Once Kieran dealt with the shock he received from the two previous notifications, Kieran shifted his attention to the matter at hand—actualizing the benefits of the basic Mystic Cipher.
Because Kieran's knowledge of the first three syllables had reached an adequate state, comprehending the fourth character wasn't difficult at all.
He began by extracting the core components of the first three syllables present within the fourth character.
The entire process took less than a minute, which Kieran appreciated.
The monocle-like Mystic Cipher made the Eye of Discerning and the Unveiling Gaze incredibly potent, which led to Kieran discovering where his comprehensive weakness was.
At the same time, he began to wonder about the Mystic Cipher. "If the system judged this as a basic Mystic Cipher, how many are there? Furthermore, how complex could they become?"
Kieran's curiosity stemmed from the sequences employed by Aciayla and Agatha. While they weren't identical to the Mystic Cipher in Kieran's grasp, they were similar.
They couldn't be considered identical because of the number of Archaic Syllables of Eni present within their sequences. Though he didn't blindly trust his senses when it came to mysticism, Kieran felt there were at least triple the number of characters within their Mystic Ciphers.
"Reaching their proficiency with the ciphers will most likely take an outrageous amount of training, but I'm not against it. Though... before I can worry about that, I must focus on venturing as deep as possible without jeopardizing the success of my trial," Kieran muttered.
Since he had discovered a technique like the Mystic Cipher, Kieran felt the trial should be nearing its end, but at the same time, he was somewhat anxious.
Would it truly be as simple as walking this path and learning the Archaic Syllables of Eni?
After asking himself this question, Kieran approached the newly formed Wykin apparition, which seemed more profound than the earlier phantom.
"Young man, you will face the fourth sequence, but be warned, it is far from simple," the apparition said, startling Kieran.
Kieran's foot stagnated, hovering above the subsequent part of the platform. 'The Wykin can speak?'
"You can speak?" Kieran questioned.
However, the apparition merely looked back at him, motionless and silent.
'Is it perhaps a default warning given to all participants in this trial?' Kieran wondered, silently analyzing the specter-like being before him.
Compared to the ones that preceded this remnant of a Wykin, it felt more intact, almost like a living dead. Still, its soulless eyes told Kieran otherwise. It was too unique to regard as a living dead.
A better description was calling it a mystical incarnation.
Despite this somewhat astounding change, Kieran could halt his progress here. He had to resume his advance regardless of warning from this remnant. His Trial Completion was currently 65%.
Since Kieran gathered the Mystic Cipher he learned was for detection purposes, so he didn't apply it during his conjuration of the Fourth Syllable of Eni, not that he could. Employing it was one matter, but compounding was another.
By the time he condensed the sequence into the fourth syllable, he felt the space before him grow heavy and dense, a feeling he hadn't experienced before.
Unlike the previous three syllables, the fourth one seemed mighty enough to cause interference in his manipulation.
'Is this the power of combining the different principles of the first three syllables? No wonder I was given the Mystic Cipher at this point in time. Sure, it has helped me immensely, but it was supplied because it is required. Fortunately, I was patient enough,' Kieran thought.
In Kieran's opinion, preparing for this part of the trial would have been impossible without the Mystic Cipher. He could barely manipulate his Mystic Gate to produce the syllable.
When he finally unleashed his fabrication, Kieran could feel something strange occurring with his syllable. Unlike the first three syllables, the fourth one felt odd and absent of essence despite having filled it correctly.
'What is this feeling?' Kieran asked himself. But he arrived at no answer.
Afterward, when the clash of the two syllables occurred, Kieran felt some subtle indescribable feedback, forcibly being pushed back a step.
The pressure bore down on him and his creation alike, resulting in cracks spreading across the character's exterior. Due to the heaviness of the force, the symbol failed to withstand the clash, shattering to pieces.
Whereas Kieran's conjured character shattered, the Wykin apparition's symbol hurtled toward him, unobstructed and alarming. Kieran was sure that this incoming attack would deliver a different class of pain, and he was correct.
In addition to more pain, Kieran also suffered another setback, or rather, another source of adversity.
〈System: Your «Rooted Mystic Tether» has sustained moderate damage from a more complex «Archaic Syllable of Eni». [Stability: 86%]〉
'It's my first attempt, yet it has dealt damage equal to trying the first three syllables three times. If that's the case… what happens if this symbol becomes fortified? Not only will it be more demanding of my comprehension skills, but the damage will also increase,' Kieran thought, a deepening frown emerging upon his face.
After receiving this notification, another alert followed, which led to Kieran ultimately grimacing.
〈System: If you don't approach the next attempt within 3 minutes, the «Inspirited Wykin Revenant» will make the first move regardless of your current position.〉
Three minutes were far from enough to ponder the inconsistencies in his earlier fabrication.
This naturally led to Kieran feeling a tinge of hopelessness in his mind. Hoping to fortify his fabrication of the Fourth Syllable of Eni within three minutes was impossible.
'One or two tries won't suffice at all,' Kieran inwardly thought.
After the shred of hopelessness rose, Kieran quickly dispelled these negative thoughts. Instead, he accepted the fact the Inspirited Wykin Revenant would approach him once the allotted time elapsed.
Thus, Kieran used his time sparingly, constantly reinforcing the symbol within his Mystic Gate as often as possible. Since he couldn't estimate to what extent the revenant's syllable would be strengthened, Kieran didn't set a limitation on his actions.
He adopted a mindset that let him repeat a monotone action irrespective of his current feelings.
'Although I'm a being of emotion, I understand that they sometimes encumber progress. Not everything garners a reaction. Sometimes the strongest reaction is inaction,' Kieran thought, doubling down on his decision to remain still.
Why waste energy moving when the revenant's hastened contention was now inevitable? It wasn't practical.
Wielding his Spirituality, Kieran continued to mature his Mystic Gate until the revenant finally made his move. Because of the unique pressure exuded by the Fourth Syllable of Eni, Kieran didn't need to open his eyes to understand what was headed his way.
The moment the pressure filled the atmosphere, he conjured another Fourth Syllable of Eni to combat his competition. As he performed this action, Kieran kept his sense of self plastered within his Mystic Gate.
Doing so allowed Kieran to perceive the weakness in his conjured symbol by zeroing in on the area that quickly suffered the most damage. Suffering damage was inevitable because the revenant's fabrications exceeded his own, but Kieran braced himself for the impact.
Crrrrrrr! Bang!
The sound of the syllable shattering resounded in Kieran's ears moments before he felt a ridiculous might collide against his chest. His Mystic Gate and Rooted Mystic Tether were rattled by the damage, creating a momentary fog in Kieran's mind.
〈System: Your «Rooted Mystic Tether» has suffered some damage. [Stability: 77%]〉
Kieran opened his eye briefly, appalled by what he saw.
The sustained damage had tripled! No wonder the pain he felt was many times greater. However, this trend frightened Kieran because if the following syllable also tripled in force, Kieran's tether would receive a troublesome amount of impairment.
〈System: If you don't approach the next attempt within 2 minutes, the «Inspirited Wykin Revenant» will make the first move regardless of your current position.〉
The trial's design had reduced the allotted time compared to the previous try, which produced an even more stressful situation.
As a result, Kieran began wracking his mind during this short period of respite.
'These are the revenants of strong ancient Wykins; that much is apparent. Because of this, the test mostly uses their mastership before death as the basis of the conjured syllable. It's impossible to match them in power and speed, so there's only one thing I can do—what Scar taught me.'
During his training with Scar, Kieran was introduced to his weakness as an Intermediate Being—a completely lacking Mana Pool. He could only supply his vitality with so much Mana before his reserves were depleted.
Unlike in Xenith, this Immaterial Plane wasn't the real world where he could consume a potion to trigger an accelerated restoration of his exhaustive internal resources. Everything relied upon his ability as an individual.
Thus, Kieran had to formulate methods to wield the finite mystic energy in his Mystic Gate.
Scar taught him how to make a negligible amount of energy significantly more useful because Mana was a malleable energy praised for its unmatched versatility.
Part of its versatility was the ability to be compressed.
Though it differed from condensing Mana, which meant achieving a higher purity and density, which could only happen while changing one's State of Being, compression was a temporary and practical fix for an inferior being.
It worked by having an individual fold the Mana several times and add pressure at the end. It decreased the range of said Mana, but the compressed Mana became more lethal in return.
Kieran thought to apply this principle to his syllable.
As he mentioned, contending against the revenant with an identical fabrication was impossible, but there was no need for him to chase the improbable when he could manipulate factors that increased the probable.
