Tza’har slipped a purple ring onto his fleshless finger and swiped at the air before him. The fabric of space yielded, tearing like soft cloth to reveal a portal to another dimension. As the gateway stabilized, he glanced back at Thorian and beckoned him forward.

Thorian, overwhelmed by the display of power, hesitated only a moment before stepping after the undead magus. Not only can he manipulate the elements, but he commands space itself. His power... it’s beyond anything I've ever witnessed. He’s truly transcendent.

“How?” Thorian’s voice trembled slightly, his face a mask of bewilderment.

“Do you wonder how I crafted this dimension?” Tza’har turned, his gaze piercing. “You lack the wisdom to grasp the principles behind it. Yet, if you persevere in your studies, you too may one day achieve such mastery.”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Thorian replied, shaking his head earnestly. “How were you confined to this dungeon? You are on the doorsteps of godhood.”

Tza’har’s stern visage softened into a smile. “You greatly underestimate the gods,” he murmured, his hollow eye sockets distant with memory. “But my presence here, and that of my comrades, isn’t due to defeat. I invited them.”

Chilled by the implication, Thorian was about to press further when Tza’har turned away, ending the discussion. With a flick of his finger, lamps flared to life around the vast chamber. “We are not here to dwell on the past. It is time for your trial.”

Thorian looked up to see a colossal dome overhead, a small circle of sky visible at its apex. Surrounding him were altars of vibrant colors, each inscribed with a different beast.

“This is the first of two trials,” Tza’har explained. “For this test, you must conjure an elemental that corresponds to the beast on each altar. Use fire for the red altars, water for the blue, wind for the green, and earth for the brown. Simple, right?”

Taking a deep breath, Thorian nodded. “It’s a formidable challenge, but I’m ready.”

He positioned himself at the center of the circle and placed his elemental scepter before him. Closing his eyes, he expelled all distractions and focused on the task at hand. When he opened his eyes, the first altar he approached was red, adorned with the engraving of a phoenix.

A smile tugged at his lips at the serendipity. Lifting his scepter, he summoned a fireball above the altar. With deliberate motions, he sculpted the flames as though they were pliable clay. Within moments, a fiery phoenix emerged, its wings outstretched in silent majesty.

Turning to the next altar, also red, Thorian noted the salamander engraved upon it. He repeated the process, this time shaping the fire into the lithe form of a salamander. He then moved on, creating a vulcan and an ifrit at the subsequent fire altars before approaching the realm of water.

To conjure water creatures, Thorian tapped into a different part of his psyche, one that was tranquil and reflective, unlike the fierce intensity required for fire. Yet, as he began, he realized the need to maintain the balance of fire's wrath while invoking water's serenity.

Wait, that's unnecessary, Thorian's eyebrows arched as a revelation struck him. Water doesn't have to be peaceful—a sea can be tumultuous, roiling with stormy waves.

Embracing this idea made it simpler to harmonize the images of stormy seas with blazing fires. Grasping his staff, Thorian summoned a sphere of water above the blue altar, shaping it into the terrible form of a leviathan. Pleased with his success, he continued, quickly conjuring a ningyo, a mermaid, and a kraken, each embodying the turbulent nature of water.

Next, the light green altars symbolized wind. Inspired by his recent success, Thorian embraced a tempestuous concept of wind. Instead of gentle breezes, he envisioned violent storms and devastating cyclones wreaking havoc. This stormy imagery aligned well with the other elements, aiding Thorian in conjuring his wind creatures—a sylph, a garuda, a griffin, and a boreas—without any instability.

For the earth altars, Thorian envisioned overwhelming force and containment, like the crushing weight of a landslide. He manifested an earth serpent, a behemoth, a golem, and a troll, each a symbol of earth's formidable power.

"Well done," Tza'har praised, clapping Thorian on the shoulder.

Relieved, Thorian exhaled deeply. Balancing the elements had been mentally exhausting. He turned to the altars, surprised to see the elemental creatures still intact. Tza'har smiled at his astonishment. "Don't worry. I've cast a spell to preserve your creations. They still have a role to play."

"And what might that be?" Thorian inquired, his curiosity piqued.

"Observe," Tza'har directed Thorian's attention back to the scene. The elemental beasts sank into the altars, then reemerged from the engravings, radiant in their respective colors. Their light beams shot across the dome, converging in the circular opening above. As they clashed, black lightning sparked, culminating in a veil of black radiance that enveloped the chamber. Thorian shielded his eyes, and when he opened them, a small black dragon with purple streaks circled above the dome, then soared into the night sky, transforming into a dark beam that struck the heavens.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

After the spectacle, Thorian stared at Tza'har, his mouth agape. "What in the seven hells was that?"

"It has many names," Tza'har replied, his gaze lingering on the dome before meeting Thorian’s eyes with a wry smile. "Some call it origin magic, others true magic. It's an elemental force where all others converge. Given the destructive imagery you employed, it summoned a baby black dragon of chaos."

"Chaos, huh?" Thorian mused, biting his thumb. "That's beyond my creation. It must've been your influence through these altars that enabled such convergence."

He then turned to Tza'har, a flicker of dread in his eyes. "Just what kind of heights have you reached?"

"They are not nearly high enough," Tza'har scoffed, approaching the crumbling altars. "It took me decades to construct these altars, and they can only be used once. Even then, they're only sophisticated enough to summon a baby black dragon."

As the altars disintegrated completely, Tza'har faced Thorian again. "This true magic, I cannot freely control. That is my greatest regret."

Thorian remained silent, absorbing the gravity of Tza'har's confession. Witnessing such a potent magus, one who had ventured further than Thorian could have ever imagined, yet still burdened with regrets, stirred a complex torrent of emotions within him. He felt sadness for his mentor's plight but was also oddly inspired.

The path is unending. As long as I continue learning and striving, there will always be new peaks to conquer, new rivers to ford. Boredom at the summit is clearly not a concern.

"That marks the end of the first trial, and you've completed it splendidly," Tza'har's voice snapped Thorian back to the present. He smiled. "For your second task, it is simple. Using no spells other than your manipulation techniques, you need to create lightning."

Thorian’s expression tensed. "You want me to create lightning? I’m sorry, but this will take too much time, and I have people waiting for me."

"You seem to be misunderstanding something," Tza'har smiled gently. "Creating a dimension isn’t just space magic; it’s space-time magic. You can spend as much time as you want here, and your people won’t notice a thing."

"I’m done with being shocked today," Thorian sighed, then a wild smile spread across his face. "Alright, I'll face this trial head-on. Today, I will create lightning magic."

Tza'har smiled and tapped the ground with his foot. The debris of the altars was absorbed into the earth, replaced by a current of elemental mana.

"This is my gift to you," Tza'har announced. "Meditate on the laws that now envelop you."

Breathing deeply, Thorian felt the dense elemental mana saturating the air, a richness that dwarfed even the ether line nexus of Wolvendale.

If I could cultivate in this space, my progress would skyrocket, Thorian thought, shaking his head. It’s unfortunate that this space doesn’t adhere to the same laws as the outside world. Even if time passes here, as long as a day hasn't passed outside, the limitations remain.

Sitting cross-legged, Thorian cleared his mind of the previous trial's remnants, focusing solely on the new challenge: how to create lightning from fire and wind.

Fire is the unrelenting force that consumes everything in its path. It is merciless, indifferent to friend or foe. Wind, on the other hand, is the element of change and movement, capable of being gentle and subtle or wild and destructive. It shapes the world, carving mountains, eroding coastlines, and scattering seeds to new lands.

Meditating on these thoughts, Thorian spent hours in contemplation, enjoying a rare freedom to delve into the depths of magical theory without concern for time.

When he finally stood, he felt rejuvenated. Stretching his limbs, he grasped his elemental scepter and conjured a fireball as large as his head. Focusing intently, he compressed it to the size of a play ball using his thoughts and mana manipulation. When he could condense it no further, he enveloped it with a gust of wind, creating a high-pressure environment around the fireball. This process squeezed the fireball beyond its initial limits and ignited the surrounding air membrane.

Gritting his teeth to harness this volatile power, Thorian pushed further until the fireball diminished to the size of a pebble. Only then did a spark of lightning emerge.

"Good work," Tza’har clapped. "You have successfully created lightning."

"No," Thorian interrupted, his voice firm as he clung to a moment of sudden clarity. "I can do more."

Surprised, yet intrigued, Tza’har stepped back, a smile playing across his face.

Thorian thought intensely. If combining fire and wind can birth lightning, perhaps I can initiate the process even before fully manifesting either element.

Gripping his staff tightly, Thorian closed his eyes and turned inward to his mana heart. To conjure wind or fire, he typically directed the respective element's essence through his mana before it reached his conduits. It seemed logical that a similar approach could apply to creating genuine lightning.

Activating his mana heart, he imbued one half with wind and the other with fire simultaneously—precision was crucial. A mistiming or imbalance might result in the domination of one element over the other, or worse, an uncontrolled burst of power.

Inside him, the two forces clashed and then merged, the violent union sending a surge of lightning mana through his conduits. It materialized within his staff, and with a decisive swipe, he released it. Lightning crackled with deafening thunder, striking the ground fiercely.

All skill requirements achieved.

Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill: “Lightning Manipulation I”

Tza’har's laughter boomed, resonating through the chamber. "I see, now I understand why my counterparts in other realms granted you such abilities." His eyes twinkled with pride as he regarded Thorian. "Their judgment was sound. Your potential is indeed extraordinary."

"Thank you for your praise, Tza’har," Thorian responded, a grateful smile lighting his features as he admired his staff. "There is true joy in understanding magic, far beyond the confines of the system."

"Normally, this would conclude your trials, and your reward would be the mastery of all secondary elements," Tza'har said, his expression turning solemn. "However, if you wish, you may undertake a third trial. The reward, should you succeed, will surpass anything we've discussed thus far."