Processing the implication of what this ant, the grin on Ulric’s face stretched wider than ever as he paced restlessly, struggling to calm himself.
And as if to prove it, he flicked his wrist. Instantly, the temperature around him dropped drastically. Moisture in the air froze into ice, and the surroundings grew deathly still as he deployed Absolute Stillness.
His eyes fluttered rapidly, as if struggling to believe it. What once consud monstrous reserves of energy now felt as easy as breathing, with no strain on his body whatsoever.
If anything, he could feel the potency of the skill had improved significantly. This was insane.
Ulric exhaled, already envisioning how his future battles would unfold. With this, he could deploy attacks endlessly. So what if a single blade of darkness couldn’t cut through his enemies? He would simply send refined ones. If not, what about his Phantom Blades? A thousand Entropy Blades?
With this spam-like ability, the concept of energy had beco nearly obsolete to him. Well, not entirely, he mused, stopping himself from spiraling deeper.
Previously, his body had contained reserves of energy from all the elents he wielded. But with this recent change, all of that had been stripped away. Replaced with a new form of energy. At least, barely — all of it compressed into rely three drops.
A bit too little in quantity. Yet raging throughout his body, he could feel their overwhelming potency. Letting out a slow breath, he waved his arm and drew out a single drop to inspect it closely.
When it erged, his eyes widened in surprise. It shimred with multiple colors that rapidly shifted with every pulse.
But what truly piqued his attention was the energy housed within. The result left even him slightly shocked.
It was... boundless. Its tiny surface no longer fooled him. If he were to compare it, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the energy inside far exceeded his previous combined reserves by at least ten tis over.
Now that he looked closer and delved through the accompanying knowledge, its properties and functions mirrored that of mana. Only far more intense.
If he wanted, he could use this energy to augnt his attacks, and he had a feeling the results would be devastating. He was almost tempted to test it imdiately, but he suppressed the urge.
With his growing power, everything around him had beco increasingly frail. Besides, if it was truly as strong as he believed, it would be better kept as a trump card. Combined with his limited knowledge of it, it wouldn’t do to expend it all only to discover he couldn’t generate more or that it took an awful long ti to form.
It would be best to explore it later with his Limitless Force Refinent and see how to make the most of everything.
Either way, it was a fascinating concept.
Discarding those thoughts, he lifted his head, his gaze falling into the distance. Before his figure suddenly vanished.
He appeared almost instantly a few thousand ters away, right beside Lyra. His hand reached out to grab her waist.
Eliciting a sudden gasp of surprise. One mont she had been monitoring the dark-robed figure from afar. The next, he stood right beside her, the warmth of his touch pressing against her supple waist.
Letting out a slow breath, she tried to wrap her mind around the series of changes that had just unfolded, but failed repeatedly. It was all just too astounding.
Before, she had always known he was a monstrous anomaly who couldn’t be fully understood. But with every passing day, he grew more and more unfathomable... even to her.
Yet through it all, one thing remained constant; the warm smile on his face as he glanced down at her, easing her slightly. Before she voiced the question that had been circling in her mind, unable to suppress her curiosity any longer.
"How strong are you now?" she whispered, her eyes darting across his body as her fingers trailed over his robe. Feeling the flesh beneath rippling like refined steel, with no traces of injury.
It was perplexing how such great power could be contained, even in a vessel as strong as his.
Feeling the burning curiosity in her eyes, Ulric paused for a mont. A gleam of uncertainty flashed across his own. Before he drew her closer and leaned forward to whisper into her ear.
"I don’t... know." He muttered genuinely. His body and power had been refined countless tis. His strength increasing significantly with each refinent until he lost count.
Unless he tested the full extent of his power, his limits seed nowhere in sight. Which only made it more exciting. He couldn’t wait to uncover them.
Feeling his body pressed tightly against hers, her face flushed. Her chest thumped rapidly as multiple emotions welled up inside her.
But as his words echoed in her ears, a dumbfounded expression slowly spread across her face. How strong would one have to be that even they couldn’t keep track of their own strength?
On one hand, it was a terrifying concept. On the other, it made so sense, he had no opponents or instructors to guide him. After all, even at E-rank he had been able to challenge C-rank beings and co out on top.
She could only imagine the heights of his power now that he was D-rank.
She was curious about so many other things regarding his newfound power, but she shoved them aside. Leaning forward with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, she whispered sothing into his ear.
When she pulled away, her heart thumped even more violently, the blush on her face spreading furiously down her neck.
Hearing her words, he chuckled faintly and flicked her forehead.
"You’re growing more naughty." Ulric exhaled quietly, a little speechless as his gaze fell into the distance.
Now that he had successfully advanced, he supposed it was ti he paid another visit to a particular shaless old man.
Nodding in thought, his gaze shifted to Amber and the rest. A faint smile carved across his lips as he nodded slightly, seeing through their advancents in a single glance.
"Not bad." He mumbled. They had reaped far more benefits than he had expected.
The smile on his face widening, one hand rose to pat Lyra’s head gently. Her silky hair flowed smoothly between his fingers as he murmured sothing in her ear. Before his figure suddenly vanished into the distance.
***
At the side, as Ulric’s fra disappeared, the elders finally snapped out of their daze.
Graegor’s eyes fluttered rapidly. His breath heavy as he forced the words out.
"He did it... he really did it." A tinge of disbelief flashed across his eyes. The young lord had mastered each of the elents to their peak, allowing him to easily wield their balance.
It was the only way he could have rged the five elents so smoothly. Still, so many questions raced through his mind. How was that even possible... at his age? It just didn’t make sense.
But the sight before them was undeniable.
Mistress Aria beside him seed to share his thoughts as her lips twitched rapidly.
They had possibly watched history being rewritten, yet the youth didn’t seem to pay it any mind as if it was nothing to him.
She thought, her fists clenching.
While most of the elders sank into murmurs, Rysten stood out as he remained silent.
His eyes narrowed on the empty wastelands where the dark-robed youth had stood monts ago.
Most of the elders had missed it, but he had caught it instantly. When the lord conjured the blade of darkness, there had been no energy disruption around him. No waves of darkness oozing from his body.
It had simply sprung into existence and vanished monts later, leaving no trace behind as if it had never existed.
A little odd. Since energy couldn’t be created or destroyed, one could only tap into its power. The only way that would have been possible was if he hadn’t used any energy at all... which should have been impossible.
The longer he thought about it, the more his mind struggled. Before he discarded the thought entirely. The young lord was growing too fast for his mind to keep up anymore.
But that didn’t matter now. He smiled faintly. A great feat had been accomplished today. It would only be right to hold a feast to celebrate it.
***
At the depths of the city, Ulric shadow-teleported repeatedly until he ca to a halt before a rusty old shop.
Making his way in, his eyes arched in surprise as he stared at Alaric’s seated fra.
The old man had his back to him, clutching a cup of steaming tea. Beside him sat an empty chair with another mug of steaming tea, almost as if he had been waiting for soone.
But that wasn’t what truly piqued his attention. Staring at the old man, Ulric’s eyes fluttered rapidly. With his recent advancents, his senses had sharpened as well. He could see through the old man’s strength, and it was shocking.
Previously, he had assud the old man was at least mid C-rank or at best peak C-rank. But he no longer thought that.
The reason he couldn’t sense mana energy from him before was because it didn’t form a protective barrier across his body, but instead concentrated within his inner organs.
His bones and organs shimred with a blue radiance, with a concentrated blue core forming at his chest.
A mana core? Was he even a C-rank being? What about his previous test... had he just been ssing with him? Even with his enhanced senses, why could he see through the old man’s strength so easily? Was this another ploy?
It seed he had greatly underestimated the old man’s cunning.
His expression flickering slightly, Ulric inhaled sharply.
"Are you expecting soone?"
"Hmm, I knew you would co. The path of a rchant is one that observes the currents of the world," the old man said as he stroked his beard with a profound smile.
Hearing his words, Ulric’s breath hitched slightly.
He hadn’t even begun, and the old man was already spouting nonsense.
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