Zogarth
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Chapter 887 - Forbidden Knowledge
🕑 Added 2024-04-05 11:05:26 +0000 UTCEversmile departed soon after, even more perplexed than when he arrived. This left Vilastromoz alone back on the terrace with his own thoughts as a deep frown marred his face. A lot of things weren’t making any sense right now. For something to be Forbidden Knowledge was… not normal.
To clarify, for the system to hide information wasn’t anything new at all. Restricted Knowledge was a relatively simple term, as it just referred to knowledge restricted by the system, as the name very obviously implied. It wasn’t any big secret either, and everyone encountered it throughout their Paths. Hell, it was what restricted people from sharing information about the Nevermore Floors or Challenge Dungeons to those who had yet to do the World Wonder.
This Nevermore example also nicely showcased another aspect of Restricted Knowledge: it varied widely to whom knowledge was restricted. For Nevermore, people like Jake could now talk openly about the World Wonder with anyone else who had either done it or wasn’t capable of doing it. In other words, anyone who had done Nevermore, or anyone at B-grade or above, could openly talk and hear about the C-grade version of Nevermore.
Forbidden Knowledge was a step above Restricted Knowledge. It was knowledge one was incapable of sharing at all with anyone but others who also already knew… with it many times even being a truth only you knew. In many instances, it also restricted people from ever learning these truths, to begin with, and simply being told Forbidden Knowledge was impossible.
Impossible for anyone but the Malefic Viper, that is. Because the concept of Forbidden Knowledge did not exist to him. He possessed the Bloodline of the Immortal Mind, a Bloodline that did nothing but give him perfect memory… which meant that he never forgot even that which was forbidden. Vilastromoz was likely the only one in the multiverse who could simply be told something that was considered Forbidden Knowledge and remember it.
This led to him being called the Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge by certain beings. Especially the Void Gods referred to him as such. Unsurprisingly, considering that they knew more Forbidden Knowledge than even the Primordials, and Oras had gleamed many secrets, he could now only share with the Malefic Viper. This led to the Viper safekeeping a lot of knowledge that many would consider useless… but could be highly valuable for someone seeking to use the system cleverly.
However, the thing that still made no sense about the First Sage was… he had not been Forbidden Knowledge before.
It wasn’t as if no one knew about the First Sage before Jake became the Viper’s Chosen. He had mentioned him to several people throughout the ages… yet this kind of response had never happened before. He had spoken for hours with his wife, and he even remembered referring to the First Sage a few times when he taught Sanguine back in the day, as the would-be creator of the vampire race sought to create a Transcendent skill, and the First Sage was naturally an expert at that.
Back then, there hadn’t ever been a problem, and while people were certainly alarmed whenever the Viper spoke of this C-grade master of his, they could definitely remember their conversations. What had changed besides Jake making contact?
He had to get to the bottom of this as he had to confirm something and remembered a certain someone. Vilastromoz had not shared anything about the First Sage with many… but his right-hand hydra had known about his existence for sure. Without delay, he had one of his avatars seek out Snappy within the hydra’s own realm.
--
“Master! To what do I owe the-“
“Skip the pleasantries,” the Malefic Viper interrupted the hydra, Snappy instantly realizing the Viper was being serious.
“What’s the issue?” the Lord Protector of the Order of the Malefic Viper asked.
“Do you remember someone called the First Sage?” the Viper asked, closely studying the hydra.
For a few seconds, there was no reaction before the hydra questioned him. “Did you just attempt to share Forbidden Knowledge?”
“Apparently, I did,” Vilastromoz frowned even more than before as he clenched his fists. For Snappy to have forgotten… this was a lot more than something simply getting a new designation as Forbidden Knowledge.
The Malefic Viper knew only of one precedent where this could happen. Removing existing memories that were already ingrained in the Records of a Truesoul was something the system never did. To take away long-term memories could be damaging in far too many ways, as the risk of it hurting someone’s Path was simply too high.
However, it could happen, just not by the system causing it. The only time he had ever encountered this was as an aftereffect of one of the most feared and powerful Transcendent Skills in the entire multiverse: Karmic Annihilation. Eversmile’s Transcendence.
The ability to remove someone from existence. To kill them completely, erasing even the Records and all memories anyone would have ever had of them. Complete and utter death, in every sense of the word. It was such a powerful technique that even Eversmile would find himself affected, unaware of who he had used it on. He would know he had used it, but all memories of why and who would be gone, and that was naturally far from the only backlash he would suffer.
To summarize… he could delete someone and turn anything related to their existence into Forbidden Knowledge.
Only the Malefic Viper would remember.
This wasn’t caused by Eversmile, though. The Viper would have felt if it was… but it was likely caused by something similar. A Transcendent Skill cast by someone else, and it wasn’t hard to figure out who. The First Sage was the one behind this. He had made his own existence into Forbidden Knowledge, and the Viper had no idea why.
The First Sage was dead. He died in the first era.
No ifs. No buts. He was dead.
Vilastromoz had refused to believe a being like him would simply have died, and he had done all he could to confirm the death of his master until he finally got it confirmed by the system itself. Even now, the Viper did not doubt this fact.
He was dead… yet now he was sending echoes through time. For what purpose, the Viper truly couldn’t comprehend, but… it had to have something to do with Jake, right?
--
Jake had no idea about anything the Viper was doing, as he was busy being in quite the situation himself. Standing within an arena, Carmen stood opposite him, wearing her leather armor with a big grin on her face. The stands around them were absolutely filled to the brim with members of Valhal who wouldn’t miss out on a fight between the Chosen of the Malefic Viper and the Runemaiden of Valdemar to save their lives.
By now, Jake was kind of regretting agreeing to this, but Carmen had insisted, and he did want to have a spar with her. He could do without the audience, though. Before they began, they also had to set some ground rules because there was no way they would fight at full power.
“What do you say to no active or boosting skills?” Carmen asked. “No limited items either.”
“No bow also seems like a good restriction,” Jake generously added a further handicap to himself.
“Dude, we’re in a small arena; I would be impressed if using a bow was even feasible without any active skills to create distance,” Carmen said in a deadpan tone.
“You underestimate my bowmanship,” Jake smiled.
“Fine, no bow either, then,” Carmen ended up agreeing. Jake wasn’t entirely bullshitting, either. Even if the arena was only about a hundred meters in diameter, Jake was still confident he could have used his bow quite nicely.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment as the crowd cheered loudly. Even Olaf had shown back up, acting as the judge and the one to make sure they didn’t accidentally end up killing each other. Not that Jake thought that was an actual risk, but better safe than sorry.
“Are both combatants ready?” Olaf asked. “Remember, no active skills, boosting skills, limited items, and the Chosen is not allowed to use his bow.”
“Ready,” Carmen nodded as she bent her knees.
“Read-“ Jake tried to say as Carmen shot forward, straight for him.
Fast.
Jake swayed to the side as the fist flew by him, the air vibrating from the blow. Carmen quickly pivoted and did a follow-up, but Jake backed away as he dodged five more quick hits while he retreated further and further back. The crowd cheered as his back was pushed up against the back wall of the arena.
Trying to take advantage, Carmen struck right for his stomach as Jake simply looked down as the blow struck him. He felt all the air being pushed out of his body as he was smashed into the hard stone wall, a solid imprint of a fist on his stomach.
Carmen looked confused and took a step back as Jake got back up and smiled as he wiped the blood from his lips. “You’ve gotten stronger for sure.”
“Why didn’t you dodge?” she asked, perplexed.
“Felt like you needed to at least get one hit in,” Jake said in a calm tone as he spread his hands apart and a katar appeared in each. “Remember our last duel?”
“Yeah? I think I do?” Carmen asked, confused.
“Let’s just say I expect a better performance out of myself this time around.”
Jake still remembered their fight a long time ago. Back then, Jake – to put it nicely – had no idea how to fight in melee properly. He was pure instinct, which did serve him well, but in front of a skilled fighter, he would be in trouble on the offensive front.
However, all that was before Jake got lessons from his other self, who had spent years creating a proper melee fighting method. It was before Sim-Jake… and now Jake was more than eager to see the difference as he decided it was his turn to go on the offensive.
Stabbing forward, Carmen avoided the katar as she tried to counter – something that had worked well for her before Jake’s improvements – but Jake had expected it as he countered her counter. Her fist was deflected slightly to the side as Eternal Hunger struck Carmen in the shoulder… and Jake felt like he had just struck solid metal.
Carmen stumbled back as Jake’s hand hurt from the impact. Even so, he didn’t stop as he attacked again, this time trying to use his Blackpoint Nanoblade and its slightly higher penetrative effect compared to Eternal Hunger.
However, Carmen was ready, as she dodged to the side, throwing a punch as Jake also dodged. The two of them attacked half a dozen times each, both dodging all the blows of the other before Jake finally found an opening. The Blackpoint Nanoblade was slammed down into Carmen’s thigh… only for it to once more fail to penetrate as it slid down the side of her leg, nearly throwing Jake off-balance as he barely managed to jump away.
“Damn, you’re tough,” Jake said as he landed. “It’s like trying to attack Sandy.”
“Did you just compare me to a giant space worm?” Carmen asked, sounding offended.
“A giant Cosmic Genesis Worm,” Jake corrected her. “A very important distinction.”
Carmen didn’t seem to care much about vermeology as she responded by attacking again, Jake gladly meeting her offense. The two of them rapidly moved through the arena, Jake dodging every attack of Carmen, while the vast majority of his own blows also missed. Those he did hit barely seemed to do anything either, as their battle saw little progress.
One thing became clear after a good while. Jake was faster than Carmen, but Carmen had more raw Strength. Durability-wise, Carmen also had a massive edge, and she likely also had more Endurance due to her stamina-only Path. However… in every other category, Jake had her handily beat. He simply had far more raw stats than her, and while hers being focused on only a few stats did allow her to keep up, the disparity was clear.
Without skills, though, Jake couldn’t really show off many of his stats, allowing their fight to look relatively equal. Then again, even if Jake could use skills, he probably wouldn’t want to because one other thing was also pretty clear… this was a lot of fun.
Jake smiled as he and Carmen traded blows, the woman also enjoying the bout even if she failed to land any blows. Several minutes passed, and despite little changing, the crowd and the combatants were fully engrossed in the fight as the two fighters got more and more accustomed to how the other one fought.
“Would you mind if I changed things up a bit?” Jake asked as they clashed for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Still no active skills,” Carmen reminded him as she deflected a katar and tried to punch him in the chin.
“It won’t be,” Jake smiled as he dodged another attack and landed a solid kick, making Carmen slide backward.
Before she could fully stabilize, the area lit up as the ground below her exploded with destructive arcane energy. Jake didn’t hesitate to continue his attack as Carmen lost her footing, slamming a katar into her stomach. As a follow-up, more than thirty bolts of destructive arcane mana popped into existence around him, which he promptly sent forward.
“No active skills,” Olaf reminded him with a frown.
“It’s not,” Jake smiled, leaping forward to strike alongside his arcane bolts.
Even if his melee hits did little to nothing, Jake still believed his arcane energy should have some effect. At the very least, it should lower her durability somewhat and allow Jake to do some actual damage… at least, that’s what he hoped would happen.
It wasn’t.
Attacking in tandem with all the exploding bolts, Jake expected them to create an opening but instead just found Carmen grinning as she charged straight through them. A large explosion erupted as all the bolts went off, and through the explosion, Jake saw Carmen’s form. Runes lit up wherever bare skin could be seen, as the arcane energy did nothing… no, it did do something. Just not anything good from Jake’s point of view.
With runes glowing intensely, Carmen suddenly sped up, as she flew through the explosion and appeared before Jake sooner than he had expected. He dodged her first blow, but she managed to barely grab onto his clothes as she pulled him in and punched him in the chest, sending him flying back.
Jake stabilized in mid-air as he did a somersault and landed on the ground safely. “I thought no active skills.”
“All passive,” Carmen grinned as the runes on her body faded.
“A pretty damn overpowered one at that,” Jake muttered.
“You find it strange the runes of a Runemaiden are powerful?” Carmen threw smirked. “Also… I think this makes it two hits.”
“Aight, you got me,” Jake also smiled. Though in his defense, he had not seen that coming at all. He kind of expected Carmen to have high magic resistance, but what he had just seen was far above that. Those runes hadn’t simply negated the mana; they had absorbed it and temporarily turned it into a burst of power.
It was like she had a Palate of the Malefic Viper skill… just against magic. This also explained why her aura felt so off and muted. She was absorbing energy at all times, making it look like there was less in her immediate vicinity.
“Let’s see how you respond to this, though,” Jake said as another dozen arcane bolts appeared around him, making Carmen scoff.
“Pretty sure you already saw the result once.”
“Nah, I feel like this time will be different,” Jake said as he charged once more, seemingly repeating his move from before.
Carmen likely suspected something was off but still charged in kind. Right as they clashed, the arcane bolts hit Carmen… and didn’t explode. Instead, they struck her like hard crystals, throwing her slightly off-balance and allowing Jake to put proper power into his blow as he stabbed her in the stomach.
The Runemaiden was blasted back from the impact, smashing into the back wall making a nice human imprint. However, more than that… a small trickle of blood ran down her stomach, where his Blackpoint Nanoblade had barely managed to penetrate.
“So you can bleed,” Jake said as Carmen pushed herself loose. He saw her wound was already healing, but he felt satisfied managing to at least do some damage. She really was ridiculously resilient, though Jake knew this resilience came with other drawbacks.
“What the hell were those bolts?” Carmen muttered.
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Jake said as more appeared around him.
“Damn straight, I will,” Carmen gritted her teeth as she kicked off the wall behind her, making a section of it collapse as she launched herself toward Jake.
Comments
Random Yep
thank you zogarth
Endless Nature
Thx for the chapter
kapat
Jake & Carmen have my favorite dynamic. I’m glad that the women he has flings with are all powerful in their own right. He fits much better with people like Carmen, Irin, & Artemis than the blushing dragon princess or the ex-slave elf girl. I’m happy that his thing with Carmen is still ongoing even with his new chemistry with Artemis also. It doesn’t feel harem-y, it just feels non-monogamous.
Jarris
I think it was when Sandy was becoming the chosen of snappy
Josh Hietpas
Because the first sage asked villy to kill him. Idr what chapter but it was in a conversation with jake
Dwagyn
Just finished catching up. I take a few months break every time I reach the end so I'll have a bunch of content at once. You're awesome man, thank you for your hard work!
Endern
Yes, but Valhal is trying to disassociate Jake from the Viper. In the previous chapter he was Lord Thayne.
Luke Scheffe
Jake’s bloodline had primal in the name, but he is not a Neanderthal, lizard, amoeba or even particularly uncivilized. So no reason a single word has to define the person.
Dictator911
Why are people saying that villy killed the first sage I thought that he told Jake he didn’t know how he died but that the system itself told him that he was dead
Michael Meyer
I think it was that he was specifically the chosen of the malefic viper, not just a chosen
Luke Scheffe
Yeah, villy wasn’t even sapient yet when the system initiated.
Nick Elliott
God the weekend drags when you are waiting for another chappie to drop.
Endern
I just noticed it, but Olaf referred to Jake as the Chosen. I don't know if that was intended or not.
Chase Burton
woah! very interesting
Chase Burton
thanks for the chapter
Dustin
The system didn't come after the First Sage died. He was C-grade.
Dustin
If he is still "alive," I think he would have had to perform some type of integration of at least a portion of his Truesoul into the system at the time of death. Villy did say the First Sage was obsessed and knew more about the system than anyone else. Kind of like downloading his consciousness into a computer program. And his truesoul instead of just his mind, because he is able to manipulate and have an impact on the system itself.
Dustin
Holy shit, that is oddly specific and detailed. But very cool.
Dustin
This would be freaking awesome if it happened. And it's not even out of the realm of possibilities.
Kevin
Now that’s some tinfoil hat stuff if I’ve ever seen it.
Kevin
I think you might be reading too much into a single word. Also when you die, your true soul (where your bloodline resides) leaves into the system. If he is somehow still able to use his mind, then it would probably be in an essentially dead like state inside the system.
Kevin
Back in book 2, after Jake killed William, Jake was able to see and remember the entire scene between Villy and Eversmile despite being completely frozen in time. Villy says that is because his bloodline allows him to always know whats happening in his sphere. Do you think this is what allows him to get around the forbidden knowledge?
Kevin
Transcendent skills have a cost to them, so assuming this happens, he would most certainly have to spend Jake juice to use it.
Kaibutsu
But his bloodline have immortal in the name xD
Bob of Doom
Hard to say he got nerfed more since boosting skills are off the table. I have a feeling most of Carmen's skills are boosting skills. I mean, we have already seen most of her E and D grade skills were boosting skills.
Bob of Doom
Because Villy killed the First Sage and absorbed his Records
William WIlson
If true this leads to the theory that Yip is trying to create a Primordial killer and has indeed created the legend. However the legend could become either Jake or Yip. Villy would naturally uncover this because he is the ultimate schemer and will allow Jake to kill himself so solidify the legend. Similar to the way he killed the first sage. Jake would naturally be upset and go into seclusion afterwards. After many eras he is wondering villys realm where he finds a tiny black and green Viper, in which Jake uses his origin juice on and bring Villy back to life. Afterwards villy then asks Jake to help him by bringing back his wife. Jake is of course super happy to have villy ask this because while the Viper carries villys name and most of his powers he's not sure if it's his friend or not but is certain after the snake leads him to the pillars which are villys wife and son transmuted. Jake then brings them back and everyone is happy again.
William WIlson
What if the Karmic threads aren't simply tied to the Primordials but instead to the sage each Primordial killed for a title in which allowed them to reach Primordial level.
Ty Cooper
Tinfoil hat comment. Could it be that when Jake meets the First Sage he helps Jake make a Transcendent. The Transcendent he makes is the Origin Annihilation. Similar to Eversmile except instead of karma he destroys the origin. To make it crazier he absorbs the energy to use as Jake juice.
Kaibutsu
Why it's so hard for Villy to believe First Sage is still in a way alive, his bloodline is called "Immortal Mind" that kinda self explain how he is still alive imo
Jesse
Zog definitely has this all planned but it'd be funny if you guessed it all off rip. Lol I wonder how often that happened
C. Adkins
Unless he IS Minaga. And yes. I’m tinfoil hatting the first sage as basically everyone at this point for the lolz. Sorry.
C. Adkins
Really liking the discussion, especially since it’s a tinfoil theory lol but now Chris’s thoughts are my head canon until proven otherwise. With Smoke’s time jumps thrown in. (And I personally believe they are two different people, but wouldn’t it be funny?)
C Gillan
No really likely as it would mean the system lied about giving villy the first sages blood line.
Jeff McCulley
Seems to me that A. The boots first belonged to the first Sage, and B. Either all of the Primordials had them, or the First Sage worked with all of them—but unlike Villy, none remember.
Zizawah
See Zogarth’s reply. Talked at length to his wife and Jake vs brief mention to others that he didn’t mention to Jake
Cursadderr
Tftc
Doctordirt
Yeah dog at that point what are we even reading? that would literally make everything lamer
Morloc13
Ok so I went and looked but Villy told Jake back in book 8 that he had never spoken to anyone except his wife about the first sage. But now he says he told others before?
JJB4345_80_815
I'm not buying it BUT I do appreciate the amount of thought that went into this idea. You saw issues with this idea and used reason to fix those issues. 👍🙌👏
Nick Elliott
When Jake was having his vision of alt-Jake he was actually there. Because alt-Jake thanks to their bloodline could see him. So maybe when Jake views stuff in the past using his viper skill he is in fact there. I'm sure on one of his last visions the first sage looked up at him in same way alt-Jake did and spied him.
JJB4345_80_815
There are a couple of plot holes in that tin foil hat conspiracy. First, different bloodlines. The First Sage had the Bloodline of the Immortal Mind. Jake has the Bloodline of the Primal Hunter. Second, Villy. He knows both dudes. Once he first saw Jake he'd be like: "Why is the First Sage wearing a fake mustache?" Or rather: "The First Sage looks different without his beard." Even without similar appearances, Villy could recognize the personality being the same. The First Sage and Jake are 2 totally different people. One never wanted to be a god and Jake is sure enough in himself that he will become a god. Sorry to rumple up the tin foil...
Numbzy
I wonder if the reason the boots have such a strong connection with the concept of primordial is because Vilas was the first one? When he got the concept he was the only one. Thus when he ascended, Vilas was "All of the Primordials" for at least a short while. Those records then got infused by anything he interacted with during his life. Then when other people ascended, it tied all of them together. Especially with the additional records that boots contain, the whole progress/advancing.
Nick Elliott
Thanks for the chapter.
Nick Elliott
Especially as fight will be resolved on Monday. Forbidden knowledge will probabky go quite for a while.
Nick Elliott
But do you think for a moment that Jake won't come out on top? It will be in spite of all the things you have listed and he still comes out, maybe only slightly, on top. Probably with the bout looking fairly even to onlookers. But Carmen and possibly thatOlaf and a few others will know that Jake did something Jakey
JJB4345_80_815
@Sean - That is a bit of a stretch. So, The First Sage decided to hop around the first era changing his appearance and his name (Hi! I'm The First Teacher! Oh, and this mustache is totally real!) so that after his death (confirmed by the System itself to Villy) & after several eras have passed make ONLY the appearance and name of the First Sage Forbidden Knowledge in order to not damage the Paths of all of the other Primordials??? Why??? All it takes now is Villy going back to Eversmile and asking: "Hey, did you ever have a super smart mentor in the first era that had a profound impact on your path but you only know about? He was kinda godlike in his knowledge but had NO desire to become a god. He was really good with Transcendent Skills?" I just don't see it... 🤷 (Now, if it was JAKE that was a Primordial, who sometimes acts as if ALL knowledge is forbidden and kinda forgets to share such important nuggets of wisdom with others THEN it would make maybe slightly more sense 😉)
BumAssBumAss
Villy told Jake that the system appears different for each person who sees it. Humans might see a humanoid, slyphie might see a bird, it differs from individual to individual. Villy didn't tell Jake, but he sees the first sage as the system
Andrew K
Crazy paradox-free idea: The First Sage never actually existed at all. Villy's belief to the contrary is the result of Jake's bloodline passively attempting to strengthen Villy's records by injecting stronger alternate origins for some of his traits and abilities without damaging Villy's path, with the First Sage being a convenient package to make everything still seem to make sense. The Forbidden Knowledge designation is the system trying to contain the false information or play along for the time being by hiding inconsistencies that haven't been resolved yet. - We already know that Earth has usually strong records growth, but it's unclear how much of this can really be attributed to regular ripple effects from Jake's normal actions thus far and/or good planetary-scale luck in having other similar benefits from other naturally strong people. Jake's bloodline having a large-scale passive effect could provide a stronger explanation. - A number of factors in Jake's relationship with Villy would give plenty of justification for Villy to get an extra-strong dose of such effects, and that any normal natural resistance that might otherwise apply to such an effect could be reduced or eliminated. - Villy's perfect memory bloodline certainly seems like a bit of an issue for this idea, but there are some relatively reasonable possible explanations. In terms of where he got it from, it could originally have had some totally different origin, and him thinking it came from the First Sage could be part of the changes. Such an origin change could possibly also leave a "back door" for false memories related to the new origin, or there could be justifications like it being imperfect with regards to memories from before Villy acquired the bloodline. (Also, always the option that Jake's bloodline is just outright overpowered it.) - This would likely mean Jake's boots weren't originally all that special, but have been acting as some sort of convenient physical anchor to somehow help further substantiate the manufactured alternate-origin records. The karmic link to all of the primordials could be because the overall impact level of the origin tampering is reaching the point that the other primordials need to start getting some similar improvements in order to keep it plausible that their important interactions with Villy would play out materially the same way (and that sort of verisimilitude being important to the whole effect being able to advance without breaking Villy's path or having other major negative side-effects).
SmokeJam
I don't believe we will have a time-travel story on our hands here. At least, that would make it quite sad in some regards as you imply Jake has to die at some point to be born in the current timeline. Otherwhise time paradoxon and we already know how that turns out with sim-Jake. That would make Jake's story a loop and not a progressive one, an issue I really can't see happening for someone whose most intimate title is "Primal Hunter". Maybe time jumps and glimpses, maybe more prolonged when Jake reaches higher grades, but not a full-on travel I think.
SmokeJam
@Austin Barton: That's a simple, yet bloody smart take! You might be on the money with that one at least generally speaking.
Decibel790
What a chapter, interesting lore and an awesome fight!
Matt Spratte
Thanks for the chappie zog!
Matt Spratte
Good gods....
Chris Edwards
In the past, Villy has said that the First Sage saw things that the System didn't want him to see and with his Bloodline, the knowledge couldn't be made forbidden for him. My personal theory is that the First Sage saw the origins of the System. Jake's Bloodline and more specifically "Jake Juice" comes directly from the System's origin. So, the First Sage saw Jake's Bloodline be created and held in stasis until Jake came along. I think the First Sage could see Jake along the lines of kharma connecting Jake's Bloodline to Jake. Thinking about it some more, it's possible that Jake eventually goes back in time to the first age and the boots are actually Jake's from when he knew the First Sage, and was his apprentice. It might even be why the First Sage sought out Villy - because Jake asked him to.
Chris Curtis
Jake got nerfed more. He can't use his bow but Carmen can use her fists. I live in ND and I don't know of any hunter that punches their prey. Knives are used after the kill. He's only using secondary skills while Carmen is using Primary ones with a body specifically enhanced to do that. Range is Jakes superpower.....his arrows even speed up the farther they go.
Dan
I mean they both got nerfed, he just elected to make it a melee to see his own growth. They're both learning and having fun.
C. Adkins
Tinfoil hat time. First Sage is actually future Jake after using his path skill and getting trapped in the past for a time. He “died” at C Grade, when in reality, he just went back to the future. Making Jake a truly primal figure in the multiverse.
Ty Cooper
Right! Got me too
sylvan sommerville
Minaga is a unique life form would kinda ruin his uniqueness
Sean
I'm imagining it from the perspective of only the name of the person is the same. Eversmile can see the image of the first sage because it doesn't mean anything alone. Villy can still talk about having a c grade mentor if I read the chapters correctly. It's only the name that's been forbidden. The only reason I can see for that to be the case is if the person uses that name consistenly whole changing their appearance to suit whichever race was on the planet. So all the primordials know everything still, they just don't have the name of their teacher. Villy already said it's different from Eversmile's ability so it shouldn't erase everything about him, just the name.
KenTX325
Would like to see Jake use aura as a weapon. Especially in front of this crowd.
JJB4345_80_815
@Sean - Your premise is flawed. Please re-read this section that I copied and pasted from this current chapter: "Removing existing memories that were already ingrained in the Records of a Truesoul was something the system never did. To take away long-term memories could be damaging in far too many ways, as the risk of it hurting someone’s Path was simply too high." First off, why teach someone stuff if they are just going to forget it all? Second, it sounds like it would damage the Primordials path, and if you say that it wouldn't for ANY of the 11 other Primordials then I call BS. The First Sage was alive in the First Era (& before). Which means any knowledge that he would have supposedly taught would be foundational. To have the teacher of that foundational knowledge to be forcibly removed from the Truesoul would damage even a Primordial and their Path.
Mat
This just showed how ridiculous First Saga/Villy’s bloodline is.
JJB4345_80_815
Yes, Thank you for the chappy, Zogarth!
Thenais
What if the first sage is like minaga ?
James Faulkner
Awesome!
Olof Karlsson
Thanks for the chapter!
Austin Barton
They were fractured because Jake suppressed his bloodline that was the explanation. Plus Jake remembers the first sage chances are he is using his primal origin power to see the origin of the primordials which is probably the first sage. he has karma with all primordials which kind of backs up the theory.
ValVal
I was rereading book 3 and when Jake fought the Mindchief it noticed that all of his earliest memories are fractured like the y were sealed away. Probably not immediately relevant but thought it might relate to this somehow.
Sean
I mean we've seen cloning skills. And the way I recall that story was like 'The sage died, and then a few days later the system initiated.' So Villy basically killed someone presystem and then probably realized more and more how unlikely his death seemed. As for the paths of the other Primordials, the First Sage has unparalleled energy control to the point where Villy says even some gods can't do what he did. That sounds like something that could help with any kind of skill. Plus Villy in this chapter mentions how good the sage is at making transcendant skills, which makes up a lot of the primordials abilities. Holy mother, Blight guy, Valdemar, Eversmile, and I think I remember some others.
Kevin
I’m curious what kind of teaching you think Valdemar or the star seizing titan could possibly get from the first sage? Their paths are completely different.
ABTelford
Love both sections! The mystery with the first sage is rising in a delightful way. Yay! And the fight between Jake and Carmen is pretty fun!
Kevin
The first sage died to Villy long before most all of the primordials were even born, so no he did not teach them.
Devin
You’re not wrong… but this is more for fun than it is for training. Also, with the handicaps they are just training specific things like melee fighting for Jake and an opponent that can easily maneuver around her for Carmen.
Kazith
Why is Aeon not Perception?
Chris Curtis
Jake fought other Jake for decades......he's got that exp more so than Carmen.
Ignatius
But he also needs improvement in melee fights compared to someone who has had way more than Jake
Daniel Hogan
Perception could be Eversmile - he sees fate itself?
Chris Curtis
I am not a fan of when a male fights a female in a book and he is nerfed but the female has attitude like he is amazing. Carmen would learn more getting her ass beatdown than having Jake dance around playing with his food.
Syndarix
Also not everyone has the same stats. It was talked about way in the beginning but different races have different/different number of stats.
Numbzy
No, Vilas killed the First Sage. He couldn't have left.
Taylor
Oh goddamnit I just realized it’s Friday :(
Quasimagics
Thought villy told Jake a while back he speculated the old sage was the system personified. Same as the white humanoid beings jake saw in the beginning.
Mrburns93
12 primordials Vilastromoz Eversmile Wyrmgod Holy mother Dao father Valdimar Yggidrasil Star seizing titan Stormild Blight father Regoria the maker Aeon clok If I had to assign the stats to them though it would be Strength- valdimar Vitality- Yggidrasil Intelligence- eversmile Agility- stormild Toughness- star seizing titan Perception- rigoria the maker (idk who else it could be) Endurance- Blight father Wisdom- Vilastromoz Willpower- Dao father Free points- Wyrmgod (yes I did that and I stand by it)
Olos
Umbra is not actually a primordial, she's from the second or third universe. Remaining ones not listed here are Stormhild the elemental, and the Robot.
Brandon Dorrough
Oh probably. I forgot how many exactly
ValVal
Isn’t there 12 primordials?
Sean
I'm guessing the First Sage was a teacher for all the primordials, and they've had that information removed once they became gods. The way it was explained made me think that the first sage taught Villy what he needed to know, then left. Meaning he could just as easily do the same for every other Primordial. Then suddenly they're all the first gods causing a positive cascading effect on each new era as their records basically bolster the ability for people to become gods in an era. If Primordials exist, the idea that new initiated eras can produce new gods is always a known fact.
ItWasIDIO!!
👏🏾 👏🏾 👏🏾
Ignatius
tftc, the bigger cliffhanger is the forbidden knowledge than the fight but still an amazing chapter
Ben Heystek
Toughness the titan, the rogue for the agility can't remember her name, intelligence would be eversmile, perception would be nevermores creator
Brandon Dorrough
I'm not a theory person but I had an idea. Do the 9 primordial represent the 9 stats? Vilas-wisdom Dao father- will power Valdimar- strength Yggidrasil- vitality But im not sure about thr rest. Whats left are Intelligence Agility Perception Toughness Endurance
Phillip Hazlett
Tftc :)
Henscratch
I was thinking it was a play on words because Jake was simultaneously & playfully offended that he was being thwarted.
Bob of Doom
So most I don't think are accurate. I think this has a lot to do with the First Sage's bloodline. That it allows him to remember simulated worlds and because of that he uses a transcendent skill to remove himself from memory. Now why he did that, that people had to do with Jake's Arcane Affinity. I also think he integrated himself with the system some, but that might be unrelated.
Matthias
Tftc
Themo Grulld
I think you overlooked a word joke , because Jake doesn't use his bow he has less Bower.....There is no accident only intent.
ByLordMatsLuck
Great chapter TFTC
Tim Schillinger
Tftc
Harbby
He and Carmen are just going to bang in the arena after a few more hits from Jake.
Dave
TFTC
Jonathan
and Oras had gleamed many secrets, he could now only share with the Malefic Viper. and Oras had gleaned many secrets he could now only share with the Malefic Viper. He simply had far more raw stats than her, than she did,
Jana
While I agree with you, the first one to meddle with time might have been Jake. There was always a chance that he truly traveled through time in his visions and the fact they showed more than even the Viper knew is a strong indication for that to be true(+ his booldlines strong connection to ancient times).If that’s the case - meeting the First Sage in one of his visions might have led to the sage changing his mind about dying. Maybe due to this he actually became a part of the system, making himself forbidden knowledge after said vision- leading to only the viper remembering things that happened yet have not happened at all.
Pablo Barbatto
Correct, I would assume something like Sim Jake but this time the First Sage used his expertise to alter the past now that we are in the future
Pablo Barbatto
They should be relative the same I would assume that race level about the same, with Jake being even on class and profession, while Carmen would be more class less profession
Sam Rosenberg
Nice chapter
Numbzy
My guess, after Jake met him, he created another transcendence to turn his records into Forbidden Knowledge for anyone he hasn't actually met. That Jake can somehow affect the past with ability.
Mownmbasa
Here's a couple of wild theories i have. What if Sage is an embodiment or better yet an avatar of the system itself taken mortal form to live among mortals and to understand reality from their point of view. Or an avatar of the entity behind the system. Or the actual first god before the Primordials. What if Jake using his "juice" manages to bring back the First Sage. Or maybe yet and this is the wildest one possible, Jake is the First Sage, only reincarnated into a different form and with some cheats like his bloodline. Think about it if you have such good memory and know so many things about the system especially the primordial system at the beginning, you're bound to find loopholes to abuse. Keep in mind if i remember correctly the first Sage was C grade when he met Villy. There's so much mystery in what happened in the primordial era, with Villy's family, the Sage, who and why created the system. Do the Void Lords have the system. Damn my mind reels! The possibilities are immense!
Sean
I think you meant to say "in his defense" not offense. Thanks for the chapter!
Matthew Lewis Worthington
Zogarth I love your writing man this stuff is great the forbidden knowledge and such I'm now really curious what Vila knows also Eversmile is op though I'm assuming skill usage is based on power of subject
Ty Cooper
You know those watching from Valhal are having a blast. Probably not often they see someone that can scratch Carmen.
Jack Dawson
When Jake used his skill that used to let him see into the Malefic vipers past the sage saw him and I think his transcendent skill is so powerful that he used it inside the past but only had it's affect trigger well after his death.
eric holman
"Though in his offense," I think you mean defense
Robert Vick
I'm not sure it was ever stated that he had never told anyone else about the sage.
mitchell kaiser
Happy Friday folks! Love the chapter thanks Zogarth!
Zogarth
This.
DeadMeat
I have a hunch that he is dead, but his talent is so strong that "NOW" doesn't mean the same thing to him as it does to the rest of the Multiverse.
TheGrandScrubLord
allowing Jake to put proper bower into his blow as he stabbed her in the stomach. Bower - Power
Joshua Morris
And that someone is the First Sage.
Darshar Griffonmane
...allowing Jake to put proper bower into his blow as he stabbed her in the stomach. Should be "proper power" i believe. tftc, excited to see where this First Sage Karmic legacy is heading towards.
Joanna Newhard
allowing Jake to put proper bower into his blow..... bower-> power
Shadows_End
My guess is he mentioned the first sage in passing to other but actually talked about his experiences with Jake and his wife.
Dont_like_to_Talk
What level is Carmen compared to jake? Just want to know if the status advantage is only from Jakes crazy titles or not. Thanks for the chapter
joel southard
Nice thank you for the chapter
Naotsugu97
Great Friday chapter! Have a fun weekend!
Jana
Hmm if I were Villy my next stop would be with Aeon - it feels like someone or something is meddling with timelines.
Leon Cleland
*allowing jake to put proper *power*into his blows. Thanks mate love your work!
Gavin
I think the sage is dead but he did something and he didn't die die. Jake learning and investigating the Sage is uncovering a secret that's making knowledge about the sage forbidden now.
donvitogonzalle
Thanks for explaining why Villy was able to tell his wife. But wasnt it mentioned that the only people Villy talked to about the sage were his wife and Jake? This chappie contradicts that.
Juozapas
Very cool
Niclas Elmers
Finally something good Happening during school
Detrox
Nice!
alex smithen
Thanks for the chapter
BumAssBumAss
Thanks for the chapter!
