"By the way, ntor..."
After a mont of reflection, Link turned to Ryze and asked, "About this ’Gaze of Truth’ you ntioned—being able to see through any talent in the world... Is that really true? You’re not exaggerating even a little?"
Ryze burst out laughing at the question.
"Haha! You little rascal, you think I’m just blowing smoke, don’t you?"
"Admittedly, the effect of Gaze of Truth does sound outrageous. Anyone hearing about it for the first ti would naturally question its authenticity. I was the sa when I first heard of it."
"Then why do you believe in it now?" Link asked, intrigued.
But before he could finish his thought, Ryze waved his hand, cutting him off. "Hold on. Let ask you sothing first. Why do you think I had you obtain Gaze of Truth last out of all the talents? Forget about whether it’s real or not for a mont. Just think—wouldn’t having an extrasensory talent like that make it much easier for you to acquire the talents at the first and second locations?"
Link paused, caught off guard. He had never considered that.
After all, he already possessed the Eye of Truth, a talent with sowhat similar capabilities. And with Lib, the super AI with vast knowledge banks, assisting him, Link had always been confident in identifying his opponents’ talents—at least when they weren’t on guard.
But even with all that, he could only detect talents under specific conditions. When facing opponents who had high-grade talents—like S-level or above—those talents would simply be marked as "Pending Analysis" on his interface.
By that logic, even if Gaze of Truth couldn’t fully decipher every talent in existence, pairing it with Lib’s analysis should at least remove that annoying "Pending Analysis" label, shouldn’t it?
Yet Ryze had specifically chosen to leave that one for last. Why?
Link found himself scratching his head, puzzled and frustrated.
Ryze couldn’t help but chuckle again at the sight of Link fidgeting in confusion.
"Kid, don’t bla yourself. The reason you can’t wrap your head around it is simple: Gaze of Truth is just too powerful. It clashes with your existing knowledge and worldview, creating a kind of ntal resistance. You want to believe it, but you’re also afraid to. That contradiction is clouding your judgnt—so even when the answer is staring you in the face, you can’t see it clearly."
Link sighed, his expression bitter. "ntor, now you’ve just confused even more..."
Ryze quickly backpedaled, trying to soothe him. "No need to be confused. Let spell it out for you. The reason I had you collect Gaze of Truth last is simple—it’s incredibly difficult to acquire. Far more challenging than the previous two talents combined. And more dangerous too."
"Dangerous?" Link echoed. "What kind of danger are we talking about?"
Without waiting for a reply, he promptly demonstrated to Ryze a technique he’d picked up in the previous tiline—using domain expansion to shield his presence from detection.
Ryze was montarily stunned. Then he smiled again. "Well, aren’t you full of surprises? I didn’t think you’d learn that already. Impressive. But I’ll tell you this—no matter how wide or thick you expand your domain as a shield, it won’t block Gaze of Truth. That talent is just that overwhelming."
Link’s jaw tightened in disbelief. "No way. Not even a domain-type talent can block it? That powerful?"
Ryze nodded solemnly.
"Years ago, I had the misfortune—or perhaps the honor—of encountering a mber of the Thousand-Eyed Clan on the battlefield. I witnessed Gaze of Truth firsthand. That’s how I know its power isn’t just a legend."
He paused, then added, "But interestingly enough, I also stumbled upon a few old records while studying the archives. And according to so of them... there might be ways to block it. Not guaranteed, but possible."
"Really? How?" Link leaned in eagerly, eyes wide with curiosity.
Ryze mimicked his expression, raising two fingers dramatically.
"There are two known thods. The first—wait for a miracle."
"A miracle?"
"Yes. Hope that soone in the human race awakens a talent strong enough—at least SSS-grade—that can block any form of extrasensory perception in existence. If such a talent exists, it could counteract Gaze of Truth directly."
"In other words, a perfect counter-chanism. You can see everything, I can block everything. At that point, Link, do you know what it cos down to?"
Without hesitation, Link answered, "The skill of the esper themselves."
"Exactly!" Ryze bead. "When two talents are at the sa tier and counter each other in essence, the deciding factor becos the person wielding them."
"And that miraculous blocking talent I ntioned? It really did exist once in our history. Its na—Weaver of Fate."
"Weaver of Fate and Gaze of Truth are like water and fire. Natural opposites. They counter each other, and neither can claim total dominance."
Hearing this, Link felt he was finally beginning to understand the magnitude of Gaze of Truth’s abilities. But he also realized that no one in his generation had awakened Weaver of Fate. At least, not to his knowledge.
Yet Ryze had said there were two thods to deal with it.
"What about the second one, ntor?" he asked quickly.
Ryze didn’t leave him hanging.
"Link, do you rember one of the seven sages of humanity—the heroes who defeated the ten moonfolk warlords? There was one nad Pryde."
"Of course!" Link replied instantly. "Every esper knows the nas of the 7 Sages by heart! I could recite all of them for you right now if you want!"
"Spare ," Ryze chuckled. "That won’t be necessary. What I want to tell you is this—before Pryde beca a sage, he too fought against a Thousand-Eyed Clan, much like I did."
"But unlike , he suffered a terrible loss. Two of his companions were killed by that creature, thanks to the relentless probing of Gaze of Truth."
Link clenched his fists. The more he heard about the moonfolk, the more hatred welled up inside him.
"But as fate would have it, among those two fallen companions, one possessed a truly unique talent: Death Inheritance. An SSS-level ability."
"The effect?" Ryze continued. "It allows the user to transfer both their own talent and that of a chosen target to another person—temporarily—for 30 minutes."
Link’s eyes widened. "Wait... don’t tell ..."
Ryze nodded gravely. "You guessed it. That brave soul used Death Inheritance to bestow his own SSS-grade talent, along with the other companion’s, to Pryde—the sole survivor."
"And once Pryde possessed three SSS-grade talents simultaneously, sothing incredible happened. The Thousand-Eyed Clan’s perception plumted. It was as if it had gone blind. It could no longer pierce through Pryde’s abilities."
"This event led Pryde to a groundbreaking theory, one he recorded in his moirs. He believed that if a single individual could carry enough SSS-level talents at once, they could overload and break the sensing limit of Gaze of Truth."
"In other words, sheer talent accumulation could overwhelm even the all-seeing eye of the Thousand-Eyed Clan."
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