Chapter 253: Harvey’s Guidance
After obtaining Kassadin's hero template, although Harvey hadn't used Kassadin's abilities much in combat, the Void magic Kassadin wielded was undoubtedly powerful to an extreme degree. Not only did it allow Harvey to access some of Kassadin's abilities, but it also granted him a wealth of knowledge about Void magic.
But Harvey knew that when it came to truly understanding Void magic, the one most knowledgeable wasn't Kassadin, the Void Walker, or even Malzahar, the Prophet of the Void. It was Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void, capable of discerning the very essence of the world and unleashing disintegration beams that could break down all material substances.
Then there was Cho'Gath, the Terror of the Void, whose abilities also tempted Harvey. Whether it was the path of strengthening the physical body to its limits or mastering Void magic to its fullest extent, both paths offered immense power.
Even with such clear paths before him, Harvey still found himself conflicted and unsure. So, it was no surprise that Sonia and most members of the Void Sect felt similarly uncertain. Although many members had evolved hundreds of times—some as many as two or three hundred—their strength had yet to reach the true pinnacle.
As for Harvey, after all this time, he had evolved 657 times, inching ever closer to his goal of 1,000 evolutions. Each evolution now required a staggering 10 million units of evolution energy. He had evolved nearly every one of Kha'Zix's abilities to the maximum level of 100 evolutions.
Harvey wasn't exactly sure just how powerful he had become. To know for certain, he'd need to face a formidable opponent in battle. Still, even if the other members of the Void Sect had evolved as much as he had, Harvey was confident that none of them could defeat him—not even if they all joined forces.
The key difference lay in their understanding of the Void. Most members of the Void Sect only had a superficial grasp of it, making it difficult for them to choose the optimal path for evolution.
Only a few, like Kael, Lix, the Seer, and Tony, seemed to have a clearer sense of their evolution paths.
Kael, for instance, was focused on enhancing his physical body while evolving Void energy to grant him flight, compensating for his previous lack of aerial combat ability. He ranked among the strongest in the Void Sect.
The Seer appeared to be training both body and Void energy, but Harvey knew that the Seer's primary evolution focus was undoubtedly on enhancing his innate ability to predict the future.
Lix had chosen to augment his physical body while amplifying his superhuman abilities, striving for extreme speed.
These three had a clear path forward—evolving their strengths while minimizing their weaknesses.
Tony, who wasn't born with superhuman abilities, had used his intellect to his advantage, merging Void energy with his Iron Man suits. Following Harvey's advice, Tony chose Void Energy as his primary focus, supporting his suit technology.
Out of all the members of the Void Sect, the one Harvey found most enigmatic was Sonia. He could never quite discern what was going on in her mind. Sonia was relentless in her pursuit of improvement. Not only was she a quick learner, but she constantly reflected on her progress, identifying areas of weakness and finding ways to compensate.
Outside of her work, Sonia dedicated much of her time to training. Harvey, spending his idle time at the mountaintop villa, had observed her countless times during her practice.
He could confidently say that Sonia's strength was now on par with Kael, Lix, the Seer, and even Tony. Her combat instincts were uncanny, and she had evolved 351 times—surpassing Lix by over ten evolutions.
Harvey could see these numbers through his system, yet Sonia had never once mentioned her progress, nor did she boast to anyone on the island.
Despite the vast changes in her abilities due to her numerous evolutions, Sonia's personality remained largely unchanged. She was someone whose true strength wasn't immediately apparent.
Considering Sonia's nature and her current strength, Harvey decided it was time to offer her some guidance. She needed more clarity to fully embrace her evolution path.
"..."
Sonia was deep in thought after hearing Harvey's words about the many paths of evolution and how there was no single, absolutely right choice. She had developed her flying technique, Void Glide, to compensate for her inability to take on airborne opponents. But she hadn't yet considered that Void energy could do more than just enable flight, generate shockwaves, explosions, or form constructs of energy.
Some innate abilities were so powerful that one could only envy them.
As a result, Sonia hadn't made Void Energy her primary focus. In addition to enhancing her physical strength, she had evolved her nervous system and cognitive speed.
Yes, both reflexes and thought processing speed could be evolved.
At first, she had simply wanted to avoid making mistakes in her duties to Kassadin, fearing that any misstep could lead to trouble. Even though Kassadin might not have minded, she would have been bothered by it.
So, Sonia had evolved her reflexes and cognitive speed. As her number of evolutions increased, she developed a powerful combat instinct and unparalleled control over her body.
Now, even moments after an evolution, Sonia could fully control her newfound strength within minutes, never once faltering in front of Kassadin.
The only time she'd ever slipped up was when Kassadin returned unexpectedly after being away for over a year. For a moment, she thought she was hallucinating from longing for him. Other than that, she had never once lost her composure.
"Does that mean your ability to travel across vast distances to different planets is also part of Void magic?" Sonia asked after pondering Kassadin's abilities.
"Yes, but it's quite advanced. To master it, you'd need to evolve your knowledge and gain much more expertise in Void magic," Harvey explained, nodding slightly.
Void magic involved manipulating space itself. Harvey had mastered it through his hero template, but it also required a deep understanding of Void magic to control the precise workings of Void energy.
"Thank you for the guidance, Kassadin," Sonia said, her eyes gleaming with excitement as she smiled. "I feel like my path forward is much clearer now."