Refinement

After sorting out through the countless new system messages for the past hour, a new holographic screen popped up.

[You have finished absorbing the essence found within the Condensed Soul Milk. Would you like to refine it now? Refining it will greatly reduce the density of the essence so it will be easier to circulate through your body….]

"....Hm, to let the boy refine the energy himself or to use my system to help him…which choice is more suitable?" Chin in hand, Chaos thought for a bit before deciding.

"Haiz, I'll be the bigger man here lah." Chaos sighed inwardly.

[Progress: 25%]

Although the system did grant access to Ivan now that his soul was stronger, the system only gave the boy access to his User Information tab and Inventory.

The 10 year old boy wasn't given access to the system's auto function nor shop. Not only that, thinking it in a logical sense, a 10 year old should not be in this maze in the first place.

Chaos was so focused on helping Ivan get stronger before this that he overlooked several important matters at hand.

First, Ivan was crippled. His mana veins were crippled since birth. He has no way to use mana to cast spells.

He's practically a mortal at this point. Yet, he's here in a dungeon where lives had been lost countless times before this!

Secondly, who in their right minds would allow a child who can't use magic enter a magic school to learn about magic?

In the end, not only did Ivan not learn how to heal his mana veins, he also became a martial artist.

And if that wasn't contradictory enough, the headmaster of Basic Elementary school knew full well how dangerous the entrance exam was yet failed to provide any information about Jumper Academy and it's teaching style!

Chaos was fairly sure that the people of Ishgar must have a screw loose or two in their heads.

But when his annoyance levels reached their peak, his emotions deflated like that of a punctured balloon.

Chaos took a deep breath before letting out a long sigh to clear his head.

'I shouldn't be mad about the people who helped Ivan this past year, really. Especially the boy's principal….After all, he merely suggested Ivan to come take the entrance exam. It was the boy's own decision to make it all the way here.' Chaos inwardly sighed.

[Progress: 50%]

While Chaos was focusing his attention on refining the spiritual energy he had absorbed from the Condensed Soul Milk, Ivan's soul could be seen floating about within Chaos's sea of consciousness.

The warmth he felt earlier had long disappeared, and was now replaced by a cold, calm body of water.

The occasional sea breeze and splashes made by the critters found within the mind made Ivan think that he really was at the sea.

The boy felt bored. He thought about swimming in the water beneath him.

'This sea was the sea owned by his neighboring soul, there shouldn't be anything dangerous here, right?' Ivan pondered.

Logically speaking, swimming within the sea of another's mind is usually advised against.

But this logic only applied to people who acknowledged the presence of souls and understood them.

Ivan was a martial artist. A beginner one at that. Things like the soul, sea of consciousness and the mind were all abstract concepts to him.

He had only just learned how to break rocks with his bare hands, much less learn about absorbing qi from the world and forming a core within his abdomen.

Ivan's thinking was very simple. If he can use brute force to solve problems, he will. Only when he's researching his creation arts would he try to use his brain.

So without pondering on for too long, Ivan got overwhelmed by his boredom and went for a swim.

[Progress: 75%]

Chaos felt his sea of consciousness churn for a moment before becoming still again.

He thought that it was just one of his contracted familiars taking a stroll so he didn't bother with it.

As a being once hailed as the greatest and strongest paladin, Chaos had made contracts with many monsters to become his familiars.

Through force, or by talking and setting up benefits for each other, Chaos went and collected them all.

From the bacteria all the way to ancient beasts mentioned in mythologies, Chaos gained the the title of Strongest Beast Tamer as well as his Strongest Paladin title.

As for the familiars that reside within his mind, most of them were in deep slumber. Only when Chaos needed them the most would they answer his call.

Ivan was unaware of any of this. He had swam 3 kilometers east from the place he was dropped off by Chaos.

Along the way, he saw many glowing fishes and other little sea critters. All of them ignored the boy since they're just beings wanting to live.

Thus, Ivan managed to swim another 2 kilometers south before reaching a coral reef the size of an island. Not only was the coral reef huge in size, it was also beating, albeit too subtle for Ivan to notice.

When the boy was only 100 meters away from the coral reef, an eye the size of a truck opened from within the darkness, masking its presence from the boy.

'An intruder? An intruder has appeared within the master's sea of consciousness? That's odd. Master would never allow that.' The Coral King pondered.

'Who is this boy then? What is he doing here? Has the master lost to a more powerful opponent and had his mind forcibly entered?...But he's just a child…There's no way Master would ever lose a child, right?'

Doubt began to fill its heart as the Coral King had not seen Chaos in a very long time.