Time passed. It was impossible to say how long.
When the energy of the Sea of Spirits was nearly depleted, the golden light of the System finally ceased absorbing. What had been a mere point of radiance now blazed like a miniature sun within Sylas's soul, radiating dazzling brilliance and an aura of profound mystery.
Then, without warning, the System returned something.
A supremely pure, primordial spiritual fire, born from the golden light, flowed outward and merged into Sylas's soul. The instant it touched his essence, it ignited.
The fire spread rapidly, burning through his soul from within.
Sylas was seized with terror. His soul was the foundation of his entire existence, and now it was being consumed by flame. He felt it burning, melting, as though his very being were dissolving into nothingness.
He tried to stop it, but the spiritual fire was formless and invisible, beyond the reach of any force. It targeted the soul alone, and nothing else could touch it.
Trapped within his own soul space, Sylas could only watch helplessly as the fire blazed.
But then he noticed something extraordinary.
Though the fire was burning his soul, his thoughts and consciousness remained clear. There was no pain.
On the contrary, his awareness had become sharper than ever before, as though his mind had transcended the boundaries of this world entirely. He felt devoid of desires and attachments, observing reality with a clarity of absolute reason.
The laws of time, space, fate, spirit, and death, which had always seemed vague and elusive, were suddenly laid bare before him, tangible and comprehensible.
And most astonishing of all, the deepest and most fundamental law, the Law of the Soul, guided by the burning of his own spirit, revealed a fragment of itself to him.
The soul was the core of all life and the foundation upon which the world's existence rested. In all of Arda's history, authority over the soul had been held solely by Eru Ilúvatar. Even Mandos, the so-called Lord of the Dead, possessed only the authority to judge souls, never to create them.
The Flame Imperishable, also known as the Immortal Fire, was the Fire of the Soul, the power capable of creating souls from nothing. This was why Morgoth had sought it so relentlessly.
He wished to master the method of soul-creation, to fabricate life of his own design, and thereby become a new Creator God.
But now, without possessing the Flame Imperishable, Sylas had, with the System's aid, unexpectedly glimpsed a fragment of the Law of the Soul. It was an immense, staggering revelation.
Perhaps, when he fully comprehended the Law of the Soul and simultaneously refined his soul's quality to an immortal, indestructible state... that would be the breakthrough that carried him into the next realm entirely.
To put it simply: under the burning of the spiritual fire, Sylas's soul gradually shrank and solidified.
After an indeterminate span of time, his soul became increasingly pure, increasingly flawless. From its original ethereal, gaseous state, it was refined, compressed, and condensed into a soul crystal that existed at the threshold between reality and illusion.
The crystal was transparent and flawless, radiating a soft, luminous glow. It resembled a diamond of impossible perfection.
From this crystallized soul emanated an aura of true immortality, indestructible and eternal. It bore within it the power of time, the laws of the mind, and the fragment of the Law of the Soul that Sylas had now mastered. At its very center, the System's golden light still occupied its place, immovable and sovereign, like a lord who would tolerate no encroachment upon its domain.
The benefits of this soul transformation were immense.
Sylas was now confident that even facing Morgoth at his former peak would pose no challenge. Even without the power of the Sea of Spirits and the River of Time, he could overpower the Dark Enemy through personal strength alone. His spiritual power and mental faculties had undergone a qualitative transformation, making the laws of Arda far easier to access and command.
And most importantly, he could finally perceive the System's true form.
Carefully, Sylas sent his consciousness once more into the deepest stratum of his soul. This time, the golden light did not obstruct him.
When his awareness finally reached the System's core, Sylas's body went rigid. His eyes became vacant as an immense flood of information poured into his consciousness from the depths of his soul. He stood motionless, as though frozen in time.
For a long moment, he perceived nothing of the outside world. Then, gradually, his gaze refocused. His pupils dilated with shock and disbelief. His breathing quickened. His heart hammered uncontrollably.
"I never expected... this."
The System deep within his soul was not truly a "system" in any conventional sense.
It was a World Origin that had transformed itself.
And the world from which this Origin had come was, beyond any doubt, the world of Harry Potter.
Sylas did not know why the Harry Potter world's magical Origin had reshaped itself into a sign-in system and transported him to Arda. But the level and status of this Origin far surpassed his current understanding, reaching what could only be described as creation-level power, comparable to the Flame Imperishable of Eru Ilúvatar.
Moreover, this magical Origin was fundamentally different from the authorities Sylas currently wielded, the power of time, the laws of the mind, and every other ability he had cultivated in Arda. Those powers all belonged to Arda's system of laws, originating from Eru Ilúvatar. If Sylas ever left this world, he would lose them instantly, reverting to his original, powerless state.
But the magical Origin was different.
It was completely bound to Sylas's soul, a power that belonged to him alone, independent of Arda and independent of Ilúvatar. His ability to become a wizard, to wield magic at all, had always stemmed from the existence of this Origin within his soul.
It could be said that Sylas had carried a vast treasure within himself all along, one far more powerful and precious than every other force he had ever acquired combined.
Recognizing the magnitude of this discovery, Sylas was naturally elated. But he quickly tempered his excitement with reason.
Though he possessed a World Origin containing the essence of an entire universe, his current strength remained insufficient to unlock it.
The System, while bound to his soul and hidden deep within him, did not truly belong to him. It treated Sylas's soul as a vessel, a host, remaining aloof and indifferent to his will, like a goddess who could not be swayed by mortal appeal.
Sylas understood why. The System was a manifestation of a World Origin, a creation-level entity. He was currently at the Vala level, separated from creation-level power by a fundamental divide, not merely a gap in quantity, but a difference in the very nature of existence.
Perhaps only by breaking through to creation-level power himself could he fully command the System and make it truly his own.
But Sylas also thought of another path.
The Flame Imperishable.
The System was a creation-level power. The Flame Imperishable was also a creation-level force. Sylas's own power could not shake the System, but perhaps the Flame could.
Both existed at the same transcendent tier, surpassing the ordinary limits of power. Perhaps the Flame Imperishable could be used as a key to unlock the System's treasure vault ahead of schedule.
If he could do that, he should be able to shatter his current limitations and ascend to a higher realm of existence.
Otherwise, Sylas did not know how he could possibly break through to the Creator level.
He had previously believed that the Sea of Spirits, the accumulated spiritual energy of all beings across all of Arda's history, would be sufficient to push him past the threshold. But now he realized he had been thinking too simply.
The energy of the Sea of Spirits was indeed enormous, enough to carry him to the absolute peak of the Vala realm. But the difference between the Vala level and the Creator level was not a matter of accumulated energy.
It was a fundamental difference in origin, a qualitative gap even greater than the chasm separating Maiar from Valar.
More energy would not bridge it. No amount of spiritual power, however vast, could transform a Vala-level being into a Creator. The breakthrough required something else entirely, something that touched the very root of existence.
And beyond that practical concern, the Sea of Spirits was now completely depleted, its vast reserves consumed during Sylas's soul crystallization. Though life still existed in Arda and the Subspace could continue gathering spiritual energy over time, the rate of accumulation was, for a being of Sylas's stature, like watching sand trickle into a desert.