The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 96: The Teaching (Part 2)

No matter how big or how many natural numbers there are, there’s always an equal number of odd numbers.

Because numbers are infinite.
That’s why the number of natural numbers, odd numbers, and even numbers all amount to infinity.

In the world of infinity, a “one-to-one correspondence” like this—

“It means the sets have the same number and size, even if they’re different sets. That’s what we call countable infinity.”

And that was—

“The larger type of infinity, which cannot be matched one-to-one with natural numbers, is called uncountable infinity. To go a bit further…”

—As far as I could understand.

From that point, Iliana’s explanation continued for quite some time.

I could say just one thing:

…It’s legendary.

Now I finally understood the quote left by the First Mage, Arcanis Lilseyn:

“Do not place limits on your curiosity—except when it comes to infinity.”

The more I tried to grasp the concept of infinity,
it felt like something inside my skull began to boil, building unbearable pressure.

The more I tried to understand Infinite [M],
the more it felt like my entire head was about to swell like a balloon and explode.

◆ Player’s Will [EX] resists the tormenting mental pressure! ◆

…Thankfully, thanks to Player’s Will [EX], my head didn’t actually explode.

In that sense, it was incredible.

How the hell did Iliana carry all this knowledge in her head?

And her brain didn’t even explode. She really wasn’t called the [Mage of Truth] for nothing.

“…That’s everything I know about the concept of infinity.”

In the end, I managed to hear all the knowledge about infinity Iliana had.

To be honest, I didn’t really understand most of it.
It was more like I just listened and memorized blindly.

Still, they say understanding begins with memorization.

And that’s how I managed to grasp a vague understanding of certain parts.

◆ Concept Skill, Infinite [M] Understanding has increased. ◆

After much struggle, I was finally able to raise my understanding of Infinite [M].

My head throbbed. I pressed both temples with one hand and tried to fuse Infinite [M] with every other concept I could.

……Yet, nothing fused.
Not with Strength, Agility, Endurance, or Mana.

But then—

◆ Concept Skill, Infinite [M] has fused with Player’s Will [EX]. ◆

Unexpectedly, it fused with Ian’s ability, Player’s Will [EX].

◆ Fusion Skill ‘Will of the Successor [EX]’ acquired. ◆

A flash of clarity pierced my aching mind.

A Fusion Skill—
a skill that combines two or more different things into one, in a way that the original identities vanish.

Unlike combination skills, where each component retains independence, fusion skills merge them completely.

Unlike with Inventory before, this was the first time Infinite [M] fused with another skill.

Then a description appeared before my eyes:

◆ Will of the Successor [EX]
Expands the player’s mental strength to infinity (Infinite), granting complete mental autonomy from any kind of mental interference (curses, illusions, brainwashing, hypnosis, suggestion, etc.).
<This is a fusion skill combining Player’s Will [EX] and Infinite [M].>

The skill grade was [EX], standing for Extra—outside the standard tier system.

It seemed that any skill that couldn’t be judged using the usual system was marked as [EX].

And this one had clearly been upgraded.

It now stated that the user’s mental strength would be expanded to infinity, granting complete mental autonomy.

‘Could this mean…?’

I quickly opened my Player Info.

==「Player Info」==
[Name] = Adrian Whitewolf
[Title] = Master of the Snowy Mountains
[Level] = 76
[HP] = 9,185
[MP] = 0
[Sanity] = 4/ℵ0
[Stats] = Strength: 81 (+5) / Agility: 110.8 (+18.8) / Endurance: 90.85 (+11.85) / Mana: 11 (+5)
[EXP] = 9.33%
<Additional Stat +1>

And I noticed the Sanity stat had changed.

[Sanity] – 4/ℵ0
Based on what Iliana taught me, ℵ0 (Aleph-null) represents countable infinity.

The symbol “∞” commonly used for infinity represents uncountable infinity.
That’s why the Infinite Inventory uses the “∞” symbol.

Still, infinity is infinity.
Which means the Sanity stat’s maximum value—my mind’s capacity—was now literally infinite (ℵ0).

At first glance—

This might seem meaningless.
After all, Player’s Will [EX] already allowed for infinite mental strength.

But.

There was a massive difference between the two.

Player’s Will [EX] worked by resetting Sanity.

Meaning, if continuously bombarded with mental attacks, it eventually failed.

However, Will of the Successor [EX] doesn’t reset anything.
It provides true mental autonomy, infinitely absorbing any rising madness.

In other words—

‘I can face the Monarch of the Abyss now.’

I no longer had to surrender to indescribable fear.
I could now fight without being crushed by ever-growing terror.

Not just that—

‘The limit on Berserk has vanished.’

I could now store Sanity endlessly.
That meant the power of Berserk [?] could scale infinitely.

‘In that case…’

Even Predation [S+] could surpass its own tier.

In short—

My potential had expanded infinitely.

And this wasn’t the end.
My understanding of Infinite [M] wasn’t capped at ℵ0.
If I raised my comprehension further—

I could gain even more absurd skills like Infinite Inventory or Will of the Successor [EX].

“Did that… help at all…?”

Eventually, Iliana asked cautiously.
My face had been twisted with surprise and pain, and perhaps that worried her.

I quickly composed my expression and replied.

“It was incredibly helpful.”

Incredibly helpful was an understatement.
If anything, it was salvation.

As expected of Iliana.

Her past self wasn’t wrong to say:

“If you ask me why a phenomenon occurs, I can’t answer you.
But if you ask how it occurs under given conditions—I can explain everything.”

Intuition [L] that grasped laws and phenomena directly.
Apex Intelligence [A+] that allowed her to instantly comprehend what she received.

It wasn’t just genius.
It was a talent overwhelming enough to rival—or surpass—dragons.

“Really?! I was really helpful?!”

Iliana’s face lit up at the words.

“Hehe!”

She gave a shy smile in my direction—
And then—

“Ah… uh…”

She blushed and lowered her head in embarrassment.

‘She can make expressions like that?’

I had never seen that face in my previous life.

As I quietly stared at her—

“Well then.”

I took out a heavy pouch from my Inventory.

“Spatial magic?!”

Iliana’s eyes widened like saucers.

“But I thought you weren’t a mage?!”
“That’s correct.”
“Yet you’re using spatial magic?!”

Iliana looked like she might faint in shock.

After all, spatial magic is extremely advanced—

“You can’t use it without understanding hyperspace and quantum tunneling!!”

…Apparently.

But Inventory wasn’t actually magic.
It was simply classified as spatial-type.
So I couldn’t explain it.
And even if I could, I wouldn’t.

I handed the pouch to her to shut down further questioning.

“What is this…?”
“Why don’t you take a look?”

Iliana tilted her head and peeked inside.

“This is… platinum coins.”
“There are 100 of them.”

One platinum coin is worth 1,000 gold.

“100,000 gold?!”

Iliana recoiled in shock.

That amount could support a modest single-person household for life.

Then, I took out nine more identical pouches and placed them on the table.

“Each contains 100 platinum coins.”
“1,000,000 gold?!?”

Iliana’s small mouth hung wide open.

And then I said:

“All of this is yours.”

“W-WHAAAAAT?!”

Iliana’s eyes bulged so wide they looked like they might tear.
Her gaze trembled like an earthquake, silently asking why I was giving her a million gold.

“Our Predator Merchant Group would like to sponsor you, Iliana.”

As soon as I finished—

“EEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH?!?!!”

Iliana leapt into the air like a startled frog.