Chapter 281: Side Effects

Date- 27 Mar 2321

Time- 13:02

Location- Sky Blossom City, Sky Blossom Card Stadium, VIP Box no.1

My Ego Gem is of Excellent Grade with 51% synchronisation rate. I barely made the cut. I formed mine when I was in the card master realm. Anna shared her Ego Gem info as if it were common knowledge. Does she trust me that much?

So I am in the presence of genius then. I made small talk complimenting Annas natural talent.

If we are talking about genius then it should be you. To be able to enter others Ego Gem even without condensing your Ego Gem. And also see rules, runes and escape spirits unscathed. How were you able to do that? I wonder what your synchronisation rate will be? Anna asked the questions I wasnt ready to answer yet.

Anna, I understand that a card apprentice after comprehending rules to a level can form runes and once that person dies the runes he formed in his lifetime become broken runes. Heres what I do not understand, why dont you recommend using broken runes? The calamity soul core had collected a broken rune and I wanted to decide what to do with it based on Annas answer.

I take it that you have encountered the spirits and broken runes in Claudes Ego Gem. Why do you think there are 5 other spirits in his Ego Gem? Asked Anna

Is it because Claude used their broken Runes? I knew why the spirits were present there but I did not know how it is possible, werent they supposed to be dead?

Yes, you must be wondering how can the spirits of the dead be alive in someone elses Ego Gem, right?

Simple, those spirits you saw are not real spirits. They are just remnants that the broken runes have conjured up using the understanding of the masters that formed them. The runes are not living but they are powerful enough to achieve something like this.

If these runes were in their original dead Ego Gem losing nourishment they would have slowly broken down into rules from which they were formed and then these rules would return to the world. But being transferred to alive Ego Gem they get enough nourishment to continue to flourish. Over an acc.u.mulated period these runes gather enough energy to form the spirits of their dead Masters. Just like the ones you saw. There is no way to stop or delay this from happening. The worst of all is that the card apprentice will henceforth have to share his Ego Gem with other spirits.

The only way to get rid of or use the broken runes is to have stronger runes that can be used to suppress and control the broken runes. And also destroy them if needed. Anna explained to me why she did not recommend using broken runes. Having multiple free mouchers in your own house who would opt for that.

Other than having to share the Ego Gem how do the broken runes affect the card apprentice? The side effect of using broken gems sounded more like multiple personality disorder back on earth.

Umm, the synchronisation rate of your Ego Gem will decrease drastically. And using the existing rules and runes will become harder as your Ego Gems control is split between different spirits. If the spirit is strong enough it can also take control of the Ego Gem and replace the original host.

That would be disastrous not just for the said card apprentice but everyone around him. As these spirits are not the real spirits they are just the imitation conjured up by the runes. Once they get a body to possess they will do what the master of the rune desired when he formed it. We call them fascinated card apprentices.

So using a broken rune can lead to many disastrous outcomes. But still, people choose to use them in search of power. Anna narrated why she was against using broken runes, turns out one can lose his body to the broken rune he used. Proving there is no free lunch in this world.

How powerful does the broken rune have to be to possess the host? I asked, thinking of a possibility.

As long as the broken runes are stronger than the host then that is enough for them to break free of the hosts control and possess his/her body Anna Answered my questions patiently.

What if the rune is from a demiG.o.d? What then? DemiG.o.ds are the apex beings of the current world, there were too many mysteries surrounding them. I had to inquire about them then who better than Anna who has three demiG.o.ds just in her family.

I like where your brain is headed and yes what you are thinking is possible. But certain conditions have to be met first. After all, resurrection is equal to cheating death. Anna easily guessed where my mind was headed with a couple of questions I asked her.

So it is possible to resurrect a demiG.o.d by placing one of his broken runes in a life Ego Gem I asked Anna with great enthusiasm, feeling I have stumbled on something huge.

As I said, some conditions have to be met for that to happen as n.o.body can withstand the transfer of a demiG.o.ds broken rune into his/her Ego Gem.

The demiG.o.ds runes develop intelligence of their own and they are hard to please. Because of this intelligence of the rune, it is possible to resurrect a fallen demiG.o.d.

Due to their intelligence, the runes have strong loyalty and attachment to their masters. They would rather die and return to the world than go into someone elses Ego Gem. Even the demiG.o.ds have a hard time trying to use a broken rune of a fallen demiG.o.d.

But theres a way to cheat these intelligent runes that is by making use of the bloodline of the demiG.o.ds direct defendants. For this purpose, most demiG.o.ds breed as many progenies as possible. But having demiG.o.d blood isnt enough, they should also have enough bloodline purity.

Therefore the demiG.o.ds favour their defendants with high bloodline purity and spare no effort to help them grow and become stronger enough to be used when needed. Anna mentioned the conditions required for the transfer of the demiG.o.ds runes. Runes having intelligence did not surprise me as in this world every day I discover more blizzard things.

No wonder, the demiG.o.d wors.h.i.+pers are so desperately after Pax. I bet they have a rune of demiG.o.d Michael Angelo G.o.dson. And they want Pax so that they can resurrect their lord. That is why they treated Pax with at most respect and care. I finally figured out why the demiG.o.d wors.h.i.+pers were so desperately after Pax. They wanted to use him to resurrect the demiG.o.d they wors.h.i.+p. Not to mention Sarah, the last descendant of the demiG.o.d Redfall. According to Van Sarah has a very high bloodline purity and the demiG.o.d Redfall kept her hidden from the world because he must have planned on using her to resurrect himself in case of his untimely demise.

You know, the resurrection of the demiG.o.d would not be the best of plans cause some of the demiG.o.ds like the great marksman Michael Angelo G.o.dson have tirelessly fought for humanity and finally found peace in an honourable and worthy death. I do not think its a good idea to disturb their peace. Annas words may be true for a martyr-like demiG.o.d Michael who would not like to be disturbed. but the same could not be said for demiG.o.d Redfall. If I remember correctly Van did say he felt like he easily escaped the ma.s.sacre of his family as if somebody was watching over him.

Anna, if using broken Runes is of no merits then why did old man Lorenzo and Corey fight so hard for the severed head. Lorenzo went as far as promising me 2 Myth grade cards. From Annas explanation all I can get is that broken runes are nothing but trouble if so why were Lorenzo and Corey fighting for it so badly.

They do not want to use the broken runes but want to study them. So that they can comprehend the rules used to create those rules. That is useless for Lorenzo but its a huge deal for someone of his granddaughter and Coreys level. Anna revealed why Corey and Lorenzo so desperately fought over the head.

What? You can comprehend rules in such a way too? Wont that have any adverse effect Another bizarre discovery.

You can. It is like you are reading from a copy of the original book. The copy is bound to have mistakes. After all, shortcuts are bound to have side effects.

Therefore I recommend you only use the broken runes just to get introduced to that particular rule rather than using the broken rune to comprehend your own rune. As a copy of a copy will have more mistakes.

Using Broken Runes this way allows you to find the rules much easier than immersing yourself in one with the world state.

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