Zogarth
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Chapter 1102 - Perception Best Stat
🕑 Added 2025-03-27 12:19:50 +0000 UTCSometimes in life, one has to ask oneself important questions. What do I want to do with my life? What brings me purpose? How do I feel about someone? This was one such situation as Jake asked himself a vital question:
Am I actually a fucking idiot?
Jake had tried hard. Really hard. Artemis was helping him as much as she could, too, but so far, Jake felt like he’d made no progress. It had been over a week since he began practicing with the goddess, and all Jake had learned so far was to dodge a little bit faster with lower stats.
Logically, he understood what she said. Jake also knew what he wanted to do and formed vivid ideas and plans. Sadly for him, no matter what he tried, he simply got no response as he’d shot several thousand arrows with no change in the concepts he could infuse.
To make matters worse, Artemis was all supportive, which just made Jake feel infinitely less cool.
“Concepts aren’t something one easily understands, especially if you’re trying to deepen your comprehension of difficult concepts. The concept of time is notoriously one of the hardest of all, and it’s not at all surprising it takes some time. Also note that often understanding of concepts doesn’t come a little at a time. It comes in floods as one steps over certain boundaries of insight.”
Was what she was saying the truth? Yeah, but that didn’t make Jake feel any less dumb, especially when he compared himself to those around him. Sylphie innately just understood a lot of concepts, and easily learned ones related to the wind. Dina was a beast when it came to comprehending anything nature-related, and even the Fallen King had deep insight into the concepts he used.
Finally, there was the Sword Saint, and the more Jake trained with Artemis, the more he understood how much of a monster the old man was. He still vividly remembered how the old man had touched upon the concept of the void merely by traveling through it and seeing it once. How the old man’s skills were pretty much all born from his deep understanding of concepts. He was simply on another level compared to someone like Jake.
Trying to understand the difference between them wasn’t even something Jake could begin to do. According to Artemis, there were some traits people who were incredibly skilled at comprehending concepts had in common, though.
One of them was a powerful imagination that could go beyond the ordinary. It was a commonly known fact that humans couldn’t actually imagine anything new. All they could do was create something from all the building blocks they already had obtained through their memories.
With the system, this remained the same for the most part. However, there was now a new way to get knowledge: from the system itself. Merely by trying hard enough to imagine something truly new, on rare occasions, the system ended up helping a little, a new image or visualization thus being made reality. People who were able to do this more than others tended to be pretty good at understanding concepts.
The second important trait was the worldview of the person. This was one of those truly unidentifiable kinds of things that, despite eras of study, there was no way to measure. It all came down to how someone’s brain worked when viewing the world. Those who were skilled at comprehending concepts often viewed the world as far more abstract. They saw metaphors and meaning in things that others didn’t.
Third important trait was understanding oneself. This one was a bit like the one before but more related to how someone saw their place within the multiverse. Someone like the Sword Saint saw himself as a swordsman. Just his title alone was part of his identity. It was an arrogant title, claiming he wasn’t merely a swordsman but one standing at the apex.
When going over these three traits one by one, Jake felt that he wasn’t particularly outstanding in any of them besides maybe the last one. Jake had an okay imagination, but he was more the type who had to see something firsthand. He could imagine things, sure, but his solutions to fights were rarely very imaginative.
As for the second trait, Jake was definitely weak there. Jake didn’t really think much about the things he saw, and he kind of felt that his Bloodline was actively a demerit in this aspect. With his Sphere of Perception and high Perception stat in general, Jake saw what he perceived as fact. He didn’t try to overanalyze as he knew his Sphere always showed him the truth. He didn’t need to look for deeper meanings, for if there were any, he would have already detected them.
Finally, with the third trait, Jake did know exactly who he was and where he fit into the world. The problem was, that didn’t really help much as Artemis made one more thing clear...
“These traits aren’t to be viewed in isolation from one another. The Dao Sect has the most people who specialize in mastering concepts above anything else, and according to their teachings, one needs all three. They support one another and create a greater whole, so merely being strong in one is far from enough.”
So, yeah, things didn’t look good for Jake. Artemis kept trying to help him, though, as the two of them went into the Colosseum once more for what had to be well over the hundredth time as they entered it roughly every hour – minus the time they actually spent in there, as the cooldown period of the Emblem only began after both exited.
“I also have some understanding of the concept of time, but not because I ever practiced it,” Artemis said. “As you progress through the grades, you innately just get more insight into how the world works. You don’t even feel that you do, but as a C-grade, your unknowing understanding of the world is leaps beyond what they were as, say, an E-grade. Understanding all concepts at a low level becomes elementary once you reach a high enough level. There is a reason why you will have a very hard time coming across any S-grade unable to teleport or any god unable to stop time on a localized scale.”
Jake nodded along, understanding that part. Perhaps the easiest example for Jake was the concept of flying. When in E-grade, Jake needed wings to fly around, while in D-grade, he could easily fly simply by using his mana. Everyone could fly through the use of their energies in one way or another, not because everyone learned the same magic but because everyone understood some of the basic laws of the multiverse, at least enough to fly around a bit.
Artemis nocked an arrow as she took aim. “As I said, time is a powerful concept, and with the stats of a mortal, it’s hard to use. All concepts still require some level of energy to truly display what they’re capable of. With my limited power, I can do a few things, though.”
Watching closely, Jake saw the movement of energy he recognized as having the concept of time mixed into it swirl around the arrow. Artemis let go of the string a moment later as the arrow flew forward... and slowed down. Strafing to the side, Artemis shot two more arrows, both of them doing the same as they flew forward about a meter before stopping.
Right after shooting a fourth arrow, all three of the initial ones suddenly shot forward again alongside their final brethren. Four arrows struck the wall of the arena within a tenth of a second of one another, all of them flying with roughly equal power.
Turning to Artemis, Jake saw she was breathing heavily, and her aura was a lot weaker than before.
“This body really is pathetic,” she muttered before standing up straight. “Do you know what I did there?”
“You delayed the three first arrows so they would launch at the same time as the fourth one,” Jake said.
“And how did I do that?”
“Through the concept of time,” Jake shrugged. “More specifically... well, I guess you didn’t tell the arrows when to start moving again with a mental command. That would likely have drained too much energy. So my guess is that you infused each with a packet of Willpower that effectively put each arrow on a timer, and you perfectly executed the shots so everything lined up.”
“You detected the concept of time infused into each arrow?” Artemis guessed.
Jake nodded in confirmation.
Artemis observed him a bit before smiling. “You know, besides the traits I mentioned earlier, there is one thing that tends to bring people ahead of the curve when it comes to understanding concepts. However, as this method doesn’t help those naturally talented in the area in a meaningful way, it isn’t often discussed as a trait.”
“Is that thing hanging out with gods on a daily basis and getting personal lessons?” Jake asked semi-jokingly.
“I reckon that doesn’t hurt, but no. Even the greatest teacher needs a competent pupil, or both are just wasting their time,” Artemis shook her head. Jake wasn’t entirely sure he agreed as if he felt as if the First Sage could have taught even the dumbest kid in every class to ace every test.
“What is it, then?” Jake asked with some curiosity.
“The Void Mechanic. Arnold, I believe, is his name. I looked into the people close to you, which wasn’t hard as this man is quite famous for a variety of reasons, especially among some of my friends in the Altmar Empire who are very keen to have him visit one day,” Artemis began. “Do you think he fits the three traits I mentioned earlier?”
“Fuck no,” Jake instantly replied. Arnold didn’t view anything as even halfway abstract. If he couldn’t make a formula or algorithm to understand something, he didn’t even bother trying to use it. He was a man who sought knowledge beyond anything else, and he demanded logic before he would accept anything. A realm of logic that perhaps only he could understand, but logic nevertheless.
“Yet the concepts he deals with are of an incredibly high level. My guess is that he understands nomological concepts by forming his own logic around them. But in order to begin even considering concepts, he needs to first perceive them. And that’s where another trait helping to better understand concepts comes into play: the Perception stat.”
“If that’s the case... doesn’t that mean I’m more daft than I first imagined?” Jake muttered.
Artemis just smiled and shook her head. “Seeing is understanding, as the saying goes. When one becomes able to perceive concepts, one also becomes able to analyze and try to understand them. Form one’s own concept from another’s. Someone like the Void Mechanist does this through study and a high level of intellect that can’t truly be copied. However, for people like you and I, that isn’t gonna happen.”
“Are you saying you also struggled to understand concepts?” Jake asked her.
“I don’t think comparing our situations makes much sense,” Artemis shook her head. “You already far surpass anything I had accomplished when at your level. That includes my comprehension of concepts. You may think you’re bad at it, but that’s only because you’re trying to understand concepts that someone of your level shouldn’t even be touching upon. And if they did, it would be in a school of magic you were highly specialized in.”
“Is that a yes or no?” Jake asked, unable to hold himself back from at least teasing her a little. Mainly to make himself feel better, as he had been feeling quite incompetent during the last few days.
“A yes, for the most part,” Artemis sighed. “I sucked at studying concepts, and like you, I learned best while in combat. Trial and error was my way forward until, finally, things would just click into place. Something I believe you can relate to.”
Jake nodded as Artemis continued.
“My highest stat was Perception for most of my Path. At times, Agility got close to overtaking it, with it happening at times during my earlier levels, but as I got higher in grades, the more I focused on Perception,” Artemis began, and as she’d regained some energy after the arrows earlier, she began pacing back and forth.
“Most of the stats are rather self-explanatory and easily understood. Strength makes your body stronger, Agility makes you faster, Intelligence makes your spells more powerful, Toughness makes you more resilient, and so on and so forth. Then we of course have the three stats that include the resources in Stamina, Vitality, and Wisdom. The stats that are often considered the odds one out and least understood in general are Willpower and Perception. Willpower is its own thing, but I would argue that Perception is far less understood than even Willpower. The reason for this is how the stats are expressed to others.”
Artemis pointed toward the ground with a finger and focused. After about a second, the sand began whirling around ever so slightly before calming down. Jake had no real movement of energy, and he instantly knew what Artemis had done.
“With pure Willpower, you can make the world do as you want it to. You are limited by nothing but your imagination, which, as we have discussed, is a legitimate limitation. Oh, and, of course, your energy reserves and mental energy. However, the limits of Perception are not anything that can be seen outwardly. In my eyes, Perception is the most personal of all the stats. It does not affect the world – outside of when skills make use of it – but instead is entirely internal. Only you know what your senses perceive, and even if you could share a sense with another, there is never any guarantee that two people who are looking at the same thing see it identically.”
“The old trope where you can’t know if your version of a color is the same as someone else’s,” Jake muttered.
“Something like that,” Artemis nodded. “When most people think about Perception, they think about the usual senses. Smell, touch, hearing, taste, and the one most people consider: sight. Along with that, there are naturally the ones to sense energies, and whatever skills provide. However, there are so many more, some of which I’m sure you’ve noticed. Perception also affects the danger sense of every living creature. It affects their ability to perceive space around them, to notice if others are nearby, estimate how powerful other beings are, and many other things that would take too long to list, but perhaps the most important thing it does when we’re talking about understanding concepts is Perception’s effect on intuition.”
By now, Jake was very engaged as he listened on.
“Intuition is, in my humble opinion, the greatest benefit of having high Perception. All living beings are, at least in part, driven by instinct. It’s only natural. Even someone like the Void Mechanist unknowingly relies on his intuition all the time. It’s what gives birth to those moments of inspiration while studying something or those that subtly guide him to research one topic over another to find a wished-for solution faster. It’s the same for you when you’re trying to improve your understanding of a concept. At any moment, inspiration may strike, birthed by your intuition making a thought appear.”
Artemis was still pacing back and forth in the arena, clearly quite passionate about this particular topic.
“Not to say intuition can’t be dangerous. It isn’t perfect by any means, and it can easily lead you astray should you trust it entirely. Instincts are naturally flawed, but in this particular context, when it comes to comprehending concepts... there are no wrong answers. No one has the exact same comprehension of a concept as another, and the only one who needs to accept your understanding is the system, nothing nor anyone else.”
Stopping her pacing, Artemis looked at Jake and smiled. “That’s why I don’t think you have any cause to worry. Even if you find comprehending a concept difficult right now, and even if you don’t have the personality traits that correspond to a high level of conceptual understanding... it doesn’t matter. Just let your high Perception do the work and keep practicing and experiencing more and more until finally you intuit an answer. Rely on your instincts, and trust them to guide you to comprehension.”
Jake had gone into this lesson with the hope of improving his archery... what he hadn’t expected was to instead learn things about his Bloodline and himself that he hadn’t even considered before. Neither had he expected Artemis to once and for all confirm a theory Jake had since his integration into the system. A definitive universal truth Jake saw no good argument against:
Perception best stat.
Comments
Chloe
Tyftc
Inv7ctus
The more I read, the more confident I am this pair is a good match.
Trumangolorian
Tyftc best stat. Lolol
ShreddedShark
Perception best stat
Anamolii
Love this! "Also note that often understanding of concepts doesn’t come a little at a time. It comes in floods as one steps over certain boundaries of insight.”
Ricky Keenum
Perception best stat
Phil Ritter
Probably something like that. You can’t manipulate anything you can’t perceive but what would happen if you can perceive everything including the truths of the universe? You probably have a shot at influencing them too
Indevan Jones
Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for. I just kinda want a confused Artemis going " Well, I guess that works too.." moment. Hehehe.
Prospects
I think the best conceptual combination would be removing the concept of time from the arrows or the concept of space between the arrow and the target. Both would effectively decrease the travel time to practically nothing, and in addition to that mimic Artemis's sliding scale concept between speed and mass. With the two put together damage could be maximized, travel time could be instantaneous with elements of unpredictability from all three concepts working together.
Ender419
I think he is going to make a deviation of moment when he has a better grasp on the time concept and add that to all of his attacks & defensive measures.
SnowReason
This kinda explains what he did in the fight against Valdemar. He unlocked super-perception conceptual understanding.
Rocotrap
He saw eye to eye with Artemis
Rocotrap
Jake ascends to Godhood: Every being in the multiverse feels a gaze that stares them down to their soul... and the most powerful Minaga is finally found somewhere in the void
David Jenkins
Thanks for the chapter 🙏
David Jenkins
That will be an amazing encounter and if his brother is there and they are all 3 having a casual chat like normal ppl. Then someone walks in and freaks out because they didnt realize Umbra was just chatting with mortals instead of gods like it's normal
Thenais
That’s already copyrighted
Thenais
Artemis instincts are screaming : « Get this man »
BumAssBumAss
Wouldn't make sense to. Artemis is still a god and Jake is the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. A god challenging a Chosen is equal to challenging that Chosen's Patron, even if it's through a proxy. Also they would likely make enemies with Artemis as well and the entire pantheon of life because Jake is technically a foreign ambassador in some sense. There are many reasons for it to not happen. The only reason for it to happen is that the god in equal is an idiot and will die soon. I'm glad it hasn't happen because it'll cheapen how difficult it is to become a god.
ABTelford
Enjoyed the chpt, thx
Mike
Oh I really like this. However it's phrased, it has become apparent that willpower and perception are in some way interlinked. If will power gives you the ability to shape the world aka will the system to work we would even see it as a permission level kind of like SAO Alicization with the authority level. Perception being the ability to even read the information, perceive the world and the system enough to utilize that authority. Bathwidth does seem like apart of it, but also kind of like authority and access.
Mike
Well he may need to Will for the concept to apply for change but I don't think he will have to speak them per say.
Arieh Sochaczevski
Correct, but awkward to use here at all. When you’re talking about 3 in a set of 9, that’s not a fitting expression.
DeamoniumDraco
Also perception didn't require energy where activity using willpower to affect the world does
bioticisbasic
Thanks for the chapter!
Rewdan
Thanks Zogarth having to read slowly as I didn’t want to miss the concepts
SaltyyCoffee
900 eras pass, the contest continues.
Brad Kinsman
You can’t change what you can’t perceive…
Shafan Knight
Jake. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Benjamin Mages
Artemis isn't wrong per say, I think, but she is biased. I'm sure that are more than a few gods that would argue for any individual stat being the most important. Heck the Viper probably thinks Willpower is the most, as Forrest said.
Indevan Jones
I honestly thought that when he said add the concept of time to his arrows, he'd go the way of removing that concept from them, like he does with Moment.
Forrest
I think Villy told this to Jake at one point
Thenais
I feel like artemis is kicking some asses in the background
Andrew Neino
Blasphemous heretic
Brian Griffith
So I realize this may be a controversial statement but hear me out. What if perception isn’t the best stat. Willpower literally lets you shape the world around you. What need to you have to perceive the details when you can just change them to your liking?
Bushninja
Jake in Godhood gets into a staring contest with Oras, who wins?
joel southard
Thank you for the chapter
Sanetless
"Then we of course have the three stats that include the resources in Stamina, Vitality, and Wisdom." I believe that's supposed to be Endurance, right? Not Stamina?
Michael Ferguson
I think Jake just needs to use a word of power. He did that with stealth attacks and bending arrows. Just say something to force his will on an arrow.
That one, right there.
I get the feeling Jake is a little turned on after that speech about how great perception is.
Ty Cooper
And this is when Jake throws out the taking it slow part of the relationship building. Tftc!
Davan Krueger
Jake knew it forever
Dan
Jake's saving his first child for Perception, confirmed.
vio
Completely agree
vio
I love his interactions with the gods, artemis being obvious. But I can't wait til he meets Umbra, I can't even imagine how cool that interaction would be
Mike_L
TFTC
Jack
I think that's what sets zog apart from other authors in these genres because I've read stuff where what you said would have happened 15 times by now
Johnny
Mere
brjenness
who is this imposter? the real zogster would have ended with a definitive universal truth that Jake saw no argument with: and then came back to it in a couple days
Ian Allen
I'm confident that "odd ones out" is correct rather than "odds one out"
Tyler Larson
New headcanon: two stats are dedicated to your ability to interact directly with the system and it's reality: Willpower is your "write bandwidth" limit and Perception is your "read bandwidth" limit.
Paulo Furlaneto
Tftc
Quinn
Well said
Exaiter
Get perception scalers, easy gg best stat
Jack Liu
learning new words, nomological! I get the feeling that Jake's path will be through perception and even willpower, all back bloodline. Isn't that the what happened during colosseum of mortals fight, he was able to perceive and touch on some concept due to fully unleashed bloodline? And his bending of arrows during flight, that was willpower i believe
Trevor Mergen
Thanks!
TwistedVanity
Great chapter thank you
Sushi
Well he went all sage mode when he let his instincts take over in nevermore. Maybe he can tap into that.
Ira White
I'm kinda suprised when haven't had some jealous douche bag drop out of the sky yet and challenge Jake to a duel or have their chosen minion challenge Jake for Artemis's time. Or even just to ty and put the mear mortal in his place.
The Dregs
Oooo I think you’re right. It’s all leading to that.
Steven Myer
If you can dodge an arrow, you can dodge a ball! I feel this is leading up to a big flex with Jake nearing B grade and getting in to a deep conversation of perception which is directly linked to his bloodline bonus percentage. I'm feeling we might be getting an upgrade of the Bloodline of the Primal Hunter! I for one am stoked.
JJB4345_80_815
Yes, thank you for the chappy Zogarth!
Brandon willoughby
I hope this story never ends .
Brandon willoughby
This is the best story I’ve ever read / listened to. I thought jks manga stories were great zogarth is just at a different level . Primal hunter is number one .
A. B. Edwards
So my theory of Jake one day maybe marrying Artemis was wrong I guess. Proven here. Jake... one day he will marry Perception. Perception best girl.
SuprKDrgn
If they were back at nevermore and she gave this speech, Jake would’ve taken her many times. Because he probably has a major perception boner right now.
Matthias
Tftc
Sylphie
REE!
Victory Holcomb
So now Jake goes hunting a dragon and in the heat of battle these lessons will coalesce into an instinctual understanding of the concepts.
Colton Horton
Damn. Look at Artemis speaking his love language. Lmao "Peception best stat. Go fight, git gud."
Clint
Great chapter. Can’t wait until S grade when Jake finally starts to deeply understand the concepts in his bloodline and arcane affinity. “… nothing nor anyone else.” reads a bit awkwardly. Maybe “… nothing and no one else.” Or “… not anyone (n)or anything else.”
IntenseSushi
Tftc
dash w
Thanks for the chappy
Jeryd Greer
Thank for the chapter. I’m excited for tomorrow and it’s possible revelations.
James W
The sometimes in life pondering followed by "Am I actually a fucking idiot?" Is both the most relatable and funny thing I've read in awhile 🖤
Xander
TFTC :) I've always liked that Jake is powerful but he gains this power through hardwork rather than just Garry-Stu-ing his way there. Seeing Jake be stumped and work towards an epiphany is always rewarding especially after he breaks through and we get the obligatory chapter of Jake throwing his new found skills and understanding against some all-mighty beast. One of my favourite sections is still the fight with the Phantom Shade Panther. Suggested edits: "“The Void Mechanic. Arnold" and "Someone like the Void Mechanist does.." etc. Isn't Arnold known as "The Void Machinist"? "The stats that are often considered the *odds one* out" should be "odd ones" "accept your understanding is the system, nothing nor anyone else.” the end of this is awkward. Maybe just "is the system, no one else"
Borbino the great
Nah I feel like he’s going to cheat and use his bloodline to speed run understanding concepts
RaccJam
I love perception glazing
Jordan Bradley
perception best stat
Yahyo Malikov
Tommorows cliff hanger is going to be wild. Maybe we might catch up with sylphie meeting this sylph god
Rick Delallata
Huh, very interesting. This is definitely my favorite version of "The System" that I've read about so far. It's got a lot of nuance but it doesn't want or push for anything. It just is. The concepts and records are really interesting too
Noname
Tyftc
Cory Sauls
TFTC
alejandro jimenez
Love the end of the chapter
C0bra$
Thank u for the story congrats
Kt-x
Thanks for the chapter 😁
Canis
It worked for Gohan eventually
Unwillingmainer
Now that a god confirmed it, Jake is going to be insufferable about perception. Still, another great look at concepts and how to understand them.
Shai182
TFTC! More Training
Thenais
« all Jake had learned so far was to dodge a little bit faster » Told you 😎
Connor
Thanks for the chapter
Avi Kopla
SCHWING
Will R
Tyftc!
Beemoss
Tftc
SyndaXatrix
Thanks for the chapter!!!
Dave
Ttfc
Indevan Jones
Tyfc
TDMC
Tftc
Arieh Sochaczevski
Thanks for the chapter! “[…] often considered the odds one out and least[…]” the expression “the odd one out” doesn’t pluralize well. I don’t think you can use it this way and not have everyone asking WTF?
