"Brother Darian..." Eleri's voice came, getting closer. When he turned, Darian saw the worried looks on the three of them.
He let out a long sigh, trying to calm down. He didn't know exactly what that 'curse' would do, but when the problems came, he'd find a way to deal with them.
He waved at the three: "It's done, you don't need to worry."
Darian then turned to his army of Heavenly Elemental Spirits, who had just wiped out all the shadows. Eldu coordinated them, leading everyone closer.
Nine thousand pairs of glowing eyes locked onto him. Full of expectation and completely euphoric after the crushing victory.
By now, Darian didn't feel awkward anymore, even under so many looks of worship. He looked at them all and declared, "Let's not waste time. We've already finished everything we needed to do in this desert. Finally, it's time to move on."
Right after Darian spoke, a confirmation screen popped up in front of him.
[Current status: Mortal Realm]
[Primordial Points for next realm: 1000/1000]
[Do you wish to break through to the next realm?] [Yes / No]
Darian confirmed, and everyone else did the same without hesitation.
Instantly, a grayish light rose from the void, covering them like a twisting mantle. In just seconds, they felt it being absorbed by the primordial core within their souls.
An intense heat took over, as their primordial cores pulsed and expanded, going through some kind of metamorphosis.
Darian felt every detail of that change clearly. He had always wondered where the things demanded by the system in those gathering quests went — and now he had his answer: that grayish energy was formed by the essence of countless Yin and Yang materials the system collected.
This world naturally produced such things, and the system simply made the people of the desert gather them, only to use it all later for their own advancement. It was a cycle, and probably everything in that world worked in a similar way.
A few minutes later, it was over. Then, everyone felt space humming, and suddenly they started floating upward, slowly at first, then pulled by an irresistible force.
Darian had already seen this when he first arrived in that world, but for the others — who had all been born in the desert — it was the first time. Within seconds, they were shot up into the sky at an incredible speed.
Ahead, they saw the border between the desert and the second phase of the Trial. An invisible barrier was there, keeping anyone from crossing it.
The kids' expressions trembled, some even tearing up as they got closer. They couldn't believe they were finally leaving behind that lifeless, scorching desert where they were born.
Toos were beings born from natural elements, but ever since opening their eyes, all they had seen was death and sand. Every one of them dreamed of one day standing in a place full of life and beauty... they were like wild animals locked in a cage, longing to return to their natural home. Before, it had been nothing but a stupid, impossible dream... but now, at last, they were crossing the barrier.
Suddenly, the scenery changed. Before their eyes stretched green rolling hills, crystal-clear waters, and majestic peaks — an absolutely breathtaking sight.
Small, pure forests spread in the distance. Further away, snowy mountain ranges rose, their peaks high enough to touch the sky, surrounded by dazzling natural phenomena. Waterfalls plunged down, forming lakes so clear you could see the fish and shrimp swimming inside. Sunlight danced on the surface like floating shards of gold.
Taking deep breaths, they felt almost intoxicated by the sheer abundance of energy. The primordial Yin and Yang here were several times denser than in the desert.
They were gently set down on the ground, right by a beautiful river, surrounded by lush nature.
The emotions overflowed in the little ones as they looked around at this new, living world.
Suddenly, green screens popped up in front of them. Read full story at novel•fire.net
[Second phase of the Trial of Primordial Duality has begun]
[Current status: Devil Realm]
[Primordial Points for the next realm: 0/5000]
[Do you wish to read the introduction?] [Yes / No]
Darian instantly accepted, and everyone else followed.
[You are now in the Wild World. In this region, every race and living being is destined to fight over resources. Here, the law of hunters and prey is absolute.]
[Your objective, in theory, remains the same: gather primordial points and ascend to a higher realm. However, the rules for this phase are different. There are no ordinary missions; there is only one way to get points.]
[You need to absorb the primordial Yin/Yang from the primordial eruptions that appear in the Wild World. These eruptions are divided into three types and happen in random locations in that world.]
[The first type happens every 30 days, in about a dozen places at the same time; it's the easiest one, with limited energy. The second type shows up every 350 days, mid-level and highly contested, appearing in six places at once. The last type happens every 900 days, but only in a single location. It's an insanely dangerous clash where both sides of the Wild World inevitably end up facing each other.]
Darian read it all, intrigued. He could already absorb primordial power with the Yin star, but absorbing it with the core itself was new. Since he had just broken through to a new realm, he hadn't known about this ability.
[The process of absorbing and gaining points is simple. When you come into contact with a high density of primordial energy, your core will instinctively respond and start absorbing it. But once it's full, it'll have to slowly assimilate everything over the course of a full day.]
[Naturally, just by living and breathing, you also absorb primordial energy. In 100 years, your core can fill up completely. After each cycle of filling and assimilation, your combat ability will increase, and the amount of chaos power generated by your core will grow.]
[To help you visualize your progress, the system will grant you +50 primordial points as a symbolic marker. After repeating the process 100 times, reaching 5000 points, you'll be able to break through to the next realm and move on to the final phase of the trial.]
After reading it all, Darian took a deep breath, stunned.
Back when he hit level five and could advance whenever he wanted, that was the moment his core started generating the tiniest trace of that power; but he had no clue what it really was.
In the last fight, thanks to that small fraction combined with his black power, he had unleashed a much scarier potential. On top of that, he'd been able to use the technique he'd obtained in the ruins.
He only knew about this because of that book. Chaos power was the energy that existed at the dawn of universes — the source from which all other energies and elements were born.
Think of white light: it looks like a single thing, but in truth, it contains all the colors of the spectrum. Chaos power worked the same way: it seemed like one single force, but inside it carried all the common energies.
Primordial Yin and Yang were born out of chaos power, once it split into two poles. The primordial core was created from these powers, fusing them back together with the help of the system. That way, it could form a core that generated a little of that power within itself.
After calming himself down, Darian focused on sensing the environment around him.
It didn't take much effort to notice the karma of countless people in every direction.
He turned to the kids and said: "We know how the system works, but not how people live or what their rules are. We need to gather info first. But moving with everyone together would be dangerous. I'll go with Awel, Tir, and Eleri; the rest of you stay here as a group. We're a bit away from the closest people. Since you're so many, it's unlikely anyone will have the guts to attack you right away."