Chapter 51: Negotiation
"Don't be— ahem. An error in words, haha." Elder Solon returned to his calm outer appearance. "I have tried to kill it several times, but I simply couldn't."
"Why?" Rhys asked, perplexed.
"You are stronger than me, older than me, wiser than me... well, I doubt that. Still, you have a higher chance of killing it than I do, so why me?"
"Because you are out—"
"Oh, come on. Drop that reason. I agree I am an outsider, but that's not the reason, right?"
"Yes." Elder Solon nodded vigorously. Rhys's lips twitched.
'Are you sure he was a Tier 8 cultivator?'
[The System cannot be wrong.]
"You have something I lack. The untamed youthfulness," Elder Solon said, rubbing his beard as if he had stated a perfect reason.
Rhys rolled his eyes, almost on the verge of cursing.
"Haha, I am joking. Joking." Elder Solon flailed his arms, then, returning to his calm appearance, he continued, "It's because even if I killed it, just like everyone else here, it will come alive again."
Rhys became more focused.
"The people here don't know they are living in a repeated cycle of never-ending torture," Elder Solon shook his head.
"Why has no one noticed it? Not every hunt is without casualties, right? If one of them died and was reborn, won't people with even a peanut-sized brain find the abnormality? Unless everyone dies and is reborn at the same time. Wait..."
Rhys opened his eyes wide.
"Don't tell me..."
"Yes. If one dies, I kill everyone else and restart everything once more."
Rhys's heart went cold. Now, looking at the old man, he had a profound sense of admiration.
[What a smart man. Those who are killed never know who killed them, and their memories will be as blank as they were before they died. After all, their only salvation is to escape this desert.]
Yet... that also would not be foolproof, right?
'Whatever, it's not my business. I just have to finish this labyrinth challenge and obtain its final rewards, then continue my adventures while becoming the richest, most powerful, and most influential man in the world.'
"Okay, let's agree that only I can kill the monster. But how could I, a Tier 1 weakling, kill a Tyrant? Hell, I am not even sure I could fight a stronger Feral, let alone a Tyrant, which is like a god-like existence to me," Rhys said, expressing his doubts.
"Who told you that you have to kill it personally?" Elder Solon sounded mysterious. Rhys looked at him silently.
"The biggest fear of a Tyrant is a Titan..."
Rhys's eyes widened.
"You mean use that Stone Golem to kill this Tyrant? But how?"
That was a wonderful idea. But how could they make the Titan kill the Tyrant, when the latter always ran away from the Titan before it arrived?
"By stopping the Tyrant in the path of the Titan," Elder Solon continued, "with the help of a formation."
He then moved his hands, unrolling a large scroll in the air. It showed a blueprint for an ultimate formation.
[Burning lifespan to analyse...]
[Formation: Chains of Temporal Stasis.]
[Grade: Spirit (High).]
[Description: The formation has no attack capabilities. It creates a localised field where time is slowed to a crawl. Then it forms glowing chains of energy that trap invaders, increasing the number of chains as the invader struggles.]
Rhys looked at the complex diagram. He understood every line, every rune. But he could not build it, simply because he had no profession core.
"You just have to plant this formation at an intersection where the two monsters meet and chain the Tyrant there. Your using your own energy to activate the formation will make you its owner. In this way, we can finally kill the Tyrant."
Elder Solon pushed the scroll towards him, but Rhys stepped back.
Elder Solon frowned.
"What is the meaning of this, Outsider?"
"Planting the formation and activating it is not without risks, right?"
Elder Solon furrowed his brows.
"Of course, yes. We are fighting a Tyrant, after all. If any accident happens, you will die. Ahem. Don't be scared—"
"Then bye. The risks outweigh the rewards," Rhys uttered in dismissal as he turned around to leave.
"But... but... without killing the Tyrant, you can't escape this desert!"
"That is also true," Rhys glanced at the Elder over his shoulder, "but I am not the only outsider here. My dear cousins are also in here somewhere. They will win the challenge anyway. I can escape after that."
After all, if someone completed the labyrinth challenge, everyone else inside would be teleported out.
Elder Solon became visibly anxious as Rhys almost reached the door. Before he could raise his hands to open it, the Elder shouted.
"Wait." A low grin appeared on Rhys's face, which became neutral as he turned around.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Elder Solon ground his teeth.
Rhys lowered his head. The warm light above cast a long shadow across half of his face, making it completely dark.
The other side shone in a warm glow, except for the bottomless pupils which resembled an abyss locked on Elder Solon.
"I want to learn about formations."
"What?" Elder Solon was taken aback by his condition.
"You want to learn about formations... from me?"
Rhys tilted his head, moving his entire face into the darkness.
"Why? I can't?"
The room turned silent.
"Learning about formations is not something one can do in a single day. It will take years of constant practice for an ordinary formation master to even create a non-levelled formation. Even talented disciples will take one or two years..." Elder Solon was lost for words.
"So? I am not an ordinary or average person you would call talented. I am me. Rhys..." Rhys stopped, moving from the darkness into the brightness.
"Someone the whole world is going to look up to." His voice was filled with an intense confidence that seemed to materialise in the air.
Elder Solon appeared to be affected by his tone, as his old body trembled slightly.
"Okay. I will teach you the formation knowledge you need," the Elder proposed. "But only for a year. After that, you have to help us kill the Tyrant."
"A year?" Rhys curled his lips.
"I can't waste more than a year to teach you."
"No, you are mistaken. I am not saying a year isn't enough, I am saying..." he leaned in, staring into the Elder's eyes and speaking word for word, "two days are enough."
Both of them stared at each other for a few moments, then Elder Solon looked away. But his eyes were filled with curiosity and, above all, hope.
Before him spoke anything else, a young woman walked out from a dark tunnel behind the Elder's chair. She was carrying a heavy stack of old, dusty scrolls.
She had long, black hair and serious, intelligent eyes. She stopped when she saw Rhys. Her eyes widened slightly, and Rhys saw a flicker of fear in them.
She quickly looked down, avoiding his gaze as she placed the scrolls on a stone table next to the Elder.
"This is my other apprentice, Lena," Solon said. "She has been helping me with my research."
Rhys looked at the girl. He felt a strange energy coming from her.
[Lena]
[Race: Human]
[Cultivation: Body Tempering (High)]
[Trait: Glimpse of Entropy]
[Status: Deceased.]
[About: A rare sensory Trait that allows the user to perceive the potential for chaos and unpredictability in an animate or inanimate object. This manifests as a visual distortion or 'static' around the target.]
'Oh... then why was she scared after seeing me?'
[...]
'I guess my aura is too stong.'
Only Eggy agreed with him.
Chapter 52: A genius or a fool?
Lena flinched every time Rhys glanced in her direction. To her, a normal person looked like a calm, clear image.
But when she looked at Rhys, she saw a raging, swirling vortex of pure chaos. He was the most unpredictable and dangerous thing she had ever seen.
She was even more scared when she heard the Elder's next words.
"Rhys," the Elder said. "Lena has been my student for a long time. Now, you will learn alongside her."
Lena looked up, her face pale. She had to learn with this monster? Her eyes momentarily locked with that bottomless pit of chaos and she hurriedly looked away.
Elder Solon looked at Rhys, his ancient eyes holding a mix of curiosity and deep doubt.
"You are too brave. Two days? It even takes ten days to draw a formation."
Rhys shrugged, his mind wandering during the talk with the System. He was not bragging when he said he needed only two days to learn about formations from the Elder.
In truth, he could learn in one day if the Elder was capable of giving him a non-stop class. After all, he had the System.
The reason he wanted the Elder's teaching was because his knowledge of formations was vague, as he had learned it on his own.
He had mastered the basics in Greenleaf Town, but that was like learning to write letters. What Solon knew was like writing a grand novel.
Sure, with the System's help, he could absorb any knowledge instantly. But the System could not create knowledge from nothing. It needed a source.
With a true master like Solon to guide him, the System could improve his understanding at a speed the world had never seen.
Elder Solon sighed. Although he sounded sceptical, his eyes shone with interest.
"Very well. Your confidence is either that of a genius or a fool. We shall see which it is." He turned to his other apprentice. "Lena, bring the primary scrolls. The ones on energy flow and rune structure."
Lena flinched slightly, then peeked at Rhys. As she saw him looking at her, she quickly walked into a dark tunnel behind the Elder's chair.
"She seems scared of you," Elder Solon joked, sipping the tea on his table.
"More like she fluttered after seeing my handsomeness."
"Cough!" Elder Solon almost choked on his tea.
Suddenly, Rhys heard a sound come into his head. He almost jumped in panic. As quiet and warm as the voice sounded, it had come without warning.
I am going with the hunters.
'How can Yuki talk in my mind?'
[Her consciousness has reached Tier 4.]
'Wow.'
Only she could speak to him, as his own consciousness was still in Tier 1. But he made an expression he hoped she would understand.
'Are you hungry?'
Not at all. I have enough food here... her voice trailed off.
'You mean the people here,' Rhys rolled his eyes.
After all, they are giving me crystals for free. So, no. It's so boring here anyway, and Zara said they might find some shiny crystals. I like shiny things.
Yuki's voice disappeared from his head. Rhys could only pray that the crystals of those poor hunters were not that shiny.
'She will be safe anyway.'
Rhys had a hunch that she was the most dangerous thing in the desert, even considering the Tyrant. Rhys felt a sense of relief.
In any case, Yuki going was a good thing. He could focus completely on his lessons. It also meant he did not have to worry about her getting into a fight with the Elder.
When Lena returned, she was carrying a heavy stack of old, dusty scrolls. She placed them carefully on a stone table.
The scrolls looked ancient. They were covered in complex diagrams and writing that Rhys did not recognise.
"We will start with the basics," the Elder said. "This is the first principle: the Law of Qi Diversion. A formation is not a wall. It is a river. It does not block energy; it guides it. You must learn to feel the flow of the world's energy and create channels for it to follow."
He pointed to a complex diagram on the first scroll. It showed hundreds of thin, intersecting lines.
"This diagram shows the primary energy pathways in a simple concealment array. It would take a normal student months to just memorise the pattern. You have until tomorrow."
Rhys looked at the diagram. The moment his eyes focused on it, the System acted.
[Burning 10 years of lifespan to comprehend Basic Formation Theory...]
[Comprehended to Perfection.]
Elder Solon continued teaching while Rhys intently concentrated. The knowledge that flooded into his mind began to break into small fragments, which were absorbed at high speed as his brain worked to solidify them.
Elder Solon talked non-stop for an hour, then leaned back in his chair and took out ink and a pen. He was also surprised by Rhys's mental capability to concentrate on such complex principles without losing focus.
"Let's try to draw one of the nodes. Don't be in a rush; the first node will take someone at least two days."
An unranked formation had hundreds of such nodes. If this boy drew a single node in one day, that would be great. Elder Solon silently sighed.
Despite Lena being his most talented disciple, it had taken her more than one day to draw a node. It took her fifty years to completely learn to draw an unranked formation, and currently, it now takes her ten days to draw one.
Elder Solon was sure the outsider would not be any different; after all, he did not even have a profession core for formations.
'In any case, I just need to teach him for two days.'
Rhys said nothing as he picked up the paper and ink. He began to draw on the paper. His hand was a bit shaky at first, but it quickly became precise.
His speed also increased, and within half a minute, an entire node was formed. Elder Solon was stunned into silence, his mouth open wide.
Lena gasped, covering her mouth. Rhys ignored them as he continued drawing.
Time passed, and within five minutes, a complete and complex formation diagram was formed on the paper. He patted his palms and raised his head to stare at the two of them, not forgetting to curl his lips.
'If I showed them I could draw an unranked formation in a minute, what would their expressions be?' he wondered.
He could draw simple formations within a minute, but this one was far more complex and innovative than any he had ever seen.
Unlike alchemy, formations were unique depending on the one who drew them. If one was innovative enough, they could even make an unranked formation better than high-ranked ones.
This was what Elder Solon had done.
This formation was a simple gravity formation. It was not rare. In the province, Body Cultivators used it commonly to train their bodies.
But Elder Solon had added something of his own into it. He had made the gravity shift in time intervals and pass a small amount of electric current which was not lethal but would warm their muscles.
In this way, one could continue training for longer.
Rhys was sure that if this formation were to be sold in the province, it would earn him a high fortune.
His gaze landed on the thick scrolls placed upon the table.
'If a simple gravity formation has such capability, what would the others be like?'
He could not wait to explore. This was one of the reasons he had shown his talent so highly.
Rhys wanted to impress the Elder and, if possible, become his disciple. In that way, he could inherit every formation Elder Solon had made and innovated.
Chapter 53: Genius... of course!
"How?" Lena whispered, her voice filled with awe. The look in her eyes as she stared at him had now changed from fear to respect.
"I am a fast learner," Rhys said simply.
The first day of Rhys's training passed in a blur of impossible learning. Elder Solon would unroll a new scroll, explain a new, incredibly complex theory, and Rhys would master it in seconds.
He learned about runic synergy, elemental balancing, and spatial anchoring. By the end of the day, he had absorbed all the knowledge contained in the primary scrolls.
He had learned in one day what would have taken a normal genius a lifetime.
Elder Solon was no longer just surprised. He was filled with a deep, profound joy. He looked at Rhys not as a tool to be used, but as a true successor to his legacy.
That evening, as they were finishing their lesson, Solon looked at Rhys with a serious expression.
"I have been a scholar for thousands of years," the old man said. "I have never seen a talent like yours. It would be a waste for such a genius to not have a proper master."
Rhys rolled his eyes.
"Cough, I mean, it would be a waste for me if I did not become the master to such a genius." He paused.
His ancient eyes were filled with a hopeful light. "If you are willing to be my disciple..."
Rhys furrowed his brows in a thoughtful expression.
He respected the old man. Despite his annoying habit of assuming Rhys was always scared, Elder Solon was a true scholar. His knowledge was vast and deep.
Rhys felt a genuine respect for him. But if he accepted to become a disciple of the old man...
'Whatever, what if the old man has some hidden treasure he has kept until he finds a heir? Why waste such a golden opportunity.'
And it was not as if he was going to marry the Elder, for him to have to consider every possible outcome. So he dispelled his hesitation and knelt on one knee.
"Disciple greets Master," he said, his voice clear and respectful.
Elder Solon let out a hearty laugh. It was a sound full of joy and relief, a sound that had probably not been heard in this silent, underground settlement for a thousand years.
"Good! Good!" he said. "Stand up, my boy. A master must give his new disciple a gift."
'See, i am smart.' Rhys thought as Eggy agreed.
He looked over at Lena, who had been watching the entire scene with a mix of awe.
"Lena, my child, could you leave us for a moment? I wish to speak with my new disciple in private."
Lena looked at Rhys with sparkling eyes, then back at the Elder. She gave a small bow and quickly walked away, disappearing into one of the dark tunnels.
"It seems my old disciple likes you, haha," Elder Solon laughed, but Rhys could see the sadness in his eyes.
Rhys also felt a bit bad. To live a life among dead people and build relationships with them while trying to escape the desert, all while knowing that if he one day escaped, every relationship and person he knew would disappear...
What a cursed fate.
Elder Solon returned to his calm expression. When he made sure no one was nearby, he took a scroll and opened it, surrounding their chamber in a formation.
Rhys was taken aback after seeing it. It was 'Dimension Block', a Heaven-grade formation that summoned the void to surround the area, suitable to block anyone from sensing what was inside.
To summon such a high-level formation...
Rhys gulped down his nervousness, his heart beating in anticipation.
Elder Solon reached into a hidden compartment in his old stone chair. He pulled out a dusty, ancient-looking core. It was not grey and smooth like the other cores Rhys had seen.
This one was a swirling vortex of black and grey energy, contained within a clear, crystal sphere. It pulsed with a raw, chaotic power that made the air around it feel heavy.
It was a Profession Core. His breath hitched in his throat as the System's voice sounded in his ear.
[A Tyrant-grade profession core has been detected...]
'A Tyrant-grade profession core...'
The latter part dumbfounded him further.
[Profession Core: Tempest Djinn]
[Grade: Tyrant]
"I took this from the body of the Tempest Djinn, many centuries ago," Elder Solon explained.
"It is a Tyrant-grade core. It is too powerful and too wild for an old man like me. A treasure like this... it is better for the younger generation to have it."
He held the core out to Rhys.
"Take this," he said. "It is my gift to you. With your talent, you will make better use of it than I ever could."
Rhys was speechless.
He had expected a simple gift, maybe an old artefact or a rare material. He had not expected a Tyrant-grade profession core. The generosity of the old man was immense.
He felt a deep, genuine sense of gratitude as he quickly took the core from the old man, thinking he might change his mind in the next moment.
Elder Solon's lips twitched.
[That was rude.]
System and Eggy agreed, making Rhys feel a bit guilty.
'Gosh, I was just excited,' Rhys thought, while bowing deeply from the waist.
"Thank you, Master," he said, his voice filled with sincere respect. The core felt heavy and full of a wild, untamed power.
"Absorb it now," Elder Solon said. "I will stand guard. This core is from a Tyrant. The process will not be easy."
Rhys nodded. He sat down on the floor, crossed his legs, and held the core in both hands. He closed his eyes and began to absorb it.
The moment he connected his Qi to the core, a storm of pure, chaotic energy flooded his body. It was the power of the Tempest Djinn, the memory of a thousand wind elementalists, all screaming in his mind at once.
It was a wild and violent power, and it tried to tear him apart from the inside. But Rhys's foundation was not normal.
His Void-Tempered Immortal Body was a vessel of absolute stability. His new meridian network was a perfect system for distributing energy.
He felt the chaotic wind energy rage through his meridians, but his body was like an unshakable mountain. It absorbed the storm. It tamed it.
He led the core into one of the micro-dantians he had chosen for formations and decided to bond the Wind element with this dantian.
He already had a Wind Element Ball in his possession, so he could sense the Wind element instantly and solidify the foundation of this dantian.
Slowly, the wild, screaming voices in his mind went silent. The chaotic energy became calm and obedient.
It settled into one of his empty micro-dantians, a new and powerful tool waiting for its master's command.
Rhys opened his eyes. The swirling black and grey core in his hands was gone. He could feel a new, immense power sleeping inside him. He had done it.
He had absorbed the power of a Tyrant.
[Host has successfully absorbed the Tyrant-Grade Profession Core (Tempest Djinn).]
[Knowledge synergy detected with the Host's understanding of the Wind Element.]
[New Profession Acquired: Tempest Weaver (Apprentice).]
[Grade: Tyrant.]
[About: Allows the user to weave and interconnect nodes with incredible precision. The wind shall hear your commands and think of you as one of its own.]
[System showing simplified status screen of Host.]
[Status]
Host: Rhys
Cultivation: Body Tempering (Peak)
Foundation: Void-Tempered Immortal Body
Lifespan Remaining: Infinite
Skill Cores:
1. Shadowed Dive (Ordinary)
Profession Cores:
1. Artisan Ash Veil (Ordinary)
2. Apprentice Tempest Weaver (Tyrant)
A low smile graced his lips. He had got his second profession core.
[Grades of Profession: Apprentice, Artisan, Master, Grandmaster, and Ruler.]
Chapter 54: Am i evil?
Rhys felt a deep sense of satisfaction. He was not just an Apprentice Formation Master; he was an apprentice with a tyrant-quality profession core!
The power he now held was far beyond anything even an Artisan could ever dream of.
Elder Solon was staring at him, the old man's face a mask of pure, unfiltered shock. He had expected the process to take hours, maybe even days.
He had expected Rhys to struggle, to be in great pain from the chaotic energy of the Tyrant Core. He had been ready to intervene, to use his own power to help stabilize the chaotic energy.
But the young boy had absorbed the Tyrant Core in less than a minute. The most infuriating thing was that he had done it with no struggle at all.
Elder Solon remembered absorbing his own Boss Core in his mid-forties. Thinking about that pain, he shivered.
The boy in front of him was not just a genius. He was a monster. A monster who devoured power like it was simple food.
"How... how do you feel?" Solon finally asked, his voice a little shaky. He could not believe what he had just seen.
"I feel good, Master," Rhys replied. He stood up and gave a respectful bow. "Thank you for this incredible gift."
Solon just shook his head slowly, a look of awe on his ancient face. "The gift was meaningless in my hands," he said. "In yours... perhaps it can change the world."
He became serious again. "Now that you have the power, we must prepare for the final battle. The Chains of Temporal Stasis is a complex formation. We will need many materials to build it."
He gave Rhys the main scroll for the formation. It was a huge, heavy scroll made of some kind of tough, leathery animal hide. Rhys unrolled it on the floor.
It was covered in thousands of intricate runes and diagrams. It was the most complex thing he had ever seen.
"Most of these materials are very rare," Solon explained. "But I have had thousands of years to collect them. I have everything we need here, in my workshop. But the components... the formation flags, the energy nodes, the stabilizing arrays... I wanted them to be crafted by you. No, they must be crafted by you."
"Why?" Rhys knitted his brows. "Isn't it better if Master made it?"
"If it were before, I would have agreed with you. But not anymore." Elder Solon shook his head.
"Boy, I don't know how you can draw a formation so quickly and accurately. Not only that, the innovation you've shown... unheard of.
I actually doubt how a human brain could develop it. And I am sure that rather than using my method, if it's made by you, the errors in the formation will be a lot fewer.
Also, you are the one who is going to plant it, so it's better for you to make it."
That sounded ridiculously accurate.
Rhys nodded. "I understand."
"Don't be scared, boy. Lena will assist you," the Elder cleared his throat. "Even if she is a bit dumb by your standards, her dumb brain is enough for you to use."
Lena opened her eyes wide and gave the Elder an accusing look. She turned to look at Rhys, nervous that he might reject her.
But Rhys merely shrugged, giving her a small friendly smile. Eggy also gave her few flying kisses.
[...]
Lena hurriedly lowered her head, a pair of dimples appearing on her cheeks.
The chaotic energy she saw around him was different now. Before, it was a wild, untamed storm. Now, it was a controlled, focused vortex.
It was still terrifying, but it was a focused terror. It was the power of a predator that was in complete control of itself.
"Lena, my child," Elder Solon said. "You will assist Rhys in the workshop. Give him any materials he asks for. Follow his every instruction."
'E-every?'
[Contain yourself, Host. Eggy is learning from you. Do you want to make him lecherous after he comes out?]
'What do you mean by that? I am merely deciphering the Master's intentions in a 'suitable for work' way.'
Eggy also agreed with him.
Lena looked surprised. She was the senior apprentice. She had been studying under the Elder for decades.
Now she was being told to be an assistant to this boy who had only been here for a day. But she did not protest.
She had seen his talent. She knew he was on a different level. She gave a small, respectful bow.
"Yes, Elder."
The workshop was a large cavern connected to the main hall. It was filled with strange and wonderful things.
There were tables covered in glowing crystals and rare, dark metals. Half-finished formation arrays were scattered on the floor, their runes glowing with a soft, blue light.
The initial interaction between Rhys and Lena was awkward. Lena was still scared of him. She would not look him in the eye.
She would hand him the materials he asked for and then quickly take a few steps back, as if she were afraid he would bite her.
Rhys, feeling confident and a little magnanimous after his huge power-up, decided to try and be friendly.
His idea of being friendly was very direct.
"Why are you so scared of me?" he asked without looking up from his work. He was carving a complex rune onto a flat, black stone.
Lena flinched. She did not expect such a direct question. "I... I am not scared," she stammered, which was an obvious lie.
"Yes, you are," Rhys said, still not looking up. "Is it because of my handsome face? Does it make your heart beat too fast?"
Lena's face turned bright red. "No!" she said, a little too loudly. "It is not that!"
Rhys stopped his work and looked at her. He put the stone down. "Then what is it?" he asked, his voice genuinely curious.
Lena hesitated. She looked at the ground, at her feet. "My Trait," she said quietly. "It lets me... see things. I can see the potential for chaos in people."
"And what do you see when you look at me?" Rhys asked, genuinely curious to know what she saw in him.
He recalled that another seer had also been scared when looking at his future. Was his future and presence so terrible that he scared people?
"I see a storm," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "A huge, endless storm of chaos. It is... overwhelming."
"Oh... am I evil?"
"N-no... absolutely not!" her voice rose again, then she quickly lowered it, looking around in panic, fearing her Master had heard the outburst. "The chaos in you is terrifying, but not evil."
"Oh..." Rhys folded his arms and raised his brows. "So that's why you fear me."
Rhys was silent for a moment. He finally understood. His very existence was terrifying to her. He felt a rare, small flicker of empathy.
He remembered how he had felt when he faced the impossible power of Yuki. Being in the presence of something far beyond your comprehension was a scary feeling.
He decided to try something. He focused his will. He tried to pull his aura inwards, to contain the chaotic energy that the System and his own power naturally gave off.
He tried to make himself seem smaller, less threatening. And when he did, the voice of his Master sounded in his mind.
'That's great, my boy! A perfect hunter isn't someone who always terrifies the prey; he is the one whom the prey willingly wants to embrace.'
Chapter 55: Time
Lena looked up at him in surprise. The raging, swirling vortex of chaos she saw around him suddenly became calmer.
It was still there, but it was no longer a wild, untamed storm. It was a controlled, spinning vortex contained within an invisible wall.
He was actively suppressing his power, just for her.
It was a small act of consideration, but for Lena, it was a huge gesture. It was the first time he had shown her that he was not just a monster of pure power. He was a person. The fear in her heart lessened.
It was replaced by a new feeling of respect.
They worked together after that. The awkwardness was gone. Lena would hand him the materials, and then she would watch, fascinated, as he worked.
A month had passed in a blur. Within the sand-swept, subterranean halls of the Wanderers, Rhys had achieved the impossible.
The complex, thousand-rune diagram of the "Chains of Temporal Stasis," a Spirit-Grade formation that would have taken an Artisan at least a year to draw, was created by him.
As the formation was completed, his profession upgraded from Apprentice to Artisan, far surprising him.
'This quickly...'
Don't forget, despite him using it many times, his Ash Walker profession hadn't upgraded yet.
He had crafted its 108 energy nodes from petrified lightning and its central anchor from the powdered bone of a long-dead beast, weaving the wild energy of the Tempest Djinn core into every sigil.
He hadn't just learned Elder Solon's theories; he had transcended them, innovating and refining the design until the formation hummed with a power even its original creator looked upon with awe.
The desert outside had fallen into an unnerving silence. The Tempest Djinn's cycle was nearing its end, and the creatures of the sand had burrowed deep, waiting for the inevitable storm to pass.
His quick seclusion had forged new friendships. In these thirty days, Lena had grown closer to him. With him teaching her, her knowledge of formations improved a lot.
She wasn't scared of him anymore; rather, her eyes shone with excitement every time he returned to the laboratory.
While he led a silent life, Yuki had found her place among the hunters. Her terrifying power, once a source of fear, was now a beacon of hope for the Wanderers.
She led their hunting parties with a ruthless efficiency, her black ice attacks felling the most dangerous desert predators.
She had become their de facto captain, a beautiful and deadly silver-haired general whose authority was absolute.
Bael and the other Wanderers respected her without question, their awe overcoming their fear.
Luckily, she showed no interest in consuming the life energy of the Wanderers, much to Rhys's relief.
But her day always ended in the same way. She would return from the hunt, find Rhys in the workshop, and wordlessly cling to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder.
It was a silent, possessive ritual, a declaration of ownership that left Lena flustered and the Wanderers whispering in amazement.
Rhys had grown used to it, the strange warmth of the living corpse a familiar comfort in this world of dead people.
Finally, the day of the convergence arrived. The air was heavy, the pale sky seeming to press down on the endless dunes. It was time.
Rhys made his way to the deepest part of the settlement for one last conversation. Elder Solon sat on his simple stone throne, looking more like a part of the rock than a living being.
The month of intense teaching had taken a visible toll, draining the last vestiges of energy from his ancient frame.
He couldn't leave the settlement's protective formations; exposure to the raw energy of the outside world would cause his fragile soul to dissipate into nothingness.
Rhys knew the truth now: his Master's body was long gone, sacrificed piece by piece to use his Trait.
All that remained was a soul, and the next time he used his power, it would be his last.
The Elder's eyes, clouded with age, flickered open as Rhys approached.
He didn't offer a greeting but instead posed a question, his voice a dry, rasping whisper that seemed to echo with the weight of millennia.
"You are an anomaly, child of the outside. You walk through this world of echoes, yet your own time seems... infinite. Tell me, what do you see in time?"
Rhys paused.
'What did the old man smoke today?' he didn't speak, but waited for the old man to continue.
"Do you see eternal youth, a blissful, unending spring? Or do you see impending death, a final winter that awaits us all?"
"Neither," Rhys replied after a long thought. He shook his head slowly. "What I see in time is fear."
The Elder's skeletal brows rose in surprise. "Why so?"
Rhys shrugged.
"It's simple. Those who have less time always fear death. Their every moment is a countdown to an ending they can't escape.
But those who have a long time, or endless time... they always fear loneliness. To watch the world change, to see everyone you know fade away while you remain... that is a prison far lonelier than this desert."
The Elder was silent for a long moment, the profound truth of Rhys's words settling in the ancient chamber.
He, who had lived for thousands of years in this very prison of loneliness, understood better than anyone.
"Okay..." he rasped, his voice tinged with a new respect. "Do you know any cure for this fear?"
"Obviously yes," Rhys replied without hesitation, his dark eyes meeting the Elder's.
"It's the void."
He saw the flicker of confusion in Elder Solon's eyes and elaborated.
"The void is the absence of everything. It is a state without beginning or end, without presence or absence. It is the one place where time has no meaning, and therefore, where its fears cannot exist. It is the ultimate salvation from the cycle."
A slow, deep understanding dawned on Elder Solon's face. He nodded, his face blank as he fell into contemplation.
Rhys bowed slightly before turning around to leave.
[Why do you think so? That the cure for fear is the void?]
'I just remembered my constitution and bluffed the first word that came into my mouth.'
[...]
'Never expected that to be so profound the Master would fall into an epiphany.'
Lena was waiting for him outside, biting her nails with an anxious expression. Upon seeing him her eyes brightened, but he could still feel the worry in her.
"Rhy... you will be fine, right?"
Rhys said nothing. He felt melancholy.
'What will happen to her if we succeed?'
So, wasn't he the one who should be asking her the same question?
Yet here he was, all excited to finally kill a tyrant and escape this desert.
What would be the feelings of Lena, Zara, and the rest of the people here if they knew the end of the tyrant was theirs, too?
Rhys felt helpless.
'They are trapped here even after death because they all seek salvation. You are helping them to achieve it, Rhys; you don't have to think so much.'
That was it. Rhys gave her a genuine smile as he patted her head.
"Yes... I will be fine. And so will you."
..He will end their damnation.
Chapter 56: Danger
The deployment of the formation was swift. Under the oppressive heat, Rhys, Yuki, and the Wanderers rode their Dune-Skimmers to the calculated point of convergence.
The silence of the desert was eerie; had it not been for the rhythmic hiss of the Dune-Skimmers gliding over the endless white sand, one might have thought oneself deaf.
The sky was pale, already poised to accept the arrival of the Tyrant.
Rhys rode at the head of the procession. The 'Chains of Temporal Stasis', his month-long masterpiece, rested within his spatial pouch, waiting to unleash its immense power upon the world.
He felt the wild, chaotic energy of the Tempest Djinn core thrumming within his specialised dantian, a familiar storm now tamed to his will.
He was an Artisan, a weaver of wind and runes, and he had never felt more ready.
Yuki rode beside him like a silent, beautiful shadow clad in black leather. The possessive clinginess she had displayed in the workshop was gone, replaced by the focused calm of a predator.
Her light-blue eyes constantly scanned the horizon, her senses attuned to the subtle shifts in the desert's energy.
She was his guard, his partner, and the most dangerous variable in this entire equation.
The Wanderers followed, led by Bael. Their faces were grim, etched with the tension of the coming battle, but their eyes held a fierce, desperate hope.
This was their final gamble, their one and only chance at the salvation they had craved for centuries.
As they travelled, the signs of the convergence became undeniable. A faint, almost imperceptible rain of grey ash began to fall from the cloudless sky.
'The Titan is here,' Rhys clenched his fists.
On the horizon, obscured by the falling ash, a silhouette moved. The eastern sky darkened with the shadow of the Stone Golem.
'It is at least a few hundred miles away, yet it looks so huge.'
Just imagining its size made him shiver. Compared to it, the Tyrant was nothing more than a chicken, but for them, even that chicken was lethal.
Rhys dispelled the growing unease in his heart.
There was no way their plan could fail. Even if it did, he was sure he could escape.
In the last month, he had not only created this single formation; escaping was no longer difficult for him.
They reached the designated location—a vast, flat basin chosen by Elder Solon for its perfect topographical neutrality.
The air was thick with a static charge, the kind that precedes a lightning strike. Rhys dismounted, the heavy, leather-bound scroll containing the formation in his hand. This was his stage.
He began to work, setting the 108 nodes in a vast circle. As he moved, invisible threads of wind energy stitched the components together into a single, cohesive web.
The runes inscribed on each node began to glow with a soft, golden light, the entire circle humming with a contained, terrifying energy.
Finally, he strode to the absolute centre and drove the anchor stone, carved from the bone of a Titan, deep into the sand.
The trap was set.
The desert fell quiet, the air heavy and still. Rhys stood in the centre of the huge formation, the golden lines of its runes glowing softly in the sand.
He felt calm; his plan was perfect.
Yuki stood near him, her face serious as she glanced intermittently towards the horizon, her brow furrowed.
Rhys was surprised, for this was the first time he had seen a concerned look on her face.
He asked nothing, his own attention completely fixed upon the movements on the horizon. Behind them, the Wanderers waited.
They were a small group, but their hearts were full of hope. They trusted Rhys; they believed this was their final fight.
Then, they heard it: a deep, heavy sound.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The ground began to tremble with each beat, like a giant heart pounding beneath the desert. A fine rain of grey ash started to fall from the pale sky.
Rhys looked to the west, where he saw a massive shape on the horizon. It was the Titan, the Stone Golem, a walking mountain of black rock.
It moved slowly, but it never stopped. Rhys felt a sense of awe; the Titan was so big, so powerful.
Then, another sound started from the same direction: the roar of a great storm. The wind began to blow, picking up the white sand, and the sky on the horizon turned dark.
The Tempest Djinn was coming... no, it was fleeing.
A smile graced his lips. His plan was working perfectly. At the Titan's pace, it would reach the Tyrant's position in approximately ten minutes.
His formation only needed to hold the Tyrant for that long—enough time for the Titan to arrive and crush it.
The storm grew closer, a giant wall of black, swirling sand. In its centre was a single, glowing red eye.
The Wanderers held their weapons tightly; they were scared, but they did not run. Finally, the Tyrant arrived, sweeping into the circle of golden runes.
"NOW!" Rhys shouted, slamming his hand onto the anchor stone.
A bright golden light exploded from the ground.
A huge dome of energy covered the storm. Inside, the swirling sand slowed, and golden chains of light shot up from the ground, wrapping around the Tyrant and holding it fast.
Success.
The Wanderers cheered, their voices full of joy and relief. They had done it. They had trapped the monster that had haunted their people for thousands of years.
They looked at the sky and saw the grey ash falling faster. The Titan was getting closer. Their salvation was near.
But then, something went wrong.
The trapped Tyrant began to change. The black sand inside the golden dome started to glow with a dark, red light.
The red eye in the centre of the storm burned with a new fire. It no longer seemed mindless. It was hatred.
The golden chains started to crack, red lines of energy spreading across them like poison.
A loud warning screamed inside Rhys's mind.
[WARNING! THE TYRANT'S OVERWHELMING DESIRE FOR SALVATION IS CORRUPTING ITS ESSENCE! IT IS FORCING AN EVOLUTION TO BREAK THE CYCLE! ENTITY IS TRANSFORMING INTO A MALEVOLENT SPIRIT!]
"What does that mean?!" Rhys yelled into the wind, his happy smile gone, his face now a mask of cold dread.
[A MALEVOLENT SPIRIT IS NO LONGER A MERE MEMORY! IT IS A BEING OF PURE, DESTRUCTIVE WILL CAPABLE OF REWRITING THE LAWS OF THIS REALM! THE FORMATION CANNOT HOLD IT! IT IS NOW CONSCIOUS!]
Conscious.
The word hit Rhys like a physical blow. The golden dome shattered like glass. The spirit, now a swirling storm of blood-red sand and pure evil, was free.
Its single, burning eye was now terrifyingly intelligent. It fixed its gaze on Rhys. It knew he was the one who had trapped it.
The cheers of the Wanderers turned into screams of terror. Despair, cold and absolute, washed over Rhys.
He felt a deep emptiness in his chest. The plan, his perfect plan, had failed completely.
This was a disaster. This was not a mindless Tyrant anymore; it was a conscious, vengeful god. The Titan was still minutes away—an eternity too late.
He could not fight it. Its power was a thousand times greater than his own. He was trapped. His mind raced, desperately trying to find a way to turn the situation to their advantage, but there was nothing.
The only way left for him was... to run. Yet the spirit was a storm, and a storm is everywhere at once. Where could he run?
'Luckily, I made an Inter-transfer array,' Rhys breathed a sigh of relief.
Chapter 57: The eaglet's
'Luckily, I made an Inter-transfer Array,' Rhys breathed a sigh of relief.
He focused his will, reaching for the small, intricate formation he had hidden under the sand near his feet. It was his final safety net, a teleportation array that would take him far away from this disaster.
He just needed one second to activate it.
But as he tried to pour his Qi into the array, something far more horrible happened. He couldn't move.
'What's going on?'
It was not an external force that held him. It was a power from within. The Tempest Djinn core in his dantian, the Tyrant-grade power he had been so proud of, began to act on its own.
It flared chaotically, rejecting his commands of control. It wasn't attacking him; instead, it was pulling his body down and anchoring him to this spot.
The Malevolent Spirit, which had been preparing to attack, suddenly stopped. Its single, burning red eye fixed on Rhys with a new, hungry expression.
It was not a hunger for his life. It was a hunger for his body, for his very soul. A crimson spear of energy rushed out from its body towards his direction.
A new warning from the System screamed in his mind, its tone more panicked than he had ever heard.
[Warning! The spirit's intent is not to kill! It seeks to replace the Host's soul!]
The moment the message appeared, Rhys felt a crushing spiritual pressure. It was a force that did not attack his body; it attacked his mind.
He felt like a giant, invisible hand was squeezing his soul, trying to push him out of his own body. He was immediately incapacitated.
His powerful skills, his perfect body—all of it was useless against this pure, overwhelming will. He could not move.
He could not even think clearly.
He saw Yuki try to step forward, but she also froze. A look of shock appeared on her pale face. The conscious will of the Tyrant was too strong.
It suppressed all other power around it. They were completely helpless. He was going to be erased, his body turning into a puppet for an evil spirit.
In that moment of absolute despair, the figure appeared. It materialised from thin air, as silent as a thought. It was a shrivelled, desiccated corpse, a husk of skin and bone so frail it looked as if a strong gust of wind would turn it to dust.
It stood between Rhys and the Malevolent Spirit, its back to him, its skeletal arms spread wide.
The crimson spear of energy that the spirit had formed slammed towards Elder Solon, but before it could reach any closer, the energy around them changed.
Everything froze: the tyrant, the ash raining from the sky, and the crimson spear of energy.
[He used his Trait...]
A single, choked word escaped his lips. It was a whisper of disbelief and growing horror.
"Master..!"
The mummified form of Elder Solon turned its head slowly. Its empty eye sockets seemed to focus on Rhys. A voice, ancient and weak, echoed in Rhys's mind.
"A Tyrant's spirit, when cornered by its own salvation, can become a thing of pure malice. Its desire to escape is so strong that it breaks the laws of this world.
It becomes a conscious will. This was a risk I knew we had to take. Do not blame yourself for this failure, my disciple."
Rhys felt his Master's calm thoughts wash over him. The spiritual pressure from the Malevolent Spirit lessened, just enough for him to think.
"An evil spirit is not a simple monster," the Elder continued. "It is a conscious will. It cannot be killed by normal means. There are only two ways.
You must either overwhelm it with a power far greater than its own, or you must force it into a weaker body. A body that can act as a prison."
Rhys understood immediately.
The Titan Golem was the superior strength, but it would still take a few minutes to reach this intersection—the only place where its path would meet the tyrant's.
If the Elder knew the tyrant's spirit would turn malevolent if it was cornered and still sent him to trap it, he would also have known it would be impossible to trap it with his own strength for long enough for the Titan to stomp it to death.
That meant the key to kill the tyrant was always him.
[What a meticulous plan...]
'Yeah. But how is he sure the tyrant would choose me? My handsome face?'
[It's not time to joke, Host.]
Rhys shrugged understanding how it would chose him. The Tyrant core he had absorbed.
"You are smart, child of the outside. You might have already deciphered everything. But are you really smart? That's questionable," Elder Solon shook his head.
Looking at his confused face, the Elder continued, "Do you know the story of an eagle and its three eaglets?"
[There is a possibility of escape... but only if you are ready to cripple your micro-dantian where the Tyrant core is...]
'Wait...'
"...There were three eaglets for the mother eagle. Two of them were healthy and strong, while the last one was fragile. The mother eagle mercilessly threw the last one from the tree... ...
The two remaining eaglets were too scared of their mother; they started to act tough and strong, believing the mother had killed their younger sibling because it was weak.
The mother also seemed to praise them by giving them more food every day. That's when one eaglet decided to try something more adventurous.
It tried to go out of the nest and attempted to fly. It failed in countless tries but finally succeeded after hours of hard work.
While the other eaglet just watched its sibling trying hard to fly, what do you think the mother eagle did after she knew one of the eaglets could fly?"
Elder Solon looked straight at Rhys.
"Give it more food?"
"Haha. No. The mother abandoned the eaglet."
Rhys's lips twitched.
"Because she didn't seeked strength or talent in her eaglets; she simply wanted the eaglets to grow up. When an eaglet finally grows up, the mother doesn't want it to be trapped in the nest fighting for food with its siblings. The mother eagle simply wanted what was best for her children."
"If the mother eagle cared a lot about her children, why did she abandon the first child?" Rhys asked, muting the system from speaking.
Elder Solon's shrivelled lips curled upwards.
"She was also giving a chance to that weak eaglet by abandoning it. Rather than losing every time against its siblings for food, she merely gave it a chance to grow on its own by hunting smaller monsters down below.
If it died... that would be quicker than dying slowly from hunger."
Rhys had no idea why the Elder had narrated a story to him. How did it affect the rating of his smartness?
"You are the same as the second eaglet. Wanting to prove you are talented so you will get more rewards, without thinking about the consequences of being too talented." Rhys widened his eyes.
"Do you think I fell into your trap for your pitiful tries to look talented before me so I would teach you formations?
No, do you seriously believe that if I wanted something from you... you would have a chance to negotiate with me?" The Elder's eyes turned vicious.
"Regrettably, boy... you are a bit... no... horribly, terrifyingly dumb. You want to know why I didn't force you to absorb the Tyrant core then and make you a puppet, to simply allow the tyrant to replace your soul so I could easily kill it and escape this hell?"
Elder Solon slowly shrugged, pointing his finger towards the silver-haired girl standing far away.
"Her..."
"Yuki...."
Chapter 58: The end of desert arc.
"Yuki..." Rhys murmured.
"Yes. Her. And also you..." Elder Solon stopped.
"Me?" A mocking arc formed on Rhys's lips. "Don't tell me it was because of my talent in formations, oh great master of mine."
The Elder's voice in his mind softened. It was full of a sad, gentle feeling, like a father saying goodbye.
'The audacity to sound pitiful.'
"I had planned to use you, child of the outside. You were a tool, a key to free me and my people from their endless cycle," Elder Solon shook his head.
"Even still, I never regret that plan of mine. It was foolproof, except for a few anomalies which happened to be at the wrong time."
His eyes wandered towards Yuki again.
Rhys frowned, peeking at Yuki. Why wasn't she attacking when he could clearly see the hateful look she was giving the Elder, a look which screamed murder?
'Is she also trapped like me?'
"Then how did I become one of your reasons to abandon your master plan? No, wait, it seems the plan has not failed yet, as I can see I am still in danger. After all, how much longer can you trap it?"
Rhys motioned at the tyrant.
"You could have clearly succeeded if not for this current intervention of yours. Why did you do that? Don't tell me it's because of Yuki.
I am sure since Yuki has learned your evil plan, she will come back and kill you. So what is it... the real reason for you to change your plan?"
Elder Solon lowered his head, his hands raising as he clicked his fingers.
[This... he's using the time element. Not only his Trait, but he has also bonded with the time element!]
'Is that special?'
Sure, Time was one of the conceptual elements and pretty rare, but how does it matter now?
"Do you know what I see in time?" Elder Solon locked his eyes with Rhys.
"Ease.. The ease of knowing I can live as long as my soul is alive. But here, this ease turned to despair.
Watching those who were dear to me dying and turning into wandering ghosts without a way to be at peace, I found time is nothing but despair.
But you proved me wrong.
You taught me what time really is.
It's not ease, nor despair. Rather, it's fear.
The fear of the known, and the fear of the unknown. And the only way to escape it was the void.
So, boy, the reason I changed my mind is this.
The true meaning of time... Fear.
I fear even if I escaped from here, I would reach a place more horrible than this. I will be trapped there just like I am trapped here.
And that fear gave me a salvation.
Void."
Elder Solon finished, turning around. His empty gaze was not on Rhys. It was on Yuki. His lipless mouth moved, forming a single word Rhys perfectly heard.
"Yuki..." Yuki moved her hand; a dark object rushed from her and entered the Elder's body.
[System analysing...]
Rhys ignored the system as the Malevolent Spirit shrieked loudly. The crimson spear slammed into the Elder like a storm of red sand, pouring into his shrivelled body like a river of pure malice.
The frail body began to convulse violently, glowing with a terrible, crimson light.
'The evil spirit entered his body... what's going on?'
An overwhelming coldness spread through the surroundings. It was so cold that the air itself seemed to freeze into tiny, glittering crystals.
Rhys looked towards Yuki in surprise.
She could move? And she could attack!
A single, beautiful shard of black ice, as dark as the void, appeared in her hand. With a movement too fast for the eye to see, it shot forward. It pierced the heart of the Elder.
Boom.
A loud bang sounded. The ground beneath Rhys exploded. His formation activated on its own as a powerful force pulled him backwards with incredible speed.
He flew through the air, away from the immediate danger. He landed hard on the sand, hundreds of metres away. He looked up just in time to see the Titan Golem arrive.
It did not seem to notice the small figures on the ground as its movement never wavered. Rhys watched in silence as its big, stone foot came down upon the Elder, who was frozen by Yuki's ice, his body now a prison for the evil spirit.
'Boom.'
The body of Elder Solon, and the evil spirit trapped inside it, were crushed into a fine, grey dust. The moment his Master was stomped, something rushed towards Rhys.
[Eggy, eat that!]
But Rhys was no longer hearing the System. In his eyes, everything started to shatter. The world broke apart like a giant mirror. The desert was disappearing, along with everyone else.
The Titan Golem faded into nothing. Yuki's form, standing tall amidst the chaos, became transparent and then started to vanish.
His consciousness felt like it was moving backwards at an incredible speed. He flew through the broken pieces of the Labyrinth.
He saw the familiar faces of the Wanderers.
He saw Bael, Zara, and the others. They all had calm and peaceful expressions on their faces. They had found their salvation.
His gaze landed on Lena. She was standing where the workshop used to be, surrounded by her scrolls. Her eyes were crescent in a beautiful smile.
Her mouth moved, and even through the chaos, he could read her final, silent words.
'Thank you... Rhys.'
His consciousness faded as his body fell onto a hard floor. Without him knowing, his body started to glow as an egg floated out of it.
[Burning 10 billion years of lifespan to help Eggy absorb the empty Titan core...]
The thing that rushed from Elder Solon was a Titan core.
[Empty Core: Sand Striker]
[Rank: Titan]
[About: This Titan-grade core embodies the dormant power of a legendary Sand Striker.]
The dark core was pulled towards Eggy. The two objects touched. The blue egg pulsed with a brilliant light as it began to absorb the energy of the core.
It was a violent process as the core resisted hard, but it eventually started to yield. Cracks started to form on the eggshell.
The cracks spread quickly, like a spiderweb. Finally, the egg shattered, and from inside, a small amount of thick and dark viscous liquid fell upon Rhys.
The liquid convulsed and climbed onto Rhys's face, where a small pair of pupils that mirrored Rhys's own opened in it.
For a moment, it shapeshifted into a tiny, shadowy leviathan, then it turned to look like a small silver fox. It shifted through a dozen different forms.
Finally, the liquid stopped moving. It coalesced into the form of a small child. The child had pale white skin and long, silver-white hair. It opened its eyes.
They were pitch-black, just like Rhys's. Then, its eyes landed on the unconscious face of Rhys. It patted his face, trying to wake him up.
Then, in a clear, female child-like voice, it spoke its first word.
"Papa?"
Detached from everything happening outside, Rhys looked at the set of notifications that had appeared in his mind.
[Host has fallen into a deep slumber to integrate a new bloodline...]
[Bloodline: Ashen Sovereign.]
[Bloodline Ability 1: Ashen Marionettes. By burning lifespan, the Host can resurrect the echoes of slain creatures from their remains (ash, bone, dust, etc.) to serve him as loyal puppets. Once summoned, they can be revived as long as the Host has lifespan.]
[Bloodline Ability 2: Voidheart Flame. Host has acquired Eggy's innate talent. A black and silver flame that burns both physical and spiritual matter. It is fuelled by lifespan.]
Chapter 59: Sera
The world was dark and silent. There was no sand, no sky, and no sound. This was the first feeling of the new life.
It felt a deep connection to something warm and powerful nearby. It was a feeling of safety. It was a feeling of home.
A small child stared down at the young man, her pitch-black eyes resembling the starless night sky. She looked at her own hands.
They were small and pale. Her long, silver-white hair was spread out on the cold, hard floor. Then she returned to look at the young man.
He was unconscious.
His face was calm, and his breathing was slow and steady. She felt a powerful pull towards him. It was a feeling of love and belonging.
She knew, with absolute certainty, that this person was the most important thing in her new world.
She reached out with her small hand and gently patted his cheek. His skin was warm. She wanted him to wake up. She wanted to see his eyes.
She leaned closer to his face. She opened her mouth, and a single, clear word came out. It was her first word.
"Papa?"
The sound was soft in the silent, dark space.
Rhys's consciousness was floating in a warm, comfortable darkness. He felt a deep sense of peace. The terrible battle in the desert felt like a distant dream.
He felt a gentle touch on his face. Then he heard a soft voice. It was a voice he had never heard before, but it felt very close to his heart.
He slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was the face of a small child. She had pale white skin, long silver hair, and big, pitch-black eyes that were looking right at him.
She was beautiful, like a small doll made of moonlight. He felt a strange and powerful connection to her.
He did not feel scared or surprised; rather, he felt like he had known her forever.
"Eggy?"
Rhys sat up quickly, dumbfounded by the little girl hanging on his shoulder and looking straight at him with those puppy-dog eyes.
He saw his own reflection in her eyes; the rest of her features were eerily similar to Yuki. If he didn't sense the soul bond with her, he would have doubted that Yuki had somehow turned into a child.
'Why does she look like a child of me and Yuki?' Rhys was flabbergasted.
Thinking about Yuki, his heart clenched. He had seen her body turning into the same shattered fragments as those of the desert wanderers.
'Did she also...?' Rhys shook his head. That was impossible. There was no way for Yuki's salvation to be merely killing a tyrant.
The child patted his face, vying for his attention.
'System, what kind of monster is Eggy? A Divine?'
He couldn't sense any aura fluctuations from her. She was almost like an ordinary person. But how could a child of a tyrant be an ordinary person?
'Maybe it's because my strength isn't great enough to read her own strength.'
[...]
Name:Unknown
Race: Shapeshifting Slime
Bloodline: Ordinary (+)
Cultivation: Stage 1
1st Evolution: Biomass Collector
About:
She can collect the biomass of slain enemies and convert it to allow her to shapeshift, gaining the dead creature's trait. Once the biomass is converted into a shapeshifting form, it can't be reversed. The shapeshifting form can be assumed at any time.
Looking at the (+) sign in her bloodline, Rhys was awestruck.
'She can change the grade of her bloodline?"
That was unheard of. The bloodline of a monster was fixed; unless they underwent ascension, they couldn't evolve at all.
But with Eggy, that didn't seem to be the case. He stared at her first evolution. That's almost overpowered!
The ability to shapeshift into slain enemies and gain their traits...
'Fantastic!'
And it seems she could shapeshift into as many forms as she could get biomass for!
Eggy had truly become his greatest weapon. Noticing the grin on his face, a happy smile appeared on Eggy's little face.
She giggled as Rhys picked her up and spun her around.
'But...'
"You should call me master, or, never mind... just call me brother?"
"Yes. Papa."
"B-r-o-t-h-e-r..." He sighed, stopping at each letter.
"P-a-p-a..."
"What the hell..."
"What the hell..."
"So you can repeat what I say, but can't call me brother?" Rhys was dumbfounded.
"Yes, papa..."
Gosh. Rhys rolled his eyes, but he couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face. Looking around, they were in a dark space.
There was nothing here, but he could see clearly in the dark.
Then, he felt the change inside him. It was a deep and powerful change. It was not just in his body or his energy.
It was in his very soul. He felt stronger. He felt... more complete.
A familiar blue screen appeared in his mind.
[Host has awakened from deep slumber. The integration of the new bloodline is complete.]
'Bloodline?' Rhys thought. He felt a surge of excitement.
[New Bloodline Acquired: Ashen Sovereign.]
[Bloodline Ability 1: Ashen Marionettes. By burning your lifespan, you can resurrect the echoes of slain creatures from their remains (ash, bone, dust, etc.). They will serve you as loyal puppets. Once summoned, they can be revived again and again, as long as you have the lifespan to burn.]
[Bloodline Ability 2: Voidheart Flame. You have acquired Eggy's innate talent. It is a black and silver flame that burns both physical and spiritual matter. It is fuelled by your lifespan.]
Rhys read the descriptions carefully. He felt a deep sense of awe. These abilities were incredibly powerful. He could create his own army from the ashes of his enemies.
He had a flame that could burn anything, even a person's soul. This was a power far beyond anything he had ever imagined.
He looked at the small child sitting in front of him. She was the source of this new power. She was Eggy.
He felt a wave of affection for her. He reached out and gently patted her head. Her silver hair was very soft.
"What should I call you?" he asked, his voice soft. The child just blinked at him. She did not seem to understand. Rhys thought for a moment.
He looked at her beautiful, celestial appearance.
"I will call you Sera," he said. A smile appeared on his face.
As he said her new name, the dark space around them began to change. Light appeared in the distance.
The hard, cold floor beneath them dissolved into soft, white clouds. The darkness was replaced by a beautiful, starlit void.
They were no longer in an empty space. They were standing on a floating island made of white stone.
All around them were other floating islands. Some were small, with a single, broken tower. Others were large, with the ruins of an entire city.
The ruins were beautiful. They were made of a white crystal that glowed with a soft, internal light. Rhys breathed the air. It was so pure that he could feel his body absorbing it with every breath.
It was so comfortable.
"This must be the final area," he said to himself. He looked at Sera. She was looking around at the new world with wide, curious eyes.
He lifted her onto his shoulders, her feet dangling down. They began to leisurely walk across the floating island.
The ruins were beautiful, but they were empty.
As they reached the edge of the island, Rhys saw something in the distance. It was another group of people.
They were on a nearby island, and they seemed to be in trouble. A group of about ten disciples was fighting against strange creatures.
The creatures were made of a clear, blue crystal. They looked like tall, thin soldiers with long, sharp swords made of pure light.
Chapter 60: Unexpected meeting.
[Sanctum Sentinel detected.]
[Bloodline: Ordinary]
[Cultivation: Stage 1 (Peak)]
[Description: Crystalline automatons created by the Labyrinth's master. They are simple guardians designed to test the basic combat skills of challengers. They have no soul or will. Their only purpose is to attack intruders.]
Rhys stood at the edge of the floating white island, with Sera on his shoulders. He watched the battle on the nearby island with cold eyes.
He almost laughed. Ordinary!
The so-called elites of the great families were being defeated by Ordinary-grade guardians. He felt a deep sense of contempt.
They were truly pathetic.
He watched as one of the Ashton disciples screamed. A light sword had cut deep into his arm. Blood poured from the wound. The other disciples looked very scared.
They were tired, and their energy was low. It was clear they were going to die soon if nothing changed.
Rhys felt nothing. He had no desire to help them. The Ashton family had cast him out. They were strangers to him now, and their weakness was their own problem. He was content to just watch.
He felt a small movement on his shoulders. He heard a soft licking sound, and then a small gulp. He looked up at Sera.
Her pitch-black eyes were fixed on the battle. She had a hungry expression on her face.
"Are you hungry?" Rhys asked softly.
Sera said nothing. Her gaze moved from the glowing crystal guardians to the bleeding, struggling disciples. She looked back at Rhys, her eyes wide and innocent.
"I want to eat them," Sera said in a cheerful voice.
Rhys almost choked on his saliva. Coughing, he pinched her cheeks. He had almost forgotten about her first evolution ability.
She was a Shapeshifting Slime. She could collect the biomass of slain enemies. Eating them was how she would grow stronger.
He looked at the scared Ashton disciples again. Then he looked at Sera's innocent, hungry face. He shook his head.
Sure, he hated the Ashtons. He felt nothing for them. But that was not a good enough reason to kill them just so Sera could have a meal.
They were just arrogant strangers. He would not attack them unless they attacked him first. But he would not help them either.
His decision was made. He would stay here and watch. Besides, in every cultivation novel he had read, even if the protagonist had done nothing, trouble would eventually find them.
That's when one of the disciples saw him.
The disciple's face was pale with fear and exhaustion. When he saw Rhys and Sera standing calmly on the other island, his eyes lit up.
Sera tilted her head as the disciple breathed a sigh of relief.
'True, trouble is coming our way.'
"Help us!" the disciple cried out. His voice was desperate, yet loud enough to draw the attention of the monsters towards Rhys.
"Please, help us! We will reward you!"
Rhys's eyes narrowed. The disciple's cry for help did exactly what he knew it would. It drew attention.
The crystal sentinels, which had been focused on the group, all turned their heads at the same time. Their glowing blue eyes fixed on the new targets. They saw Rhys and Sera.
A cold smile graced Rhys's lips while Sera almost jumped to the ground; if not for him holding her back, she would have rushed to fight the sentinels.
"Not now, Sera..." he said, putting her on the ground, "just watch me."
Since they were trying to use him as a distraction to save themselves, that should be considered them attacking him first, right?
His lips curled into a cruel smile.
One of the Sanctum Sentinels lifted its light sword. It took a step off its island, walking on the bridge connecting the two islands.
It moved towards Rhys at an incredible speed. The disciples who had called for help felt a moment of relief. The monster was going for the stranger. They would have a moment to breathe.
Rhys watched the sentinel approach. He did not move from his spot. He did not even seem concerned. The sentinel raised its sword of light, ready to strike him down. The moment it was within range, Rhys moved.
He was a black shadow, a blur of motion. He did not use a skill. He just used his pure, physical speed. He appeared directly in front of the sentinel.
His hand, glowing with a faint silver and black light, shot forward. It was not a punch. He simply placed his palm on the sentinel's crystal chest.
He then activated his Voidheart Flame.
The next moment, the sentinel shattered. Its hard, crystal body turned into a million tiny pieces of blue dust.
"Wow... papa is strong!" Sera jumped up and down, clapping her palms.
Rhys blinked at her with a smile, then turned around, popping his neck. The disciples on the other island stared with their mouths open.
They were completely shocked. They could not believe what they had just seen. He had killed one of the powerful guardians with a single touch.
The other sentinels on the island sensed his power. They recognised him as the biggest threat. They all turned away from the weak disciples.
They began to move across the bridge, all of them coming straight for Rhys. A swarm of glowing crystal soldiers was now rushing towards his island.
'Good,' Rhys said to himself. He felt a thrill of excitement. This was a much better test of his new power.
Activating Shadowed Dive and Low Distance Jump, he dashed onto the bridge and moved between the sentinels like a phantom.
His Voidheart Flame danced between his fingers, burning anything he touched. The ordinary monsters died without any struggle as the bridge started to accumulate the ashes of the monsters he had killed.
The disciples watched, completely mesmerised and terrified. The monsters that had almost killed them were being destroyed like they were made of paper.
The fight was completely one-sided. The terrifying man was not just fighting them. He was slaughtering them.
In less than a minute, it was over. The air was filled with a cloud of fine, blue crystal dust.
The other disciples had only managed to kill one more guardian while Rhys was fighting the rest.
Feeling very weak and useless, all of them looked at Rhys with a new kind of fear.
'Is there anyone who can kill monsters like him?'
This was what all of them thought as the man of wonder walked around the bridge, collecting the glowing ores the sentinels had left behind.
[Celestial Ore detected.]
[Grade: Spirit-Grade (Low)]
[Source: Dropped by Sanctum Sentinels.]
[Description: A rare crystalline material formed from the condensed celestial energy of the Sanctum of Aethel. It is not a naturally occurring mineral. It hums with a pure, stable energy and has an extremely high affinity with Qi.]
[Primary Use: As a primary forging material for weapons and artefacts.]
[Properties: Possesses excellent Qi conductivity, allowing for the creation of sharper and more durable spirit weapons. Weapons forged with Celestial Ore are highly resistant to corruption and decay.]
[Estimated Market Value: 50 low-grade spirit stones per unit.]
'Not bad...'
He gathered them all and walked back to Sera. He held out the handful of glowing crystals to her.
"Here you go," he said with a smile.
One of the Ashton disciples, a tall young man with an arrogant face, finally found his courage. He was the leader of their small group.
He walked forward, trying to look confident.
"Hello, fellow cultivator," he said. His voice was a little shaky. "Thank you for your help. Those are rare Celestial Ores. They are very valuable for forging weapons. I will pay you in gold coins for them."
Before Rhys could even answer, Sera acted.
She quickly hugged the ores that Rhys was holding. She held them tightly to her chest and looked at the Ashton disciple with a defensive expression.
"This is mine," she said, her small voice firm.