Priam
patreon
Chapter 345: Eureka
🕑 Added 2025-03-16 06:26:05 +0000 UTCSecond chapter of the day! Make sure you’ve read chapter 344 before starting this one.
Another all-nighter...
Enjoy!
PS: Priam Character Sheet (you can thanks the Discord guys!)
*
“It looks like a tablet,” Rose observed, inspecting Jasmine’s find.
“It is a tablet.”
“I mean, it looks like a digital tablet, but everything about it is weird. Can I take it apart?”
“No, it’s packed with thousands of hours of movies.”
“Too late,” Rose grinned, cracking the device open.
“The Guardian of Secrets will probably be interested in it,” Kazuki mused.
“I asked him, but he’s not a fan of the adult content,” Jasmine said, eyeing the disassembled tablet with concern. “Apparently, the plots are trash, and the acting is even worse. He knows shit. With the implants some arkanians have, the possibilities are pretty exotic.”
Priam nearly choked on his drink. “You… There’s a lot of porn on that thing?”
“A little over half. Thousands of hours.”
“That’s a lot.”
“You’re not one to talk, son,” Alain said, pouring himself a glass of fresh sap. “When Priam was fifteen, I had to take him to the doctor because—”
“Stop! We are eating, and there are children present,” the Champion protested, face flushing red.
Later, Jasmine mouthed at Alain. The old man gave her a thumbs-up while Priam was grumbling.
“I got it!” Rose suddenly exclaimed, examining what looked like a black panel covered in indecipherable silver symbols. “Behind each pixel, there’s a rune instead of an LED. This is eye-opening.” She turned to Alain. “The possibilities of micro-runes are endless. For example, we could build a computer using them instead of transistors!"
Alain grimaced. “I was born during World War II. I know how to milk cows, but I needed Priam just to open my emails. I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
“Priam?”
“Well, it sounds incredible, but my expertise is in algorithms. Hardware is beyond my abilities.” Seeing Rose's disappointment, Priam added, “But I promise to help however I can. Oh, and Prometheus’ minions are supposed to be scientists; between them and the hoplites, there’s hope.”
“When are you going to get them out?” Louis asked.
“After Dishnu triggers his Tribs,” Priam replied, setting down his plate. Moonie took the opportunity to nestle under his arm, nudging for affection. Smiling, he began scratching the cold scales of the baby wyrm. “It’s better for their safety. Besides, I had a vision of Log-a-rhythm in flames, so all non-combatants will go to Valaryth during the Tribulations. I guess they could go there too.”
“In flames?!” Lamnas cried. As Oasis’ gardener, the elf was particularly attached to the tree.
“It’ll be fine," Priam reassured. “It’ll make it stronger.”
“And after that?” Kazuki asked. “What’s the plan?”
Priam realized everyone had gone silent, waiting for his answer. At the end of the table, Sphinx had paused her chewing, and Blueberry had just swallowed back a belch. The young man had never sought to assert his authority, yet everyone saw him as the master of Oasis.
“In the short term, there’s the tribal tournament. Jasmine, Kazuki, Arnold, and I will face their elites to earn their respect and confirm our autonomy.”
“And steal their ideal skills,” Jasmine reminded him.
“That too.”
“I’m afraid the event has been postponed for a month,” Ymir interjected. The merchant met Priam’s gaze before continuing. “I received this information just before dinner.”
“Mmh.” Priam narrowed his eyes. “That might be linked to my recent vision of a fight between Arnold and Bastard. Have you seen anything?”
Rose pointed north. “We watched a sunset just before you returned.”
“There’s no more suns in Elysium’s sky.”
“Exactly, so the explosions must have been violent. The ground shook for almost ten minutes before settling. Do you think the tribes will investigate before the tournament?”
“That seems logical. For us, it’s just a dick-measuring contest, but for them, it’s a way to carve up this island among themselves. Since no one wants to move into a Fallen’s territory, they need to find Bastard’s hideout.”
“We could sell them the info,” Jasmine suggested.
“The longer we wait, the more valuable it’ll be. Either way, I like this development: their prospecting gives us more time to consolidate our gains.”
Priam anticipated long discussions with his mentor, duels with his friends, and further refining his body tempering. The Tribulations had given him much, but jumping into the next adventure without taking the time to digest his gains would be foolish. Besides the mountain of rewards to transform into power, he felt deep inside that it was time to take a breather. Arnold might be a robot, but the Juggernaut was still a man.
“So, the tribes in the short term,” Jasmine summarized. “Then Valaryth? There are still two Deluge paths left.”
“That, and I need more trophies to continue my body tempering.”
“I need to get started on that too,” Jasmine murmured.
“Kazuki?”
“I’m missing a mythical method,” the warrior admitted. “As a Duke, the Sun Shop only sells legendary items or knowledge.”
“We’d need a Prince to access the best options,” Priam said. “Which brings us back to Valaryth. Defeating the fourth Terror would do the trick.”
“You think you have what it takes to kill it?” Kazuki asked.
“Not yet, but after my martial and magical training…” Priam smiled. “I’m feeling pretty optimistic. Meanwhile, I want to continue my conquest of the Colosseum, loot the tribes, and prepare for my Tier-up.”
“Isn’t that too soon?” Alain asked. “I thought some Titles were only obtainable by Tier 0s.”
“The second Reunion will happen soon, and some opportunities will only be available to Tier 1s.” On this point, both the phoenix prince and Wang Lin agreed. “I’ll discuss it with Béchar after becoming a Prince, but I don’t want to lose sight of the essential. True power doesn’t come from attributes.”
Kazuki, Jasmine, and the natives of Elysium nodded, but the other earthlings and hoplites exchanged confused looks.
“What do you mean?” Rose asked.
“The floating island under our asses… How much strength do you think I’d need to cut it in half with Promesse?”
“I don’t know. A hundred thousand?”
“More like a million!” Sphinx exclaimed.
“It depends on your technique and the weapon,” Hyshana said.
Priam smiled. “Not wrong. Honestly, I doubt even a million in strength would be enough to split an island over a hundred kilometers long in two.” A pause. “A Tier 6 Concept or Supremacy could.”
His words were met with a respectful silence. Louis was looking around, his face bewildered. “If that’s true, then a Tier 5 could devastate a continent.”
Priam shrugged. “Depending on their build and whether they’re an elite or not… yes. Wang Lin, the boss of the Mercenaries, is considered a planetary calamity.”
“Sums—I mean, what about Bastard?”
“He’s the fragment of a shadow of a being who could have ruined us with a thought,” Priam admitted before smiling. “We’ll deal with him before the second Reunion. For now, I just want to say that Tiering up is necessary. During my Tribulation dream, I learned that the two main advantages of Tier 0 are having a malleable soul and access to Bronze Titles.”
In practical terms, if Priam wanted to downgrade certain skills to obtain their ideal version, he had better do it soon.
“We’ll still be able to access the Silver version of the Titles?” Kazuki asked. The warrior had his High Tribulation scheduled in less than two months.
“Yep. I think it’s a way for the System to prevent mid-Tiers from farming Titles too easily. Jumping into a volcano is a feat at Tier 0—not at Tier 4.”
“Makes sense,” Louis said. “But what’s the advantage of being Tier 1?”
“Polishing Concepts and Supremacies is much easier with a soul baptized by aether,” Priam reminded. “I’ve pretty much reached the ceiling of what Tier 0 has to offer me in terms of Concept. Every day that passes is a missed opportunity now.”
Priam was also aware that his talent for Micro and Spear Mastery wasn’t revolutionary. Advancing to Tier 1 would improve this talent and allow him to obtain Ace II in a more acceptable timeframe. The race to the Zenith was a marathon, but the System only sponsored speedrunners.
“Tier 1 unlocks a Mythical skill slot,” Kazuki added. “Given how slow Legendary skills progress, it’s best to get that skill as soon as possible.”
“That too.”
Silence stretched for a few seconds before Jasmine shot Priam a suspicious look. “That’s a lot of plans when you promised me you’d take a break.”
“I haven’t forgotten to catch my breath—I even have a Concept for that!”
The bad pun earned him a cup of sap dumped over his head.
*
As the last embers of the fire faded, Priam stood up. Leaving Sphinx babbling on Blueberry’s belly, who was snoring loudly enough to shake the ground, he headed toward Log-a-rhythm. Placing a hand on the tree’s solid bark, he sent a reassuring thought and smiled upon receiving a surprised response. For the tree, only a single day had passed since their separation—a ridiculous span of time for a magical oak.
Climbing the trunk with preternatural agility, Priam soon reached the lower branches and continued up into the heart of the foliage. Jasmine was there, her legs dangling in the air.
“Hey. You going to sleep?”
“I’m… mentally exhausted,” Priam admitted. “It’ll do me good.”
“I guess it’s late. Rest well.” Nibbling on her lip, she looked unsure. “I’m here if you need to talk about your Tribs and… you know what.”
“Thanks,” smiled Priam.
With those words, he climbed up the branch to a treehouse his father had built for him. Inside, a relatively uncomfortable bed awaited.
“I should’ve taken some furniture from the Arkanians…” he thought, dismissing his clothes. Keeping only his red boxer, he sat on the bed. “It’s been so long since I last slept, I wonder if I still know how…”
The moment his head hit the pillow, sleep took him.
*
Lvl Up: [High Aether Manipulation] lvl 20
META (Affinity) +3
META (Focus) +3
META (Endurance) +3
Lvl Up: [Ideal Aether Perception] Lvl 25
META (AFFI) +3
META (PERC) +6
Priam blinked before a slow smile spread across his face. The harrowing images from the day before—his Tribulations, his son, the dead, the crying Arkanians—they were still there, but something in him had settled. His mind had made peace with most of it. Outside his window, the laughter of Moonie and Sphinx drifted in, light and carefree.
“Today is going to be a damn good day!”
Jumping out of bed, Priam went down for breakfast, exchanged a few words with his friends, Myuri and Ymir, then decided it was time to check in with his mentor. Dishnu could wait a few hours.
“Myuri, I’m letting a few people out of my internal world. Can you show them around Oasis while I handle something?”
“It would be an honor,” the young woman said with a small bow.
Priam nearly stopped her, then hesitated. Physical contact, even well-meaning, could be misinterpreted by the former slave.
Opening a passage to the Concepts Archipelago, he released Prometheus’ subordinates, quickly bringing them up to speed. They would get a proper briefing in the evening.
“Get your bearings, and watch out for the gravity.”
A few minutes later, he was alone in his internal world, feet submerged in the spiritual pond at its center. The sun above flashed as a firebird emerged in a burst of heat and embers.
“Did they say anything?”
“Nothing of note,” his mentor replied. “I suspect they were well aware that you could eavesdrop on their conversations so long as they remained within your domain.”
“Mmh. Too bad. Anyway, I made it out alive.”
“So I see. Now, tell me of your gains.”
“Tempered my Soul Gate with [Free Will], evolved [Chimera], snagged a few rewards and Titles, got a crash course in aether manipulation, and evolved my meta-affinity."
“Oh? And which affinity, pray tell?”
“Oneiric.”
The phoenix remained silent for a few moments before inclining his head. “Well, I daresay the System seeks to groom you into some manner of artificial dragon.”
“Not quite the same. Dragons develop their Concepts in their dreams; I refine my mastery of aether.”
His mentor visibly shuddered—a rare sight indeed. “By the feathers of my forebears... Have you tested the efficacy of this evolution?”
“I slept last night and woke up with a level-up in both of my primal aetheric skills.”
The phoenix winced. “That is all? What knowledge did you glean?”
“No idea. I barely remember my dreams unless I wake up in the middle of one.”
“How vexing.”
“Do dragons remember theirs?”
“I believe so... and I am fairly certain they can exert control over them,” the phoenix revealed.
“Lucid dreaming, huh? It happens to me, but not often.”
“Mmh…” The phoenix absently dug at the ground with his talons. “Do you recall the very first exercise your princess instructed you in?”
“Creating an orb of light using increasingly smaller runes?”
“Then do so.”
Priam obeyed. A small glow appeared in his palm, then another. Soon, a dozen orbs orbited around him. “Feels easier than yesterday. Like I developed a kind of muscle memory, or maybe mental memory?”
“Too many uncertainties. This may well be your most formidable asset after your resurrection, and you must cultivate it diligently.”
“Agreed.”
“Very well. Now, present your rewards in detail.”
Minutes later, the two were deep in discussion, debating the best way to allocate Priam's gains. Eventually, they settled on [Ultimate Sensory Memory].
Memory exceeds 1 000 points. Second milestone reached. Congratulations!
Synergy with [Ultimate Sensory Memory - Silver] detected…
Would you like to evolve the Talent?
“Nope.”
The cooldown on [He Who Eludes Death] would reset in an hour, and Priam wanted that safety net before evolving his Talent. The last time he had done so, he had nearly perished in the process. While his attributes had increased, the leap in rarity from Silver to Gold was no trifling matter. Before pressing the button, the Champion wanted to ensure he would not meet his end.
“And if I could actually control the direction this Talent takes, that would be nice,” he mused, rereading the description.
[Ultimate Sensory Memory - Silver] - Your eidetic memory is no longer limited to sight and hearing: you remember all sensory stimuli with absolute precision.
This Talent is a tool that supports and complements your Memory attribute. Thus, its storage capacity is limited by your attribute and your cerebral organ.
Note: Only your mundane senses are affected by this Talent (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, balance, proprioception, thermoception, nociception, chronoception,...).
“A supportive Talent, yet a most useful one,” the phoenix summarized.
“It saved my ass against Bastard when he messed with my memories… and against Ève too.”
Indeed, should an illusion or false memory fail to affect all his senses holistically—altering, for instance, his five primary senses but neglecting balance or pain—Priam could discern the deception. By constantly recording his experiences, the Talent also allowed his add-on to generate realistic combat simulations and analyze enemy fighting styles.
“Shame it can’t record magical skills…”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, in a world of magic, [Ultimate Sensory Memory] is kinda disappointing. It’s still stuck in the mundane. The next upgrade might fix that… or take it in a different direction entirely.”
“Then you must not permit it a choice. Allowing one’s build to develop at random is a surefire path to ruin.”
“My evolutions need to adapt to me, not the other way around,” Priam declared as he perused his status. “I am sitting atop a veritable mountain of Potential…” Thanks to [Chimera], Priam felt the hoarding dragon within him growl in protest, but his contrarian streak kicked in. “Sorry, buddy, but it’s time to put my resources to use!”
This thought ignited his imagination, and soon a flood of ideas filled his mind. “I could add magical senses to my perfect memory. Record aether, Concepts, even Supremacies.”
“At the Gold rank, you shall be permitted but one choice,” the phoenix cautioned.
“A difficult decision. Alternatively, I could double down on the physical and target muscle memory.”
“Such an approach would provide exceptional synergy with Micro, Spear Mastery, and Promesse,” analyzed the Prince’s projection. “You are no martial prodigy, so you require every advantage available lest your lack of talent hinder you.”
“Appreciate the vote of confidence,” Priam grumbled.
Paralyzed by too many good choices, he hesitated. The decision was too momentous for his mentor to do more than offer counsel, and time slipped by. The cooldown of [He Who Eludes Death] had long since reset when Priam’s stomach let out a protesting growl.
“You are not compelled to decide at this very moment, you know?”
“That kind of mindset is why I keep hoarding rewards instead of using them,” Priam growled. “I just need a new perspective. There’s gotta be an optimal choice.”
The young man rose and began to pace. Given the limited size of his domain, he quickly completed a circuit before lying down in the grass. Before he realized it, his mind began to drift, and a yawn escaped him.
The next second, his eyes snapped open, and he burst out laughing.
“Eureka!”
*
Status:
PHYSICAL:
Strength 854
Constitution 1 653
Agility 1 256
Vitality 1 709
Perception 888
MENTAL:
Vivacity (D) 634
Dexterity 787
Memory 1 006
Willpower 1 221
Charisma 894
META:
Meta-affinity (O) 1 128 (+8)
Meta-focus 694 (+4)
Meta-endurance 1 149 (+4)
Meta-perception 647 (+10)
Meta-chance 1 020
Meta-authority 603
Potential: 36 764 (+6)
[Tribulation]: Two Tribulations pending.
Future Tribulations delayed until:
Time: 29 days 17 hours 53 minutes 8 seconds.
Next thresholds: 12 attributes > 900 / 6 attributes > 1 200 / 3 attributes > 1 500 / 1 attribute > 1 800
Comments
Geekdumb
He knows shit. I’m a little confused by this sentence in its context because how it is said can change its meaning depending on if the emphasis is on knows or shit. So, in English (at least American English) This phrase can mean that someone knows a lot often with a darker connotation. But it can also be said in a derogatory or demeaning manner which is what I think you’re going for. I think you’re trying to have Jasmine say that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If that’s the case you could just add a “doesn’t” in front of “knows” or italicize shit. With the implants some (A)arkanians have, A little over half (of it). Thousands of hours Priam was also aware that his talent for Micro and Spear Mastery wasn’t(weren’t) revolutionary Keeping only his red boxer(s) (on), Priam nearly (reached out to) stop(ped - remove) her, Opening a passage to the Concepts Archipelago, he released Prometheus’ subordinates, quickly bringing them up to speed. Didn’t he just say earlier in this chapter he was waiting until after Dishnu’s tribulations? “Shame it can’t record magical skills…” (Priam muttered.) Or something along those lines to reestablish the thread of conversation. Thanks to [Chimera], Priam felt the hoarding dragon within him growl in protest, Priam felt the hoarding dragon within him growl in protest, thanks to [Chimera] (he could fight against it) In the original I’m not sure what “Thanks to [Chimera],” is referring to. Hope this wasn’t too much!
Zaim İpek
Then he would need to exchange remembering mundane senses for remembering his aether perception. I'm not sure if that's an option, but it might be.
MomoDG
Would be fun, but we already saw Priam do that in BiT, showing it again wouldn't add anything meaningful to the Story. Will be more fun to see Priam and Co. Bully their elites in the Tournament.
Ihsan Gunay
Dream affinity evolution was confirmed to be only possible inside nightmare tribulations. Dragons should have a dream talent, which should still be in the cards for Priam.
nicolas
I would still like to see Priam bully the Tribes :p
nicolas
The first step of learning is to copy your betters, only once you understand the rules can you break them in any meaningfull way
_mori
The pheonix prince seemed surprised that Priam’s star evolution didn’t help with concepts but instead aether. I’d say Priam is better off with this quirk than not. He can already cheese affinity for concepts, so dreaming to do so would be redundant. And aether is fundamental, so it can only be just as good or better. Prince was right about Priam needing to cultivate this newfound ability. No complaints from me. What I’m curious about is whether oneiric cultivating aether perception and manipulation is unusual.
_mori
But these are aether dreams 😵💫
_mori
I mean, that’s not the path at all. Prometheus is meant to be a balance for Priam and vice versa. At least with regards to how they impact humanity. Priam has shown understanding that humanity needs a leader, something he isn’t willing to be. Plus using pseudo-necromancy on his loved ones being your take away from his tribulations is wild stuff. I’d say growing powerful enough to protect/resurrect them is better than that. Or, figuring out a way to give a charge of his talent away (after increasing the number of charges ideally) would be even better. Pride the Wyvern bartered for one charge of HWED in his first set of tribs. No way that can’t be replicated.
_mori
Priam doesn’t have the option. The system is available to anyone, but champions are put on a fast track. The staggered rewards they get from staying on Elysium, the rifts and rare opportunities, having access to a long term event like the Necromoon, etc., all make the champions grow much faster. As for them being antagonistic, that seems like a subjective opinion. The concepts likely aren’t interested in seeing Priam fail more than they are in seeing him succeed. As for their end goal, I think they are literally doing it. Perhaps, creating a (novel) fundamental concept out of an 8th Individual is their ticket to becoming t10. Something about what Priam the character said a while ago made me think. When he was deciding what direction to temper; rather than select a specific path, he chose to mimic the best. I think it’s interesting because it’s also been mentioned earlier in the novels how the concepts seemingly encourage divergent paths more than copy cats. Mean while Priam is simply trying to embody all 7 concepts (or resistances to them for now).
_mori
My guess is he’s going to have ultimate sensory memory remember his dreams for him?
John
That would be incredible boring and if priam needs to learn from people who had everything given to them and never has had to fight a single battle where they could get hurt or die it would make all the tough experiences that priam goes through seem meaningless
Zaim İpek
He didn't select the reward yet.
Zaim İpek
The goal is to merge with them, so they can't be antagonists. They are more like natural laws than characters.
EnigmaticOne
For some reason I thought the tribulation he just did was the high tribulation to rank up to tier 1. Most op tier 0 ever? (okay, maybe not in the timespan of infinity but still pretty far up there). I'm a little interested in those that don't have the option to take the fast suicidal track that being introduced to the system as a new race to the seven concepts and being tested constantly. Surely some very powerful people came out of that even without throwing themselves into the fire that is getting so much potential from achievements that you're activating trials way above your weight class to the point that you almost can't stop yourself because the ball is rolling with more and more momentum with each impossible feat passed. (By the way, not convinced the seven concepts aren't the real antagonists of this story, they keep pushing evolve or get smited by divine punishment just because they're looking for more power or to "complete themselves or whatever") Some slow and steady geniuses that keep making potential for themselves even without life threatening crises constantly because they know what they're about. I think Priam could learn some things from people like that in the future.
MomoDG
Hmm. I guess we could get a ~1 month time skip after Priam used his rewards and resources. It was made clear in this chapter that the short term plan revolves around training, getting the Ideal Skills from the Tribes and furthering his Tempering. That stuff that can be nicely compressed into a time skip till the next Colloseum run. Where we then get to see what new Ideal Skills Priam has, that he reached Unity with at least 1 more Concept and his improvement in his Magical and Martial Ability. After the Colloseum run comes the Hunt for the 4th Terror to become a Prince. And in that fight Kazuki gets ambushed by the 2nd Terror (the unseen enemy).
James Faulkner
Tftc!!
Subliminary
It’ll be a long while IMO. Idk why everyone is trying to rush her joining of the group.
Subliminary
Why would he kill him?
Lijwent
Will he kill Prometheus? So far we've not seen anybody that could replace him to protect humanity while Priam is on Elysium
Ihsan Gunay
I think he will do that after he takes Prometheus’s talent when he kills him. It will also have good synergy with the divine path. This tribulation showed Priam that his family is his weakness. If he can collect their souls, he can assure their eventual safety in most cases.
Lijwent
Still waiting for esmée to free herself and join Priam Maybe Priam can share his Free will skill with her?
James Sheridan
He admitted in this chapter that he didn't remember the dreams though. I assume since he experiments with aether in his dreams it doesn't count as a mundane sense, and that's the one he will choose
Prem Chanumalla
thats what im guessing
Custus
Thanks for the chapter!
Zaim İpek
I am very eager to see him properly digest all of his rewards.
Zaim İpek
It would already do that by default. Dreams engage the actual physical senses to simulate an experience.
tiefug
Oooh is he going to evolve for remembering his dreams?
Andrew
Thank you!
