The Impossibility of the Second Level

Gilgamesh had only just returned home when he saw Miss Nightshade surrounded by a group of enthused young servant girls.

Their bright and cheerful conversation immediately attracted his attention, and a rare show of warmth settled on his face as he listened to them.

"It was so cool! I wish you could have seen it!"

"Outer Disciple Gilgamesh was like: BLAM! BAM! WAM! CRACK! And that nasty goblin was dead!"

"Yeah, just like that!"

"Ahh! Look, look!"

"It's him! He's home!"

Noticing his arrival, the girls left the speechless Miss Nightshade behind and bombarded him with questions, requests and shameless statements.

Gilgamesh expertly dealt with their excitement and managed to calm them down quite a bit, then left them in Miss Nightshade's capable hands.

Aparrently, a number of them wanted to stay behind and work for him in his abode, which he was not averse to. Little Feather could use the help.

After bypassing the group and entering his home, Gilgamesh exhaled as he plopped down onto his bed.

"What's gotten into me? Ever since returning to this world, it's gotten easier to be ...myself?"

He appeared to be lost in thought as he ruminated on the events of the past few days, and suddenly started to feel as though something was wrong with him.

"There's no reason for me to feel this confident, but whenever I think about it, I feel as though nothing can go wrong for me."

"I'm pretty sure I just went out of my way to make sure Viktor's backer knows exactly what happened to him. I could have just left him there and walked away."

"I'm sure someone would have seen something, so why'd I have to go that far?"

Gilgamesh sighed as he prepared to continue his journey through the Condensation stage's Second Level.

"Something's gotta be wrong with me."

Once again, the monotonous process of refinement, circulation and absorption continued.

Gilgamesh knew that his true energy was increasing, and that the enhancement of his body was getting better and better, but he did not really feel like he was making progress.

It was as though the second level wished to go on forever, without end.

600 cycles...

700 cycles...

900... 1100...

2000 cycles and counting!

Hours upon hours passed, but Gilgamesh could not reach the limit of his second meridian.

However, when he finally got to the 6000th cycle, he felt as though he had finally started to make progress in the Second Level.

A slight tinkling from his meridian indicated that it had only just 'woken up,' and was ready to be properly refined.

When Gilgamesh realized this, he walked over to his window and gazed at the sky with a suicidal expression.

"How am I supposed to go on? There's no way my cultivation can be allowed to take this long."

Gilgamesh said this, not knowing that if any self-respecting cultivator heard him, they would find it hard to suppress the urge to beat him to death.

Gilgamesh frowned and sighed, looking defeated, and resigned himself to this torturously slow period of cultivation.

When it was early the next morning, Gilgamesh opened his eyes for the first time in a while. He hadn't even noticed whether Little Feather had come home or not.

"I finally got to 20,000 cycles..."

He looked down at his hand as he balled it into a fist, feeling the strength he now possessed.

"I'm countless times stronger than I was yesterday. So why?"

Grief suddenly struck his heart and he fell over, clitching his chest.

"Why the fuck can't I get past the Second Level!?"

Gilgamesh summoned the full might of his 20,000 cycles worth of true energy, about to bash a random wall when he felt something stir in his sea of energy.

Instantly interested, he sat still and sent his consciousness inward, seeing the small lake that was now present in the desert world.

Above him, the dormant, shrunken images of the Divine Ones' power lingered, looking dead and colorless.

As for the image belonging to the Omniscient Author, it was undergoing a surprising change.

"What's this?" Gilgamesh looked a little closer before gasping.

The quill and paper were slowly pulling Gilgamesh's energy toward themselves, and were actually beginning to show signs of life.

At the same time, faint and illusory images appeared in the small lake, barely discernible but there nonetheless.

Gilgamesh felt himself growing excited, and so he decided to keep descending into the bottomless pit of the Condensation stage's Second Level.

At the very least, he was making progress elsewhere.

While he was doing that, one of the servant girls came to his door and knocked.

"Um, Outer Disciple Gilgamesh, Sir, you have a visitor."

Gilgamesh seemed confused at first, but he quickly remembered that he was expecting to be visited by Outer Disciple Law once he returned from his mission.

Gilgamesh exited his room and washed his face, then walked to the front of his house.

He saw an Outer Disciple standing tall, with straight black hair and a beastly gaze. The look in his eyes reminded Gilgamesh of a feisty animal, and he found himself thinking that Law looked quite ferocious.

On top of that, he had torn the sleeves of his robe in order to reveal his solid arms.

When he saw Gilgamesh, he gave him a big smile and flicked him a thumb's up.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Hotshot. I really thought that mouth of yours finally went and got you killed. Heh!"

Outer Disciple Law extended a hand for Gilgamesh to take, and he gave it a stiff shake before pulling him close for a rather manly hug.

"I'm afraid I don't remember much of anything, so you'll forgive me for regarding you as a stranger."

Law raised a brow and gave Gilgamesh a questioning look.

"Long story short, I really did almost die."

Law suddenly burst into raucous laughter, "Ahhahahaha! I knew it, I just knew it! Never mind that then, there's nothing you forgot that you won't come to learn again."

Suddenly, Law's expression became serious and he folded his arms before leaning in a bit close.

"So... I heard you killed Viktor. Do you already have a plan in mind to deal with the Guardian that's been aiding him all this time?"

Gilgamesh nodded, and Law's expression became eager as he prepared to listen.

"As expected of Mr. Hotshot! So tell me, what's this plan of yours?"

Suddenly, Gilgamesh raised his fist. "This is my plan."

Law's face darkened and his expression fell, "Ah... as expected of Mr. Hotshot..."

Gilgamesh ended up being unable to hold in his laughter, and soon Law ended up giving a hearty laugh as well.

"Whatever. When that Guardian shows his face, he'll have me to deal with too." Law pounded lightly on his chest as he stuck it out proudly, but Gilgamesh simply shook his head.

"I appreciate it, Law, but this is something I can handle on my own. You can sit back and enjoy the show."

Although Law was dejected to see Gilgamesh shaking his head, when he heard those words his smile returned and he fired a punch at Gilgamesh's shoulder as he laughed gleefully.

Gilgamesh chuckled too, but he involuntarily rubbed his shoulder.

'That shit hurt. Fuck!'

After a bit more chatting, Law asked Gilgamesh about his cultivation.

"I'm just at the Second Level of Condensation, nothing too crazy or anything," He said while yawning.

Suddenly, Law tensed up and looked around before leaning in close and putting a hand near his mouth.

"Is it the same problem? Thousands upon thousands of cycles with no end in sight?"

Hearing this, Gilgamesh was taken aback and rendered speechless for a second or two.

Firstly, this was confirmation that the problem he faced now was a lingering one from his first life, and it was also testament to how much he had trusted Law in the past.

He suddenly felt himself wishing that he could remember more about this sect brother of his.

"It's the same problem," Gilgamesh said stiffly. "Tens of thousands of cycles, but still nothing."

Law sighed and appeared to be racking his brains, but ultimately gave up.

"I haven't encountered anything in my travels that is even remotely similar to this. A Princess of the Fish Tribe reached a bottleneck once, and she could only get past it by partying for three days straight, so maybe you could give that a try and see if it helps."

Gilgamesh suddenly saw Law in a new light, and realized that there was a side to him that was something of a complete idiot.

"I'll definitely consider it, Law. Thanks for the advice."

Law nodded seriously, then stayed to chat some more before leaving. Gilgamesh had to admit that it was quite relaxing to talk about absolutely nothing for a while.

Law seemed to regard Gilgamesh as a true friend, and Gilgamesh enjoyed being able to take his mind off of things for a short time.

He would definitely go looking for Law again some time in the future- if he didn't come looking for him.

After he went back inside, he saw Little Feather in the kitchen with some servants, directing them in the preparation of Gilgamesh's breakfast.

When she saw him, she smiled gleefully and he returned the action.

"Good morning, Little Feather."

"Good morning, Big Brother. Did you have a nice chat with Outer Disciple Law?"

Gilgamesh nodded, "I did."

Little Feather's eyes widened and she gasped.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Someone came by and asked me to give you a message."

Gilgamesh turned to her with a curious gaze.

"Hm?"