The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1425 Where To Put The Stones

Karl laughed at the look on the Chaos Dragonʼs face, then set the bag full of System Stones down on the floor.

”Would you like me to arrange these somewhere?” He asked.

”No. I have a better idea. Iʼm going to make a puzzle, and whoever wants to use the stones will have to arrange them on their own. It will be glorious.” Matilda insisted.

That was... evil.

There were ninety-nine stones to the full array, and all but the inner ring were identically shaped with runes on all six sides.

So, there were two orientations for each stone that were viable, and ninety positions for all but the inner nine stones to go in. Trying to get them all properly placed while relying on luck would take centuries.

Even just setting them up would take hours for Karl, and he already knew what the array was supposed to look like, and how it worked.

But Misty had said that he could take the time to study before he went out.

”Alright, you make the puzzle, and I will study the stones until I understand this thing Iʼm not quite comprehending about Mana Manipulation. Iʼm close to it, I can feel it. I just need a bit more time.”

”Take all that you need. Nobody messes with my stuff, especially when Iʼm home. Itʼs more important that you gain comprehension than that I get to start my plan to mess with future generations.

Thatʼs one of the joys of immortality. You get to watch a well laid plan come to fruition, no matter how many times it takes them to get it right.” Matilda agreed.

Karl sat on one of the impossibly purple pillows, and focused on the bag of System Stones, mentally rearranging them into new positions, and estimating what would happen if they were placed incorrectly.

The flow of the mana, the contradiction between the runes and the intent. The more that he studied it, the more that he understood about how mana was intended to work, and how it could be altered without breaking the Fundamental Rules.

Then, as he experimented, he began to understand that the other rules could be used to break one of the Fundamental Rules, overlaying their power to warp reality in ways that it was not intended to be.

That was what had happened with Caraʼs scar.

The Divine Power of Order, an unfathomable step more potent than the Fundamental Rule that it grew out of, had simply dominated all attempts to change its intent.

While Karl couldnʼt do that, what he could do was a tiny fraction of the same thing. He could use the Fundamental Rules to set a permanent condition, in effect as long as another Rule was not used by someone of a similar comprehension level to negate it.

That was how the System Stones were enchanted. King Caramon, who had what appeared to be a complete understanding of one of the rules, had overlaid it on the enchantment to create a nearly indestructible set of stones, whose intended purpose could not be perverted by those weaker than his Rule.

The stones had been made when he was an Immortal, so there were very few in this world who could even hope to challenge the stoneʼs magic.

That was why the Giants were dead set on simply destroying the stones themselves.

While Karl meditated on the great truths of the System Stones, Misty and Cara set up the Go board again, and started a new game, with Matilda as their impartial observer, tasked with keeping them from cheating.

Not that it would stop them from trying, but getting creative enough with a cheating attempt that the Chaos Dragon allowed it was a challenge of its own.

A feeling of enlightenment came to Karl as he continued to study the System Stones, and for a moment, he thought that he might have made the final breakthrough.

Then, a System Notification arrived.

{Skill Learned} [System Stones] Legendary Skill. Avatar Of The World Dragon Exclusive.

Karl stared silently at the message in front of him. That was not at all what he was trying to do here. However, wasnʼt that skill just a little bit too broken? Or, was it actually supposed to be somewhat useless, as the System Stones werenʼt actually useful, unless you were having issues with your System Interface.

When everything was created, they were just a tool to help new users understand how things worked, and werenʼt intended to be necessary at all. Only after so many skills and powers were forgotten after the war between the dragons and the giants did they even start becoming relevant again.

It was that destruction of power and knowledge that started the dark ages between resurgences, and before that time, this skill would be even less valuable than [Skill Book], which would actually teach a skill, and not just let someone interact with the interface more easily.

But now, it was a life altering bit of knowledge. A tool that would help return power to the world in ways that nobody would have considered possible even ten years earlier.

If Karl was correct, then the baby dragons who were going to hatch in the Tiny World would be able to use these stones he could make to awaken Classes of their choice, and not at random.

They would love that.

The God of Death was going to strangle him when the Avatars found out.

No, Dakkarian was left behind in another resurgence, he wasnʼt around in Karlʼs own time, so it should be fine.

Karl breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered that Nachtia was waiting with the others, and her uncle was, in fact, an Avatar of the Black Dragon. But more than that, Karl had an inheritance from the Black Dragon to pass down to her. It had transferred to him when Nacht advanced with no family around, but it had been sitting mostly dormant in Karlʼs body until now.

He really should do something about that now that he had the understanding of Mana Manipulation to actually transfer the inheritance from himself to

someone else.

He had gained an improved physique from it, so it wasnʼt totally lost. But the vast majority of it would not activate for anyone but a Black Dragon. The magic

was still in his body, waiting, and Karl could feel it.

That was something he decided not to let his thoughts linger on today. Feeling the mana flows in your own body was a bit creepy, like focusing too much on your own breathing until it stopped feeling automatic.