Chapter 23 : Chaos Core II

[Confirmed]

[The host is advised to sit in a cross-legged position.]

Daniel sat cross-legged on the ground.

[The process of forming the Core of Chaos begins.]

Before he could react in the slightest, his eyes suddenly turned completely black again, shifting from their normal state.

The veins across his body suddenly bulged as if they were about to burst, turning golden.

Vorak, sensing the changes in his master, wanted to approach to check on him. However, he suddenly froze in place as purple energy strands began emanating from the pores of his body.

He couldn't even make a sound as he entered a complete trance—a state that also applied to Daniel, whose consciousness was caught between wakefulness and unconsciousness.

His pupils turned purple and started glowing. Ethereal strands of purple energy flowed through his body, passing through him and entering within.

Daniel's spiritual sea began to crack, as though it could collapse at any moment. The chaos energy entered his spiritual sea, utterly annihilating it.

A terrifying pain coursed through his entire being, and his veins burst, golden blood dripping from his eyes.

He wanted to scream with all his might, but because he had no control over his body, he couldn't even do that.

Something new began forming in the part of his brain responsible for the connection between the two dimensions of living beings.

A black-and-purple core, glowing brilliantly, radiated an aura of death and destruction.

In its center, the wheel of death and life reappeared, albeit with one simple difference—it emitted a far more magnificent and terrifying aura.

Most of the chaos energy was consumed in the formation of the core, while the remainder flowed into it, like water filling an ocean.

But this was not the end. The core connected itself to his circulatory and nervous systems.

The chaos energy coursed through his veins, tissues, and intercellular spaces, adjusting and enhancing every muscle and tissue in his body.

It completely eradicated all impurities, dangerous microbes, and viruses within him.

This process continued for an hour until finally, the chaotic energy fully fused with his body.

[The Chaos Core has been successfully formed.]

Daniel slowly regained control of his body. His veins and eyes returned to normal, as though nothing had happened.

"This power… it's truly intoxicating." Daniel couldn't contain his amazement and disbelief.

Opening his eyes, he examined his body. Although his outward appearance hadn't changed much, his strength had increased exponentially.

Comparing his current self to who he had been just an hour ago was utterly impossible.

"Now I understand why both corruption beasts and divine beasts are so powerful." In neither his previous life nor this one had anyone ever discovered why corruption beasts were so immensely strong.

But now, feeling the chaos energy within himself, he could finally comprehend why.

This energy was overwhelmingly potent. Even more terrifying was that his core only contained a minuscule amount of chaotic energy.

If he were to confront One-Eyed Winter with his current power, he could fight on even footing without the need for traps or tricks.

Though, victory would still be challenging.

"Still, with my spiritual sea destroyed, how exactly is my power measured now?" Daniel frowned slightly.

The power of an Awakened was determined by their spiritual sea. The larger it was and the more mana it contained, the stronger the individual.

The spiritual sea was divided into three realms, each blocked by a barrier. Awakened beings could fill their spiritual sea with mana using various techniques, treasures, and methods, breaking through the barriers.

When the barriers of all three realms were shattered, an individual would need to pass the second trial to become an Authority Holder.

At that point, their spiritual sea transforms into a spiritual palace, and advancing ranks at that level became a completely different process.

Unfortunately, due to Daniel's zero compatibility with mana, he could never absorb mana under any circumstances. Despite successfully awakening and gaining an extraordinarily powerful talent, he might never be able to advance in rank.

However, with the Chaos Core, the situation was different.

By killing corruption beasts, he could collect chaos energy and potentially grow stronger.

Still, he wasn't entirely sure if the mechanics of the Chaos Core were similar to that of a spiritual sea.

More importantly, to others, he didn't even appear as an Awakened. They couldn't sense the presence of a spiritual sea within him or detect any mana from him.

"So, in their eyes, I'm currently just a pathetic mortal, huh? Should I laugh or cry?" Daniel chuckled. Such a detail didn't matter to him.

Even more, though others might not sense any mana from him, they wouldn't dare underestimate him. The aura radiating from his body was terrifying to those on his level.

Though Olivia, Alex, and the rest of his peers couldn't sense his aura before their awakening, things would drastically change after they passed the Awakening Trial.

"Vorak, you should get some rest," Daniel said, glancing at his Herald, who looked exhausted and out of breath.

Vorak nodded before turning into a light and retreating into Daniel's Chaos Core.

"Well, I didn't expect that," he muttered with a small laugh before closing his eyes to inspect the Chaos Core with his awareness.

"While it resembles a spiritual sea, there are striking differences," Daniel examined the core both internally and externally.

Its appearance might bear some similarities to a spiritual sea, but its aura was far more noble and fearsome.

He could feel a kind of presence emanating from it that he had never seen or felt before.

No… He had felt such an aura once before.

"The Goddess of Death… She exuded a similar presence," Daniel frowned. Could it be that the source of the gods' power was also a Chaos Core…?

Before he could ponder further, he felt something. His eyes shot open.

"Hello," came a voice, his accompanied by a pair of striking eyes and a feminine figure standing before him.