The Primal Hunter 15: A LitRPG Adventure, page 41
To make matters worse, Artemis was all supportive, which just made Jake feel infinitely less cool. “Concepts aren’t something one easily understands, especially if you’re trying to deepen your comprehension of difficult concepts. The concept of time is notorious for being one of the hardest, and it’s not at all surprising it takes some time. Also note that understanding of concepts doesn’t often come a little at a time. It comes in floods as one steps over certain boundaries of insight.”
Was she speaking the truth? Yeah, but that didn’t make Jake feel any less dumb, especially when he compared himself to those around him. Sylphie innately understood a lot of concepts, and easily learned ones related to the wind. Dina was a beast when it came to comprehending anything nature-related, and even the Fallen King had deep insight into the concepts he used.
Finally, there was the Sword Saint, and the more Jake trained with Artemis, the more he understood how much of a monster the old man was. He still vividly remembered how the old man had touched upon the concept of the void merely by traveling through it and seeing it once. How the old man’s skills had pretty much all been born from his deep understanding of concepts. He was simply on another level compared to someone like Jake.
Trying to understand the difference between them wasn’t even something Jake could begin to do. According to Artemis, though, there were some common traits among people who were incredibly skilled at comprehending concepts.
One of them was a powerful imagination that could go beyond the ordinary. It was a commonly known fact that humans couldn’t actually imagine anything new. All they could do was create something from the building blocks they’d already obtained through their memories.
With the system, this remained the same for the most part. However, there was now a new way to get knowledge: from the system itself. Merely by trying hard enough to imagine something truly new, on rare occasions, the system ended up helping a little, birthing a new image or visualization into reality. People who were able to do this more than others tended to be pretty good at understanding concepts.
The second important trait related to one’s worldview. This was one of those truly unidentifiable things that, despite eras of study, could not be measured. It all came down to how someone’s brain worked when viewing the world. Those who were skilled at comprehending concepts often viewed the world far more abstractly. They saw metaphors and meaning in things that others didn’t.
The third important trait was understanding oneself. This one was a bit like the prior trait, but more related to how someone saw their place within the multiverse. Someone like the Sword Saint saw himself as a swordsman. Just his title alone was part of his identity. It was an arrogant title, claiming he wasn’t merely a swordsman but one standing at the apex.
When going over these three traits one by one, Jake felt that he wasn’t particularly outstanding in any of them besides maybe the last one. Jake had an okay imagination, but he was more the type who had to see something firsthand. He could imagine things, sure, but his solutions to fights were rarely very imaginative.
As for the second trait, Jake was definitely weak there. He didn’t really think much about the things he saw, and he kind of felt that his Bloodline was actively a demerit in this aspect. With his Sphere of Perception and high Perception stat in general, Jake saw what he perceived as fact. He didn’t try to overanalyze, as he knew his Sphere always showed him the truth. He didn’t need to look for deeper meanings, for if there were any, he would have already detected them.
Finally, with the third trait, Jake knew exactly who he was and where he fit into the world. The problem was, that didn’t really help much, as Artemis made one more thing clear...
“These traits aren’t to be viewed in isolation from one another. The Dao Sect has the most people who specialize in mastering concepts above anything else, and according to their teachings, one needs all three. They support one another and create a greater whole, so merely being strong in one is far from enough.”
So, yeah, things didn’t look good for Jake. Artemis kept trying to help him, though, as the two of them went into the Colosseum for what had to be well over the hundredth time. They’d entered it roughly every hour—minus the time they actually spent in there, as the cooldown period of the Emblem only began after they both exited.
“I also have some understanding of the concept of time, but not because I ever practiced it,” Artemis said. “As you progress through the grades, you innately just get more insight into how the world works. You don’t even feel that you do, but as a C-grade, your implicit understanding of the world is leaps beyond what it was as, say, an E-grade. Understanding all concepts at a low level becomes elementary once you reach a high enough level. There is a reason you will have a very hard time coming across any S-grade unable to teleport, or any god unable to stop time on a localized scale.”
Jake nodded along, understanding that part. Perhaps the easiest example for Jake was the concept of flying. When in E-grade, he’d needed wings to fly around, while in D-grade, he could easily fly simply by using his mana. Everyone could fly through the use of their energies in one way or another—not because everyone learned the same magic, but because everyone understood some of the basic laws of the multiverse, at least enough to fly around a bit.
Artemis nocked an arrow and took aim. “As I said, time is a powerful concept, and with the stats of a mortal, it’s hard to use. All concepts still require some level of energy to truly display what they’re capable of. With my limited power, I can do a few things, though.”
Watching closely, Jake saw the movement of energy he recognized as having the concept of time mixed into it swirling around the arrow. Artemis let go of the string a moment later, and the arrow flew forward... and slowed down. Strafing to the side, Artemis shot two more arrows, both of them doing the same, flying forward about a meter before stopping.
Right after shooting a fourth arrow, all three of the initial ones suddenly shot forward again alongside their final brethren. Four arrows struck the wall of the arena within a tenth of a second of one another, all of them flying with roughly equal power.
Turning to Artemis, Jake saw she was breathing heavily, and her aura was a lot weaker than before.
“This body really is pathetic,” she muttered before standing up straight. “Do you know what I did there?”
“You delayed the three first arrows so they would launch at the same time as the fourth,” Jake said.
“And how did I do that?”
“Through the concept of time,” Jake said, shrugging. “More specifically... well, I guess you didn’t tell the arrows when to start moving again with a mental command. That would likely have drained too much energy. So my guess is that you infused each with a packet of Willpower that effectively put each arrow on a timer, and you perfectly executed the shots so everything lined up.”
“You detected the concept of time infused into each arrow?” Artemis guessed.
Jake nodded in confirmation.
Artemis observed him a bit before smiling. “You know, besides the traits I mentioned earlier, there is one thing that tends to bring people ahead of the curve when it comes to understanding concepts. However, as this method doesn’t help those naturally talented in the area in a meaningful way, it isn’t often discussed as a trait.”
“Is that thing hanging out with gods on a daily basis and getting personal lessons?” Jake asked semi-jokingly.
Artemis shook her head. “I reckon that doesn’t hurt, but no. Even the greatest teacher needs a competent pupil, or both are just wasting their time.”
Jake wasn’t entirely sure he agreed, as he felt the First Sage could have taught even the dumbest kid in every class to ace every test. “What is it, then?” he asked with some curiosity.
“The Void Mechanic—Arnold, I believe, is his name. I looked into the people close to you, which wasn’t hard, as this man is quite famous for a variety of reasons, especially among some of my friends in the Altmar Empire who are very keen to have him visit one day. Do you think he fits the three traits I mentioned earlier?”
“Fuck no,” Jake instantly replied. Arnold didn’t view anything as even halfway abstract. If he couldn’t make a formula or algorithm to understand something, he didn’t even bother trying to use it. He was a man who sought knowledge beyond anything else, and he demanded logic before he would accept anything. A realm of logic that perhaps only he could understand, but logic nevertheless.
“Yet the concepts he deals with operate at an incredibly high level. My guess is that he understands nomological concepts by forming his own logic around them. But in order to begin even considering concepts, he needs to first perceive them. And that’s where another trait helping to better understand concepts comes into play: the Perception stat.”
“If that’s the case... doesn’t that mean I’m dafter than I first imagined?” Jake muttered.
Artemis just smiled and shook her head. “Seeing is understanding, as the saying goes. When one becomes able to perceive concepts, one also becomes able to analyze and try to understand them. To form one’s own concept through another’s. Someone like the Void Mechanist does this through study and a high level of intellect that can’t truly be copied. However, for people like you and I, that isn’t gonna happen.”
“Are you saying you also struggled to understand concepts?”
Artemis shook her head. “I don’t think comparing our situations makes much sense. You already far surpass anything I had accomplished when at your level. That includes my comprehension of concepts. You may think you’re bad at it, but that’s only because you’re trying to understand concepts that someone of your level shouldn’t even be touching upon. And if they did, it would be in a school of magic you were highly specialized in.”
“Is that a yes or no?” Jake asked, unable to hold himself back from at least teasing her a little. Mainly to make himself feel better, as he had been feeling quite incompetent over the last few days.
“A yes, for the most part,” Artemis said, sighing. “I sucked at studying concepts, and like you, I learned best while in combat. Trial and error was my way forward until, finally, things would just click into place. Something I believe you can relate to.” As Jake nodded, Artemis continued, “My highest stat was Perception for most of my Path. At times, Agility got close to overtaking it—and it did happen at times during my earlier levels—but as I got higher in grades, I focused more on Perception.”
Having regained some energy after her earlier demonstration, she began pacing back and forth. “Most of the stats are rather self-explanatory and easily understood. Strength makes your body stronger, Agility makes you faster, Intelligence makes your spells more powerful, Toughness makes you more resilient, and so on and so forth. Then, of course, we have the three stats that include the resources in Stamina, Vitality, and Wisdom. The stats that are often considered the odd ones out and least understood in general are Willpower and Perception. Willpower is its own thing, but I would argue that Perception is far less understood than even Willpower. The reason for this is how the stats are expressed to others.”
Artemis pointed toward the ground with a finger and focused. After about a second, the sand began whirling around ever so slightly before calming down. Jake had no real movement of energy, and he instantly knew what Artemis had done.
“With pure Willpower, you can make the world do as you want it to,” she said. “You are limited by nothing but your imagination, which, as we have discussed, is a legitimate limitation. Oh, and of course, your energy reserves and mental energy. However, the limits of Perception cannot be seen outwardly. In my eyes, Perception is the most personal of all the stats. It does not affect the world—outside of when skills make use of it—and is instead entirely internal. Only you know what your senses perceive, and even if you could share a sense with another, there is never any guarantee that two people who are looking at the same thing see it identically.”
“The old trope where you can’t know if your version of a color is the same as someone else’s,” Jake muttered.
“Something like that,” Artemis said, nodding. “When most people think about Perception, they think about the usual senses. Smell, touch, hearing, taste, and the one most people consider: sight. Along with that, there are naturally the ones to sense energies, and whatever skills provide. However, there are so many more, some of which I’m sure you’ve noticed. Perception also affects the danger sense of every living creature. It affects their ability to perceive space around them, notice if others are nearby, estimate how powerful other beings are, and many other things that would take too long to list, but perhaps the most important thing it does when talking about understanding concepts is affect intuition.”
By now, Jake was very engaged as he listened on.
“Intuition is, in my humble opinion, the greatest benefit of having high Perception. All living beings are, at least in part, driven by instinct. It’s only natural. Even someone like the Void Mechanist unknowingly relies on his intuition all the time. It’s what gives birth to his moments of inspiration while studying something, and what subtly guides him to research one topic over another to find a wished-for solution faster. It’s the same for you when you’re trying to improve your understanding of a concept. At any moment, inspiration may strike, birthed by your intuition making a thought appear.”
Artemis was still pacing back and forth in the arena, clearly quite passionate about this particular topic. “Not to say intuition can’t be dangerous. It isn’t perfect by any means, and it can easily lead you astray should you trust it entirely. Instincts are naturally flawed, but in this particular context, when it comes to comprehending concepts... there are no wrong answers. No two individuals have the exact same comprehension, and the only one who needs to accept your understanding is the system. Nobody and nothing else.”
Stopping her pacing, Artemis looked at Jake and smiled. “That’s why I don’t think you have any cause to worry. Even if you find comprehending a concept difficult right now, and even if you don’t have the personality traits that correspond to a high level of conceptual understanding... it doesn’t matter. Just let your high Perception do the work and keep practicing and experiencing more and more until you finally intuit an answer. Rely on your instincts, and trust them to guide you to comprehension.”
Jake had gone into this lesson with the hope of improving his archery, yet he’d instead learned things about his Bloodline and himself that he hadn’t even considered before. Similarly, he hadn’t expected Artemis to fully confirm a theory he’d had since his integration into the system. A definitive, universal truth Jake saw no good argument against:
Perception best stat.
Chapter 46
An Intrinsic Relationship
Jake had always known that his investment in Perception was a stroke of genius. He wasn’t just doing it because his Bloodline increased his Perception or because improving his senses somehow just felt right. That feeling of rightness likely came from his intuition, and since intuition came from Perception, it was truly a self-perpetuating cycle. The notion that Perception was a lot grander than he’d usually read didn’t surprise him at all. Through his Bloodline, he already knew that Perception was far from a simple stat, but he had perhaps underestimated just how closely the stat was tied to his Bloodline.
Artemis had talked about intuition being flawed at times and how one couldn’t entirely trust it, but in Jake’s case, he genuinely viewed his own intuition as more trustworthy than anything or anyone else. If Villy said one thing and his gut said another, he would go with his gut a hundred times out of a hundred, and so far, it had yet to lead him astray.
Jake also knew by now that his Sphere of Perception, as he called it, was more or less just an extension of spatial perception. Everyone had some kind of understanding of their own positioning within space and could vaguely feel what was around them. Jake just took that entire concept to a whole new level through his Sphere of Perception, which gave him omnidirectional detection of everything.
Well, mostly everything. It only allowed Jake to see shapes. Sphere of Perception didn’t display color, and unless the writing in a book had been rendered in insanely thick, slightly raised ink, Jake couldn’t read it using his Sphere... which was a moot point either way, as Sphere of Perception didn’t work with his translation skill.
His danger sense had also been boosted to a level far beyond what Perception could usually do. Artemis mentioned that high enough Perception allowed for precognitive knowledge of an attack, and upon elaboration, she explained that having a significantly higher Perception stat than one’s foe helped—and if the inverse was true, Perception also became utterly useless with regard to danger sense.
A C-grade would never even know they were in any kind of danger before a god killed them. That particular aspect of danger sense definitely didn’t seem to be a thing for Jake at all, as he could feel if gods had any ill intent quite easily. On that note, killing intent, as many called it, was just an extension of danger sense, allowing one to detect if something or someone planned on attacking. This in itself was an instinct people had possessed even before the system; there were countless examples of people getting the “vibe” that someone was about to turn aggressive.
Feeling that someone was observing you was also just a fusion of danger sense and intuition. Artemis explained that she knew when Jake was looking at her and where precisely he was looking, which luckily didn’t get Jake into too much trouble. This effect, just like danger sense, only really worked on people who were weaker or not much stronger than oneself.
Jake’s version of this was also taken to the absolute extreme. He knew when anyone was observing him, no matter how strong they were. Having realized a lot of things, it took a lot of willpower for Jake to hide his inner thoughts from Artemis, as he still wasn’t ready to expose his biggest secrets related to his Bloodline. Even Villy didn’t know many of them.
