"Bagus," kata Wrath sambil menyipitkan mata menatap Nick. "Kau milikku sekarang. Jangan pernah berpikir untuk kabur."<br><br>Kemudian, patung itu berubah kembali menjadi batu bundar, dan seluruh kekuatan lenyap dari Major Relay itu.<br><br>Keheningan.<br><br>Beberapa saat kemudian, CZE dari Priesthood memberi isyarat agar Nick masuk.<br><br>Nick melangkah maju.<br><br>BLARR!<br><br>Dan pintu itu terbanting menutup tepat di depan wajahnya.<br><br>Nick mengerjap beberapa kali.<br><br>Lalu, dia menunggu.<br><br>TING!<br><br>Pintu itu terbuka lagi, dan CZE memberi isyarat agar Nick masuk sekali lagi.<br><br>Kali ini, pintu tidak langsung menutup.<br><br>Nick berhasil masuk ke dalam ruangan, dan pintu tertutup di belakangnya.<br><br>Begitu masuk, dia langsung paham mengapa tidak ada ruangan lain di lantai ini.<br><br>Seluruh lantai ini ternyata hanyalah ruang kerja CZE.<br><br>Kemegahannya luar biasa dan melampaui nalar.<br><br>Satu-satunya ruang kerja yang bisa disetarakan dengan tempat ini adalah ruang kerja Markus Julius di Crimson City.<br><br>'Pengikut gluttony, ya?' batin Nick sambil mengedarkan pandangan.<br><br>"Kau akan menjadi salah satu pelayan Lord Wrath," ucap CZE. "Hidupmu akhirnya memiliki arti."<br><br>"Simpan omong kosongmu untuk para pengikutmu," balas Nick tanpa memandangnya.<br><br>CZE itu tidak menunjukkan reaksi yang berlebihan.<br><br>"Sekarang aku akan mengajarimu cara membuat Major Relay," ucapnya dengan nada datar sambil melangkah maju.<br><br>Nick berbalik dan menatapnya.<br><br>"Pertama, wujudkan batu berongga yang terasa seperti ini."<br><br>Seketika itu juga, Nick merasakan gelombang tak kasat mata memancar dari CZE.<br><br>Hal ini sama persis dengan yang dialami Nick saat dia berbicara dengan ular batu besar dulu.<br><br>Inilah cara unik para Specter untuk saling berkomunikasi.<br><br>Dulu, Nick belum bisa merasakan kegunaan sebenarnya dari kemampuan ini karena ular batu tersebut hanya memiliki kecerdasan yang terbatas.<br><br>Namun sekarang, saat berbicara dengan Specter yang cerdas, Nick bisa melihat potensi sejati dari kemampuan tersebut.<br><br>Rasanya seolah CZE sedang menyampaikan konsep-konsep murni kepada Nick.<br><br>Hampir dalam sekejap, Nick mengetahui dimensi batu tersebut, bagaimana tekstur permukaannya saat disentuh, aroma dan rasanya, apa yang harus dikandungnya, tingkat kekerasannya, dan segala macam detail lainnya.<br><br>Seolah CZE hanya mengucapkan kata "batu", dan seluruh informasi terkait batu itu langsung tersampaikan seketika.<br><br>Menyampaikan informasi sebanyak itu lewat ucapan normal akan membutuhkan ribuan kata serta proses interpretasi yang cukup rumit agar maknanya tepat.<br><br>Nick kini tahu persis seperti apa wujud batu ini seharusnya.<br><br>"Lalu, bagaimana caraku melakukannya?" tanya Nick.<br><br>Tentu saja, Nick tahu wujud batu itu seperti apa, tapi dia tidak bisa begitu saja menciptakannya dari ketiadaan.<br><br>Ini seperti menyuruh seorang anak kecil untuk membelah balok logam padat menjadi dua. Anak itu mengerti apa yang harus dia lakukan, tapi bagaimana cara dia mewujudkannya?<br><br>"Cukup wujudkan saja," jawab CZE.<br><br>"Bagaimana caranya?" tanya Nick sekali lagi.<br><br>CZE menyipitkan mata saat mengamati Nick.<br><br>Dia tampak curiga pada Nick.<br><br>"Cara yang sama seperti saat kau membuat pakaian dan senjatamu," jawabnya datar.<br><br>"Aku tidak membuat kedua benda itu," balas Nick.<br><br>CZE mengerutkan kening.<br><br>Melihat hal itu, Nick langsung menjelaskan. "Senjataku milik seorang Initial Specialist. Pakaian ini milik seorang Expert acak."<br><br>Penjelasan itu sepertinya belum meredakan keraguan CZE.<br><br>"Apa kau tidak tahu cara mewujudkan materi?" tanyanya.<br><br>"Sepertinya tidak," jawab Nick.<br><br>Detik berikutnya, gelombang tak kasat mata lainnya memasuki pikiran Nick, dan dia dengan cepat mempelajari cara mewujudkan benda.<br><br>Nick harus mengerahkan seluruh kemampuannya agar tidak terlihat terkejut.<br><br>Dia tidak pernah benar-benar memikirkan hal ini sebelumnya!<br><br>Sebenarnya apa wujud tubuh Specter itu?<br><br>Bagaimana dengan Julian?<br><br>Bagian mana yang termasuk tubuhnya?<br><br>Apakah rambut birunya bagian dari tubuhnya?<br><br>Apakah pakaiannya bagian dari tubuhnya?<br><br>Selain itu, ketika Specter berwujud humanoid terluka parah, bagaimana pakaian mereka bisa pulih kembali?<br><br>Specter terkenal tidak memiliki lemari pakaian penuh busana.<br><br>Nick sudah sering melihat bagaimana Specter memulihkan pakaian mereka yang rusak, tapi dia tidak pernah benar-benar memikirkannya.<br><br>Bagaimanapun, hal itu tidak membawa dampak apa pun.<br><br>Tidak ada barang atau pakaian yang diwujudkan oleh Specter yang memengaruhi kekuatan mereka.<br><br>Namun ya, itu memang benar.<br><br>Specter bisa mewujudkan materi dari ketiadaan!<br><br>Tentu saja, sesuatu biasanya tidak muncul begitu saja dari ruang kosong.<br><br>Hal yang digunakan para Specter untuk mewujudkan materi dan barang adalah Zephyx mereka.<br><br>Specter dapat menggunakan Zephyx yang mereka hasilkan untuk menciptakan benda-benda yang mereka perlukan.<br><br>Meskipun demikian, itu bukanlah hal yang mudah.<br><br>Untuk menciptakan sesuatu hanya dengan Zephyx dan pikiran seseorang, seseorang harus memahami hampir segala hal tentang objek tersebut.<br><br>Jika tidak, hasil akhirnya akan menjadi tidak berguna.<br><br>Setidaknya dari sudut pandang kegunaan dalam pertarakan.<br><br>Jika seseorang tidak benar-benar tahu segalanya tentang suatu objek, mereka tetap bisa mewujudkan versi lemahnya.<br><br>Sebagai contoh, jika seseorang mencoba mewujudkan baja menggunakan Zephyx tetapi tidak tahu banyak tentang baja, mereka hanya akan menciptakan sesuatu yang berbentuk baja tetapi kehilangan hampir semua atribut aslinya.<br><br>Itu ibarat mewarnai selembar kertas dengan warna abu-abu.<br><br>Begitu pula cara Specter memperbaiki pakaian mereka.<br><br>Mereka tidak perlu tahu cara kerja serat kain dan tenunan.<br><br>Pakaian seorang Specter tidak memerlukan atribut yang muluk-muluk.<br><br>Pakaian itu hanya perlu mempermudah mereka meyakinkan manusia bahwa mereka bukanlah Specter.<br><br>Namun, jika seorang Specter benar-benar ingin mewujudkan sesuatu yang berguna, mereka harus mempelajari hampir semua hal tentang benda yang ingin mereka wujudkan.<br><br>Zephyx ibarat bahan serbaguna yang bisa diubah ke dalam bentuk apa pun yang bisa dibayangkan.<br><br>Tentu saja, manusia juga bisa melakukan hal ini, tetapi tidak tanpa mesin canggih dan tanpa cadangan Specter Zephyx dalam jumlah besar.<br><br>Inilah inti dari seluruh bidang Zephology.<br><br>Zephology adalah ilmu tentang menggunakan Specter Zephyx untuk menciptakan material yang kuat.<br><br>Tentu saja, Nick sudah tahu cukup banyak tentang Zephology saat ini.<br><br>Dasar dari Zephology adalah menerjemahkan tekad manusia ke dalam bentuk yang dapat bergabung dengan Specter Zephyx, setelah itu keduanya akan menyatu dan Specter Zephyx akan berubah menjadi objek yang dibayangkan oleh tekad manusia tersebut.<br><br>Tanpa mesin canggih, manusia tidak bisa melakukannya.<br><br>Tekad mereka secara bawaan tidak kompatibel dengan Specter Zephyx.<br><br>Mereka bisa mencernanya, tetapi mereka tidak bisa memanipulasinya.<br><br>Ini bagaikan perbedaan antara lengan seseorang dan sepotong daging. Manusia bisa mencerna keduanya, tetapi mereka hanya bisa mengendalikan lengan mereka sendiri.<br><br>Namun batasan yang sama ini tidak berlaku bagi para Specter.<br><br>Tekad mereka kompatibel dengan Zephyx mereka.<br><br>Hal ini membuat penggunaan mesin canggih menjadi tidak diperlukan.<br><br>Seorang Specter hanya perlu membayangkan apa yang mereka inginkan, dan Zephyx akan mengambil bentuk yang dibayangkan itu.<br><br>Ini sungguh gila!<br><br>Nick berusaha sebaik mungkin untuk menjaga ekspresinya tetap datar dan tak peduli seperti sebelumnya.<br><br>"Belum pernah mencobanya," komentar Nick sambil mengangkat tangan kanannya.<br><br>Kemudian, Nick membayangkan selembar kain merah di atas telapak tangannya.<br><br>Detik berikutnya, Nick merasakan Zephyx-nya perlahan meninggalkan tubuh dan berkumpul di atas tangan kanannya.<br><br>Nick hampir tidak percaya ketika sebuah titik merah kecil muncul di atas telapak tangannya.<br><br>Titik merah itu membesar dan membesar, hingga akhirnya mencapai ukuran yang dia bayangkan.<br><br>Akhirnya, selembar kain merah itu jatuh ke telapak tangan Nick.<br><br>Kretek!<br><br>Kain itu langsung robek dan jatuh ke lantai.<br><br>Bahan itu tidak cukup kuat untuk menahan beratnya sendiri dan hancur berkeping-keping.<br><br>Namun, ini baru percobaan pertamanya.<br><br>Setelah paling banyak sepuluh kali percobaan, Nick tahu dia bisa menciptakan kain yang bisa dipakai tanpa langsung hancur berkeping-keping.<br><br>"Buat batunya," perintah CZE.<br><br>Nick tidak melihat ke arah CZE melainkan mengingat kembali atribut-atribut batu yang dikirimkan CZE kepadanya tadi.<br><br>WUUUUM!<br><br>Jumlah Zephyx yang sangat besar berkumpul di atas lengan kanan Nick.<br><br>Jumlah Zephyx yang terkumpul jauh, jauh lebih besar daripada saat dia mewujudkan selembar kain tadi.<br><br>Hal ini disebabkan oleh kompleksitas dan berbagai atribut batu tersebut.<br><br>Semakin keras, fleksibel, ulet, atau apa pun sifat objek tersebut, semakin banyak Zephyx yang dibutuhkannya.<br><br>Tentu saja, semakin kompleks suatu objek, semakin besar pula fokus yang harus dicurahkan oleh Specter karena ada lebih banyak hal yang harus dikendalikan.<br><br>Membuat sesuatu yang sederhana bagaikan meminta orang normal untuk mengingat kode empat digit, sementara membuat sesuatu yang kompleks ibarat mengingat kode sepuluh digit, seratus digit, atau seribu digit.<br><br>Setelah sekitar sepuluh detik, Nick berhenti.<br><br>Di tangannya terdapat sebuah batu kecil melengkung yang lebarnya hampir tidak mencapai satu sentimeter.<br><br>Tentu saja, ukuran ini jauh dari cukup untuk dijadikan Major Relay.<br><br>Namun, cadangan Zephyx Nick hampir habis dan dia harus memulihkan diri terlebih dahulu.<br><br>CZE hanya terus mengawasi Nick.<br><br>Beberapa detik kemudian, Nick melanjutkan pembentukan batu itu.<br><br>Berdasarkan kemajuannya, dia mungkin akan membutuhkan waktu beberapa menit untuk menyelesaikan satu buah batu.<br><br>Meskipun tidak ditunjukkannya, CZE menyadari bahwa kemampuan Nick dalam mewujudkan materi berkembang dengan kecepatan yang mengerikan.<br><br>Entah Specter ini memang memiliki bakat bawaan untuk mewujudkan benda, atau dia telah menyerap informasi dalam jumlah luar biasa sepanjang hidupnya, memberikan kemampuan belajar yang sangat kuat.<br><br>Namun, CZE hanya merasa penasaran sekilas.<br><br>Bakat itu tidak penting.<br><br>Pada akhirnya, Specter ini hanyalah bagian dari pasukannya Lord Wrath.<br><br>Bakat ini tidak mengubah apa pun.
Bab 622 – Penjelmaan
"Good," Wrath said as it looked with narrowed eyes at Nick. "You are mine now. Don't even think about escaping."
Then, the statue turned back into a round stone, and all the power vanished from the Major Relay.
Silence.
A moment later, the CZE from the Priesthood gestured for Nick to enter.
Nick walked forward.
BANG!
And the door slammed shut in his face.
Nick blinked a couple of times.
Then, he waited.
DING!
The door opened again, and the CZE gestured for Nick to enter again.
This time, the door didn't immediately close.
Nick successfully entered the room, and the door closed behind him.
As soon as he entered, he realized why there were no other rooms on this floor.
This entire floor was just the CZE's office.
It was ostentatious beyond belief.
The only office that was comparable to this one had been Markus Julius' office in Crimson City.
'Followers of gluttony, huh?' Nick thought as he looked around.
"You will be one of Lord Wrath's servants," the CZE spoke. "Your life finally has meaning."
"Save your bullshit for your followers," Nick answered without looking at her.
The CZE didn't show any strong reaction.
"I will now teach you how to create a Major Relay," she spoke evenly as she stepped forward.
Nick turned around and looked at her.
"First, conjure a hollow stone that feels like this."
Then, Nick felt some invisible waves emanating from the CZE.
This was the same thing that Nick had experienced when he had talked to the big rock snake.
This was the Specters' unique way of communicating with each other.
Back then, Nick hadn't been able to feel the true utility of this ability since the rock snake had had only limited intelligence.
But now, while he was talking to an intelligent Specter, Nick could see the ability's true potential.
It was like the CZE was conveying the purest form of concepts to Nick.
In almost an instant, Nick knew the dimensions of the stone, how it was supposed to feel to the touch, how it smelled, how it tasted, what it should contain, how hard it was, and all other kinds of things.
It was like the CZE had simply spoken the word "stone", and all related information of the stone was immediately conveyed.
Conveying that much information via speech would need thousands of words and would require significant amounts of interpretation work to get just right.
Nick knew exactly what this stone was supposed to be like.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Nick asked.
Sure, Nick knew what the stone had to be like, but he couldn't just create it.
It was like asking a child to split a solid piece of metal in two. The child understood what it had to do, but how was it supposed to accomplish that?
"Just conjure it," the CZE answered.
"How?" Nick asked again.
The CZE narrowed her eyes as she inspected Nick.
She seemed like she felt suspicious of Nick.
"The same way you made your clothing and weapons," she said evenly.
"I didn't make either of those," Nick answered.
The CZE furrowed her brows.
When Nick saw that, he simply explained. "My weapons belonged to an Initial Specialist. The clothing belonged to a random Expert."
That didn't seem to resolve the CZE's doubts.
"Do you not know how to conjure materials?" she asked.
"Apparently, I don't," Nick said.
The next moment, more of these invisible waves entered Nick's mind, and he quickly learned how to conjure things.
Nick had to do his best not to look shocked or surprised.
He had never really thought about this!
What were Specter bodies?
What about Julian?
What was part of his body?
Was his blue hair part of his body?
Was his clothing part of his body?
Additionally, when a humanoid Specter got injured severely, how did their clothing repair itself?
Specters were not known for having closets filled with clothing.
Nick had seen many times how Specters had regained their damaged clothing, but he had never really thought about it.
After all, it was of no consequence.
No items or clothing conjured by a Specter had any impact on their powers.
But yes, it was true.
Specters could conjure matter out of seemingly nothing!
Of course, something didn't tend to come from nothing.
What the Specters used to conjure materials and items was their Zephyx.
Specters could use the Zephyx they created to create things that they could use.
However, it wasn't that easy.
In order to create something with nothing but Zephyx and one's mind, one needed to understand almost everything there was to understand about something.
Otherwise, the result would be basically useless.
At least in terms of use for combat.
If one didn't really know everything about something, they could still conjure a weak version of it.
For example, if one tried to conjure steel with Zephyx but didn't know a lot about steel, one could simply create something that had the form of the steel but lacked almost all of the useful attributes.
It would be akin to coloring a piece of paper grey.
And that was how Specters repaired their clothing.
They didn't need to know how fibers and cloth worked.
A Specter's clothing didn't need any fancy attributes.
It just needed to make it easier to convince humans that they were not Specters.
However, if a Specter actually wanted to conjure something useful, it would need to learn almost everything there was to know about the thing they wanted to conjure.
Zephyx was kind of a material for everything and could be transformed into any form imaginable.
Of course, humans could also do this, but not without advanced machinery and not without a good amount of stored Specter Zephyx.
This was what the entire field of Zephology was about.
Zephology was about using Specter Zephyx to create powerful materials.
Naturally, Nick knew quite a bit about Zephology by now.
The very basis of Zephology was translating a human's will into a form that could combine with the Specter Zephyx, after which the two of them would fuse and the Specter Zephyx would transform into the object the human's will imagined it to be.
Without advanced machinery, humans couldn't do that.
Their wills were not inherently compatible with Specter Zephyx.
They could digest it, but they couldn't manipulate it.
It was like the difference between one's arm and a piece of meat. The human could digest both, but they could only control their arm.
But this same restriction did not count for Specters.
Their wills were compatible with their Zephyx.
This made the use of advanced machinery unnecessary.
A Specter could just imagine what it wanted, and the Zephyx would assume the imagined form.
This was crazy!
Nick tried his best to keep his expression as disinterested as before.
"Never tried that," Nick commented as he held up his right hand.
Then, Nick imagined a red piece of cloth above his hand.
The next moment, Nick felt his Zephyx slowly leaving his body and gathering above his right hand.
Nick almost couldn't believe it when a tiny red dot appeared above his hand.
The red dot grew bigger and bigger, and eventually, it grew to the size Nick had imagined.
Finally, the red piece of cloth fell onto Nick's hand.
Crrrrk!
Then, the cloth tore apart and fell to the floor.
It was not hard enough to resist its own weight and crumbled.
However, this had just been Nick's first attempt.
After a maximum of ten attempts, Nick knew that he could create cloth that could be worn without immediately falling into pieces.
"Make the stone," the CZE commanded.
Nick didn't look at the CZE but thought back to the attributes of the stones the CZE had sent him earlier.
WHOOOOM!
A huge amount of Zephyx gathered above Nick's right arm.
The amount of Zephyx gathered was many, many times bigger than when he had conjured the piece of cloth.
This was due to the stone's complexity and other attributes.
The harder, more flexible, more tenacious, more anything the object was, the more Zephyx it required.
Of course, the more complex the object was, the more focus the Specter needed to invest since there were more things to keep track of.
Making something simple was like asking a normal person to remember a four-digit code while making something complex, which could be a ten-digit, hundred-digit, or thousand-digit code.
After around ten seconds, Nick stopped.
In his hand was a small, curved stone that was barely a centimeter wide.
Naturally, this wasn't nearly big enough for the Major Relay.
However, Nick was low on Zephyx and needed to recover first.
The CZE just kept watching Nick.
A couple of seconds later, Nick continued building the stone.
Based on his progress, he would probably need several minutes to finish one of the stones.
The CZE didn't show it, but she realized that Nick was becoming better at conjuring materials at a terrifying rate.
Either this Specter had some kind of inherent talent for conjuring things, or it had learned a terrifying amount of information over its lifetime, giving it a powerful ability to learn.
However, the CZE was only minorly curious.
The talent didn't matter.
In the end, this Specter was also just part of Wrath's army of servants.
This talent changed nothing.
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