[MA] 135. Doomed (Patreon)

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[A/N:  Sorry for the delay!

I was trying not to bother you with my mental health issues, but after two delayed chapters, I think I owe you an explanation. So, here were go again.

TL;DR: I messed up my routine, and it messed up everything.

Long version:

As you probably know, I'm undergoing ADHD treatment. It was going great until I went on a trip to my cousin's college graduation. It threw me entirely off my axis.

A crucial part of the treatment involves healthy habits acquired with a proper routine, at least at the beginning (where I am). I sleep at 10:30 PM, wake up at 8AM, go to the gym thrice a week, start working at 2PM, have multiple appointments at different times, take ADHD medicine two times a day, and so on.

On this trip, however, I drove for 8 hours to get there, 10 to get back (I spent one night in another city that added these 2 hours), had a backache, slept poorly every day, ate wrongly, didn't take my medicine on time, and was stressed almost all the time there. There was also family drama with a dear cousin. It was terrible.

I was surprised I managed to write there at all, but it was so tiring and stressful that when I arrived back home, I just couldn't get things back together. I started playing games all day to relax but could only think about how I was wasting time. I went to sleep late at night, but it only made me more tired. The frustration of being unable to write added up and made the process of de-stressing take even longer. It was a challenge to get back to the routine despite knowing it would be the best for me. I had to fight against my stupid impulses time and time again.

It took me exactly 9 days to write again. I arrived on Monday the 1st and wrote again on Wednesday the 10th (yesterday).

Everything is fine now. I'll hopefully go to the gym again tomorrow. I'm writing again, and I'm happy. I enjoy it, and I'm having fun telling Shen's story.

Sorry about the delays, and thank you for your continued support in this rough ride.

I'll strive to keep getting better, for you and for me.

1/4 chapters this week. Next one in a few minutes.]

Suddenly, precisely, or quickly; in the proper context, "sharp" could mean any of those things and more.

Indeed, he had drawn a little from those meanings as he pushed his Concept forward. However, he had first touched on the Concept of Sharpness through the Laws of the Spear. Now, more than ever, he needed to focus on his Concept's origin Law to anchor his foundations on the Spear.

Therefore, he would seek a way to master Sharpness in the physicality of his weapon rather than in any other aspect of the Concept.

But what did it mean to be physically sharp?

The definition of sharp was to have an edge or point that could cut or pierce through something. Indeed, that explained well what happened when he beheaded his enemies or stabbed their hearts.

In other words, the definition boiled down to two aspects: cutting edge and piercing point.

The aspects had adjectives and nouns. Merely having an edge or a point wasn't enough; what each accomplished also mattered. Likewise, a ball might pierce a body if enough power was applied, and a baseball bat might cut through something, but their form wasn't sharp.

Form and attainment, Sharpness needed both.

Determining if an object's form was an edge or a point was easy, so he didn't waste time trying to get too philosophical about it. Instead, he focused on the adjectives.

What did it mean to pierce or cut? It meant separating something whole, dividing it, splitting it apart. And something was sharp when its form facilitated those results. So the result came first, and the form existed to assist it.

Sharpness was about finesse and effectiveness, about splitting something apart with as little effort as possible. That's what differentiated something sharp from a dull object that would also cut or pierce. The amount of force used to accomplish the goal was inversely proportional to how sharp an object was.

Therefore, a sharp blade or point sought to be as infinitesimally small as possible to more easily separate the parts of whatever came into contact with it.

Sharpness sought the extreme to cut through anything.

He had once thought that for something to be sharp, it only had to be able to cut through its target and nothing else. While there was truth in there, that was also misleading. There was an absolute Sharpness to be pursued.

And he would reach it.

= - = - =

He was in a military base, killing all who protected a mass-murderer Colonel whose head was worth 5,000 AP. A pitiful sum, but he wasn't in this for the AP.

He killed and killed and found his swings getting easier, the armor and flesh of his opponents resisting less. He not only exploited his enemies' openings but also the flaws of how their flesh was knit together by nature itself.

His Spear's blade was filled with Sharp Qi. He kept pushing it to the extreme, willing repeatedly, with all his willpower, to have it get thinner without losing its stability. The more he tried, the better he understood the process, and the better he became at cutting and piercing through trial and error, the sharper he managed to make his blade.

One insight that he had gotten through killing was that a sharp blade also needed to be stable to be useful. A paper sheet was thinner than many blades, yet it seldom cut and only through the skin of unsuspecting people. He couldn't have that. So he killed more to find out how to push extra stability in his blade.

The fulfillment of his Sharpness mastery would be forged in blood and tempered by death.

He forced his will upon reality. The Sharpness of his blade was stretched beyond its natural boundaries. The very physical form of the metal was changed to represent its new Sharpness just because he filled it with qi and willed it to become Sharper.

He had been doing that for a long time. He would keep doing it until it worked. There was no wasted movement or invading thoughts, only a goal and the living whetstones he used to accomplish it.

And suddenly, Shen's perspective changed.

While Shen looked at an enemy, he was abruptly made aware of exactly how easy it would be for him to cut them. He understood precisely where his blade would find the least resistance. He looked at a concrete block and knew exactly how well it would withstand his spear and how to better cut it.

The world became just a block waiting for him to split it apart.

Shen looked around, localized the perfect target to test his newfound understanding of Sharpness, and rushed at it. His will was applied to his blade's metal through qi, forcing it to shape into his ideal of perfect Sharpness. The blade was sharpened to the maximum he could make it. One day, he would be able to split atoms, but not yet.

Today, he would merely split a war tank.

Shen reached the heavily armored vehicle at full speed. He jumped and rotated his body while keeping his momentum ahead. He just knew how the steel was held together and chose a weak spot at the front of the gun barrel to start his attack.

His blade cut through the metal more easily than he had thought it would.

Shen was like a saw going over the tank at high speed. While doing that, he connected to the Concept of Sharpness, and knowledge about it slammed into his mind.

He had mastered it.

And in mastering it, his blade became even sharper... and longer.

Shen's qi was enhancing the blade's sharpness, and now, it went one step further. It grabbed that enhanced sharpness and projected it away from the physical object. A nine feet tall and three feet wide blade of pure qi materialized beyond the spear's reach and cut as well as the blade did.

The qi expenditure was enormous, but the astounding effect was worth it.

When Shen stepped on the other side of the tank, it had been clearly cut exactly in half. Yet, his blade had been so Sharp and his cut so perfect—and the object so heavy—that only a few dents could be seen at the top of the tank.

When mastered, War had given Shen an awareness of his surroundings and slightly increased his personal power. Combat had given him an awareness of himself and his enemies and significantly improved his might.

Sharpness let him acknowledge how to better cut his targets, made him extra aware of his blade, and increased his spear's power beyond its physical limits.

The Concept quickly merged with War and Combat. The amalgamation pushed his Battle Sense to yet another level. Besides feeling everyone in range, Shen could now also tell how easy it would be to cut them, on top of understanding it just by looking at something.

As he had expected, adding the Concept of Sharpness to his foundational mix anchored it better in the Laws of the Spear. Shen's ability with the weapon underwent a "sharp" rise.

He could kill so much better now!

Shen smiled... then frowned.

Shen.

He was thinking of himself as Shen.

He knew his name now.

Mastering another Concept had made him master himself a little more, and that deep, annoying part of him had benefitted from it. He could feel it telling him to just stop and think things through instead of continuing like that.

Shen's time was limited. He had to rush to improve the most before he was once again bound by the annoyances of society.

It upset him to levels he couldn't even begin to describe. He was also Boundless, and the thought of getting limited again was the worst thing that could happen to him.

So he pushed back; he pushed back with his all. Doing so wouldn't extend his time, he just knew it, but it let him stop following some annoying rules the "deeper guy" was trying to make him follow. He had previously acquiesced because he didn't want to waste time fighting back, but now, he saw value in doing so.

Shen would no longer be limited by Bounties, surrender, or even something silly as finding out if whoever was in front of him were friend or foe.

He would see, and he would kill. Except maybe the Alicia woman; his instincts screamed that his Path would be broken beyond repair if he hurt her.

Shen picked a random direction and started killing faster than ever before.

= - = - =

The six Observers and the Human Maiden were sitting in the same meeting room as they usually did. The seven chairs were occupied as they looked at the three-dimensional image in the middle of the room, a projection of the Human Rising Star attacking anyone in sight.

Liya could see the look of greed in the other Observers; they wanted the talented Rising Star for them. In fact, making connections with a new race's Titled was the main advantage of becoming an Observer. It was even more important than cataloging the planet's natural resources for exploitation.

The Human Maiden was not as excited as the others. She showed open hostility at the image.

It was her first time watching a projection in the room, and only because her return to Earth was only minutes away. Supposedly, she was being given a small briefing on what to expect. In practice, the others tried to hook her into a disadvantageous bargain.

Yet they all shared the same confusion: what had happened? The already crazed Feng Shen had suddenly become even crazier after mastering a Concept related to cutting and piercing—probably Sharpness. Why? Was his madness related to his Path?

No one knew, and they had no way of finding out.

Before the Observers actually descended to Earth, all six had to be in that room to observe whatever was happening on Earth. The system usually guided those sessions, too, as it was hard to just guess what was relevant and what wasn't on a new planet, especially when they had such a strange culture as humans. There was so much religious and political noise in their every interaction that letting the system take care of things was much easier.

Therefore, neither Liya nor the others had seen whatever had happened to the Rising Star to drive him crazy. Foul play was obvious, and it became clear that some higher-up was involved when any attempt to look at what had happened showed an "access denied" message. That was enough for her to discard any other theories than "The Alliance was screwing someone over again."

That couldn't be allowed to happen, not on her watch. The drow had gone to war for smaller offenses. They hated any form of power abuse by the Alliance and would rather die than watch it happen without doing anything about it.

They did for others what none had done for them.

Not always, of course. There were only so many races they could war against at the same time. But they worked around that by exploiting grey areas in the rules.

And she had spent the past month familiarizing herself with the laws governing Observers just so she could give the Human Maiden a piece of advice at the last hour.

Now, she would use this opportunity to also help her charge.

Liya bid her time, waiting for the perfect moment, while the others talked about what the Human Maiden should do if the Rising Star came for her. The girl had very few tools at her disposal, but at least she had some, and only because the threat was from her own race. Even then, those options required her to become indebted to someone in that room.

They pushed for it like sharks smelling blood.

Unfortunately for them, the time for Liya to talk had come.

"...and the White Truefrost Powder would leave him frozen for twelve years, more than enough time—" the orc Observer had been saying when Liya interrupted.

"Human Maiden, listen to me very carefully," Liya said softly, but that was enough for the orc to stop talking and everyone in the room to tense up.

The orc disliked Liya, but he understood the hierarchy of power well. For all of his race's faults, they knew when to submit.

"I'll give you one advice and one advice only on dealing with your Rising Star," Liya continued. "This is a costly way, but the best one available to you. Don't let your love for your father cloud your judgment."

The girl had cried when the system gave her the news, as it did to all close kin of B-ranks—and Maidens had the same privileges. She was that soft. Then again, she was little more than a baby by most sapient races' standards and had no business being a Maiden. How stupid were every Pioneer on Earth to elect a kid for such an important position?

The Human Maiden had also been informed of how her father had died and even received a recording. She wanted the Rising Star to suffer for what he had done. Liya didn't blame the girl, but much more was at stake there.

"Your world is doomed," Liya informed, to the surprise of all Observers. "You produced a single D-rank too early while everyone else is too weak. That means D-tier rifts will open in your world, and only your Rising Star has any chance of dealing with them."

[A/N: About the delay, the reason is simple: terrible time management on my part. Yes, stuff™ has been happening in my life, but it all boils down to me not being in control of my day. I'll strive to do better. Sorry.

Ps: 5 extra chapters are schedules for release this week. The four I released today are from last week.]

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