What does overcoming mean?
In Ashen's head, it is the simple act of moving past endurance and actively struggling against an enemy, state, or circumstances.
But for how long does that last? Is it until what he struggles against vanishes? If so, then wouldn't it be forever in his case?
Because it has been twenty-five years now. And for the last five years, Ashen had been using every ounce of his mana to push back against the rock, trying to 'overcome' it.
By the second year, his bursts of power seemed to be more of a mechanical struggle than a passionate resistance.
When the fourth year came, thought became secondary. All of his attention and focus pooled into that single act of pushing back against his tormentor.
By the fifth, he entered a peculiar state.
His whole existence revolved around a single goal: to overcome the rock.
His eyes became unfocused, and his face loosened, as if his mind had quit his body. The constant vibrations from his attempts were the only indicator that he had yet to turn into a fool.
Even the action of carving a dot on the spear shaft every day went past his instincts.
But that was when something magical happened. The strand of mana he used for years moved on its own.
Like it was controlled by its master, it climbed the wood, reached the appropriate place, and made another point to indicate a new day as the sun of dawn shone above it.
It was a miracle born of countless repetitions of the same action for years and the presence of the Mana-Kissed Skill.
All of this went over Ashen's head, of course.
Because all that was on his head now was to push, push, and then push some more.
He never ceased, even when the next year came.
Or the one after it.
He did not stop even when the rock showed no signs of moving after another decade of tries.
But even though it did not move, something else happened. He felt like he was on the verge of grasping something.
It was the essence of his struggle. A symbol of sorts.
'What is it…?'
He quietly asked himself and patiently waited for the answer to reveal itself.
Another year of struggle went by, and it still eluded him.
'What am I missing?'
Now, it was thirty-five years of struggle against this immovable object. Ashen felt like it was at the tip of his tongue.
'What… am I doing?'
Thirty-six…
The chant at the back of his head, the one that had always ceaselessly asked him to endure, seemed to have somehow changed along the way.
Endure
Overcome.
Endure
Overcome.
Then, it finally merged into something new.
Endure, then overcome.
It rang in his mind like enlightenment bells, showing him the path he had to take to fulfill his dream of freedom.
It had also made what he was trying to currently grasp within reach.
'Is… it Struggle?'
But just when the thought came and was about to solidify, a voice rang, "No."
It was his teacher's voice. He could recognize it from anywhere in any state. It was the voice belonging to the person who had put him in this torment after all.
'Torment?'
"Not that either."
What Ashen didn't know was that the moment he first thought of the word 'struggle', his mana flared in such a way that it looked like he was about to lose control.
At the moment of 'Torment', there were even physical signs of it, as his hair lengthened in an abnormally fast manner, while his pupils dilated rapidly before shaping into a golden ring.
Edward, who had somehow arrived instantly before him, knew what he was attempting, but he also knew that he was taking the wrong path. So he interrupted him, halting the transformation and reverting it.
'Then, what is it?'
"Remember your origin. What is your path?"
"My path… is sloth," Ashen muttered.
"Good. That is your center. Every power has to be related to it, no matter how slight the relation. Now try again."
'Sloth… sloth… Yes, why did I not think of this before? If I can't overcome this Immovable foe now, I will just make it so that it can't overcome me either!'
It had always been a losing battle for Ashen until now. He knew he was bound to snap or falter somewhere down the line.
He almost did fifteen years ago.
So all he had to do was make it so that he would never do!
'Just like the rock, I will become immovable.' Ashen smiled happily, 'I'll be more than that. I'm Sloth. Stillness is my domain. Why would I struggle in my own territory?'
If he had to stay still, so be it. Stillness was power for him; it had never been a torment.
He was Ashen Hart of the Sloth pathway.
'And now, I will be Inertia.'
I can't move you? You will never move me either.
[You have understood a derivative of Sloth: The Concept Of Inertia]
The system notice snapped Ashen out of his two-decade reverie.
What had been an instant in his head had actually been two decades. Ashen was stunned.
The sound of boots grating on the ground did not allow him to stay shocked. The Kingmaker was here.
"Congratulations, my dear student, for comprehending a concept on your own. Though it seems this is not the first time, since I've noticed that you employ a minor concept on your spear thrusts."
"...Thank you." Ashen did not ignore him and even expressed his gratitude because he remembered.
Edward had saved him from losing control at the last moment; if it wasn't for his intervention, he would have changed into a monstrous entity right now.
Seeming to have guessed his thoughts, Edward took a solemn stance and explained, "Remember, Ashen. Once you adopt a concept as your own, you set yourself on a singular path."
"You can deviate from it, take detours, and winding paths, but all of the ways must guide back to your first path."
He pointed at him, "Your path is Sloth. Adopting concepts derivative of it or ones that precede it in impact is acceptable. But you can't take on something unrelated."
"If you do…" his eyes hardened, "you will either die on the spot, become an incarnation of Sloth while devolving into a mindless monster, or… if you are incredibly lucky, you will simply go mad and twisted."
"I understand." Ashen looked equally solemn, knowing that he was incredibly lucky the first time around when he understood the concept of Sloth Efficiency.
If he had stumbled upon something unrelated, he would have died on the spot instead of escaping.
"Either way," Edward's haggard expression tugged into a smirk, "The congratulations are also about you entering the ranks of true Pathwalkers."
Ashen looked at him in confusion. Wasn't he and everyone else who had accepted the system's blessing a pathwalker of the Sins anyway?
"Remember when we talked about fake pathwalkers? This is what I'm referring to. Anyone who only relies on the concept fed to him from the system and doesn't grasp something on his own is a fake."
"Well, at least to my eyes." He added in the end, knowing that it was mostly him who thought so.
"You were at most half a step away from becoming a true practitioner of wielding concepts due to comprehending that minor concept."
"But now…" He narrowed his eyes. "I don't know exactly how significant your new power is, but it is definitely enough."
As he heard Edward's words, it was only then that Ashen discovered something incomprehensible.
'I don't… feel the weight anymore?'
"When you reach the third Step, you will become a true transcendent. And let me tell you, men like that exist in a dimension of their own, far beyond those who rely solely on the system."
Under normal circumstances, Ashen might have felt some measure of reassurance at those words.
But there was nothing normal about him anymore. Not his state of mind, at least.
After all…
After four decades of struggle, he had finally sensed something new.
Solace.