He had received so much information.
And it was entirely different from the education and information he had been exposed to before... one might even say it was completely opposite.
Whether Naifertali beca confused and unable to accept it, or despaired to the point of hysteria for having been deceived until now, or did not believe their words at all—it would all be understandable.
Annan and Benjamin had both made the necessary preparations.
But what they did not expect...
Was that Naifertali calmly accepted everything.
"...So it is."
She murmured softly.
A bright fla flickered in her eyes.
"Did you anticipate this?"
Annan asked with interest.
—You didn’t say that before.
Naifertali simply shook her head.
"No," she looked at Annan and answered seriously, "to be precise, it was after we ca out of the nightmare... It was then that I suddenly felt a sense of discord.
"Although I did not beco a Transcendent by gaining power directly from the nightmare, it seems I gained sothing from it. It greatly enhanced my intuition."
Naifertali extended her slender right index finger and pointed vaguely at her temple, her expression sober and calm, just biting her lip slightly: "Although the teacher deceived a lot... the talents I developed were not wasted. My mind did not beco foolish because of it.
"And after waking up, I took a potion to strengthen my thinking ability right away. Although I almost completely forgot the scenes in the nightmare, I instinctively doubted the teacher... I trust my own intuition.
"I must have seen sothing at that ti."
Naifertali said gravely: "If it made doubt the teacher, it must be vehently contradictory to sothing I knew. Even if I forgot that thing, since this feeling remains in my heart... it is a ’trace’ left by the past , it is also the ’clue’ for my suspicions."
"That is the power of ’Understanding’."
Annan answered.
He spoke slowly: "This nightmare does not bestow curse powers, but it can directly make a person adapt to the ’Understanding’ elent. In other words, it can directly give a person who does not possess the talent of a Transcendent, the ticket to advance to Gold rank."
"I understand."
Naifertali nodded: "Not everyone can extract elents from their own soul. Intense and pure desire itself is also a talent.
"It represents a person’s ’orientation’... This is also the result of the teacher’s research. Damn, I should have realized this earlier..."
People’s thoughts are scattered, and desires are fickle. Being restless and uncontrollable is the norm for most people... Strong desires in themselves can beco unmanageable.
The ability to always crystallize desire in a certain direction, to move forward in that direction driven by desire, is the adaptability to elents.
For example, ’painting demons,’ ’music demons,’ or ’those mad with power,’ ’those who would pay any price for justice’—the ’desires’ of such people are the qualifications for advancent to Gold.
It can indeed be ford later in life.
But it is mostly not sothing that can be artificially cultivated.
Even the weakest mortals, if given a complete guide by a Ritualist or a cleric to stabilize their minds, can overco nightmares and beco Transcendents. Then by continuously feeding them ’nightmares with strategies,’ they can easily level up.
At least up to the Silver rank, it is possible to be built up through resources.
Those little wizards studying in the Wizard’s Tower are basically just hoping to beco great wizards, to change their lives.
But so people’s lives do not need to be changed through the power gained by becoming Transcendents.
—Not all powerful people fail to beco Transcendents.
It’s just that they know a little more than ordinary people.
They know from the beginning... Gold rank requires talent.
Whether one has this talent can be called ’whether one has the talent of a Transcendent’.
Take Annan’s older brother, Dmitry, for example.
He knew early on that he was unlikely to have the talent for elental adaptability. No matter how strong his desire, he would only beco a madman.
Since it was impossible to advance to Gold rank, there was no chance of transcending to divinity.
Therefore, there was really no need for him to beco a Transcendent.
"Orientation, huh,"
Thinking about this, Annan fell silent for a mont.
He exchanged a glance with Naifertali, his gaze becoming heavy.
He finally understood.
"Dream Eater" Tricino, those "radiant dreams" he devoured as offerings... what exactly were they?
——They were the very "talent of awakening elental power" itself.
Those children, their initial resplendent dreams had been altered. They subsequently beca diocre... Here, the most significant difference might be that their initial "elental adaptability" was plundered by Tricino.
It was indeed an invaluable "offering."
Even though children with such a talent might have a small chance of embarking on the transcendent path—perhaps only one in ten would choose this path, and even fewer would live to reach the silver rank. By then, those whose original intent hadn’t changed would be filtered out again... After all, even if Tricino hadn’t intervened, "original intent" is sothing that could change on its own.
If they could endure these nurous hardships, they would be able to arrive at the position of Stigmatization. To beco true Transcendents.
"Given that, the reason why Justus could suddenly upgrade from a mortal to the gold rank within five years has been found."
Naifertali spoke seriously, "It’s impossible for a normal person to advance so quickly——"
Upon hearing this, Dragon Well Tea, who had been silent by the side, suddenly lifted his head and exchanged a silent glance with the cat sitting on Annan’s lap.
Annan remained expressionless, showing no anomaly.
"Moreover, he encountered virtually no obstacles when advancing from silver to gold rank. At first, I thought it was because of Justus’s exceptional talent. Now it seems that it may be like brother..."
At this point, Naifertali paused.
Annan understood her implication.
If the "Saint of Thieves" Alfonso was an "artificial saint,"
Then Justus might be an "artificial gold rank."
Annan had long since seen it in his nightmares.
The vocation of Model Envoy was not at all Justus’s family career, nor was it a job transfer under the control of the "Grey Professor." Instead, it was the profession held by Justus’s childhood friend "Alison," the young lady he married.
Justus himself also had the talent to beco a Transcendent; it was improbable that he would be looked down upon by his father-in-law. In fact, his father-in-law was even starting to prepare for a mortal son-in-law... How could such a person be so picky about Justus? Not to ntion they were childhood friends, and Justus was even pursued by Alison.
Alison’s family even had a powerful Curse Binding passed down from generation to generation. That is to say, they didn’t actually need a "strong son-in-law" but an "heir."
This indicates they certainly possess the corresponding knowledge to cultivate a Transcendent.
——Then, the question arises.
Since Justus didn’t have the cliched, lodramatic reason of "not being worthy of his childhood friend’s family" when he sought out the Grey Professor,
Why did he go to Grey Tower to study?
What could he learn there?
The Grey Professor wasn’t a rogue, nor was he a Model Envoy. His place most certainly didn’t have a direct promotion to the gold rank for the Model Envoy... And all Alison’s family needed was rely an heir; silver rank would be the best scenario.
Advancing to gold might result in a shorter life and fewer chances to produce offspring.
Therefore, Alison would not possibly wish for Justus to advance to the gold rank.
——Hence, the answer is self-evident.
What the Grey Professor gave him was a kind of "Elental Power" that had already hatched completely.
Just like the [Comprehension] Annan and Naifertali received,
It directly added a new talent to a person.
Just as [Comprehension] made Annan and Naifertali’s intuition keener,
The elent gained by Justus would certainly also change his behavior and thought habits——
"Everything matches up."
Annan looked at Naifertali.
Only Naifertali was special.
There were two possibilities here.
"Either it’s because you refused to beco a Transcendent. You perhaps never had the ’Elental Power’ talent to begin with. Considering that you reacted much more intensely after receiving [Comprehension] than I did, this possibility isn’t too low,"
Annan narrowed his eyes, "But if that’s the case, it would an... your uniqueness was decided ’before enrollnt.’"
"Then, there’s the second possibility——"
"——My value lies in my absence of this talent and my unwillingness to beco a Transcendent."
Naifertali continued,
She spoke in a low and sowhat magnetic voice, "I’m an ’anchor.’
"——A living proof of Bone Healer Seti’s genuine existence."
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