Next, Thalion delved into the elemental book, which turned out to be far more interesting than he had first thought. Although he liked reading books, he preferred it to being bombarded with information by touching the paper, which hadn't happened in this place yet. He also didn’t trust those talking scrolls; what if they missed something?
Back to the elementals. They were born when undead material, like rock, absorbs too much Atheris, which leads to the formation of a rudimentary consciousness. After this consciousness grows to a certain degree, it is referred to as an elemental.
Elementals don’t follow a path of evolution. In fact, they can’t really evolve. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t upgrade their abilities or bodies. For example, transforming an elemental from fire to water is nearly impossible. While theoretically achievable with enough power, it’s rarely worth the effort.
What often happens is that an elemental acquires a secondary attribute that complements its primary one. For instance, fire and wind or water and ice are prime examples. This secondary attribute can manifest through intense training, special circumstances, or when two elementals merge into one.
The strongest elementals were referred to as primordial elementals. A being on par with, if not greater than, a true dragon in the hierarchy of existence. However, they are exceedingly rare. According to the book, thousands of true dragons might rise before a single primordial elemental was born.
The next part of the book was equally intriguing. It described how high-level beasts sometimes used elementals as armor and weapons. One example involved crabs and coral elementals. The coral elemental would grow on the crab’s shell, greatly enhancing its defense. At higher levels, the coral could completely cover the crab and even attack with spikes.
Thalion found this particularly fascinating. One of his forms, the umbral predator, could potentially use an elemental as armor or a weapon. Being a creature of darkness, it might benefit significantly from absorbing a darkness elemental, much like his sanguine thorn.
Unfortunately, the book noted that this was impossible unless one could rip apart the true soul of the elemental, leaving only its inherent will to grow. This process would grant full control over the elemental, which would transform it into a spirit weapon. However, this was a feat no F-grade individual could achieve, as the process often destroyed most of the inherent will, rendering it useless.
To obtain good results, one would typically need over 100 elementals, depending on their power levels. If a D-grade individual attempted this with an F-grade elemental, it would be much easier, but the power gap would make the effort pointless. Fortunately for Thalion, he knew something the book didn’t. The exact method for ripping apart a soul while leaving only the parts he needed intact.
Of course, he would need a ritual circle and other preparations, but it was essentially the same technique he planned to use with the outsider. The memory crystal’s blasts of knowledge had been invaluable. He would never have understood this process by merely reading.
Satisfied with his progress, Thalion picked up two more books. One focused on creating elementals and another was about beast enchantments. The first book, like most others here, was glittered in gold.
Forging the Elements: The Art of Creating Elementals
This tome served as a step-by-step guide for alchemists and mages eager to craft their own elemental beings. It covered every detail, from gathering pure elemental essences to conducting the necessary rituals.
Thalion read through the book with excitement. According to its pages, he could even create an F-grade elemental. The process required creating zones of absolute darkness in a mana-rich environment. There, elementals would naturally form. To accelerate their growth, one could gather and combine elemental essence to awaken the being.
Determined to master the runes that blocked out light, Thalion practiced drawing them with his blood. After twenty repetitions, he was confident he had memorized them correctly.
Satisfied, he moved on to the second book.
Creature Enchantment
The book was filled with intricate runes and methods for enhancing a beast’s body using natural treasures. After some time, Thalion discovered a manual detailing how to integrate a powerful crystal into a beast’s body. This power source, a crystal of immense energy, could drastically strengthen the beast's body. There were, of course, more examples of power sources like the hearts of other beasts, but since he already had powerful crystals, he didn't pay it much attention.
This concept excited Thalion. If he could transmute a crystal into one of darkness and integrate it into the umbral predator, it would be revolutionary. Even if not for the predator, any beast could benefit from such a power source.
The procedure was dangerous and most of the time it ended with the death of the beast. The most important thing was the passive healing of the beast, as that was the only way for the body to accept the crystal. He delved deeper into the manual, studying how to handle larger beasts and determine the appropriate crystal size relative to the creature’s body.
As Thalion closed the second book, a golden figure appeared before him. "You tapped your ring. Would you like to return to your residence?" The figure asked with a courteous bow.
"Wait, you can teleport me anywhere I want?" Thalion asked surprised, looking down on his hand with the golden ring. "Why didn’t anyone tell me this earlier?"
"Yes, I am here to assist you," the golden man replied with another bow, ignoring his second question.
"Awesome and you know what is going on here," Thalion said with victory in his eyes. Finally, he would get some answers.
"What do you mean by what's going on here?" the man said, confused and turning around as if he wanted to find something.
"When are the rituals for the union happening and am I allowed to participate?" Thalion asked the most important question. Going by the words of his trainer, he could do the ritual at any moment.
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"Yes, just inform me when you are ready and we can go there," the man said with another bow.
"Great, so I can do what I want here, Thalion said with a grin.
"Of course there are even many other masters here to help you in many different tasks," the servant concluded.
"What about swordsmanship?" Thalion asked with a grin, which Rylak although shared.
"Oh yes, we have multiple masters who can teach you. Touch your ring if you need to get teleported and I'll bring you there," the servant explained and bowed again.
This was just perfect. He ended up in a position where he could read about the multiverse and this new reality, losing no time in the tutorial, get thought new skills, and be bound with an outsider.
Finally his life was whole again and oh boy felt it good.
<--
Princess Thalytra sat in her chair, watching the next calling unfold. She was still shocked after witnessing a weak servant defeat a noble brat using blood magic, a feat she would have never believed possible. In fact, she would have jumped into the pit to save that servant, only to be slaughtered by the noble herself. Thankfully, her guard held her back, allowing the scene to unfold naturally.
Unfortunately, the guard misunderstood her intentions and sent the boy directly to her residence before she could have a proper discussion with Rylak. Instead, she was left at the calling, surrounded by inquisitive nobles who pestered her with questions.
At least it was only a matter of time. In a few months, her tour would be complete, and she could finally return home. Zerak had already promised her that Rylak's activities were being recorded, and she looked forward to reviewing the footage.
She was intrigued by his power and curious to see how he would handle himself in the palace. After all, Rylak would only have a chance to participate in the union ritual if he managed to gather more than 5,000 points from the teachers. These teachers were highly skilled and mostly the offspring of nobles, who would likely view Rylak as scum and treat him poorly.
This was just one of the many obstacles that would make his journey more difficult. Rylak was still far too weak to compete with the nobles and it was already a miracle that he had managed to defeat that noble in the arena. The noble had likely been trained to fight beasts, not blood cultivators, which had worked to Rylak's advantage.
Blood cultivators were formidable because they excelled at both close- and long-range combat. Every wound they inflicted strengthened them and they could empower their blood before a battle. She had heard of blood cultivators preparing by infusing their blood with power, then throwing it at their enemies to deadly effect, without weakening themselves in the process.
This power came with significant drawbacks, however. Most blood cultivators relied on two key resources. Their blood reservoir and essence blood. The blood reservoir was a special storage within their body where they kept stolen blood, which they could enhance for later use. Essence blood, on the other hand, was the blood flowing through their veins, imbued with immense power.
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Essence blood could be used as a devastating weapon in desperate situations, but losing it would cripple the blood cultivator, leaving them weakened for a long time. Blood cultivators could heal their injuries rapidly by using the blood stored in their reservoir, but fighting them wasn’t about damaging their bodies—it was about targeting their essence blood.
This strategy was highly effective. Another method involved using condensed spells to disrupt their abilities, which required minimal energy, or enchanted weapons. Skilled fighters, such as experienced swordsmen, could become the bane of any blood cultivator.
Poison-based cultivators or water mages could neutralize blood attacks by contaminating or washing away the blood, making it harder for blood mages to find openings. In conclusion, blood cultivators were incredibly strong against weaker opponents and could defeat large groups with ease, but they struggled against elite fighters who could counter their techniques without expending significant resources.
So, what would Rylak do in a class full of such elite fighters?
<--
Thalion had never made so much progress during the entire tutorial as in the last days.
Currently, he was being trained by one of the swordmasters, a muscular man with a long beard who went by the name Miraxy. They had even found a weapon that closely resembled the blade Thalion had forged earlier in the tutorial.
The training was divided into three sessions. The first focused on learning swings and forms for both attack and defense. The second centered on fluid transitions between these forms, ensuring seamless adaptability in combat. Finally, the third session was sparring with his teacher.
Swordsmanship, as Thalion quickly discovered, was incredibly complex. There were countless openings to exploit against different enemies, as well as an even greater number of effective follow-ups. Miraxy also taught him general combat techniques, including methods for dealing with physically weaker opponents, such as ramming or punching. This intensive training elevated his skill with the sword to an entirely new level.
If his progress continued at this pace, he felt confident he could eventually fight Kai and Kael simultaneously from a technical standpoint. However, they would still be far stronger than him and would likely overpower him through sheer force.
Still, his days here were exceptional. His routine began with a teleportation to the library, where he spent an hour or two reading about a variety of subjects. For example, the last book he read focused on spells designed to counter specific types of opponents. From this, he learned that ice mages would pose a significant challenge for him since they could freeze his blood in powerful domain skills.
He also read more about wyverns, discovering that most had a weaker breath attack compared to dragons. A notable difference was that wyverns almost always had fire breath, while dragons' breath aligned with their elemental nature.
This sparked an interesting idea. What would happen if he used his lightning beam ability in conjunction with a fire breath attack? Could it create something like “stormfire”? He had no idea if stormfire even existed. It would be a risky experiment, but one he was willing to undertake in the name of science. Just imagine getting hit by such an attack must be like holding the finger into a power outlet while someone sat you aflame.
After his reading session, Thalion dedicated four hours to soul cultivation. This was followed by an hour-long break with Rylak, during which they explored the palace and ate. Rylak explained that in this world, eating was reserved almost exclusively for the noble classes. Since most beings didn’t need to eat, it had become a status symbol, much like owning a fast car back on Earth.
This trend extended to the food itself, which was often enchanted and could serve as a secondary energy resource during a fight. Thalion mostly let Rylak consume the food, as it seemed to have no effect on him otherwise. Once their meal was finished, it was time for sword training with Miraxy, which lasted for the better part of the day.
Occasionally, Thalion received additional information about the upcoming ritual, though he found it largely uninteresting since he already knew what to do. This was thanks to the memory crystal that had overwhelmed his mind with vast amounts of knowledge. If he had been forced to acquire that information through traditional study, it would have taken him more than a hundred years.
However, there was one new detail about the ritual that caught his attention. Before the main event, he would need to stand on a platform that would project the nature of his spirit body and assess whether he was truly ready. This posed a major problem for Thalion. What if the platform revealed that there were two souls within his body?
To avoid this, Thalion began obsessively gathering knowledge about souls, determined to find a solution. He didn’t want to harm Rylak, so their plan was to temporarily place Rylak’s soul into an item during the test and reunite afterward. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long for them to find a solution.