Chapter 142: The Ring of Fallacy |
A man-made Law Object?
Not an Extraordinary Item?
"I remember, 'Law Objects' are items that have stepped onto the Law, right?" Samuel looked at the ring inside the box, meeting the gaze of the eye mounted on the ring.
The eye's pupil was dilated, suggesting its owner had not departed peacefully.
"So someone deliberately made it step onto the Law..."
"How was that done?" Samuel looked curiously at Allenay.
Using people to create Extraordinary Items was within Samuel's experience—something he himself had attempted. But artificially making an item step onto the Law was something Samuel had never tried.
"I don't know that either." Allenay replied sincerely.
"Mm, alright." Samuel nodded, activating his player vision.
Samuel turned to look at Wyatt.
Just like when he'd looked at Priest Ethen earlier, besides Wyatt himself faintly glowing, he could see nothing else.
No colors, no lines.
Wyatt's essence was simply Wyatt.
Samuel lowered his head again, looking at the ring in his hand.
"Whoa?" Samuel let out an exclamation.
The ring in his hand likewise showed no change.
The ring was just a ring, the eye just an eye.
Unlike other ordinary objects that appeared illusory and semi-transparent under "player vision," this one genuinely showed no change at all.
Just like Ethen and Wyatt.
Their essence was simply themselves.
"Though I don't know who made this Law Object..." Samuel deactivated his player vision, "their craftsmanship seems quite remarkable."
None of the Extraordinary Items Samuel had created had this effect. Even the ones made from parts of his own body couldn't solidify their "essence" like this; they still revealed their essential nature under player vision.
And if it was a Law Object, it meant this ring still had room to grow.
Its upper limit wasn't fixed.
"Making me think like this... I can't help but feel a conspiracy theory brewing." Samuel took the ring made from an eye out of its box.
He was a "Singularity." Now, Allenay was giving him a ring made from another "Singularity's" eye as a gift.
Was this a threat?
How was this not a threat?
Was he about to be refined into nothing?
But Allenay just gently shook his head.
"How could it be? I just thought you'd be better able to utilize this Law Object's potential."
"Is that so? Why do you say that?" Samuel glanced sideways at Allenay.
"Because I've heard that a 'Singularity of Absurdity' can use Law Objects more effectively and efficiently, reducing the negative effects of the Law Object on themselves."
"I actually have that trait?" Samuel raised an eyebrow.
He wasn't surprised Allenay knew he was a "Singularity of Absurdity."
Whether he asked his father or his teacher, either could easily give him the answer.
Hmm...
Asking his father probably wouldn't work.
That "father-son" relationship of theirs was truly abstract.
As for Priest Ethen, he might not have been able to figure out anything from Celt alone when they first spoke. But after Celt separated and actually met Samuel, that priest definitely would have noticed something.
"Any other reasons?" Samuel placed the ring back into the box.
He didn't plan on wearing this ring just yet.
He felt there might still be some secrets hidden in it.
"No." Allenay shook his head very seriously, his golden hair swaying gently, making him look endearingly soft.
"Is that so..." Samuel nodded, neither confirming nor denying whether he believed it.
"So, what does it do?" Samuel toyed with the box as he asked.
Allenay looked at the box in Samuel's hand and explained softly.
"Once worn, this Law Object passively enhances your mental flexibility, physical condition, bodily agility, mental alertness, and the persuasiveness of your speech."
"Beyond those passives, there are also six different extraordinary abilities. However, each use of these abilities comes with the influence of their negative effects."
"Mm-hmm." Samuel nodded, signaling for him to continue.
Allenay leaned forward, drawing a little closer to Samuel.
"Its first extraordinary ability relates to dreams. Wearing this ring, you can quickly send someone you choose to sleep, or you can enter another person's dreams to make subtle modifications or implant psychological suggestions. Additionally, if you sleep while wearing the ring, you can remain lucid within your dreams."
Samuel listened and nodded.
Not a bad ability, though it sounded a bit shady.
It felt more suited for a phone, becoming some kind of app.
"The negative effect of this ability is that for a period after use, you'll experience sleepwalking, whether or not you're wearing the ring."
"Every time you fall asleep, you'll unconsciously dream. Even if you realize you're dreaming, it will be hard to wake up. And when you're in a dream, your body will follow your dream actions."
"So, it's best to wear the ring during the negative effect period?" Samuel concluded. "That way, at least you can stay lucid in your dreams and won't jump off a building in your sleep."
"That's right." Allenay nodded in agreement.
He smiled at Samuel and continued.
"Its second extraordinary ability allows you to move any item within a certain range from one position to another. This process is very subtle and hard to detect. It can also disable a Law Seeker's specific ability within range, rendering it unusable, while you can then use that disabled ability yourself."
"The negative effect is that for a certain time after use, things around you will unconsciously disappear and reappear elsewhere."
This sounded like stealing someone else's extraordinary ability.
Samuel nodded thoughtfully.
"Its third extraordinary ability relates to illusions, allowing you to create some not-so-realistic illusions."
"Not realistic?" Samuel repeated, thinking Allenay had misspoken.
"Yes, not realistic." Allenay's beautiful eyes locked onto Samuel's as he repeated himself.
"If I'm not mistaken, you should be a Magician, so illusions shouldn't be unfamiliar to you."
Samuel nodded, unable to help leaning back slightly.
"The biggest difference between this Law Object's illusions and a Magician's illusions is that this one comes with inherent 'rationality.' Once an illusion is created, everyone who perceives it—including the user—will instinctively believe the illusion is reasonable."
Badass. There's even a brain-dead plot point built in.
"Its negative effect is that for a certain time after use, various illusions, big and small, will appear around you, and you won't be able to distinguish between illusion and reality."
"Its fourth extraordinary ability lets your words be more easily believed by others. Once the target believes you, you can temporarily turn something false into reality."
"For example, if you get injured and tell yourself you're not hurt, you can temporarily act as if you suffered no injuries at all. Alternatively, if you trick someone into believing they're already dead, they will temporarily lose all vital signs."
Samuel raised his hand like an eager student.
"Teacher, teacher, if I wanted to trick a burning candle into believing it's a perpetual motion machine, would it actually become one?"
Allenay thought for a moment, then said uncertainly.
"If you could make it understand..."
"Maybe it could."
"It should be possible." Wyatt answered from the side. "I've seen similar abilities before."
"Its negative effect is that for a while afterward, real events happening around you might turn into lies."
"Just finishing a meal and immediately feeling hungry, only to turn around and see the food you just ate sitting perfectly on the table. Or sleeping an entire day and still feeling exhausted, the more you sleep the more tired you get, then opening your eyes to find you've been standing by your bed for who knows how long."
The ability turns falsehoods into truth; the cost is turning truth into falsehoods.
"Its fifth ability allows you to enter a... special state..." Allenay paused here.
He furrowed his brow, thinking.
"Sorry, I've suddenly forgotten what that ability does."
"I think it's also part of the ability's own effect—I can't describe it completely."
Wyatt cut into the conversation, explaining to Samuel.
"Its effect is that it can weaken the influence you receive. As long as you don't know you're being influenced, other people's extraordinary abilities will have very little effect on you. If you don't know you're sick, then your illness will barely affect you."
"Its negative effect is that the user also forgets this ability, and ordinary Law Contemplators likewise can't remember it."
When Allenay heard Wyatt's explanation, his eyes twitched slightly as if understanding something. A second later, he showed an expression of "that seems right."
He smiled and nodded.
"Yes, that's it. It is... like that."
Mid-sentence, he stumbled again.
He had once more forgotten this extraordinary ability.
Samuel waved his hand, signaling he didn't need to think about it and could continue.
Allenay showed an apologetic, slightly embarrassed smile.
"Its last ability can disrupt others' thoughts, making it hard for them to think, throwing their Spiritual Flames into chaos. Alternatively, you can actively lower your rationality to enhance your instincts, boosting various physical stats, making your Spiritual Flame chaotic and harder to adapt to, and making your other abilities harder to resist."
"If you completely abandon reason and leave only instinct, even a one-mark Law Seeker can briefly contend with three- or four-mark Law Seekers. Even a one-mark's extraordinary ability can pierce through a three- or four-mark Law Seeker's defenses."
"This extraordinary ability really tests the user's innate instincts. All else being equal, a teacher using this ring and a fighter using it would produce vastly different results."
"The negative effect is that for a while afterward, you'll become emotionally unstable."
Samuel thought for a moment, then asked again.
"So, if this thing's effect changes based on a person's instincts."
"Then what if I imprint my rational way of thinking into my instincts?"
"That's exactly what I was about to say." Allenay replied.
"These six abilities correspond to six different Law Marks of the [Fallacy] Law: 'Sleepwalker,' 'Thief,' 'Psychopath,' 'Con Artist,' 'Illiterate,' and 'Madman.'"
"These abilities can be used in combination to create effects that don't exist independently. But the trade-off is that you'll also suffer the combined negative effects of both."
"For example, using 'Thief' and 'Psychopath' together, you might be able to directly steal someone's memories, or place one person's memories into another's mind."
"But the cost is that for a while afterward, things around you will occasionally disappear and reappear elsewhere, and you won't be able to tell if they really vanished or were always there. You might even lose memories of certain things or events, unable to distinguish whether you originally had those memories or whether the things you lost even existed in the first place."
Samuel blinked.
Wait, what the hell?
Did he just kidnap Li Huowang from next door?
Great, room and board included.
"For another example, you could use 'Thief,' 'Psychopath,' and 'Illiterate' together to briefly make something—or even someone—disappear, causing them to be forgotten, impossible to find, and with no one actively searching."
"The cost is that afterward, you might fall into that same state yourself for a long time."
And there's Heart Turbidity too?
"Lastly, there's what you mentioned."
"You can use 'Con Artist' to deceive your own instincts, imprinting your rationality into them. Then use 'Madman' to completely abandon reason."
"Thus, you would theoretically become a rational madman, gaining massive boosts without losing your intelligence."
"But the cost might be that for a while afterward, you'll be utterly unable to distinguish truth from falsehood, right from wrong. Did you do something? Not sure. Is your own behavior correct? No need to know."
"Ah..."
"Law Seekers of [Fallacy] really have it rough."
"Though when they use their own abilities, they probably don't have these negative effects."
"Thinking about it that way, it seems a bit overpowered."
Feeling the gaze beside him, Samuel turned to look at Wyatt.
Wyatt's expression was clear.
[How dare you call someone else overpowered?]
Though Wyatt didn't know what the word "overpowered" meant.
From the context, it was easy enough to guess.
"So, why are all its Law Marks from [Fallacy]?" Samuel looked at Allenay.
"Because this 'Singularity of Absurdity' itself was entirely made up of [Fallacy]'s Law Marks." Allenay replied.
"So that's how it is..." Samuel nodded.
He lowered his head, looking once more at the box containing the ring.
"Alright," he gave it a simple, easy-to-understand name. "From now on, you shall be called the Ring of Fallacy."