One month ago…
Under the rising black sun.
In the White Wolf Gang's territory.
Slime#47 had already subdued the white wolves, along with their horned leader, Wolf#1.
"Elder, I want you to teach me sealing magic," Slime#47 asked, tense. 'I hope the seal stays in perfect condition, without even a crack.'
He had wanted to learn sealing magic first… but he needed to take all the slimes and cattle out of the village, especially since he didn't want to miss out on the butterfly effect.
"Sealing magic…" Elder Slime glanced at him doubtfully.
But after a short pause, he said, "Very well."
"Sealing magic is the use of pure mana to place limits and restrictions on an object or being."
Then he proceeded to explain the mechanics and techniques.
Young Slime pointed his tiny palm at a leaf drifting down from a nearby tree.
He muttered, "Seal."
A light-violet magic array flashed on his palm.
In the next moment, a small blue chain manifested and wrapped around the leaf tightly.
[ Ding! Acquired Sealing Magic Rune Mastery! ]
"Great… another mastery," Slime#47 muttered. "How am I supposed to tier it up? I can't loop for long—and I don't want to."
He had only reached Tier 2 in other masteries after looping and experiencing his entire life again and again under Vael's spell.
He turned to Elder Slime. "Elder… how do people train masteries? Aren't they insanely hard?"
Old Slime nodded. "Yes, they're tough. After all, they grant extraordinary power."
"But it depends on the person's talent."
He added with a small smile, "An exceptionally talented person can raise mastery from Tier 0 to Tier 1 within a few minutes."
"What?... Does anyone with that kind of talent exist?" Young Slime exclaimed. "A few… minutes? You've got to be kidding me."
He thought bitterly, 'Even going from Tier 0 to Tier 1 took me fifteen loops.'
Old Slime laughed. "Of course. People with that kind of talent exist."
"But don't worry—they appear once in a million years."
However, he mused, 'But they show up in large, when the world is in danger… like now.'
He glanced at the black sun. 'The world might already have ten to twenty people with such talent, scattered randomly.'
Young Slime sighed after hearing how rare it was.
If many people had that kind of talent, the world would fall into chaos. And if an evil person had it, the world would be doomed.
"Any method to speed up masteries?" he asked, wanting to accelerate his Sealing Magic Rune Mastery.
"One method is getting traits—"
Elder Slime was cut off as Young Slime asked, "Traits… aren't they almost impossible to acquire with just training?"
"Yes." Old Slime nodded, rubbing his stomach as a fly landed there. "Through one's own efforts, traits are almost impossible to acquire."
He blinked his eye, "But traits can be inherited… or passed down."
He added sternly, "Those details are for another time. Focus on sealing magic now."
"Traits can be passed down?" Young Slime asked, blinking.
"Well, it's a difficult process," Old Slime admitted, "but it can be done....and the other method of speeding up masteries is sharing experience."
"Experience…" Young Slime muttered, glancing at Old Slime and narrowing his eyes.
Old Slime felt a chill and quickly explained himself, "I do not have the experience for every mastery. I only possess the theory."
"Aren't you the second-strongest slime in your past life?" Young Slime asked, gaze piercing.
Elder Slime coughed. "Yes, I was indeed the second-strongest slime."
He turned eyes, "But that doesn't mean I possess every kind of mastery."
"Every kind…" Young Slime murmured, recalling his own mastery training.
He stared at Old Slime coldly, eyes wide.
Old Slime sighed. "I don't want you to take that route."
"Everyone's experiences are different. If you take someone's experience, you can gain mastery rapidly," he said sharply.
"But after you reach the same level as the one who gave it to you, you won't be able to proceed further. It locks your potential."
Young Slime sighed. 'No wonder Elder never told me about it… He only helped me speed up skills and spells.'
He asked bitterly, "So we're back to square one?"
"Yes—technically." Elder Slime spread his hands. "Unless you have an extraordinary seal to observe and learn from....The last method."
"Observe?" Slime#47 repeated doubtfully.
"Yes." Old Slime nodded. "Each person uses their own experience when using a spell or skill, and everyone's point of view is different."
"So you can learn by observing a seal that's higher than your level." His eyes narrowed. "And that way, you won't limit your own potential."
Young Slime grinned.
In his sealed soul dimension, golden chains floated—wrapped around half of his soul.
----
Slime#47 focused deeply on the golden chains, sensing the seal with his mental strength.
'Hmm…delicate control over seal's lines,' he realized.
A notification flashed in his mind.
[ Ding! Sealing Magic Rune Mastery Proficiency +1! ]
[ Ding! Sealing Magic Rune Mastery has tiered up to Tier One! ]
[—Masteries—
....
—Sealing Magic Rune Mastery—
—Tier One—
—Proficiency: 1/100
—Effects: Increases sealing spell power by 500%.
—Reduces sealing spell cost by 5% ]
He grinned at the shimmering panel.
'I just need to reinforce the seal once in a while,' he thought.
"To think it's an authority of sealing…" he muttered as he floated toward the golden chains.
After his soul acquired the Adamant Soul trait, he could sense authorities.
Inside his soul dimension… he could fly.
He had discovered it with a little experimentation.
Previously, while training Soul Mantle, he hadn't paid much attention to the chains.
But now, focusing his mental strength, he noticed the authority hidden within them.
'After all, it's labeled Divine,' he thought.
He noticed a common feature of anything labeled "Divine". "Anything called Divine has an authority connection."
He raised his palm. "Seal Modification: Reinforce."
A light-violet magic rune flared on his palm.
The golden chains absorbed his mana at an incredible pace.
The next second, he cut off the spell as dizziness hit him.
"Damn… it absorbs too much mana." He steadied himself. "But is it fine?"
[ Ding! Seal Modification: Reinforce proficiency +1 ]
[ Ding! Seal Modification: Reinforce {Common+} has evolved to Seal Modification: Reinforce {Uncommon+} Lv.1! ]
He focused his vision on the golden chains, checking if anything was wrong.
End of the chapter…