Chapter 574: Experiment

Years went by, and throughout that time, Anthony and Vega did nothing but train, relentlessly, in absolute silence and utter focus.

Anthony had expected that Vega, with her usual playful personality, would at least disturb him once or twice, if only to lighten the atmosphere. But it seemed that expectation had been nothing more than wishful thinking.

Anthony had never trained an Authority before. The only thing he could confidently say about the process was that it was excruciatingly difficult.

He had no prior experience, no references to consult, and not even his Primordial Bloodline provided him with guidance. There were no ancient memories to fall back on, no innate wisdom to draw from.

And yet, that didn’t deter him.

The absence of precedent, guidance, or instruction meant nothing to Anthony. Just because he lacked a manual didn’t mean he couldn’t forge a path of his own. His Talent wasn’t called Limitless for no reason.

At one point, Anthony had attempted to purchase materials or manuals that could help him better understand and train the Authority of Severance through the system. But the moment he saw the price, he didn’t even bother checking for more affordable alternatives.

It wasn’t even remotely reasonable.

Despite his overwhelming power, Anthony had grown accustomed to conserving his monthly spending points. He liked the security of knowing he had them available in case of emergencies.

Once in a while, he regretted that the points couldn’t accumulate over time. There were months, sometimes even an entire year, where he didn’t buy a single thing. All those unspent points… simply vanished into nothingness.

Nonetheless, Anthony pressed forward. He had even begun experimenting with the Authority of Severance on himself, and from those seemingly reckless trials, he had made substantial progress.

Through the threads of connection the Authority allowed him to perceive, Anthony discovered he could sense individuals linked to him. At that moment, he had no idea where his father or mother were, but by following the threads originating from himself and extending toward them, he realized he could either travel to them manually, or sever the distance entirely and appear before them in an instant.

If anyone had witnessed the experiments Anthony had conducted on his own body, they would likely have branded him insane. At one point, he severed his own vision, not just symbolically, but literally, and then attempted to restore it using light magic and healing spells.

His sight returned.

But then he went further. He severed it again, this time not simply cutting it off, but erasing the very concept of his vision from existence. He once again tried using light and healing magic to restore it, but this time, nothing happened. His world remained dark.

Calmly, Anthony reconnected the thread of vision, and just like that, it returned.

After years of painstaking experimentation and training, Anthony had reached the point where he could erase minor things from existence entirely. Not just disable them, erase them, as though they had never been. He couldn’t yet erase a person or something of significant weight or complexity, but smaller entities, like rats, insects, or small animals, were well within his capabilities.

While this wasn’t groundbreaking by the standards of the universe’s strongest beings, it was a milestone nonetheless, and Anthony was proud of the progress he had made. He was not so delusional as to believe that training the Authority of Severance for ten years would allow him to erase anything and everything on a whim.

Even Quantum Manipulation, an ability regarded as one of the most reality defying, hadn’t reached such a level, and in terms of potential power, it was arguably weaker than the Authority of Severance.

Anthony dared to experiment on himself because he knew he could reverse it. But, of course, that reversal had its own constraints.

When he severed something, the corresponding thread began to fade from existence. As long as he reconnected it with a mere thought before it fully disappeared, whatever had been severed would return, whole and untouched.

But once a thread faded completely, it was gone for good, unless he resorted to time magic, healing, or another suitable form of restoration. Only then would the thread and what it represented be brought back.

Anthony didn’t immediately attempt grandiose feats with the Authority. He was well aware of his other overpowered abilities. His focus now was laying a stable and comprehensive foundation, mastering the thread system, before progressing to higher applications.

After all, who was to say that someone out there wasn’t born with an Authority as their natural Talent? Kingsley himself had a Concept as an ability, something that didn’t even belong to this galaxy. So, the idea of someone wielding an Authority from birth wasn’t entirely far-fetched.

Time continued to pass, and Anthony continued to subject himself to rigorous experimentation. As long as he didn’t experience unbearable pain, he was willing to push his body to any limit, as long as he knew he could reverse it.

Eventually, Anthony stepped into a new realm, the erasure of skills.

Walking, for instance, was a skill, so was combat. So, he decided to test the theory.

He severed his own ability to walk, and instantly, his legs gave out beneath him. But he didn’t fall. The space around him twisted and caught him, a mere flicker of his will anchoring him in place.

With another thought, he restored the skill, then moved to the next test, breathing.

He severed it, and at once, his respiration ceased. His lungs were still intact, his diaphragm functional, his airways unobstructed. He knew how breathing worked, he remembered the rhythm of inhalation and exhalation, but his body no longer understood. It had forgotten how to perform the act.

Anthony stared at the thread representing his breathing, it was dimming rapidly. He cast healing and light magic, but nothing worked. Finally, he opened the System Shop and purchased a basic Breathing Skill. The moment he did, his breathing resumed. The fading thread instantly flared with light and reconnected, without him having to control it.

Emboldened by this, Anthony moved on to a more advanced test: the ability to fight, a skill people refined over the course of their entire lives.

But this time, he failed.

He couldn’t sever it.

Despite being able to erase smaller creatures or basic physical functions, he couldn’t sever something as vast and abstract as the will and ability to fight. He suspected it had something to do with existential hierarchy, the difference in levels of being.

Perhaps the Authority could work on someone at the Paragon Rank, or below. But Anthony’s current control over it was insufficient to affect himself or others of equal or higher standing, or those protected by complex defensive principles.

Still, the thought lingered in his mind: The Forsaken Cult.

He imagined a scene where he stood amid their army and severed their collective ability to fight. Where they forgot how to wield their magic, how to swing a sword, how to form even the most basic spells, or even throw a punch.

The idea made Anthony smile.

Then, without wasting a second, he delved even deeper into refining his control over the Authority. He still had half a decade left to train.

And he fully intended to use every single second, without rest, without pause.