'Fate has its Ways' - II

Months went by in the blink of an eye.

[Name: Aventine Tidea]

[Level: 1]

[Health: 90/90 » 190/190]

[Mana: 330/330 » 400/400 (Core Mana: 300/300 » 600/600 )]

[Gift: Absolute Awareness (???-Rank)]

[Physique: 9 » 19 ]

[Mind: 11 » 19]

[Spirit: 33 » 40]

[Traits: Power of the Sky (A-Rank), Power of the Sea (A-Rank), Power of Death (A-Rank), Blessing of Light (SS-Rank)]

[Divine Branches Contributed: 4/42]

I was now a Second Circle Mage, which I achieved after inscribing the next level after the First-Circle spell, <Mana Core>.

<Mana Storage>

A Second-Circle spell that served as a place to form more mana cores. I added two more mana cores inside this mana storage in my heart, therefore, the maximum amount of Core Mana I could have has risen to 900 points of mana. Though, I had to get there first.

Furthermore, I made great use of the light-attributed mana within me. My physique had grown and reached the first bottleneck that martial artists and other physical classes had to meet — just like how the first barrier in being a mage is the threshold between 19 Spirit and 20 Spirit.

Unfortunately, I did not have any methods to bridge such a threshold. I did not have martial arts at my disposal, nor did I have any mental cultivation methods.

Of course, I could use [Absolute Awareness] to look for one. However, I had a limited amount of time — Even if I did have those methods, I wouldn't be able to practice them.

All of my time has been spent learning magic.

Which, to be honest, was quite worth it.

***

Walvaskaz Empire.

At its border.

After months of traveling across the empty wilderness, fighting against monsters, beasts, and Mother Nature, we finally made it to the empire's peripheries. It was crystal clear that the safest path was by no means safe.

It was merely the least dangerous route that humans could take. Luckily, the caravan had enough power to wade through its dangers. No threat was greater than the <Skulls > warriors sent by the nobles sitting comfortably inside Laquer.

"Hello... Yes," I answered the border guard's questions. "I am visiting only for the sake of business, as well as academic reasons... Yes..."

Like a subtle humming in the background, I could hear the hiss of a giant serpent. Its golden gaze showered upon us a reptilian deterrence, framing itself as the guardian of this border outpost.

Therefore, I did not dare attempt anything funny.

After all, reptilian humor was different from that of humanity. They found pleasure in some... intriguing things.

"Ugh,"

I honestly regret having peered into such forbidden knowledge.

Thankfully, my thoughts did not linger on such topics for long. We moved through the checkpoint, from the territory of humanity, and into the realm of the myriad chaotic races.

Although there was no drastic change, the reality was before my eyes, slowly revealing itself as the horizon unfolds.

We traveled for a few more days, and carriages moving in the opposite direction grew more frequent. Forks in the road indicated a diverse geography, the hills and ravines we had to navigate around were also filled with bustling lives.

Dwarves, high kobolds, named slimes, among many.

I had already lost count. The influx of information was so great that I could feel my mind buzzing.

"This is crazier than I thought."

It was like being plunged into a blender. Everything, everywhere, everyone.

I had to learn the common language of Walvaskaz, as well as the dialects caused by the biologies of different races. Knight Captain Owen had handed me a thick book, a dictionary, and a few textbooks at my request, bought from the villages we had passed by.

"..."

There was so much I had to learn. I wasn't lying when I mentioned visiting for academic purposes.

***

Another month passed.

Standing, alone, in the middle of beings I had never before encountered in my life, I felt a jarring sense of discontinuity.

I had left the caravan behind me the moment we arrived, gifting the luxurious carriage to Owen and his knights as a thank-you for their help. Then, I roamed the streets with no particular destination in mind.

I breathed in the atmosphere.

It was the scent of nature, metal, chemicals, and concrete, all mixed in one melting pot of scents. It was like my nose was smelling white noise.

The same went for my ears.

My eyes saw chaos.

"This isn't even the capital of snow-capped skyscrapers..." I was at a loss.

This city was a sprawling city of dynamic white and grey structures, like Earth's Ancient Greece, only at a much, much larger scale. I felt a sense of dissonance once more at my existence as my eyes scanned the white-grey-littered horizon.

I felt as if I was looking at an endless array of dead corals consuming the sea bed.

Here, in the Walvaskaz Empire, the perilous state of the demon-human war was far behind me. This city had more history than humanity itself. To the Walvaskaz Empire, the demons were still infants.

...Infants with nuclear warheads as fangs, but infants nonetheless.

I didn't dare activate [Absolute Awareness] to view the secrets of my surroundings. Otherwise, my brain would explode, or I would be drained of every drop of my mana in an instant.

Both things I wanted to avoid.

Who knew that I would be so restricted by the sheer history of my surroundings?

This was a city where gods once treaded upon, known and unknown.

"!!"

Stiffening up, I let out a small gasp.

"...Crazy,"

Even absorbing that hint had consumed half of my mana.

I couldn't help but shiver.

I was indeed right. The Walvaskaz Empire would be the perfect place for me to temper myself.

Here, I would learn control, prudence, and finesse.

After all, having too much power would make me arrogant and careless. I needed the desperation of weakness, the sorrows of the meek, as well as the spite of the indignant.

"For no other reason than the beauty of life's thrills."

It is obvious from this that I did not want to lose sight of who I was.

Where better to cause chaos than an Empire that was built on the beautiful governance of chaos?

The Primordial Dragon Empress, a being on par with gods.

The sole owner of the Walvaskaz.

—Yes. 'She' was not its ruler.

But its one and only owner.

She was a being said to have been born out of the chaos of the universe, thus reflecting her most prized possession. Although the legends of her existence were as numerous as the stars in the sky, I still had enough face to search for that specific needle of information in the haystack of history.

I would be rewarded for the chaos I could cause. The greater the bloodshed, destruction, and havoc, in any way, shape, or form, the greater the reward. Surely, the primordial dragon's hoard would have some beautiful treasures.

My efforts would be worth every drop of blood, sweat, and tears I would have to shed from here on out.

However—

There was a threshold.

Should I fail to reach even that bare minimum...

My soul would be damned for as long as the Empress existed. The torment that the Empire could dole out would be nothing like those puny human punishments. Among the myriad chaotic races was a myriad of torturous techniques.

Just reading through the (new) books in the nearby bookstore told me everything I needed to know.

Justice?

There was only a singular absolute rule.