Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Returning months later with a small emerald orb with spiraling runes moving beneath its glossy surface, Zax stepped to his right full spot near the throne of Bael, his expression a tad pale like he had experienced something dark. He sucked in a strained breath and spoke.

"Well, I\'ll congratulate you once again on gaining Astral Force that will grant you the right to become a Paragon and will quicken your rise to God-King. As it stands now, excluding the Hollowing, you are now at the peak of King, and If you train your Astral Force, you will ascend to the next level. And if you survive the next trial, which is the easiest of them all, I foresee a massive rise in battle prowess."

,m I eyed the small orb he was holding and shifted my gaze to meet his scarlet one, and he continued," What I hold in my hand is the combination of the Wisdom of Soloman and the Knowledge of Bael. The parameters of the Trial of Mind revolve around how much information you can comprehend and retain, a simple task for the most part."

"How is this even a trial? It seems more like a reward. If Soloman\'s wisdom explains Bael\'s knowledge, then doesn\'t that mean that I could easily recall anything I see or hear as a person with an eidetic memory?"

"The knowledge retained by Bael is derived from events that took place in the origin realm; this information will be so dense that if you can\'t comprehend it, the knowledge will fade from your mind, eidetic memory or not. Of the Ten Thousand questions on the test, you are only allowed three mistakes." He remarked, keeping a straight face as he spoke some utter bullshit.

"That\'s idiotic," I imposed, unable to bleve the level of horse shit pouring from this imps mouth. "How is this the easiest trial? I\'d say the Soul trial was easier."

"Tell me that when you regain control of your body, speaking of which, I hope you understand, but the more you grasp, the stronger you will become; that means the stronger the hollowed version of you will become. I suspect that you will begin casting upper realm Circles soon. Which might end up killing your people."

I grimaced at his words, but I also knew that there was nothing I could do. I had almost no knowledge of how to control the Hollowing. But hopefully, with Soloman\'s wisdom, I could pretty much maneuver those loopholes.

Zax seemed to age a bit as he stared at me and wiggled out a smile, " Do not overthink when you read my history. Nothing will ever change." he said, tossing me the orb that soon landed within my hand.

Startled by his demeanor, everything around me twisted as I appeared within a library that somewhat mirrored the one I saw in the Etherial Realm. Eying the world of knowledge that stretched across the horizon, bitterness spilled into my heart as my finger stretched towards the first book my hand found.

\'The Abyssal Theory of Causality\'

My brow twitched, and my mind flashed back to Lilith, or more so, the child in her womb. The images of the time I peered into what seemed like the future seemed to ripple into my mind as I recalled something. It was so vague and seemed to pull away every time I tried to reach deeper into my mind. But it was there. Something was there.

"..."

I stared at the title for a few seconds that seemed like years and opened the book that felt heavier than anything I had ever held.

"Age of Eden,

The Abyss, the so-called sister of The One. I\'ve been pondering this for years, but how can the Weave exist in the Abyss? The true face of the Abyss is utter Chaos. It is a nebula of destruction that spirals into death and decay. Yet the Weave there is so tethered and tighter within its depts. It seems so much more accurate than The One\'s Realm. Yet from what I\'ve observed after two Chaos Cycles. The Causality of what happens in the Abyss is the deciding factor of what happens in the Myriad Heavens."

As Bael rambled on what he observed, he spoke about something that caught my eye: "If the Weave is a deciding power of the One, a proven fact by Lord Lucifer, then I believe the Manipulation of Causality would be the power of the Abyss. While I cannot prove such a thing, I consider that the Weave allows one to see the cause and effect and peer into reality on a fundamental level. But what would one observe if they were to look into the true face of Causality? I\'ve often used the Weave to observe weakness, which is the limit of the Weave, at least for me. If one were to look into Causality, then would they not be able to see how the One formation of the Weave itself?

"Holy Shit!" I muttered in disbelief. "There was no way, right?"

After finishing The Abyssal Theory of Causality, I could not help but have a newfound respect for the Abyss and a new understanding of the Weave. But I think such power is far too great for a person born of flesh and blood. Even Zariel, who gave me the blessing of the Weave. Which held his comprehension of the Weave once placed a heavy strain on my soul.

The Weave was constantly changing, and it took time to understand the Weave. Could the same be said for those who can peer into Causality? If that wasn\'t the case, I think, for the most part, said person would be a monster in every sense of the word.

Shaking my head, I eyed the catalog of Baels billions if not trillions of theories that held a bit of merit and sighed, unsure where to start. I was sure that time was running slowly here, but even so, this would take forever. Although I must say all the notes Soloman left beside each paragraph, putting everything in a different perspective, was a life saver.

"Let\'s get this trial over with," I said, but I made an important mental note to return to The Abyssal Theory of Causality someday. Something about this book made me concerned.