that kind of behavior definitely wasn't normal and often seen.

Growing up in such a toxic environment, Elysar was subjected to relentless humiliation from his family, which took a severe toll on his mental health. He started to withdraw from others and became increasingly bitter and resentful. Over time, these negative emotions festered, and Elysar's personality morphed into that of some type of an unfeeling psychopath himself.

His desire for power, control, and vengeance grew, fueled by the endless taunts and mockery he faced. His chronic illness, which caused him immense pain and suffering, only added to his determination to become stronger and more powerful. In his mind, if he could overcome his physical limitations and rise to the top, he could finally make those who tormented him pay for their cruelty.

However, there was no way that it would happen in that "real world". His illness and the lower IQ cognitive ability of his brain prevented him from being able to do anything that he desired. In the end, at just twenty years old, he already contemplated suicide and the murder of his entire family as a means of revenge. He just had a strong intuition, but that was nothing if you can't pair that with even the most average IQ.

However, when he was transported into this new world, he instantly recognized it as an opportunity to not only escape his past life but also to become the ultimate ruler, immortal and unstoppable. His depression got instantly cured. In this world, he could actually overcome his illness and physical limitations, growing in strength and power. His IQ was also many times higher for some reason. Maybe nobles in this world had innate higher-than-average IQs than commoners, who should also be comparable better in IQ, than the ones of ordinary people from his past life, due to all of that mana influence on them, he theorized.

In his quest for power, while waiting to wake up from that comatose state, the new Elysar slowly became consumed by his darker instincts, embracing greed, pride, lust, and other similar characteristics. His inferiority complex, from his previous life, instantly turned into a superiority complex here. He already abandoned any semblance of a moral code, driven solely by his desire to rise above his past and become the most powerful being in existence.

To become the most powerful being in this world so as to never experience someone looking down on him ever again. And those who actually do look down on him, he would torture them. There are no laws here that stopped him from doing anything that he desires, here the bigger fist is the rule of law. And it's a survival of the fittest world, just how he prefers it now.

'Anyway... It's truly bizarre that I couldn't comprehend anything about the Fatewearer Amulet, the peculiar ritual I performed, or the enigmatic Fate's Gaze powers I've acquired from that mysterious figure. It's as if everything related to those things is completely alien to this world... No... Hold on! Not from this world...? Could it be...?',

Elysar abruptly rose to his feet, overwhelmed with disbelief, 'I must deal with that enigmatic individual who bestowed these powers upon the original owner... But only when I'm stronger. I can't risk confronting them now...', As the thought crossed his mind, Elysar felt goosebumps crawl over his skin, a mixture of trepidation and excitement for the future.

That mysterious person first piqued the original owner's interest with some interesting letters in which there was always something subtle revealed in terms of topics that interested him, mainly matters related to the innate fate/luck levels of various individuals and potential techniques for altering them. That mysterious person then met him in person a couple of times and revealed the secret knowledge they had uncovered about fate and the existence of individuals who could manipulate it.

They explained to the original owner that he was one of those rare individuals with the potential to change his own fate. The subordinate then offered to teach the original owner the techniques and rituals required to harness his unique abilities but with one condition: the original owner would have to pledge his loyalty to their secret organization if the ritual succeeded. He didn't specify what the organization was, and he only said that he would meet him again a few months later to see how everything is going.

Then the rest was history, desperate for an explanation and a solution for the misfortune which plagued him all of his life and intrigued by the prospect of gaining control over his own destiny, the original owner agreed to the deal, setting the stage for the dangerous ritual that would ultimately lead to his demise and the current Elysar's overtaking of his body and soul.

And the current Elysar really did acquire the described effects. He could see various "fate levels" of different people he came into contact with so far, including himself. For example, now there would be a giant red zero number printed all over his chest if he tried to activate that ability on himself. Elysar theorizes that he should probably have one of the worst, if not the worst luck in this world.

If everything holds true in his other theories, then he should also be extremely hated by the "fate energy" of this world that couldn't directly kill him for some reason but can make everything difficult for him and make it impossible for him to rise to power due to some kind of danger he poses to the world. It would hold true for both him now and the previous owner.

The only hope he saw now is that Fatewearer Amulet and stealing "fate points", probably some other kind of fate energy, of different lucky individuals around the world. If he was further in the right, that means that those people are probably like ordinary "protagonists", "sons of fortune/luck/planes" or even more traditionally called the "heroes". They should probably be absolutely morally impeccable and tasked with saving the world from people like him.

However, as he was that dangerous, the fate of this plane never wanted to even give him a chance to rise. He speculates that it won't be so for other "little villains". After all, his background is truly at the highest peak around here, and he really could enslave the world with a reasonable chance. Elysar also thinks that fate energy could be also called "karma energy".

All of these conclusions were based on his pure intuition, however, having read countless pieces of different fantasy fiction during his previous life and some information from this library. That's why he read everything about history, and physics, from this world too, 'The current biggest church of this world should also have some secret connections to "fate"...', Elysar suddenly mused as he sat down because he noticed someone approaching there.