Adion found himself standing before a doorway. It looked like it had once held a thick door, but nothing like that could be seen now. He had followed the row of openings in the wall looking out over the forest below. In the end, only this one room wasn’t completely caved in.
I hope there is a way out here, or else I will have to climb down the steep mountainside.
As Adion stepped through and looked around, he noticed he was out of luck, though. The doorway only led into a series of rooms that all led to a dead end. Except for the dust and pieces of old collapsed wood, there wasn’t much destruction here. The walls and ceilings were all intact. There were also a few pieces of furniture made from that odd dark glass here and there.
When he entered the deepest of the rooms, Adion found something interesting. It looked like it had been a study room long ago, going by the big desk made of the same dark glass as the other stuff he found.
Adion walked up to it and started pulling out the drawers.
Perhaps there are some old records here that have somehow made it through the passage of time. Those could hold invaluable knowledge.
Pulling out the bottom left drawer, he found something that looked like an old notebook. As Adion went to grab it, it simply dissolved in his hands though.
Damn, I should be more careful.
The next drawer looked much the same and also held a book that seemed somewhat intact. He reached for it carefully, but he couldn't get a grip on the cover. As soon as he put some pressure on it, it dissolved into dust.
It’s useless. I don’t know what I’m doing. I shouldn’t destroy anything else; perhaps one day, I can come back here better prepared.
Adion kept opening the drawers on the left-hand side, but only dust, or books that would soon turn to dust if Adion got his hands on them, could be found.
There were as many drawers on the right, but it was the same thing there: more drawers of books and dust. But there was one large drawer in the middle, above the desk’s leg space. And when Adion opened that, he found something a lot better than dust. Four small cases made out of some kind of metal that Adion guessed was much more expensive than simple steel. There was also one much larger case in the same design. The cases were all covered in runes.
Damn. The runes are probably made to lock away the content from anyone but the owner. I will have zero chance to break into something like this-. Huh?
Adion hadn’t had much hope, but when he lifted one of the smaller cases and tried opening it, he noticed the top and bottom parts simply slid off each other. No force was required. It was as if the case was merely made out of two halves put on top of each other, with no lock whatsoever.
I guess these runes worked to lock it in the past, but they have somehow stopped working. I guess it has been hundreds of thousands of years, and as far as I know, runes need mana to keep running. Oh well, lucky me.
As he peeked inside the case, he noticed, to his great dismay, dust again. But it wasn’t only dust. It was a few vials as well. They also contained dust, except one, which had some disgusting-looking liquid.
I don’t want to open that. If expired milk smells bad, I can only imagine what this smells like. But it’s a damn shame. This should have been an elixir. And considering it was probably made during the Age of Wonder and placed in a place like this, it should be extremely precious. And the dust could very well have been alchemy pills. Too bad.
Adion opened the other three cases and saw the same scene unfold: dust and expired elixirs without a hint of mana. Finally, Adion opened the final and biggest case.
Please let the pills have made it.
When he opened the case, the lid slid off just like it did earlier, but inside was something entirely different. Dozens of pills and elixirs were inside, and Adion could feel the potent and concentrated mana from all of them. Not only that, there was a letter inside. And when Adion touched it, it didn’t dissolve into dust.
It must have been preserved in this runic case. Or maybe the paper is some kind of magic paper.
Adion noticed that the letter was written with mana-infused ink; it was a very weak feeling after such a long time, but he still got a slight feeling that the one who wrote the letter was very powerful. Adion began to read the text and noticed that the text was written in Shiorin.
Thank the gods that Mom taught me Shiorin, and bless the Theory of Treaded Paths that I can still understand it.
‘My dear grandson,’ the text began, ‘You are indeed our sect's greatest miracle. I never expected Hiko to get pregnant at her strength. I have no doubt your future will be very bright. Unfortunately, I won’t be there to witness it. The time for me to go to Urema has come. I’m sure the sect will care for you in my absence, but I will still leave you a little gift myself.
‘These pills are some of the greatest treasures I have gotten my hands on over the past millennia. Besides the Elixirs of Life, I received a few Supreme Healing Pills of Mesana in my youth, some of which still remain. I even got them from the great-granddaughter of the Goddess herself. Be sure to ask your mother about that story. It was quite the adventure.
‘The Grand Soul Clarity Pills will be of great use to you in the Soul stages. It was not easy to get my hands on Soul Clarity pills of that quality, so use them well. Finally, the Wisdom Pills, the most precious pills in my possession. The first is the Moon Shadow Panther Wisdom Pill. This will help your control of shadow greatly. As you only need one of them, I suggest you find some trusted and loyal friends to gift the rest to.
‘The Fire Phoenix Wisdom Pill is, to many, the greatest pill in existence, made from the blood of the Fire Phoenix. To gain one of these is the highest dream of any member of The Fire Phoenix Sect. I suggest you take one for yourself when you form your core, as even with your shadow spark, the control of fire will be a great boon. The rest can be used as you please; the pills are almost priceless, and any fire mage would be willing to trade their entire fortune for one.’
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
‘The final pill, I am afraid, is not mine to give. I only pass it on to you to keep it safe. You must understand that any Wisdom Pill is incredibly rare, no matter where in the world you are. The Fire Phoenix Wisdom Pill is widely known as the rarest as she is a unique existence, and she rarely gives her blood for her followers to benefit from. But it is actually not the rarest of Wisdom Pills, because even if it’s rare, the Fire Phoenix still gives her blood at least once an era.
‘But that is not the case for the Celestial Phoenix. Only once did it happen, as far as I know. And the Wisdom Pills made from that blood have been passed down in our sect for eras, only given when someone with a space spark is born. Rarely are they seen, but it has happened a couple of times through the eras, and now, only one pill remains. Keep it safe for the next generation.
‘Although it is unlikely, if I should reach godhood, I will come to see you again. May you thrive in the shadow of the Celestial Phoenix.’
Adion could hardly believe what he had read. This text contained so much information that Adion had never heard of. He reread the text several times until he sat down on the floor.
This day. Too much has happened. I need to calm down and think things through.
Adion took a few deep breaths and tried to go through everything one step at a time.
Okay, I teleported through the formation in the family clan and appeared somewhere far away. Considering the text was written in Shiorin, I should still be on Shiora. I managed to create a core and did so using space mana, something that was apparently rare even during the Age of Wonder. A while later, I saw a Phoenix, the Celestial Phoenix.
The Fire Phoenix Church says that the Phoenix can never die but is always reborn in its own ashes. I always thought that was nonsense, but considering what I have seen, it seems like the logical conclusion. The Celestial Phoenix was mentioned in the text and even seemed to be revered, so either this was some new baby Phoenix being born from nowhere, or it was reborn. It doesn’t matter, moving on.
The Phoenix flew away, not my problem. It didn’t seem like it was evil. Now, I also have pills that were considered the greatest of treasures even during the Age of Wonder. Only one of these pills could throw the continent into a war.
I have heard of the Elixir of Life. It is seen as the pinnacle of alchemy in this Age. No one knows how to make it, but the old description of the elixir that prolongs one's life by at least 100 years is seen as the absolute dream of any alchemist to try and recreate. Now, I have eight of them, and it is not even the most insane one. Goddess Mesana? I thought a normal healing pill was impressive enough, but ones made from a god? And pills to help you in the Soul stages? That is above Diamond! Only the Noble families have ever reached that stage.
And those Wisdom Pills, I have never even heard about those before, not so surprising perhaps if it requires the blood of gods. But shadow? What’s the shadow element? I have heard of darkness. It’s incredibly rare no matter where on Shiora you are, but I have never heard of shadow before. Isn’t that the same as darkness? Maybe it’s a language thing. But why wouldn’t he use the Shiorin word for darkness instead if that was what he meant?
And the fire and space wisdom pills are even more incredible. Should I try them? Let’s do what Grandpa taught me: be logical, concise, and vocalize.
Adion took a deep breath and said quietly, “Celestial Phoenix. Cool. Don’t think about it.” He continued his process for everything that was whizzing through his head.
“I have a space core. Awesome. Keep secret. Train hard.
“I have precious pills and elixirs. Awesome. Keep secret. Eat wisdom pills and bring the rest.
“Hungry and thirsty. Go drink. Endure hunger. Test strength. Then hunt and scavenge for food.”
Alright good. That feels better. I will go back up to the spring of water and then come back here after resting. I don’t want to risk dropping the pills while jumping over boulders in the dark, and I want to have my Will fully rested before attempting to eat the pills.
Adion took the case with the pills with him as he left the study and put them behind some rocks next to the hallway leading up to the teleportation formation. He hadn’t seen any animals or beasts but wanted to be safe.
Just as he was about to leave, he had a horrible thought of someone coming in and taking all the pills while he was away.
I’ll just bring one of each wisdom pill with me in my pockets. They should be alright even if they fall out.
Adion did just that and then made his way up the hallway, slowly climbing upwards. It didn’t take quite as long this time around as he had gotten better at maneuvering around the rocks on the way down.
When he reached the large cave-like room he had arrived in, he made his way to the small spring of water and took a few big gulps. He then laid down to rest for a while. And after about an hour of half-sleep, he felt fully rested as he got up to stretch.
Let’s see what I can do with this core of mine.
Adion focused on his core, pulled out the space mana inside, and tried to conjure space from it. Unfortunately, no matter how much mana he used, he noticed that the conjured space only amounted to a size smaller than a speck of dust.
What the hell is going on? Is this what conjured space is like? I can feel it, and I can control it, but it is so tiny. Wait. Don’t tell me.
Adion just realized a big problem with having a space core, something he hadn’t given too much thought to as he always planned on forming a fire core, and that is how the different elements differ in difficulty in conjuring and control. The four most common elements people had were wind, fire, water, and earth. And while a fire mage and wind mage in, say, the Bronze stage could conjure plenty of fire or wind to attack with, a water mage could only conjure up a few cups of water, even using their whole mana pool. Earth mages were even worse. Even if a Diamond used all the mana they had stored in their core, they could at most conjure up a small rock, easily fitting inside a closed fist. It wasn’t all bad, though, as the harder an element was to conjure, the greater control you had over the element.
A fire mage conjuring up a ball of fire to throw around at an enemy would quickly lose control, that’s because the fire will affect the pure mana in the surroundings, making it take on the fire affinity, but these new motes of fire mana are not under the Will of the fire mage, they follow the Will of the world. And so that makes fire act as fire should, according to the Will of the world, spread and consume if there is anything to fuel it and otherwise disappear. This can be resisted for a while, but it will take a greater toll on the fire mage the longer they try to remain in control. Wind mages have an even harder time keeping their conjured wind under control, but in return, are able to conjure plenty of wind.
The opposite is true for water and especially earth mages; a minimal amount of earth can be conjured, but it will take much longer for the Will of the world to start affecting the conjured earth.
In theory, this should make the elements equal; in reality, earth mages are pretty much useless. At least in the early stages, but that is also where most mages find themselves, and no matter how good your control is, a small pebble of earth can’t do much against a large stream of fire.
And they are not the worst of the bunch. Adion knew that although rare, people with metal sparks were born. They can’t even conjure a tenth of what an earth mage at the same stage can. They are very useful as runesmiths, though, so a metal mage is incredibly respected, unlike earth mages.
But this was what made Adion so nervous. Where was space on this scale? The more he tried to conjure, the more he started to realize that it was much more difficult to conjure space than metal, much much more difficult.
Will this have any use even if I reach the Soul stages? How do I even attack with space in the first place?