CHAPTER 332: UNCHARTED PATH [2]

Hmm... Only 8%?

A part of me wanted to be disappointed.

After everything I’d been through—fighting assassins, monsters, and corrupted beasts, facing down an Abyssal Overseer, nearly getting my soul scammed out of me—I was only at eight percent? What was the scale here? A thousand?

But the more I looked at it, the more it made a frustrating kind of sense.

My path was a combination of these nodes, which meant a wider foundation and a larger investment of time and effort to make it all work together. It wasn’t enough to just be good at one thing; I had to be decent at several and then figure out how to mash them into something new.

...Right?

But it also promised me more power and flexibility. Heck, I was practically walking each of these paths simultaneously.

And it reminded me of those jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none classes from the stories. Potentially overpowered in the right hands, but requiring exponentially more work to reach that potential.

...I can become OP too.

But... it shouldn’t be that hard, right? Looking at the next threshold, it was only two percent away. How difficult could it be to fill that?

...Hmmm.

If I had to guess in a logical sense, I’d probably need to get the two "manifesting" nodes—Mystic and that weird Dual-Aspect Specialist thing—to reach the "integrated" stage like Warrior and Channeler. Just practice them more, get them solid.

Then my eyes dropped to the note below the cohesion percentage.

Cohesion will increase through practice, integration of new nodes, and synthesis of existing aspects.

Practice. Adding new nodes. And... synthesis.

...I see.

I nodded slowly, the realization clicking into place. It wasn’t just about getting better at each thing individually. That was part of it, sure. But the real key, the thing that would really push the number up, was the last part.

Synthesis.

Making the fire and the fists work together. Figuring out how the mind magic could twist the healing light or the chilling flames. Weaving them, not just stacking them. Those Hybrid Paths must have been created like that as well.

That was going to be the hard part. And that was what would make this path actually worth the trouble.

Okay. Two percent. Let’s see what happens.

Speaking of which, there was that too. My eyes landed on the predicted outcome again.

[Predicted Outcome: Unlock foundational Path ability. Reveal latent synergies between Nodes.]

Did that mean... I’d awaken a unique ability, something that was truly mine, born from this weird combination of skills? Not a Warrior technique or a Channeler spell, but something entirely new that belonged to my nameless path.

And latent synergies... would it actually show me the possible combinations? Like a recipe list for hybrid techniques? That would be insane. No more guessing. I’d know exactly what to aim for.

That would be really, really amazing and useful.

A fresh wave of motivation hit me. That two percent gap didn’t seem like a chore anymore; it felt like a countdown to a huge discovery. I just had to bridge it.

With a final, determined look at the cohesion percentage, I closed the analysis window. The breathtaking visual of the Pathway tree filled my view again.

Alright, time for a closer inspection.

I turned my attention to the largest branch, the Warrior’s node. As I focused on its thick, resilient form, a new, smaller information window popped up beside it.

━━━◇◆◇━━━

[The Warrior’s Thread]

State: [Integrated]

Aspects Gleaned: Body Tempering, Battle Insight

Synergy Potential: [Analyzing...]

Notable Techniques/Abilities/etc:

- Weapon Mastery (Intermediate*)

- Unarmed Combat (Adept)

- Physical Resilience (Intermediate)

Next Integration Step: [Achieve mastery in a weapon-based martial style or advanced body enhancement art.]

━━━◇◆◇━━━

Huh. So it was tracking my specific skills under each node. And it wanted me to pick a weapon?

I filed that away for later.

My gaze shifted to the second-largest branch, the Channeler’s node. Another window materialized.

━━━◇◆◇━━━

[The Channeler’s Thread]

State: [Integrated]

Aspects Gleaned: Elemental Conductivity (Ice/Fire), Aura Currents

Synergy Potential: [Analyzing...]

Notable Techniques/Abilities/etc:

- Elemental Projection (*)

- Glacia Sinfonia (Basic Form)

- Basic Aura Barrier

- Virion’s Blessing

Next Integration Step: [Develop sustained elemental manipulation or combine two elements.]

━━━◇◆◇━━━

Combine two elements? Ice and fire? That sounded... explosively messy. And difficult. But thankfully, it was already on my list.

Next, I focused on the smaller, ethereal branch, the Mystic’s Thread. The info window that appeared was noticeably less detailed.

━━━◇◆◇━━━

[The Mystic’s Thread]

State: [Manifesting]

Aspects Latent: Thought, Perception, Will

Synergy Potential: [Pending Node Stability]

Notable Techniques/Abilities/etc:

- Mind’s Thread (Novice)

- Pulse of The Unseen

- Affinity/Empathic Resonance

Next Integration Step: [Practice mental arts until the node stabilizes. Successful defense against a mental attack will significantly accelerate progress.]

━━━◇◆◇━━━

Right. So I needed to actually use the mental stuff more. And hopefully not get my brain scrambled in the process.

Finally, I looked at the most unusual node, the Dual-Aspect Specialist sapling. The window for it was the most intriguing.

━━━◇◆◇━━━

[Specialist Thread: Dual-Aspect]

State: [Manifesting]

Aspects Latent: Mending, Purging

Synergy Potential: [High Risk / High Reward]

Notable Techniques/Abilities/etc:

- Mender’s Paradox (Novice)

- Exorcist’s Gaze (Novice)

Next Integration Step: [Successfully perform a complex healing OR purify a significant corruption. Attempting to use both aspects in tandem may force stability or fracture.]

━━━◇◆◇━━━

Use both in tandem? The green healing light and the chilling blue flames... together? The thought was equal parts terrifying and fascinating. The system itself called it high risk. But the potential...

I leaned back, my mind buzzing. This wasn’t just a status screen; it was a training manual. It was giving me homework. Specific, actionable homework to turn these separate threads into a cohesive whole.

The path to 10% was clear. I just had to do the work.

I took a final, long look at the intricate, glowing tree of my potential, committing its structure and the assigned homework to memory. With a mental command, I closed the Pathways tab.

The magnificent tree slowly began to dissolve from the outermost leaves inward, each branch and node retracting into shimmering motes of light that flowed back towards the central trunk.

The trunk itself then compressed, folding in on itself until it was once again that single, brilliant point of azure light at the center of my vision.

It held there for a heartbeat, pulsing softly, before winking out of existence, leaving behind the familiar, minimalist dashboard.

The return to simplicity was almost jarring after such a spectacular display.

My eyes immediately landed on the notification that had been patiently waiting this whole time.

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Let’s see what else we got...