Chương 24: Warden

Kayzen observed the vast cosmic library around him, awed by the scene of infinite shelves once again. He was clueless as to how he ended up here without getting his fifth shard, but now wasn't the time to figure that out. Unlike before when he had seen five shards that led him to different paths of Eikon, Warlock, and Shaper, what lay ahead of him now were five colossal hexes. Seeing them suspended in the vast space made him feel like a tiny dust in comparison.

Kayzen turned his red eyes and looked at the shelves that represented his own records. They had grown just as he had. The records of Angelica, the records of him fighting in the rift and journeying with Vasser… everything had been stored in those shelves. It was like a reflection of himself, who he had been. And those five hexes were his future, what he could become. Kayzen stretched out his root of perception and approached the five paths ahead of him. Soon, a new surge of information appeared in his head.

Warden of the Wild You have learned how to weaponize the wilderness. As a Warden of the Wild you will earn the authority to imprison untamed Ether. Attain knowledge of wild flora and fauna of various dimensions. Allows you to control and borrow records from non-sentient organisms. To walk further on this path you will require the essence of various rare plants and monsters. The Hex forged in the future will be based on their records. Warden of the Cursed Accord You have understood how to fight alongside others.

As a Warden of the Cursed Accord, you will earn the authority to make pacts with your companions. Attain knowledge on various Hex to form your accord. Allows you to borrow records from the pact and use it on yourself or others. To walk further on this path you will need to form pacts with various individuals and grow your accord. Warden of Mutagenesis You have modified the biological traits of yourself and your enemy. As a Warden of Mutagenesis, you will earn the authority to mutate genes by manifesting Ether.

Attain knowledge on how Ether affects a creature's genetic makeup. Your Hex will gain the property of mutagenesis. To walk further on this path you will have to Hex and mutate various targets. Warden of Records You have observed and absorbed records of various organisms. As a Warden of Records, you will earn the authority of imprisoning Akashic records. Attain knowledge of sealing away the target's records. Your Hex will gain the property of debuff based on your own records.

To walk further on this path you will have to imprison the records of other organisms and objects. Warden of Blood You have devoured the blood of a creature from another dimension. As a Warden of Blood, you will earn the authority of harvesting blood. Attain knowledge of various blood-borne Hex. The quality of all your Hex will be enhanced based on the blood used, and it is possible to manifest the records of a dead organism. To walk further on this path you will require the blood of various creatures.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. There was a lot to unpack from the information he had been given. Just based on the general structure, there were a few things that stuck out to him. The first lines of the five options were related to what he had done thus far. Things like weaponizing the wilderness and modifying biological traits had resulted in him being able to walk on the different paths of a Warden.

This proved his hypothesis: What one got in the selection phase were things related to their past and the deeds they had done. In other words, one's future was in their own hands. Second was the word 'authority'. Kayzen had never heard about such a term. He knew a little bit about laws, but that was something one only came into contact at higher ranks. Those like Vasser were exceptions after all. Still, he could guess what an authority meant.

It should be a higher-ranking power that allowed one to interact more with Ether; something that came to be after the descent of Akashic records. Next parts were about his Hex gaining different properties, it had become the element or concept that he would be using in the future. After that were the explanations of what the Warden paths were about and how he could progress in that. All in all, the information was organized in such a way that it was easy to understand.

Kayzen appreciated that there wasn't a ticking clock that urged him to hurry up. The more he looked at the five colossal hexes, the more indecisive he became. Each of these paths was something he was interested in. No matter which one he chose, he wouldn't regret it. However, the fact remained that he could only select one of them.

'Well, maybe not just one of them. I should be able to draw some inspiration from the other paths as well.' Kayzen wasn't sure of his idea, but he believed it to be true. When he chose to become a shaper of hex, he had acquired some fragments of knowledge related to the four paths he had forsaken. It wasn't substantial enough to result in any improvement, but he did gain some useful tidbits of information.

Now that the synergy of all paths with him was higher, it made sense that he would be getting more knowledge from them. After a brief moment of contemplation, Kayzen decided to start with the process of elimination. The first one he decided to forsake was the Warden of the Cursed Accord. It sounded nice in theory, but he didn't like the fact that he had to make pacts with companions. Even if it were some beasts or monsters, he didn't fancy the idea of traveling with an army or accord of any sort.

This had nothing to do with potential or powers, he just disliked being in large crowds. This path was more suited for someone who was into management, politics, and the likes of such. The second one he decided to forsake was the Warden of the Wild. He was very much interested in the knowledge of wild flora and fauna of various dimensions. However, to progress in this path he would require various rare materials; something that would be hard to come by.

He didn't want to bog down his progress due to something that was uncertain. He didn't know the true nature of rifts yet. What if every rift was like the one he had been to, where he could interact with nothing and just look at things? How was he going to obtain items from the other worlds then? The rewards from events or monster drops would work, but once again, it would be difficult to find sufficient materials to justify walking on this path. Thus, two options were eliminated. Now was the most difficult part.

Mutagenesis was an obvious choice since he had been working on genetics for years. What better offer would there be for him? Learning how Ether affected a creature's genetic makeup would be a great leap forward. He could become the creator of chimeras and replicate what was done in the other dimension. This was the path based on what he had done in combat.

Be it the SLUDGE syndrome or dropping hydrogen cyanide gas inside the ghoul's body, all of them were related to affecting a creature's genetic makeup and other biological functions. In a way, this path had the best synergy with his past. In the end, though, Kayzen still decided to forsake this option. He liked his past, but there was a more interesting future ahead of him: The Warden of Records and The Warden of Blood. The rational part of him was leaning toward the Warden of Blood.

It had everything he needed: Fast progression and a high ceiling for power. Not to mention he would get knowledge on a whole new type of Hex. The only downside would be when he was up against opponents that didn't have blood. Elemental creatures, golems, constructs, and similar foes will have an edge over him. It wasn't that big of a deal since he would have great advantage against those with blood, which happened to be most creatures.

Finally, there was the Warden of Records, the path Kayzen was most interested in. He would be able to imprison the records themselves, and his Hex would gain the property of debuff. It didn't sound as amazing as other paths, but something about this called out to him. The fact that he would be able to interact directly with the records and suppress them was fascinating. This path didn't require any materials to progress, which was another boon. When it came to combat this path had a great synergy with Vasser.

His preferred approach was staying far away and Hex the target from a distance. He'd seal their records while Vasser would get in close and finish it. In the end, Kayzen decided to go with his instincts. As he stretched out his perception towards the Hex that symbolized the Warden of Records, the other paths began to fragment and vanish into the vast void. They didn't disappear completely, however. Strands of multi-colored lines stretched out from them and merged with his consciousness.

Kayzen acquired fragmented knowledge of what he could have been. He would never become The Warden of the Wild, Cursed Accord, Mutagenesis, or Blood. However, he now knew enough about them to draw a reference. It would require a lot of time to place the knowledge into practice, but this was the greatest gain he could imagine. Finally, all that was left was the path of The Warden of Records and himself. Kayzen reached out his palm towards the colossal Hex, and a vast surge of knowledge flooded into his mind.

How to observe the records of another being, how to use Ether and imprison them, how to use his own records and manifest them over a designated area. All of that, and much more information was being engraved on his mind. At the same time, the Hex dissolved and branded a sigil over his chest. … Kayzen groaned as he opened his groggy eyes. His head felt like it was splitting in half with all the new information he had received. His chest was itching as if numerous ants were crawling all over it.

Like a bottomless hole the sigil dragged in the surrounding Ether and pumped it inside his body. The new sensations and knowledge were too much to take in. As much as it pained him, the gains were more than worth it. Kayzen wanted nothing more than to do some experiments; but neither his mind nor his body were in any condition to do that. He needed to sleep and let the sigil finish its transformation. Before that, though, there was something he had to finish.

The maroon shard had been hovering above his head since the start, waiting to be claimed.

"That's!..." Kayzen's drowsy eyes widened as he read the description of his fifth ability.