"Now I have to decide..."
"Based off the knowledge of that water magus. Becoming a wizard requires one to make runes in their sea of consciousness. It also requires constructing spell models or chanting to cast spells."
"A monarch directly channels the dimension itself to manipulate reality."
"There is a major difference between a mage with an elemental seed and a monarch with one."
"A monarch doesn't have an element seed within their sea of consciousness. Based off the simulation from Echo. You must use the seed as a catalyst to fuse with the dimension itself."
"I was worried about a powerful wizard coveting my water seed. But if I become a monarch. I will become one with the seed completely..."
"Complete integration! A true water sovereign!"
Atesh was currently on Gaia's island. He was in his home on a branch in the tree.
"Begin integration."
[ECHO]: Integrating water seed...
Atesh felt his surroundings change. He found himself floating above a vast ocean. In the center of this ocean was a palace made for a giant. It was carved from ice. He noticed right away that the connection to his body was gone! His spirit body had been pulled out of the universe into the water dimension itself!
He saw a the biggest creature he had ever seen before. It wasn't simply a water elemental. It was on another level. It had an ice crown.
Looking at it. He felt as if his spirit body was going to be destroyed from the mere aura of this thing.
"Oh? A half-blood elf? You dare gaze upon me!?" The voice sounded like a female drowning
A current of water went past Atesh.
His spirit body was about to disperse.
"I wish to be baptized by the world will!" Atesh spoke in a hurry as his spirit body started to fall apart.
"You are not worthy!"
"Of course it isn't that easy..." Atesh thought to himself.
"But I'm not Atesh right now. I'm Somnus!"
The ruler of the dimension destroyed his spirit body.
DEAD END
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In the early days of finding the technique. Visdre had died in real life. But thanks to throwing around his spiritual weight. He remained aware in his 'source castle'. This was the white room he was born with. He turned his body into fog, leaving this room and entering the dream realm.
He tried to manipulate this realm. But the backlash destroyed him.
But his spirit body was reconstructed by his black book. His artifact.
He spent over a year doing this suicidal action over and over again until he learned a few tricks. He learned how to put himself back together.
Right now... His spirit body looked like Atesh.
But it had been destroyed.
His sovereign soul was no match for the ruler of the water dimension.
There was hardly any remnants left of his spirit body. As the ruler of the dimension shifted their focus on more important things.
They heard the sound of laughing.
They turned their head in surprise.
"That mortal... they aren't ordinary!"
Just like how he rebuilt himself in the past. He rebuilt his spirit body. But instead of looking like the elf. He was wearing a suit. His skin covered in fog.
The ruler looked at him in confusion.
"Devour!"
The ruler waved their hands and the very laws of his dimension trapped Somnus. But the blackhole couldn't be shattered so simply. It absorbed some of these laws.
But the ruler wasn't so easily beaten.
With a breathe.
Somnus felt his entire existence chilled. He turned into an ice statue and then fell onto the ground shattering into a thousand pieces.
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Smoke seemed to be rising from his 'corpse'. He manifested again. The ruler shot ice lances at him. But he started to dodge them.
He then felt his water seed pulse in his sea of consciousness.
Some of the laws of water had been absorbed by his technique. He used this to wrestle control over the environment from the ruler.
Somnus clapped his hands and the ice lances froze in the air. He then used his will to launch them at the ruler of this dimension.
They pierced the body of this entity. But it seemed to take no damage.
Blizzards, novas of frost, bolts of ice, ice lances.
Somnus was bombarded with all sorts of attacks. But he endured them. He felt a connection open up with his body.
"Monarch requires fully integrating the seed..."
[ECHO]: Integration Progress: 97%
Somnus continued to absorb the essence of this dimension. His understanding was changing completely.
A normal person would need to get the blessing of the ruler of the dimension to even have a chance. But Somnus directly stole the essence!
The water seed was becoming a memory in his mind. This meant as long as he had this information. He would be able to replicate the effects of the seed!
[ECHO]: Water seed fully integrated!
[ECHO]: Step: Water Sovereign completed!
[ECHO]: Progress: 11%
The ruler of the dimension was even more confused.
The mortal had suddenly vanished!
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Atesh opened his eyes.
"I see... the seed has been destroyed. But it has given me an understanding of the element."
"Even without it. I can feel a connection with the water dimension."
"No... that isn't it."
"My brand! It is as if a part of my existence has been branded on the water dimension."
"But it isn't a one sided connection... A part of the water dimension has been branded on my existence."
"The first step of water sovereign has been completed."
"Eight more treasures to go!"
Atesh left Gaia's island and started to fly forward. He ignored the blocked off continent and the souls. He passed the inheritance area.
After a few days of flying. He felt he was getting closer and closer to civilization.
Soon, he reached land.
"This area doesn't seem to be isolated."
He walked towards a town.
"I didn't feel any souls out in the ocean this time."
He found a random human and searched their soul.
"I see... the wizard world seems to be in a higher realm. This is a land of preparation for ascension. The strongest people on this continent are just official wizards. You must be an official wizard to get an invitation to the blessed land."
Atesh had changed into fresh clothes that were stored in his storage ring. His robes were like that of an immortal. But despite this, he didn't seem too out of place.
He felt the souls of the surrounding people. While there were regular humans. There was a sizeable chunk of acolytes. There was also a wizard tower in the center of the town he saw from afar using his sovereign mind to enhance his sense of sight.
It seemed to have a purification effect. Making it so wizards could exist with humans without making them sick.
Atesh was stopped at the entrance of the town.
"1 gold coin!"
Atesh took a gold coin from his storage ring and tossed it to the guard. Then he was allowed to enter the town.
"There is a curfew. You must leave before the sun sets. Unless you become a permanent resident!"
"Alright."
Atesh walked among the hustle and bustle of the town.
It was quite crowded.
He then let his sovereign mind fully display its power. He closed his eyes as he focused on his hearing. He created a map of the entire town.
A young man tapped him on the shoulder.
"Do you need a guide? 1 magic stone for one day!"
"I'll be fine."
Atesh had already mapped the entire town in an instant. He had centuries to master his senses and sovereign abilities.
Atesh planned to buy a manor directly and become a permanent resident. There was a massive wizard tower in the center of this town. This was essentially a wizard gathering spot. He couldn't search the souls of acolytes without alarming them.
So he needed to enter their circle a normal way. But as he was walking towards the housing office. His hearing picked up the crying of a women.
A scenario appeared in his mind.
A women holding a baby that was about to die.
Atesh changed his direction and went to the doctors office. The women couldn't afford to pay the fee and the doctor wasn't confident he could save the child.
"Maybe I can help."
Atesh wanted to test out a theory. He felt a deep connection with the water dimension. He wanted to test out the healing properties of spiritual water.
He walked towards the women.
As he reached for the baby. The women slapped his hands away and looked at him with murderous intent.
"I am a water magus. I might be able to help..."
The women wondered why a mage would help.
Atesh touched the child's head and adjusted his eyes. He saw through the skin, muscles, and bones.
"The spine has been damaged."
The women had dropped the baby on accident. She felt extremely guilty. But the baby seemed to be paralyzed not even crying. She thought it was too late.
But then Atesh's hands started to glow as a film of water phased through the baby's skin and covered the spine. It then started to heal!
The baby started to cry!
"Thank you! Thank you! Master Magus!"
"You are welcome..." Atesh smiled. He had one more card up his sleeve.
"Perhaps I can make myself nearly immortal from this ability?"
Atesh was then surrounded by people. They had witnessed the miracle. It wasn't the first time somebody had used magic to heal others. Some of them had even seen mages heal with light magic. But a water magus that healed was a rarity!
Soon... A crowd had formed around Atesh. They asked him to heal their hidden injuries or ailments. He spent all day practicing this skill.
He was becoming more accurate. Better, faster.
The doctor felt like he had lost all his business. He was an acolyte. But his rank 0 healing spell couldn't target other people.
Why did this mage seem to have unlimited energy? He reported this to the towers network.
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Kutesh Scarlet's POV:
Kutesh was looking through the network of his wizard tower. You might think the tower was small. But each room was the size of a football field. There were areas for acolytes to live, potioneering rooms, ritual rooms, labs, and entertainment, and libraries all within. It was like a small academy.
This tower was built thousands of years ago. It had stood the test of time.
"A water mage with a healing spell?"
Kutesh looked through the database of spells.
"This must be an ancient inheritance. Free target healing spells... We only have a few of them in the database. All require light affinity..."
"In the ancient records. There was a mage with such an ability. They had a water seed! Maybe this mage has one."
"If I could steal their water seed. I might be able to brute force my way to rank 2."
"Then I won't be stuck monitoring this gathering point. I'll be able to ascend!"