Way of the Knights

Chapter 592 - Individuality

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The more Raven inspected the interior of the checkpoint, the more he was convinced that this place is certainly made for giants. 

Everything here was supersized, he even found a flight of stairs which would require them to leap just to get up. 

Nevertheless, since they received the word of the Guardian here, it means that they were free to take shelter in here. 

Speaking of the Guardian, Raven still found it weird that he seems to be paying attention to him. Raven surely didn't offend the Guardian nor did anything worth of notice to solicit his attention, he's just a supportive member here, so he didn't understand why the Guardian was even paying attention to him. 

He tried asking the War Gods about it but they were similarly clueless about it. All they told him is that, the Guardian didn't have any ill intent when he did that so Raven can rest easy that they're not in any danger. 

In anyways, Raven had nothing else to do other than to follow their words. He knew nothing anyway so he could only just go with the flow. Additionally, he truly didn't feel any ill intent from the Guardian, if anything it was more or curiosity, so he was convinced that the Guardian truly didn't mean them any harm. 

Now that they're here in the checkpoint, the War Gods were surely taking it easy. They decided to spend a whole week in here before continuing the journey. Raven didn't mind this at all so he agreed. 

And just as they say, there were truly merchants in here which offered some supplies to them in exchange for Merit Points. 

The merchants aren't giants, they were humanoids at least. Raven didn't mind their appearance that much and decided to re-supply since he had the Merit Points to spend anyway. Once he replenished his supplies, he went back with the team to rent some rooms within the checkpoint. 

It wasn't just their team who were in this very checkpoint as well. There are several individuals or teams who were taking shelter in here just like them. The Checkpoint has some private rooms which could be rented at the cost of a little bit of Merit Points. Their team rented their own private rooms and decided to meet up one week from now. 

Raven guessed that the War Gods wanted to relax for a bit or spend some 'quality time' with some pretty lasses that were giggling at their presence earlier. 

Well, that no longer his business. What matters to Raven is that, now's a good time for him to seclude himself once more within the Crown Space, to hopefully make some breakthroughs. 

One week isn't that long at all, so he wanted to get this done as swiftly as he could. 

Raven went towards his private room and sealed the doors shut, he even placed a sign at the door telling everyone to not bother him. Once he made the necessary preparations, he entered the Crown Space and started his seclusion. 

Sitting down on the Stargazing Mats, and consuming some supplements, he started his breakthrough. 

Raven's mind immediately became muddled. He's in void state where he didn't know anything yet also knew everything - the State of Enlightenment to be exact. Typically this state only comes by chance but Raven managed to find a way to access this state 9 times out of 10 through some special methods. 

In this state, Raven's mind is in absolute clarity. His mind is extremely sensitive and could perceive the ultimate secrets of the world. This is undoubtedly the most optimal state for him to achieve his breakthrough. 

Raven spend weeks sitting like that until one day, his body suddenly released muffled sounds of shattering glass. His face still looked serene and empty while this is happening though. Out of nowhere, Raven's eyes started resembling torches glaring with bright gray light. 

His deep baritone voice echoed throughout his surroundings, saying:

"I am neither my past, nor my future. I might not be my present either. I am the one who knows about my past, account those experiences to my present and looks forward to my future. My past, present and future are only fragments of the possible reality which will only happen due to natural progression. It doesn't represent who I am, so it is not I, who knew and had the power to change those outcomes."

"Such...is the Concept of Individuality! Break!" 

*Crack!* *Boom!*

Explosive shattering sounds occurred once more from within his body, causing Raven's body to fiercely shook from the impact. A gray curtain of light immediately descended and covered Raven silhouette. 

For a brief moment there, Raven's appearance shifted from being old to being an infant and back to his regular appearance. It only occurred for a short period of time before all silhouettes merged together and become one. 

The gray light around Raven's body became even more brilliant. It covered his silhouette for sometime before fading away. Once it's gone, Raven could be seen back at where he was sitting from before. He didn't look nor feel any different from before but Raven surely is vastly different from before he made his breakthrough. 

The concepts Spacetime Laws are: Continuum, Individuality, Parallelism, Timeline and Singularity. 

[A/N:  I originally wrote it so that Parallelism comes before Individuality, now I switched their positions because It'd feel more proper.]

Raven already mastered the concept of Continuum - allowing him to have access with the past present and the future, he could even travel in them in order to change the outcomes should he wanted to. The concept of Individuality, the second concept amongst the five that Spacetime Laws have. It deals with the 'Identity Crises' that could prove lethal to anyone who uses Spacetime Laws a lot. 

Interfering with the trinity of realities always poses risks. Sure, Spacetime Laws allow one to have some 'safety' while doing that but it's not thorough. Interfere too much and the seed of confusion will surely take root and cause some headaches. 

There is a chance that interfering with the trinity of realities too much could make someone crazy, unable to discern who they truly were anymore. It was due to this that Raven didn't dare to use Spacetime Laws irresponsibly.

The concept of Individuality fixes that. By gaining enlightenment of it, it serves an as anchor to one's sense of reality. The Past, the Future, and even the Present doesn't truly represent the 'reality' of somebody. These are merely outcomes - products of the infinite possibilities that exist in the universe. 

Using the 'Present' to anchor one's self to 'reality' isn't wrong, but it's not right either. In order to truly cement one's sense of identity, one has to realize that the Trinity of Realities presented by the Continuum Concept is nothing more than mere 'outcomes'. 

The Concept of Individuality is extremely important since it doesn't only anchors one to their sense of self but also builds a solid foundation for what's about to come next - the Concept of Parallelism. 

If the Trinity of Realities could cause someone to lose their sense of self, then encountering the Parallel Worlds will cause someone to lose their sense of existence. Even though Raven is yet to achieve that stage, he could already imagine how it feels to doubt your very own existence, specially once you witness many versions of yourself living completely different lives than you have. 

Spacetime Laws gives one the possibility to realize Immortality, yes. But it doesn't mean that getting there poses no danger. One has to tread very carefully and make to sure to not lose themselves at the process, or else everything will be for naught. 

Raven's breakthrough of Spacetime Laws eventually subsided but his windfall has yet to end...

He's still currently at the State of Enlightenment, and it doesn't look like he's going to wake up from it anytime soon. 

On the surface, his appearance might look very serene but inwardly, it's the complete opposite. 

His Inner Cosmos surged, it revolved by itself, causing some strong reactions to occur. As his Cosmic Energy stirred violently, Raven's strength was wildly fluctuation. 

His muscles bulged without his knowledge, veins started protruding from his neck and a towering aura suddenly emerged from his body. His Destruction Domain as well as his pseudo-Slaughter Intent emerged as well. If one observed closely, it was easy to discover that the domain was expanding, most likely without Raven's knowledge. 

Law Diagrams from his body suddenly showed themselves, some were being broken down into pieces at a speed visible to the naked eye. Numerous insights fused with Raven, turning into food for his laws, allowing them to progress even further. 

Muffled yet loud explosive sounds could be heard from within his body. All of a sudden, Raven's body shook visibly as one final explosion sounded. 

Then, his aura climbed to heavens. His domain expanded greatly and a wave of strength filled every fibers of his being. Raven's eyes regained their brilliance, he woke up from the State of Enlightenment just in time to understand what occurred to him. 

"Not only did I break through the 2nd Concept for my Spacetime Laws, I also advanced to late-Saint Knight Realm. Feels great!"