Speed Is King

In that instant, the feeling of inferiority that had slowly crept within his heart disappeared completely.

He had thought that being a lifeform from the lower planes with an inferior method of powering up, he was inferior in every aspect of life.

But the moment he discovered that the Foundational Law Runes were not as completely overpowered as he thought they would be, he realized that the lower planes were not completely inferior after all.

"These Ascendant Runes which Jessica created seem to be the key to the advantage that I have over the Law Runes." Elliot realized. "The Law Runes are very, very exhaustively perfect in the combination of the soul and body. They are also impeccable in the development of the soul. But with regard to physical energy manipulation and development, it was still slightly lacking compared to Jessica's and Elise Sands' breakthroughs!"

Elliot began to slowly deconstruct the Law Runes to its even much more basic constructs and attempted to do something ridiculous - combine the concept of the Universe of Runes with the soul-body combination perfection of the Law Runes.

Time flowed unceasingly as Elliot focused inward and lost himself in the intellectual ecstacy of inventing a completely new pathway to power.

The hours turned to days, and days to weeks.

Sometime in the fourth week, just before a full month passed him by, Elliot finally came to a shocking conclusion.

"The Universe of Runes… is still applicable!!" Elliot said to himself in awe and with not a small amount of mental fatigue.

It had been a very tiring full blown four weeks for him in terms of mental activity.

"I can fully upgrade my runic cities and its fully three dimensional energy pathways using the brand new physical principles of the Law Runes… AND create a parallel city universe system within my soul!

And with the creation of that parallel city universe system, I should be able to summon those spirit beasts that is the hallmark of Grade 9 Summoners.

And not just any spirit beasts. I would probably be strong enough to summon high level spirit beasts!

In terms of sheer power, I should be strong enough to rival Grade 8 or even Grade 7 Summoners.

This is incredible! With my Universe of Runes, I would be an outlier, a complete freak even within the higher planes!

And now all that I need to do is reset my foundations and to trigger my soul to awaken it completely.

And the method to do that is… Let's see.

Rebirth??"

Elliot frowned lightly. He didn't like the sound of the title of the method he just read.

And true enough, after spending a couple of hours studying, he realized did not like the contents of the Law Rune that elaborated the method of a complete reset of a person's journey in the path to ultimate power.

"Those people in the higher planes are either all nuts or all geniuses. What the hell is this?" Elliot couldn't help but think in his heart. "Rebirth is only possible by pledging complete and utter allegiance to the God of the Ages, by whose power and providence the process of rebirth rests? So EVEN if all this theory about rebirth is right, I will be born again with brand new powers, but lose ALL my freedom because I would be reborn as a person fully under the control of this God of Ages? What a rubbish trade!"

But even as Elliot shook his head in disgust, his loyalty to himself prevented him from dumping the entire idea away. Giving up before even he finished getting all the relevant information was doing him a disservice. Afterall, who knows there might be loopholes or caveats which he could take advantage of?

He persevered and pored over every single detail of the Foundational Law Runes. Time flowed by again, and soon, a full month passed him by.

"You have five months left. Your rate of progress is zero. At this rate, you will die in five months." Jane the Guide and Game Referee announced loudly.

But Elliot ignored her completely and continued to study the runes. An inkling of a realization of something delicious was forming somewhere deep within his mind, and he needed to read more and find out more details that supported it to tease it out into the open.

Time flowed quickly, and soon, the second month was about to be over.

"I see." Elliot finally opened his eyes and sighed deeply. "So the process of rebirth is very simply a surrender. Perfect freedom is being a slave to the perfect master. Only by surrendering to the God of Ages would I gain access to his power. There are no loopholes, no caveats. And by the looks of it, this Seventh Heaven is a loyalist of this God of Ages.

No wonder that bastard from the Fifth Heaven did not provide me with this advice. He had no access to the process of rebirth.

What should I do?" Elliot sighed deeply.

He had spent the past month mastering the process of rebirth, and trying to look for a loophole in every single possible nook and cranny of the process.

But there was none.

There was only one starting point, and that is a complete surrender, body and soul, to the God of Ages. Only after that had been done properly would the process start!

It would be a clean start.

The only question he had to answer was… Should he do it?

And as he was fiddling with the question, with startling suddenness, the delicious thought at the back of his mind appeared and presented itself.

"God of Ages. If you're real, then you should know my value. Come on out and meet me personally so we can have a chat." Elliot said softly under his breath with a small smile.

He knew that he sounded like a madman. But he would be a real madman if he took on the process of rebirth and pledged complete allegiance to a God he had never met before.

"If I can meet and negotiate with him, I might consider it. If not, I'll take my chances building my power on top of my current power base." Elliot thought to himself.