The Cycle of Fate

Chapter 19: "Dangerous Jungle"

    Lumian thought for a moment and said, "The body, mind, and spirit gravitate towards the giver because the granted power carries the giver's mark?"

    He inferred this from the fact that the Extraordinary characteristics contain remnants of the original creator and previous owners' spirits.

    Although the granted power is pure and free of characteristics, it probably still bears the owner's influence.

    The lady holding the Tarot cards nodded approvingly and said, "Your logic is not bad. You should thank Aurore for giving you a solid basic education."

    I don't need you to remind me of that... Lumian muttered to himself.

    The lady continued, "Even if the giver doesn't intend to influence the recipient, it's difficult to avoid the recipient gravitating towards the giver in body, mind, and spirit. The granted power, if not imbued with the giver's will, would be difficult for the recipient to control and would quickly dissipate.

    "Therefore, the blessings from the true gods are usually temporary and controlled to a certain extent."

    Do the evil gods not care what happens to the recipients of their gifts? Lumian nodded thoughtfully and curiously asked, "Can an Extraordinary person, I mean someone with Extraordinary characteristics, still receive blessings? Wouldn't the two conflict and lead to a loss of control?"

    The lady smiled at Lumian and shook her head, "There would be some conflict, but not much.

    "Think about it: the granted power will cause your body to change toward that of the giver, while your body originally exists in a state adapted to your own Extraordinary characteristics. If the changes become too significant, it would conflict with your Extraordinary characteristics until a new balance is found.

    "Since this conflict doesn't involve the mind or spirit, it generally won't cause you to lose control, unless you're already close to a mental breakdown at that time.

    "The only issue is that you might have to get used to seeing yourself grow a third eye or a fourth arm with a calm mind.

    "Of course, that's assuming the granted power stays with you for a long time and the corresponding persona is of a high level; otherwise, the minor changes in your body can be ignored."

    Lumian nodded and asked, "What if the blessing comes from the same or an adjacent pathway?"

    The lady nodded, "Indeed, that won't cause any conflict."

    She then smiled, "But that doesn't mean there won't be any physical changes."

    What does that mean? Lumian wanted to ask further, but the lady smiled and said, "I thought you'd be eager to ask about the time loop after learning about the Circle members, but instead, you're focusing on knowledge that might not even be useful in the future.

    "That's not like you!"

    Lumian gave a self-deprecating smile, "I originally wanted to ask if you had a way to help us break the time loop, but I remembered something you once said: 'The price for solving the problem would be the destruction of the entire village of Cordu, with everyone dying. To get a better outcome, you have to figure it out yourself.'

    "Before, I couldn't understand that, but now I think I have a guess.

    "Is it that, as someone outside the loop, the only way for you to break it is to destroy everything directly?"

    The lady nodded approvingly, "That's indeed the case."

    "Then why didn't you make that clear before?" Lumian couldn't help but ask.