Leaving Jarburg, the Tarnished and Millicent intended to head to the Weeping Peninsula to fulfill Sellen's request.
He returned to the peninsula he hadn't seen in a long time.
"I didn't expect to return to this place," the Tarnished mused. As the first region he had explored deeply upon his return to the Lands Between, he had met many people and faced many trials here. Currently, they stood at the Fourth Church of Marika.
Marika's statue could not respond to him, and even Melina remained silent... Ever since he had manifested the Queen's Black Flame, Melina had not appeared. The Tarnished was certain she was still within the Grace, but as to why she wouldn't emerge, he did not know.
"So this is Marika," Millicent murmured, stepping forward to lightly touch the statue. An inexplicable emotion welled up in her heart. "Mother...?"
(It seems to be Malenia's influence...)
The Tarnished did not stop her. When Millicent snapped out of it, she looked at him apologetically. "I couldn't help myself..." The Tarnished didn't mind. He was wondering just how much affection the twins, Miquella and Malenia, felt for their parents.
Between Radagon and Marika, who were they closer to?
Following Sellen's instructions, the Tarnished and Millicent arrived at a suspicious ruin. Outside were marionette soldiers belonging to the Academy. The two easily broke through the guard and found the cellar within the ruins.
Before opening the door, a familiar voice could be heard cursing in a low, weak tone, sounding as if she were on the brink of death.
"Apprentice... huff... huff... and this lady has followed as well... Heh, I've let you see your master in a pathetic state." This was Sellen's physical body. Thick chains held her arms high while she knelt on the ground.
The chains appeared to bind her arms, but they were actually locked onto the Primal Glintstone within her. Every day, she endured the agonizing pain of her essence being harmed. However, because the stars had been sealed, she had never met her end. Now that the stars were flowing again, this body was reaching its limit.
"Ha... ha... Apprentice... I have a favor... to ask... ugh! Curse these psychopaths..." Who knew who had invented such torture; it was pure psychopathy. "Apprentice... take the... Primal Glintstone from within me... then, under my guidance... forge a new body for me."
The endless pain made it a struggle for Sellen just to speak.
"The lady over there... please stand guard outside... I truly do not wish for you to see me like this..." Heh, cough cough! Her laughter turned into violent coughing. Seeing this, Millicent nodded to the Tarnished and stood guard at the perimeter of the ruins.
"Alright, Apprentice... now it is just the two of us... reach your hand into my chest... take the glintstone... from my heart... Apprentice... I'm counting on you."
"What...? Is my brave apprentice shy? Heh... it's fine. Be bold, if it's you, it's no problem... surely you don't wish to see your master in such pain?" Sellen tried her best to maintain her teacherly dignity.
"Listen to you talk. What's there to be shy about? Leave it to me." The Tarnished knelt and thrust his hand through Sellen's chest.
"Sss... ugh..." The pain of the Primal Glintstone leaving the body was more than an ordinary person could bear. To keep from losing her composure, Sellen forcefully suppressed her undignified groans of agony. Fortunately, the Tarnished was efficient and did not dawdle.
"Apprentice... I leave everything in your hands..." Seeing the blood-stained Primal Glintstone in the Tarnished's hand, Sellen's body went limp and then dissolved into stardust, dissipating into the air.
The brilliance of the Primal Glintstone remained dazzling.
"A new body... it seems the time for the Larval Tear has come." Having obtained the item, the Tarnished and Millicent immediately left. Not long after they departed, the Witch-Hunter Jerren arrived at the scene.
Seeing that Sellen, who should have been imprisoned here, had vanished, Jerren's rage flared.
"Dammit! How can this be? I'm a step too late..." There were no clues at the scene, aside from bloodstains on the ground and some stardust. It appeared someone had taken Sellen's Primal Glintstone.
"No, I must find her..."
Back at the Waypoint Ruins, the Tarnished spent a long time trying to combine the Primal Glintstone with the Larval Tear, but every attempt failed. He stared at the items in his hands in frustration... how exactly were these meant to be used?
"My Lord... I remember now. I have heard that the Full Moon Queen, Rennala, possesses a forbidden art of birth... it seems to be a sorcery she learned from somewhere after losing her mind... but it shares a lineage with the Nox... Perhaps we could ask the Queen for help?" Asimi felt a bit guilty for not being clearer.
Rebirth via a Larval Tear had many benefits, but the execution was quite difficult. Asimi didn't know how to do it... but fortunately, there was still a chance to fix it.
"Rennala? In that state, she won't even acknowledge me. Can she really help?" The Queen's condition was truly terrible.
The Tarnished had no other choice and planned to take Millicent back to the Academy, but something unexpected happened...
"What...?" A string of golden runes suddenly appeared before his eyes. This was the golden summon sign the Tarnished had left for others to contact him. But unlike a normal sign, this one... was not triggered voluntarily.
"W-What are you doing! Stay back!" In a small corner room within the Academy, a bald man looked at the four sorcerers before him with terror. Their ill intent made him tremble with fear.
"Bluntstone, you are an absolute disgrace to the Academy... look at your rubbish theories!" A sorcerer crudely smashed Thops's research table and notes to pieces.
"Hmph... if those Carian Knights hadn't killed everyone in the Academy, your death would have been much easier..." One of the sorcerers raised his glintstone staff, preparing to cast a spell to eliminate the "Bluntstone."
"No, don't! Th-Thops's Barrier!!" Faced with the onslaught, Thops tremblingly held his staff to his chest. As his words fell, a vortex-like blue barrier manifested, deflecting all the sorcerers' spells. The scattered Glintstone Pebbles pelted the small room, riddling it with holes.
"You!! Heresy! Absolute heresy!!" Thops's magic struck fear into the sorcerers. What was this? To deflect magic so efficiently... this was even more terrifying than Carian Retaliation!
Carian Retaliation merely dispelled magic and turned it into glintblades, but this man's spell actually deflected magic perfectly? Fortunately, this sorcery was not yet perfected. It had to be strangled in its cradle, otherwise, how could the Academy ever find restoration? How could it ever prosper?
"Bluntstone! I want to see how much longer you can hold out!" Then came a torrential bombardment from the sorcerers.
"No, stop! Why are you doing this! Please stop! Why is it so easy for fellow students to take each other's lives!" Thops begged, desperately maintaining his barrier.
"A mere Bluntstone... daring to create magic that rejects the great Glintstone."
"No... no I haven't! My magic... my magic is... that all things share the same source!! I haven't rejected anything... please stop, I beg you!" Thops wept. This was the path he had bet his life to pursue. He knew well that he was not favored by the Glintstone.
Since he was not blessed by the Glintstone and could not wield its power, why not look from a different perspective? It was at that moment that Thops had a flash of inspiration. At that moment, he understood... The light of the stars and moon reflect each other; star and moon are born of one body.
Whether star or moon, both are members of the stars, and the stars are a part of all things.
His theory was the "One" that integrated everything, even bringing the so-called power of the gods into this "One."
And this barrier was the most powerful evidence of his theory. This was not the power of Glintstone, but another nameless, pure force—a power that could only be observed from the perspective of one who was not "chosen" by the Glintstone.
"Stars are stars! The moon is the moon! How can they be the same!! Die, Bluntstone!" Thops finally reached his limit. His frail stamina and the shaky theoretical foundation of his barrier were still immature.
Under the collective bombardment, the barrier shattered. In the next moment, a rain of Glintstone Pebbles was about to drown him.
"Did I... did I fail? I'm sorry, Tarnished... I really am a Bluntstone after all..."
"Isn't it a bit early for that?" Black Flame ignited fiercely—a power that made the soul shiver. Bathed in the black fire, the Tarnished appeared before Thops in his spirit form.
"Keep researching. This power of yours... is enough to warp the will of the gods." Facing Thops, who had worked so hard for such a monumental result, the Tarnished gave him the highest affirmation. This power had a grand future; it was a system capable of becoming its own lineage.
"Tarnished... why are you... eh? When did this golden rune appear on my shoulder?" Thops was stunned as he looked at the rune.
"Take a guess." Lifting a finger, the wall of Black Flame surged into the Tarnished's hand like water, transforming into a greatsword. "You should have stayed hidden in your corner after surviving the Carian purge. Why come out and show yourselves?"
"Y-You! Dammit... he's so much stronger than before!" The sorcerers trembled with fear. How could they not know what this fire was? That was the Black Flame! The Black Flame of the legendary Gloam-Eyed Queen!
Though it was a thing of legend, seeing it with their own eyes allowed them to feel its terror. To touch it was to die!
"Today, the Academy... is wiped out." Without mercy, the sword fell. Before they could even scream, the four sorcerers were incinerated into ash. With another swing, the ash blew away with the wind, as if those four had never existed.
"Thank you for coming to save me, Tarnished... I am so grateful!" Thops wept tears of relief.
"Your barrier magic is very interesting. I look forward to you perfecting it. Farewell." The Tarnished didn't say much else; they would meet again in the future.
"Ah... what a powerful figure... my magic actually received his praise..." Thops knelt on the ground, his tears unstoppable. His hard work had not been in vain. Someone recognized him... he wasn't useless. His magic had a future!
He might not be a Bluntstone! His name was Thops... and he was a Barrier Mage!