It was like a white light that dwelled in his body, permeating every aspect of it, but not tangible in the sense that one could see or sense it. It was the connection between his soul and flesh, allowing the two to transfer information, feelings and resonate with each other.
Without a soul, a person would just be a meat bag with no sentience. Without a body, a person would just be a weak wandering soul with no means to affect the corporeal world. Without a spirit, a person would become like an undead, aware and able to function, but never whole.
The best case scenario was having a split personality disorder as the mind and body did not connect and gave contradictory orders, and the worst case was being vegetative yet somewhat aware.
Anthony was cautious in mobilizing his spirit, allowing it to meld with his body at this time, especially his blood. Stimulated by the intense movement, it too began flowing at 75 times the speed, allowing Anthony to feel like his entire being was empowered.
This left the third and final stage, Soul Infusion: All Essence As One. Here, he had to walk through the line that connected his spirit to the rest of his body and contact his soul. He would then have to infuse his soul essence into the boiling blood to achieve soul infusion.
As for All Essence as One, once there was a perfect cycle formed between his three essences; blood, spirit, and soul, they could form a tri-force that would brand itself on his forehead.
This was the Sage Mode.
Anthony began by traversing the connection between his spirit to find his soul. It was located in his brain, near the back of the skull. It was not connected to the organ, but existed in an ethereal state that made it intangible.
Anthony ever so gently stimulated his soul to flow down the connection and merge with his blood. This was a gentle and careful process, like carrying a crate of eggs down a flight of stairs.
One misstep, and there would be hell to pay. Normally, those of the Sage Monkey clan would practice the first 2 stages over and over again until they got the hang of it, because they could at least afford to fail there.
The third stage though, was a chasm with a tightrope. Fail here, and there wouldn't be any coming back. Anthony naturally liked being alive, so he had long been practicing the first two stages.
Now, it was time to attempt stage 3, and he was extremely furtive about it. Most would want to move it along quickly in order to create fewer chances to make an error, not to mention that his blood was still boiling with his spirit, and that could not go on forever.
Anthony ignored all that and continued to move slowly but cautiously, until he was able to infuse his soul into the combination. Immediately, his eyes burst open, their golden color filled with light as they illuminated the entire room like torches.
His golden fur thickened and became reddish in color, while his body firmed up. He began to exude an aura similar to Gunner's own from his Earth's Guardian, only that this one was golden in color.
A triforce symbol emerged on his forehead, the top triangle being black, the bottom left triangle being silver and the bottom right triangle being blood red. The moment it established itself, Anthony's changes subsided as he remained floating in the air.
However, anyone could see that there was definitely something different about him, something that was hard to pinpoint exactly. It just felt like he no longer had any biological, spiritual, and foundational flaws.
Anthony landed on the ground with legs two feet, gazing at his glowing fur and feeling the power in his body. He now understood why a Sage Monkey would not feel complete until they unlocked this form, because they truly were only half-baked without it.
His piercing golden eyes gazed towards the door before him as Anthony grinned and walked through. In the second battle room, 55 level 6 monsters rushed out at him.
Knowing that this transformation had a limited duration, Anthony directly raised his hand and used the spell he had never dared to in his life, Stabilize!
[Stabilize - Level 20 Spell (For Anthony only)
Grade: Basic
Cost: 25% of maximum HP, MP, and STA permanently
Description: Bend reality to your will to introduce order to the world. You are able to fully control reality for 20 seconds in a range of 20 meters around your body.]
Immediately, he felt a domain emerged from his body that encapsulated a short-range around him in all directions. Anthony didn't even need to spell feedback to tell him that within this range, he was practically God.
What he decided was true, was true and what he decided was false, would be false. He directly turned the monsters rushing at him from the wood element to the fire element at once.
From vine monsters, miniature Ents, and mushroom warriors, they became fire imps, will-o-wisps, and salamanders. This kind of ability directly overturned every law of Faust that kept the world stable, as this kind of power overrode the laws in the first place.
Hence, the cost.
While Anthony was playing around with his new power, Martin could only silently log these changes in the cloud while tsking. This Apprentice of his father was really a monster, and with this new ability, he would become a very dangerous foe to deal with even for his father.
[Name: Anthony Sabins
Race: Half-Human, Half-Beastman (Sage Monkey Clan)
Class: Mage
Subclass: Multi-Elementalist
HP: 5,100/5,100 (4,340)
MP: 1,840/1,840 (2,408)
STA: 1,500/1,500 (1,960)
Level: 20 (28) (Author's Note: Also adjusted for consistency)
Strength: 68 (62)
Agility: 70 (67)
Endurance: 75 (70)
Intellect: 92 (86)
Charisma: 42 (40)
Luck: 70
P-Status: Empowered
M-Status: Calm
Affection: Worship lvl 3
Notes: Target has comprehended Sage Monkey bloodline ability 'Sage Mode', a special form that negates all penalties and costs for using magic temporarily. Increasing Talent and Potential grades to EX+.]
