Third Person POV
A swirl of dark fog bloomed in the room like a shadow bending in on itself. From within that inky mass, a hand slowly emerged… and promptly raised a middle finger.
Across the room, Zanac stared at it blankly.
"…Yeah. That looks weird," he muttered.
His gaze shifted to the second cluster of fog right in front of him, half his forearm was currently gone, swallowed by the warped space. He slowly pulled it back out, and the fog collapsed with a soft shhh, disappearing as if it had never existed.
"At least I can use it without any issues," he said, a smirk forming on his face.
He had finished Jin's assimilation days ago, and without hesitation, he placed Kurogiri's template into the available slot.
Because honestly who doesn't want teleportation?
But the smirk faded just as quickly as it came.
"…The Platinum Dragon Lord can probably block me the same way he blocked Pandora's Actor," Zanac muttered, feeling his stomach sink.
The answer was obvious.
Probably yes.
And that single thought drained all colour from his face.
"If I grow strong enough to stand out from the natives, he might mistake me for a player…" Zanac narrowed his eyes, sinking deeper into his thoughts.
He remembered how Tsaindorcus considered players dangerous, responsible for the chaos and the corruption of ancient magic. While he wasn't completely merciless (after all, he once worked alongside the leader of the Thirteen Heroes), he would still eliminate anything he labeled a threat.
"Wild Magic… maybe I should try learning that too."
The idea was tempting. Wild Magic's power was terrifying, its effects overwhelming even high-tier spells. But it came with a price, a cruel one from many perspective.
Wild Magic didn't use mana.
It consumed souls.
The more sacrificed, the stronger the spell.
Of course, the cost wasn't small. Wild Magic could sever your connection to your own soul if you pushed it too far.
Even so, its power wasn't something you could ignore.
"Isn't this basically a devil's bargain?" Zanac muttered. "Trade a soul, get something incredible in return."
It reminded him of dozens of stories where power came at the cost of one's soul or sanity.
From what he remembered, only two types of beings could resist Wild Magic, those who wielded a World Item, or those who could use Wild Magic themselves.
Which made him wonder, "Do any World Items counter any Wild Magic? Or do you need a specific type of World Item to counter a specific spell?"
He leaned back in his chair, frowning.
Thinking about the shocked the Platinum Dragon Lord, when he realised Albedo wasn't affected by Wild Magic…Yeah, the first theory seemed more accurate.
Wasn't it said that World Items were made from the remnants of those leaves, the leaves that once belonged to the great World Tree before some unknown being destroyed most of them? Only nine leaves survived, and those nine became the Nine Worlds of YGGDRASIL.
If that was true…Didn't it mean the rest of the World Items were forged from the shattered remains of whole worlds?
And what does a world contain?
Souls.
Zanac's eyes slowly widened at that thought.
"So… is it soul versus soul? Is that why they counter each other?" he muttered to himself.
It was just speculation. No evidence. No way to confirm anything.
And yet the idea made a frightening kind of sense.
The more Zanac thought about it, the more likely the theory felt.
Still, without any real proof, there was no point in diving too deep into the theory right now.
With a long sigh, Zanac pushed the entire topic aside, at least for the moment. After all, only dragons were actually known to use Wild Magic unless someone born with a talent for it, and even among them, the users were incredibly selective. There was no easy way for him to research it properly yet.
"I should get my hands on a World Item soon…" he muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
From what he remembered, a few World Items still existed in the New World. Most were already claimed, of course, the Slane Theocracy, for example, held several.
"Once I'm strong enough, I'm definitely raiding their country and looting everything," he decided, absently rubbing the ring on his finger.
The Slane Theocracy was one of the strongest human nations in the region, and their most terrifying assets were the God-Kin, aside from their World Items.
The God-Kin were descendants of past Players who had arrived in this world. To maintain and strengthen that bloodline, the Theocracy openly encouraged polygamy among those with player ancestry, allowing them to increase the number of God-Kin over generations.
"Antilene Heran Fouche should be one of their elites… if not the strongest," Zanac thought, picturing the half-elf beauty who carried the blood of two Players.
Tch. Unless I can defeat her, going there would be suicide…
He clicked his tongue. But I'm not planning to fight, right? I just need to steal the items and run away.
A perfectly reasonable plan, on paper atleast.
"Alright… what I need now is simple. Get stronger. Strong enough that even the insane parts of my plans become doable."
He exhaled slowly, feeling his heartbeat steady with resolve.
"So," he muttered, standing up and tightening his grip on the sword beside him on bed, "let's save an elf first."
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Your thoughts on NW magic/ power system