Chapter 1676: Comprehending Concepts (2)
Of course, the Intent Seed itself wasn’t actually incomplete.
After all, for a concept to manifest into an Intent Seed in the first place, the concept itself needed the capability to stand on its own and reach the pinnacle in one way or another.
Though it may seem counterintuitive, going all in on improving a firearm’s accuracy had that kind of capability.
However, just like how even two people with the same classes would have different combat strengths, there were also differences among concepts.
Specifically, the depth and quality of the concept one comprehended.
A good example of that would be the [Intent of True Mana].
Considering that the concept itself involved an energy that almost everyone knew how to wield, then it went without saying that there were a myriad number of ways one could interpret the energy and deepen one’s comprehension of it.
One person could comprehend mana from the perspective of control, while the other could comprehend mana from the perspective of density.
However, whether it be control or density, such a concept would immediately crumple under one that had taken both aspects of mana into consideration.
And that was the exact feeling Valyr was getting from the Intent Seed he had just comprehended.
’What other aspect about firearms should I incorporate into this Intent Seed?’ Seeing as he felt that the concept was incomplete, the young man did not hesitate to shift his perspective on how he would comprehend the concept.
After all, even though he wouldn’t have any problems with turning the concept into a bona fide Intent with its current foundation, the level of compatibility and synergy he would have with such a concept would be abysmal in exchange.
And thus, Valyr got back to the drawing board, briefly going over the paths he had gone over sometime earlier.
At the same time, new paths he hadn’t thought about the first time began to surface in his mind, giving him more choices on which aspects he should incorporate into the improved version of the current Intent Seed.
’...Handling, accuracy, and lethality.’
In the end, Valyr decided to incorporate one of the earlier paths he had discarded, as well as one of the new paths he had come up with, getting the feeling that the two new aspects suited his current usage of firearms very well.
’A shot isn’t deadly if it’s not accurate,’ murmured the young man to himself as he slowly began to deepen his comprehension over his newly formed Intent Seed. ’On the other hand, a shot isn’t accurate if it’s not deadly.’
’And for a shot to be both accurate and deadly... one must handle a firearm well.’
With those thoughts lingering in his mind, the young man began to fortify the foundations that would eventually birth his ideal Intent, picking out all of the bits and pieces that aligned with his vision.
Having spent half a day transforming the concept into the ’incomplete’ Intent Seed, Valyr spent the next half day incorporating the new idea into it, upgrading the Intent Seed to the First Stage.
At the same time, the name of the Intent Seed was changed, turning into the [Intent Seed of the Bullseye].
Continuing to deepen his understanding of his newly formed Intent Seed, the young man spent the next two days upgrading it to the Culmination Stage, only for it to become a bona fide Intent on the very next.
With how stable the foundation of the concept was, as well as how deep his understanding of the concept had become over the past few days, the name of the concept had changed once more after becoming an Intent.
’The [Intent of the Silver Death],’ Valyr muttered to himself, faintly smiling as he recalled the person that gave him the ocular skill he used in both forging and combat.
The same person who had become one of his idols in his past life.
’A fitting name for a fitting Intent.’
Briefly reminiscing over the times he spent under Jekyll’s tutelage, the young man eventually returned back his attention towards his newly formed Intent, deepening his comprehension of the concept until it reached the 5th Grade.
Considering that the Intent started off at the 7th Grade the moment it was upgraded to its current level, it took quite a bit of time for Valyr to push the concept to the grade he had in mind.
Then again, compared to how it took both him and Ataraxia working together for a month and a half just to upgrade an Intent by two grades, the fact that it only took him just a bit over a week on his own to achieve the same feat was quite insane.
Ding!
’Alright.’ Receiving a notification from the system that he had completed an objective from one of his quests, a faint smile of satisfaction appeared on the young man’s face as he went ahead and activated the [Intent of the Silver Death] to its fullest.
Whoosh!
Feeling his perception of the world undergo a subtle change the moment the 5th Grade Intent was activated, a blazing flame soon awakened within him, giving him the feeling that anything he deemed his target would undoubtedly fall with a single shot.
Swoosh!
Deactivating the Intent after getting a better idea of how it worked, Valyr went ahead and contacted Ataraxia through their connection, prompting the latter to ask how far the former had gotten in regards to his firearm-related Intent.
Hearing that the Intent had reached the 5th Grade while he was comprehending his own concepts, Ataraxia was briefly left at a loss for words, being reminded once more as to how much time they were saving while at the Ocean of Crystallized Truths.
Calculating that it had only taken almost two weeks for Valyr to go from not having any concept related to firearms to a 5th Grade Intent, the two soon got back to comprehending more concepts, returning where they left off on the [Intent of Mystic Energy].
Unsurprisingly, with how much inspiration and knowledge they were receiving from the ocean at their current depth, it took around the same time for them to push the [Intent of Mystic Energy] to 5th Grade, bringing the total number of days they’ve spent at the ocean to around 28.
’To think we’ve already spent an entire month in this place,’ said Valyr through [Soul Entanglement], giving his other self a slightly surprised look.
’I’m more surprised by the fact we haven’t gone back to the Shallows to get some fresh air throughout all that,’ replied Ataraxia, causing the former to feel a bit of breathlessness in response.
Feeling a bit of breathlessness as well because of that, the young man gave his other self a brief look of apology as the two slowly made their way up to the surface.
’I wonder... how far can we get in these next two months?’