#sage's testament

[gear-project]

A Hakama, Celestial Robe, Priest Shirt, and Sneakers...

Someone PLEASE tell Asuka he needs to work on his fashion sense...

[gear-project]

So, question on Asuka and Chaos. Just how strong is Happy Chaos compared to Asuka? Does Asuka really need the Tome of Origin to be this powerful? I figured that with Happy Chaos' intellect and experience, he wouldn't need the Book to memorize spells or whatever.

A lot of people have been asking this lately, but a lot of the power Happy Chaos obtained was "borrowed" from other resources.

Be it using Demihumans to cross dimensions, or the Guns he uses (which he likely STOLE), or all the people he manipulated mentally up to this point (or even using other people's aliases and terminology, like in Asuka's cases). But especially the idea of sacrificing lives to achieve his goals.

Even if Happy Chaos was the one who WROTE the Tome of Origin, he was in a different frame of mind when he wrote it.

As I-No once said: "The 'God' who created me had a cocktail in one hand."

She was unironically not referring to Chaos, but at the same time she WAS considering his involvement with the Universal Will and the Backyard up to that point.

If I had to compare Happy Chaos with the Original Sage... the latter had a morality and bearing that believed in Mankind's true potential, and created the book for the purpose of protecting Mankind's future.

Asuka took ON that role... whether by chance or by fortune... in fact if it weren't for I-No's existence... Asuka would have never taken the book in his own hands.

There's a vast difference between altruistic intent and selfish malice...

If Happy Chaos was someone who truly sought to use powers for others, he would never have needed the Tome of Origin in the first place... In fact, just being able to enter the Backyard was something he achieved on his own... the book didn't help him do it at all!

But needing the Tome of Origin simply to give I-No more power is simply NOT something that someone of true altruism would come up with.

If I-No needed to be saved, there were other ways to do it... but she was impatient and afraid. If she had asked the Sage instead of Happy Chaos... I'm almost certain he would have found a way WITHOUT the need of the Tome of Origin!

Borrowing more power isn't the point... the point is that someone who UNDERSTANDS their own powers, whether weak or strong, can still come up with a solution that satisfies everyone.

This is how Asuka is able to surpass his teacher: by understanding himself and doing things earnestly and honestly... without cheating, without stealing or hurting others. To find the REAL ANSWER.

Even if Asuka can still use that power, he uses it responsibly, or takes risks to ensure that power is managed properly and safely.

And even if there are risks to bearing the Tome of Origin, it's all with consideration to the knowledge and limitations (weakness) one has... not borrowing or stealing from others, but giving and sharing the power with no other reason or conditions except kindness...

Perhaps Asuka was originally just an ordinary man with a high intellect for Math, and perhaps his teacher was a prodigy, a natural genius even compared to himself... but that no longer matters.

Asuka stepped in to the role FATE gave him... he owned up to his own mistakes, and even if someone tried to take the book from him... he was still prepared for that eventuality on many levels.

He bears the book with the mindset that no one NEEDS it and NEVER WILL NEED IT. No matter how greedy some people are... or how desperate they are for power, no one truly NEEDS THAT KIND OF POWER.

Even if all Asuka does is share the TRUTH with others, he can just as easily throw the book aside for that. Of course, whether people accept that or not, depends on them, not him...

Asuka is willing to throw the book, along with himself, in to the far reaches of time and space, if only to prove that Mankind doesn't NEED power to achieve their true potential, simply knowledge and wisdom.

That is the way in which he seeks to atone for his mistakes.

[gear-project]

Is the moon really the safest place to keep the Tome of Origin from anyone's reach? With Chaos still active, he might find a way to confiscate it from Asuka unless someone has a backup plan to prevent Happy Chaos from gaining access to it.

Nothing is Guaranteed, however, Happy Chaos already achieved what he set out to do, so using the Tome again would be unreasonable (and also contradict his reason for "tinkering" with Humanity's History and Development).

Asuka stated he could live out in space for an extended amount of time (assuming the Tome was left untouched).

But Asuka also stated he planned on dismantling any Ancient War Relics that still posed a threat to the world beforehand, so I don't think all his plans are set in stone quite yet.

It would make sense for America as a nation to try and safeguard Asuka for the time being, because of his connection with the Tome on a personal level, but compared to anyone else, only Happy Chaos posed the biggest threat (other than I-No) to really obtaining the Tome in the first place.

That is to say, the two most dangerous threats to put the Tome to use have already done what they set out to do with the Tome… so even if there was another attempt at stealing the Tome… it wouldn't be nearly as dangerous a threat.

Firstly, because Happy Chaos is no longer as powerful as he once was (because of restoring I-No's powers).

Secondly, because I-No was destroyed (or as much as she could be destroyed).

Even supposing someone "built" a Copy of Justice just to "steal" the Tome of Origin… only Asuka can "read" the Tome (outside of Chaos himself who wrote the book), so no matter how powerful a threat like that even was… if Asuka doesn't read the tome for them, they can't achieve anything.

Not even I-No had the power to read the Tome on her own.

Sol confirmed the security of this from Asuka himself… so really there's no concern of that happening again outside of Happy Chaos making a second "lesser" attempt.

[gear-project]

The same "Original Man" from different points in the Timeline/Different Timelines.

[gear-project]

Ookaay, Ever since the 'Current' storyline for Guilty gear has ended, I wonder where asuka is now? It seems he have disappear without a trace...

It's not so much that he disappeared, but most likely he took advantage of Project Tir na Nog's technology to migrate his person in to space, so that no one would have access to himself or the Tome of Origin.

He can still "communicate" with the Earth though Communication Signals via his "Radio Station" concept, and most likely he'll use the Tome of Origin's power to relay "vital information" (from the Backyard) to the people still living back on Earth (via his "Accumulation of Goodwill").

Unless someone has the ability/technology to trace his location, and even travel there via space-craft, they still wouldn't be able to gain access to the Tome's power, since only he is capable of reading it (beyond Happy Chaos that is).

And even then, we don't really know how much longer he'll remain alive, given how long he's lived 170+ years or so already, but Tir na Nog's space colony technology was designed to keep an entire small population of people fed for nearly 300+ years besides, so Asuka would be well taken care of even living by himself.

Still... before his plan of going in to space, he did plan on shutting down all Pre-Crusades Wartime technology that he was aware of, so dismantling any weapons that the P.W.A.B. are unaware of is still part of his long-term goals (Happy Chaos inadvertently helped with that via his little "international prank").

Suffice to say, though it might be a little sad to see him leave Earth, he'll finally live his dream of running a Radio Station of sorts~!

[gear-project]

So, That Man states in the trailer that he wants to erase the Tome of Origin and Sol from the world. Is he bluffing, or has he had a change of heart between Revelator and Strive?

It most certainly contradicts the reason he saved Aria for Sol's sake.

And the fact he even spoke to Sol ahead of time as a kind of "challenge" for Sol to overcome.

Here's the thing though... Asuka makes a point to state he is conducting a "World Peace Experiment"...

An Experiment is usually comprised of 4 components:

1. A control. (Standards that are compared, or a Metric.) 2. An Independent Variable. (Adjustments made to produce different results.) 3. A Dependent Variable. (Response variable, making changes in response to the changes in the Independent Variable.) 4. A Constant. (An aspect that never changes.)

Asuka, while he has done things that are very morally compromised to mankind (and others who aren't human), his intentions are still "self righteous" in his own mind, so he has an "altruistic intent" (despite the ends and means).

If he does in fact "do something", it's likely he has full control over the situation to adjust things to his liking accordingly, depending on "everyone else's response".

That's NOT to say everything will "go to plan", or that everything will "become better" automatically....

If Asuka has the ability to craft anything or do anything he wants (via the Tome of Origin/Sage's Testament), then nobody can really stop him from doing so.... at least initially.

But it sounds like that's the very predicament he is trying to resolve... Mankind's desire for power.

Sol "embodies" that desire for power (among other Gears at least)... but so does the Tome of Origin.

Asuka states he wishes to "erase both" (including Sol... or at least, what Sol represents).

Does that mean Asuka seeks to make Sol "human"?  Or does it mean he seeks to kill Sol?

Sol has already "accepted his role" as a "monster" for Asuka's sake.... but in Sol's case, he may be playing another role here... something that the whole world will have no choice but to witness.

In case it's not obvious, Asuka is very manipulative and scheming... but he means well...

I would compare this to a "Batman Gambit" (in TV Tropes lingo).... we don't know how things will go... but I think Asuka is planning on using Sol again, to say the least.

[gear-project]

What ever happened to the Sage's Tome?

What we know so far is that the Sage’s Testament was sealed away so as to prevent anyone from discovering the knowledge of the Backyard in its contents.

If anyone knows its location it would be “The Original”…  The “Original Man” or “Philosopher” who wrote the book in the first place and predicted the Dawn of Revival.

Though, if you bought the Limited Edition of Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign-, owning the GG Codex along with reading GGXrd’s Database Library might give you the feeling of owning your very own copy of the Sage’s Testament~!

Of course, reading my blog might also have the same effect!

[gear-project]

I noticed That Man in Guilty Gear Vastedge carries around a tome in battle that's similar to the one the Sage/The Original Man possessed that contained knowledge of the Backyard. Is it a coincidence, or did That Man manage to obtain the Sage's tome? If this is a spoiler that is explained in Guilty Gear Xrd's Story Mode, Database or possibly the Codex from the Limited Edition, then please ignore my inquiry.

There’s no indication that “That Man” was even directly involved with the events of GG VastEdge, first of all.

In that regard you can say that his “battle event” was just an extra they threw in, so it’s not really canonical.

As far as the tome he carries… I don’t think it is.

The “Original Man” seems to have existed before the Gear Project… maybe even before the key events of 1999.

Based on what little info there is on him, he has something to do with the Sanctus Populi’s “Apostles” as well as the Pope and Conclave (aka the Senato).

What that connection is, is a mystery… as for how he knows of “That Man’s” existence is also a mystery (since it was assumed that the “Original Man” lived many years ago and probably died).

The Sage’s Testament (the book in question that the “Original Man” wrote) was never meant to be opened by humanity, so even if “That Man” owned it, or possessed some of the knowledge contained in it… it’s unclear what he’d do with it.

Based on the book “That Man” uses… I don’t think it’s the same book. The Sage’s Testament itself is likely not a spell book so much as it is a record of what lies in the Backyard.

What we know so far is that the book itself contains mostly a human’s perspective on the Backyard from being inside of it. Take that with a grain of salt.