Jason frowns at Ascendance only going up 0.003 percent. ‘Well, at least now I know it isn’t locked at two decimal points. Though yeah, I can’t just mull over stuff like this until I max it. I already had some understanding of this sort of thing and this was simply connecting it together. An important thing to do and if it was entirely new information or realizations would likely be worth more. Hell, the fact I gained so much is saying something. Substance going up more than a quarter is already well worth it.’

‘Though thinking about it, aren’t I doing exactly the same thing as I said the Fire mana mage was? In fact, I have three concepts being mixed in with my power instead of one. But it doesn’t feel the same. If it was like fire Mana, I would have something like Ascendant Energy instead of just Energy. Except I already know the answer to this, don’t I? I’m not adding in another form of power like a fire mage is. Rather, I am cutting out parts of Energy itself to limit myself so I don’t have to comprehend Energy as a whole.’

‘I’ve touched the immortal by starting smaller. This is like how in my old life someone would focus on understanding the minor path of Fire before they would attempt to understand the main path of Yang.’ A quick check of the blue screen shows this truly was just reiterating what he already knew as none of the concepts improved.

‘With Ascendance and Substance, I already have a good idea of how they are a part of Energy. Mana and Qi, while being original powers, are not the original power. Energy is The original power and each understanding raises you up. Besides that, the world doesn’t have Mana or Qi in its core. No, Energy makes up the world and so provides the Substance to this reality in a way that neither the more ephemeral Mana or Qi can.’

‘But how does Civilization fit into this? My concepts aren’t even from this place in the first place! I built them up out of the random stew of powers that is my life outside of NeoRealm. Why does it even transfer in the first place? And it isn’t like I have other Energy users to compare with. All I have is Lily with me.’

Jason pets Lily who at some point had ended up in his lap while he was meditating. “Though that does bring up the question of how you are doing. We haven’t really been able to hang out as much recently, have we? Sure, you hang out with me when I cultivate every night but Rosha has really been monopolizing you during the day whenever she can. Not that I blame her of course. It must hurt having to separate in a few days. Anyway, System, show me Lily’s status please.”

{Basic Info

Name: Lily

Race: Free Rabbit

Level: 14 - 99.99%

Legal Status: Local Companion

Title: Breaker of the Natural Order - effects of predator suppression decreased

Normal Stats

• Strength 23 ( 12[Base] + 11[SP] ) [ +3 ]
• Toughness 19 ( 9[Base] + 10[SP] )
• Agility 48 ( 23[Base] + 25[SP] )

Auxiliary Stats

• Defense 5 ( 5[Base] )
• HP 50
• Energy 3}

Jason smiles, ‘Seems like you’re doing alright. I am holding you back a smidge but that will let us try and star your stats. Just looking at it seems you’ve gained a few strength from somewhere which is nice. I guess being level locked will allow that kind of thing. Though how does that work with bottlenecks? Couldn’t someone perfect their stats by not breaking through? I guess I have something else to ask Gregor about later.’

‘Still only three Energy though. Speaking of which, why does it seem different? The word Energy seems to almost be shaking when I’m not staring directly at it.’

“System, show me Lily’s Energy stat”

{Energy: 3}

‘There is something going on with that! She doesn’t have a conceptual panel like I do. Or at least not one I can see. But what if it was there? I clearly don’t get to see all of her info because the skills and such are missing. That sadly will have to wait for her to be able to open them herself and share. But my concepts panel is just another part of the stats page.’

“System, show me Lily’s conceptual stats.”

{Conceptual Energy

• Civilization 2.8%}

‘How does she have a better concept of civilization than I do? That doesn’t make any sense! Even if she was gaining something from me, she would be stuck behind me. Unless. Unless, this isn’t related to me. Just like some monsters naturally are born with fire Mana, what if Lily had naturally gained the concept of Civilization?’

‘While with me she has evolved from a serf to being free. What if her variant of rabbit continues with that? The current percentage is equal to a fifth of her level so maybe part of her natural advancement involves a deepening understanding of the concept? That would explain the fear everyone has of the rabbits. If there is one thing worse than a strong monster, it is an organization of monsters. One goblinoid monster isn’t scary but once you start getting higher variants to organize the mess the resulting army is apocalyptic if not taken care of.’

‘But Lily isn’t just an Energy variant. If she was, she would have been like the other rabbits that evolved around me, a spiky rabbit. Something caused her to evolve into a rare variant of Energy rabbit. The only problem is that even at max level she won’t have gotten a full understanding of Civilization. Says the guy who can’t even get a full percent of it, but yeah, there must be something missing there. The System must be messing with things to prevent a complete understanding while still here.’

‘Oh hey, just realized something. That strange flicker with her Energy stat must be because of my new title. Concepts are related to advancing towards immortality. I was able to notice something was up because her Energy stat wasn’t completely mortal anymore. It was different enough that the System couldn’t hide it from me. Though that does bring up another question. Does everyone have a concepts panel?’