9 Dagger III

The blind boy sat in deep meditation beside a towering tree, lost in thought for hours. Despite the gnawing feeling of hunger in his belly, he remained unperturbed, focused solely on his inner peace.

His mind was a world of its own, and the surroundings faded away, leaving him alone in his silent contemplation.

Thanks to Adelle, she left him a plate of baked potato before she went this morning.

Sitting with mind in deep concentration, every breath that Ervian takes would give him a sense of freshness and vitality.

The sound of water drops that had been echoing in his mind was now starting to intensify into a light rain.

Then, a surge of power swept through his body. He was finally able to enter his Venevisium realm, the inner Vis flow of his body, his Vis System.

Here, Ervian eyes were no longer dysfunctioning. The sky above him was completely dark, but he could see that he was standing on top of a sea. It was a finite sea actually, even though he saw it as something endless and bottomless.

This represents his current Vis Pool. He preferred it to look like this.

However, he couldn't ignore the warping and space distortions that had been present since he woke up in the Nethereal and returned to Earth. They hadn't changed much.

'Still damaged, huh.'

After some time, he noticed a flickering light above him. Soon, bursts of water spewed out, forming a large water orb that rotated on its own axis, floating above him.

'At last!' He giggled joyously.

Ervian temporarily left the realm and came back to where he only saw pitch black reality.

The boy sat in the darkness, his blindness rendering the world around him invisible. But as he meditated, he began to sense something new.

Blue strings of Sensus, invisible to everyone but him, gathered around him and spread outwards, replicating the shape of his surroundings.

He could sense the ground beneath him, the trees that surrounded him, and even the small cottage built near a barren cliff.

Everything around him in a circular area within two miles away was replicated with blue strings that he perceived directly in his brain.

'Huh, this place is totally out of nowhere.'

Beside the cottage, there were no other man-made structures. It was just sandy hills, cliffs, and forests.

'Alright, let's see how many Aspects I can control.'

He entered again the state of meditation and arrived in the Venevisium realm.

As he looked up, he noticed six smaller water spheres orbiting around the larger one. There was also a much smaller water sphere still in development.

These were Vis Cores, each representing a Vis Level. Which means that his Vis Level was six and that he was on his way to reaching the seventh level.

'Still the same as before. Not that much development. Well, I didn't train properly though.'

Ervian then clenched his hand, directing his Vis into the palm. After a moment, he let it open.

Four small pearls that shine in different colored light float above his palm.

'FOUR!? IT WAS EIGHT! HOW CAN IT DEGRADED AT THIS RATE?!'

Facepalmed, he laughed hysterically, and almost went into tears.

It was an anomaly that he had to face. Slowly one by one his Aspect is disappearing from his commands unbeknownst to him. The fact that his Vis System was damaged.

Composing his mind, he tried to remember what Aspects that were disappearing. After losing the excitement of being able to connect with his Venevisium System, Ervian just summoned the runic status.

Holographic runes appeared in his vision. Deciphering it was easy for him.

—

Bearer: Ruvian Lucentin.

System Type: Venevisium.

System Level: 6,7.

Vis Pool: 320k/400k.

Vis Aspects: Impetus, Inanis, Praecantatio, Sensus.

Traits: [Elementalist], [Runic], [Vis Pool EX].

Inanis Reserves: [Artema], [Primordial Crystal of Terra], [Ultima].

[Elementalist] Trait Description: "The world six Primordial Crystals gifted the bearer ability to control all Aspects. WARNING: An [Unknown] source was tempering with [Elementalist] traits."

[Runic] Trait Description: "The bearer's Venevisium system recognized written commands in the form of Vis rune, allowing more complex Venevisium commands to be programmed."

[Vis Pool EX] Trait Description: "Increase bearer's maximum Vis Pool by 300%"

[Artema] Inanis Reserve Description: "A double-edged sword with mediocre-rank Venevisium affinity."

[Primordial Crystal of Terra] Inan—

'…. Oh wait, Inanis!'

Hyped to have his Inanis back. He quickly left the meditation state and reached out his arm to the front.

Dark-gray Vis accumulated in his palm. After it reaches a certain amount required, the Vis is then welded into the shape of a sword, then it materializes into the original thing.

'Good to see you buddy!'

It was his favorite, a double-edged sword with runes carved on its metal blade. It accompanied him through lots of battles, even to the end of his life.

Then he summoned his secondary weapon, a scepter with gemstone attached. He rarely used it. A scepter-like weapon will ease the control of Vis to achieve longer range assault. But using Vis with a sword was more versatile both offensively and defensively.

Suddenly a chill ran down his spine. He remembered there was another thing left in his Inanis. Something that truly important that the whole world could chase him down if they knew.

Ervian gulped. He let the sword and the scepter float around coated in purple Vis. Then he pushed himself to accumulate the Vis of Inanis. At least there was no one else nearby.

[Primordial Crystal of Terra] Inanis Reserve Description: "One of the Primordial Crystals that governs the power of earth and soil in the world."

'Yep, it's still with me.'

The green translucent Crystal of Terra, one of the Six Primordials. It contained the whole vast natural Vis of earth.

Just by holding it, he can feel the overwhelming amount of Vis. With that, he could split a mountain in half with just a mere finger lift if he wished to utilize the Crystal's power.

'What should I do with this ….'

He recalled the moment when he received the Crystal. It was ages ago, during the time of The Invasion when the people knew him as the chosen Elementalist.

"Ruvian, I think it's time for Elementalist to wield their true power," said the recently crowned middle-aged king of Troya, the kingdom that harbored the Crystal of Terra.

"What do you mean, Your Highness?" Ruvian looked at him with worry.

The kingdom has been heavily assaulted by the demons. They breached the main gate and tore down the capital's walls from the inside.

"I couldn't bear to see countless lives lost." The king asked Ruvian to accompany him to the Crystal Chamber.

"But …."

Ever since the news spread that the Primordials have gifted their blessing to a teenage boy, every kingdom agreed to work together, even though some of them have opposing backgrounds and history.

They formed the Alliance and sent out their best to supervise and guide Ruvian under strict laws in hope that the young Elementalist wouldn't stray from the righteous path. There was a dark history that should not repeat.

One of the laws stated that the Primordial Crystal will always be for the people and not for the Elementalist's hand. Ruvian is not allowed to use any of the Primordials.

Since only Elementalists are capable of fully utilizing their prowess, even the most powerful Grandmagus would not be able to tap into more than one-tenth of its potential.

"Don't but me." The king smiled, reaching out his hand with the Crystal floats above his palm. "Fight for me and my people, gifted one. For you, I gave the blessing to wield this magnificent might."

It was the first time Ruvian could utilize a Primordial. The Vis that it contained was so massive and in highest quality that it matched the trait of a Primuvisium.

Leaving the crystal chamber, Ruvian then flew high above, standing on top of a chunk of soil that moved under his control thanks to the Crystal of Terra.

Usually, the farther away he flew, the faster his Vis would be consumed. But now, it felt like he could fly limitlessly.

He could crush a demon to bits with a clap of his hand. The ground would move and follow the same gesture.

He then commanded the Crystal to lower the ground around the capital's walls, creating a trench with depth meters away within minutes. He circled it around the capital effortlessly.

The tides of battle are effectively turning to humanity's favor.

The people cheered for the young Elementalist, seeing their hope was beaming brightly.

However, the Alliance higher-ups were not happy and questioned the king of Troya's decision. He broke the agreement that was set upon.

After that, Ruvian went to return the Crystal of Terra, but the king denied his intention.

"Now, you have seen how powerful you would become, Ruvian. I've envisioned this for quite a long time.

I know the true purpose of the rules are, they want control over you, they don't want you to have absolute power."

"Take it. You need to keep the Crystal. But still, it will be just a secret between us."

As shocked as he can be. The king's decision was truly against the Alliance. But Ruvian also wondered the same thing.

Ruvian later noticed that above the altar, another similar translucent Crystal was floating in there.

The king has been secretly inventing a method to perfectly fake the Crystal of Terra. It drew its power from the original so that the fake could have a similar aura to the real one.

The king let out his small laugh. "I've seen how you stride in battles, Ruvian. Your intention to protect is true. My intuition tells me to not doubt it. So, don't doubt yourself."

His warm smile still latched fresh in Ervian's memory.

'And that's how the Crystal ended up in my Inanis. I've to admit, I was still doubting myself … until I lost Lika.'

Images of his memory flashed in his mind. Showed how the brave girl used all her strength to keep holding on to the Necrolyte.

Bringing it down to a bottomless cliff with her during Battle of the Last Crystal.

Ervian rubbed his chest. The moment he mentioned Necrolyte, fear came down to his heart.

'If it is true that I was a reanimate of the Necrolyte. Then … '

He shook head. 'No, my body is all within my own control. I don't have any slightest external influence that affects my mind. I've tried numerous times to provoke it, yet it was fruitless.'

Sighed. Ervian put the three objects back to his Inanis.

'Let's carry on what I had in mind the moment I set foot on earth. I could live as a free wanderer for the time being and watch how everything progressed.'

He stood up, stretching his limbs after hours of sitting. As he did, he made a mental note of the Aspect that was missing.

Four were lost: the Vis that would allow him to create fire, to control metal, to grow wood, and the Vis that could replicate another Aspect.

'Well, what could happen in this peaceful time? Wait–'

Within his Sensus vision radius, he caught something floating in the air in the middle of a forest. He intensified his Sensus to have clearer imagery.

'Is that smoke?'

He looked at the base where the smoke was coming from and found someone that he knew.

'Adelle?!'