Richard walked together with Eleonora’s father. On the way, he briefly explained to him what he had already said to his daughter, though he made sure not to spill out any unnecessary words. The less he revealed the better for now.

He was in an unknown place, seemingly teleported here by the deep. Why and for what reason, he didn’t know.

He decided to stay vigilant and learn more about this world from this man, then choose his course of action. His most pressing concern was to find a way to return to his world.

As the duo walked together, Richard could see the admiration and respect this man was receiving from the locals. This reminded him of himself a few months ago; when he had ridden on his horse and travelled together with the other paladins through the Imperial City’s central road, just before leaving for the final battle. He remembered how the people cheered and screamed while he passed by them, occasionally giving them that salute. He was a symbol of hope and courage.

“Richard, I believe you should be older than 15 years old. So, may I ask why you haven’t yet unlocked your mana? People usually unlock their mana at the age of four, some prodigies even at a younger age. I’ve unlocked mine just before nine months.”

Richard gazed at him. “What’s mana and how do you unlock it?”

The man replied with a smile.

Mana was the basis of this world. Everything here was made of mana and magic. It was impossible for someone not to be aware of what mana was. Yet, here was a young man without any knowledge of it.

The man felt intrigued, now more eager to begin his tests. For some reason, he felt that this kid could turn out to be an asset for their declining conclave. Nothing to lose and worth a try.

They arrived ahead of a towering palace, which was an impressive piece of architecture.

The man stepped over a circular circle with flashing symbols, then invited Richard.

“Step on it, don’t be afraid.”

Richard obliged, though not without that moment of hesitation.

The man then flicked his fingers, and both of them began levitating upwards.

“It has been so long since I last used this elevator.”

Richard looked at him curiously.

“Because I usually fly,” he said with a wink.

“You can fly?”

“Of course, all strong warriors can fly.”

“Can you teach me how to fly?”

The man laughed. “No need for that, once you unlock your second dogma, it will occur naturally.”

Richard was about to ask him what was this second dogma he spoke about but then changed his mind. There was so much he didn’t know about this world; better to learn it bit by bit. At this point, his survival mattered more than learning how to fly.

They arrived almost at the top of the palace, and entered a long tunnel, until arriving into a large hall.

“Wait for me here, I shall come back shortly.”

The man instantly disappeared giving Richard no chance to react, yet alone speak.

He found himself alone. He observed the dome above, which was remarkable. A magical piece of art.

It depicted a large tunnel of clouds swirling upwards in the sky. From the vortex, descended a large serpent dragon in all of its glory. A ferocious dragon. And a young warrior flying high up in the sky, not afraid in the slightest, stood before this very dragon, about to engage it.

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His amazement was interrupted though when he felt something struggling in his trousers. It poked him several times until it escaped.

The adorable looking flute shivered in the air, then began running around, much to Richard’s hopelessness. It bumped into other stuff with incredible speed, destroying several pieces of arts and sculptures in the process. It seemed to be enjoying this art sacrilege.

Richard panicked and chased after the flute. But the flute was too fast, and all he could do was despair as he saw one artistic object after another being destroyed. And it didn’t matter which type of art it was; the flute clearly didn’t care as long as it destroyed stuff.

This was a terrible development. Even if had to catch the flute, how would he explain this massacre? When that man returns, he would surely uphold him and throw him in jail, or worse…

The flute then stopped hovering near the middle of the hall, holding the largest vase by its handle. It swirled it around like it was some kind of yo-yo.

Richard bared his teeth, his eyes twitched on the provoking flute. He had enough of this shit.

“If it’s war you want, then it’s war you will get you piece of pipe shit!”

The flute noticed that Richard had lost his reason, so it let go the vase.

Richard jumped, landing horizontally and sliding on the floor trying to grab the vase before it reached the ground. But it was too late.

The vase had broken into tiny fragments, covering and brushing Richard’s body with pieces of glass.

Then the flute, with nothing left to destroy, hovered in the middle of the hall, seemingly depressed that the fun was over.

But Richard’s fun was just about to start.

He acted like a mad predator as if his only existence was to catch the flute in front of him and destroy in the most horrible way possible. He reached out his hand and grabbed the flute, his wide grin now turning into a massive maniacal laugh.

If he had to go down, then this flute was coming down with him. He had already died once so he wasn’t afraid of death. As long as this shit died with him, he would die with no regrets.

However, a burst of energy suddenly arose from the circular floor; an unknown magical mechanism was triggered the moment Richard stepped at the very centre of the hall. The energy quickly surrounded Richard, trapping him inside it. It gradually expanded, enveloping and occupying almost the entire hall, forming a large spherical arc.

The entire floor of the hall then began trembling and illuminating itself. The middle section gave way and formed a small depression, enveloping Richard even deeper into the magical spell.

Shortly after, the man had returned with another old man, both surprised and shocked at the unfolding event. “What?! How did he manage to activate the magical array?!!”

“Quickly, call the other elders! We need to control this mana surge before any further damage is done!” The older man ordered as he flew towards the outskirts of the magical circle and began meditating.

The struggling Richard yelled in pain, and while he noticed someone had entered the hall, he couldn’t hear their conversation. His entire vision then twisted, and he found himself in a similar hall, almost identical, albeit not as archaic as the one he was before.

An ancient man sat meditating on the floor, his extensive beard overlapping itself multiple times.

Richard gazed at him with interest. He could see through him, so he quickly deduced that this man must be a lingering spirit.

The spirit opened its eyes, then spoke with grandiosity. “I am the great founder of this conclave, Kong Sun. I am an existence beyond your comprehension, and the presence of someone as weak as you offends my eyes. Leave now!”

Richard frowned. This old bastard reminded him of the egos of those bastards at the order. Luckily for him, he knew how he had to deal with them.

“Doesn’t me coming here makes me as great as you?” Richard asked.

Kong Sun eyes widened, his aura burning violently. “You! Who do you think you are? How dare you compare the great me with the likes of yourself?!”

“Shut up, all you did so far was yelling how great you are. To be honest you don’t look that special, not a great founder at all. As far as it concerns me, a great founder is supposed to help his conclave, yet you sit there like an indolent bastard.”

Kong Sun’s spirit raged with fury. He stood up floating mid-air.

“This place is a sacred chamber, a place I constructed just before my real body passed away! The spell I created was a spell of the highest order, the Spirit Converging technique! Other elders cast this technique too before they die, merging with this ever growing array of spirits!”

“Young children are presented to us, and the greater their dormant mana potential, the deeper they can dwell in this place, and the stronger the warriors they can meet. We guide anyone who comes here, showing them their destined paths.”

“And this is the deepest place of the spell! Throughout this spell’s existence, there was only one person who has ever made it here. He was only one month old! His name was Gayus, and he was one of the best human mages to ever exist in this world! I am sure he is still alive out there and kicking!”

“But what about you? A sixteen-year-old and twenty days and you are yet to unlock your mana! This is an offence! You shouldn’t even be here! Only the prodigies of the prodigies should appear before me!”

Kong Sun ended his speech with a deafening cry.

Richard sighed. “If children and babies can unlock their mana, then I don’t see why I shouldn’t unlock it by myself! I don’t need your help!”

He closed his eyes and began meditating while Kong Sun stared at him dumbfounded.