Damian looked at the destruction caused by the [Fla Tempest] spell and nodded in satisfaction.
He had conjured the spell on a re whim while battling the level 105 [Earth Fire Guardian Spirit].
Physically, he had already grown strong enough to defeat it in close combat, but doing so wouldn't yield any aningful gains.
Moreover, he wanted to expand his arsenal by creating new spells.
To be honest, Damian had never thought much about magic or its various uses, except for the [Fire Elent] which he frequently used in battles.
The fire elent possessed far greater destructive and offensive power than any other elent he commanded.
While brainstorming new ideas, he recalled a devastating forest fire from the past.
The reason the blaze had beco so uncontrollable was due to the strong wind currents that spread the flas rapidly.
That mory sparked the idea for the [Fla Tempest] spell.
By combining the wind elent to fuel the fire elent, he drastically increased both the speed and intensity of the flas, elevating their destructive force.
"I should create more powerful spells like this," Damian mused, rubbing his chin.
His mind quickly began analyzing the power levels of mages compared to the leveling system of Awakeners.
A perfected 1st Circle Mage possessed power equivalent to Awakeners up to Level 25.
A perfected 2nd Circle Mage matched Awakeners up to Level 60.
A perfected 3rd Circle Mage rivaled Awakeners up to Level 130.
The power gap between each mage circle expanded significantly, and this disparity was especially evident between 2nd Circle and 3rd Circle mages.
However, it wasn't just the power gap that widened.
Advancing in mage circles required a deeper understanding of the elents, making it increasingly difficult to raise one's rank.
The power and effectiveness of a mage's spell depended heavily on their realm.
For example, a [Fireball] spell cast by a 3rd Circle Mage would be many tis stronger and more effective than the sa spell cast by a 1st Circle Mage.
Additionally, the elent a mage specialized in greatly influenced the destructive power of their spells.
The nature of the [Fire Elent] was burning and incineration, while the [Water Elent] lacked such destructive tendencies.
So, for a mage like Damian, who possessed both fire and water elents, casting spells of the sa level would always result in the fire-elental spell being significantly more powerful than its water-elent counterpart.
There was also sothing known as Elental Effectiveness.
For example, the [Earth Fire Guardian Spirit] was a creature made entirely of rock and flas, far stronger than any spell Damian currently possessed.
When Damian cast the water-elental spell [Tidal Grasp], a restraining-type spell, it failed to hold the monster for even a second.
The creature's burning body instantly evaporated the water restraint.
Damian had only perfected the 1st Ring of his cultivation in the [Water Elent].
If he had ford the perfected 2nd Water Elental Ring, his [Tidal Grasp] might have been capable of restraining a level 60 monster.
However, even then, it would still struggle against a fla-based monster like the [Earth Fire Guardian Spirit] he had just defeated.
This principle applied to other elents as well.
Their effectiveness could be completely nullified when facing their opposing elents.
While elents other than [Fire] might not possess the sa destructive power, each had its unique strengths.
Still, it was an undeniable fact that the [Fire Elent] had greater offensive capability than most other elents.
Damian had always focused on increasing his offensive power, believing that the best defense was a strong offense.
But after witnessing how effective combining spells could be, he began to reconsider.
Perhaps it would be more beneficial to focus on other elents rather than relying solely on [Fire].
"I need to deepen my understanding of the other elents," Damian muttered to himself.
He approached the massive crack in the ground where the monster had erged.
"Now, let's go and get that [Fire Essence Stone]."
Without hesitation, he jumped into the monster's lair, following the presence of a concentrated energy source unlike anything he had sensed before.
He landed inside a fiery mountain on a rock ledge just high enough to keep the lava from reaching his feet.
Countless holes in the cavern walls allowed the molten lava to spill outward in streams.
"Hmm..."
Damian slowly dipped his hand into the lava.
Strangely, it felt warm but not painful. It was oddly comforting.
His eyes then locked onto a massive, four-foot-wide [Fire Essence Stone], embedded in the rock at the center of the lava pool.
Three-quarters of it was subrged in molten lava.
Raising his hand, Damian activated his [Earth Magic].
A stone pathway steadily rose from the lava pool, vibrating slightly and causing the entire mountain to tremble.
Damian carefully walked across the pathway toward the massive [Fire Essence Stone].
He dipped his hand into the lava and firmly grasped the stone, lifting it from its rocky cradle.
The entire four-foot-wide Fire Essence Stone now rested in his hands.
It radiated warmth similar to the [Fire Essence Cores] he had collected from the bodies of the [Fire Spirits], but this stone was incomparably heavier, weighing nearly 4,000 kilograms.
[Item: Fire Essence Stone]
[Description: Ford naturally through the condensation of highly concentrated natural [Fire Essence] over an extensive period. This is pure fire essence in solid form.]
[You have obtained the [Fire Essence Stone].]
[4th Trial conditions t. You have completed the trial.]
[Rewards for completing the 4th Trial:
25,000 Gold
1 Fire Essence Stone
15 Free Stat Points]
[Your rewards have been transferred to your System Inventory.]
The massive Fire Essence Stone in Damian's hands vanished, replaced by the item the system rewarded him.
He stared at the football-sized [Fire Essence Stone] in disbelief.
"Damn this system!" Damian cursed, glaring at the much smaller stone in his hand.
The system had taken the colossal Fire Essence Stone he had just retrieved and rewarded him with sothing barely the size of a football.
"How is this even fair?"
Damian clenched his fist, frustration boiling beneath his calm exterior.
...
Sowhere in a garden that stretched as far as the eye could see, located in a far, unknown realm unreachable by anyone, not even the gods, there existed a garden that held everything.
Every plant, grass, herb, shrub, vine, and tree was of the highest grade found in the universe.
Tens of thousands of colorful stones grew all over the place, made of pure energies of all kinds.
The presence of energy in the atmosphere was denser than anywhere else, and beings made of pure energy, like fairies and spirits, moved about.
A young-looking woman, at least 8 feet tall, appeared out of nowhere.
Her long, straight dark hair, with golden accents, reached her feet, and she had bangs.
She wore a dark black gothic dress that covered her body from neck to toe.
"Phew... I can't believe sorting out those useless things took so long. Why can't those stupid gods deal with this on their own?" the woman snorted.
"Hmph, useless gods."
She then glanced at the tree's shade and snapped her fingers, causing a massive bed to appear out of nowhere.
She claid it and laid down comfortably, but then she rembered sothing she wanted to check. "I completely forgot about that."
"That boy from the class selection," she recalled, realizing she had ordered the system to put the profile of that boy on the high-priority list.
"System, bring his profile."
[As you wish, Administrator.]
In the next millisecond, the system brought up the profile of a particular Awakener nad [Damian Ignatius].
It took a single second for everything from the class selection to all his actions, every step he took and every swing he made, to enter her mind as though she were seeing everything in 100 tis slower motion in an instant.
Then she looked at his level, stats, abilities, talents, and constitutions, and her eyes widened in astonishnt.
"This is the profile of soone who just completed four trials? This is ridiculous!" the woman exclaid, her eyes widening even more.
"Not to ntion, he's continuously entering the trial in Hell mode..." The woman rubbed her chin as an image of a majestic figure appeared in her mind.
"It can't be him... could it?"
She then opened her eyes, and her pupils glowed with bright crimson light.
In the next instant, her figure disappeared from the spot.
...
The woman known by the System as the Administrator reappeared in another location, specifically upon the throne of a vast castle that stretched for kiloters.
She gazed at the woman seated on the throne.
The woman had long, curly, silvery-white hair and piercing blue eyes.
A crown, shaped like a fiery silver bird, rested elegantly on her head.
"You knew," the Administrator said coldly, crossing her arms as she stared at the woman on the throne.
"Wow, I didn't think it would take you this long to notice him, considering you're the only one monitoring the System in his absence," the woman on the throne replied with a faint, knowing smile.
"You are the head of the household. Why didn't you inform as soon as you realized it was him?" the Administrator asked, narrowing her eyes, clearly displeased.
"Well, I thought you already knew. You're always doing your usual 'I don't care about anything but monitoring the universe Papa gave ' routine and ignoring everything else... so," the woman shrugged casually.
"Not when it cos to him. And how would I know of his existence?" the Administrator snapped.
"Aren't you the sole controller of the System? I thought the System would have notified you the mont he appeared."
"It can't. Not until he reaches his full strength and regains his original authority as the..." The Administrator paused briefly.
"Until then, the System will only register him as just another Awakener," she sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, see, I didn't know that," the woman on the throne said, her gaze turning oddly curious.
"..."
"...Why are you looking at like that?"
"Is everything alright with you?" the dark-haired woman questioned, studying her carefully.
"...Is everything alright with ?" The woman on the throne let out a hollow chuckle.
"Well, let's see. He's back. That should be sothing to make happy, shouldn't it? But instead, it only reminds of everything he had to endure." A bitter laugh escaped her lips as her blue eyes burned with intensity.
"I fucking hate myself for letting him go through all that alone."
"But I guess it should be fine. I know he never blad , and I've accepted that. Yet, I still failed to notice what those fucking Ti Lords did to him."
A silvery aura began to seep from her body, and the entire throne and the land beneath the castle started to tremble, unable to bear the pressure emanating from her.
"The Ti Lords?" The administrator knew exactly what she was talking about she already guessed what those Ti Lords did when she saw the [regressor] title on his profile.
"Yeah. Did you know they sealed his soul when he was in that weakened state? He lost his life before he even had the chance to regain his glory. They made him suffer... and the worst part?" Her voice grew sharper.
"I only learned about it at the very last mont. I barely managed to reverse everything using the most precious artifact in the entire universe."
Her aura thickened, suffocating the air.
"Do you know why I'm alone here and not with the others?" she continued, her tone dark. "Because I don't want to destroy soone who can't withstand my fury."
With a sigh, the oppressive aura receded, and the castle fell silent once more.
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