Rei raised his hand again.
Another 1,000 souls drilled into the body of the Thousand-Army Ant Mountain.
THUMP—THUMP—THUMP—THUMP!
The rhythm of its beating grew even tighter.
It thundered like war drums echoing across a battlefield.
The swarms of ants burst outward like raindrops pouring from the sky.
WHAA—!
Rei flew out of the cave.
Rising high into the sky, he gazed into the distance.
What he saw was a gray, hazy surge of Monster Tides, flowing and writhing. From every direction, the tides were converging toward this single location.
"Gather them… and then convert them with the Thousand-Army Ant Mountain…"
"In that case… wouldn't this effectively eliminate the Monster Tides?"
"Perhaps that could become an interesting research direction… though it's also possible someone else has already studied it."
Rei pondered silently.
Power itself wasn't frightening.
A ritual capable of gathering Monster Tides could just as easily be used to eliminate them.
And now, it had even been transformed into his own source of strength.
He had sacrificed less than twenty thousand souls, yet the Thousand-Army Ant Mountain was producing over a hundred thousand souls per second.
Rei returned into the sealed chamber.
From his storage space, he took out a writing desk and a reclining chair.
He placed the books he had borrowed and purchased onto the desk, lay back comfortably in the chair, and opened a volume titled:
"Foundations of Ritual Studies."
Whenever the Monster Tide gradually became thinner—
Rei would inject 5,000 souls into the ritual.
Like tossing another lump of coal into a dying furnace, causing the flames to burn fiercely again.
"Monsters… really are a field full of knowledge."
Over the course of the afternoon,
Rei read more than a dozen books.
His reading speed wasn't as fast as that of a Scholar-type genius, but it certainly wasn't slow either.
More importantly—
Everything he read, Rei felt he could fully understand and digest.
While studying the books,
he also raised the proficiency of the Mana-Tempering Combat Flow.
Although soul sacrifices could increase proficiency as well, Rei still practiced the techniques seriously in combat drills.
The Mana-Tempering Combat Flow contained eleven distinct combat techniques.
Its most unusual trait was that its requirements didn't necessarily depend on a Warrior's level, but rather on the Mage's level.
Ordinary combat techniques worked similarly to magic tiers—for example, a Tier-4 combat skill couldn't be mastered by a Level-3 Warrior.
But the Mana-Tempering Combat Flow was different.
Both Mages and Warriors could learn it.
However, if a Warrior wanted to master it, they had to possess magical power.
For Rei, this conveniently eliminated the need to temporarily switch classes to Warrior.
The First Form was Mana Tempering.
It allowed the user to refine magical power through the body.
Purified mana enabled more efficient spellcasting, while mana itself could nourish the body, strengthening the physical form.
The Second Form was Mana-Piercing Sweep / Downward Cleave / Rising Kick.
Different kicking techniques.
As the kick was unleashed, mana condensed into the leg and slashed outward like a crescent blade.
Only after learning this combat technique did Rei truly understand the sensation.
So this was how sword waves and long-range slashing attacks were produced.
The Third Form was Mana Penetration Body.
It caused all melee attacks to carry a mana-piercing effect.
At Rei's current level,
he could only unlock the combat techniques up to the Ninth Form.
The Tenth and Eleventh Forms required him to reach Level-4 Mage before they could be learned.
However—
During this period of training,
Rei had already raised the entire Mana-Tempering Combat Flow to Level 301 proficiency.
Each technique he had learned had evolved along different developmental paths.
"So that means…"
"The maximum proficiency level of combat techniques and skills is calculated based on my Mage level?"
"Or perhaps it's based on my highest class level overall."
"It's just that right now, Mage happens to be my highest-level class."
He injected another 5,000 souls into the ritual.
The ritual still responded with a vigorous pulling force.
However…
It no longer attracted much Monster Tide.
"Sigh…"
Rei left the cave and looked into the distance.
The surrounding air was clean and crisp, almost completely purified.
Only a faint trace of newly forming corruption remained.
"It's incredibly clear now."
According to the books,
Monster Tides appeared out of thin air, and the reason for their emergence remained unknown.
But in the wilderness, Monster Tides were normally everywhere.
It was like saying water appeared from nothing—yet the entire world was an ocean.
How could anyone tell where new water was forming?
But now—
The air had been completely drained of Monster Tides.
Those murky energies that spawned spontaneously were now perfectly visible.
"I actually drained it dry…"
Through his experiments this afternoon, Rei had roughly determined how the soul sacrifice quantity influenced the ritual.
More precisely—
The ritual gathered Monster Tides within a certain radius, pulling them toward the ritual location.
It also had a minor catalytic effect, accelerating the spontaneous generation of Monster Tides.
But that effect was relatively weak.
Adding more souls greatly increased the attraction force and the range from which the tides were drawn.
During the first few hours that afternoon,
Rei had harvested over 400 million souls per hour.
Unfortunately, once the surrounding Monster Tides were completely drained, the conversion efficiency slowed down.
In just seven hours, including his previous reserves,
he had accumulated three billion souls.
When he thought about that number,
Rei couldn't help thinking about a notorious mage.
Heh…
So Messer turned out to be… me?
A chill crept down his spine.
He had slaughtered ants relentlessly, yet it had still taken him this long to reach three billion souls.
Meanwhile, that man had directly sacrificed three billion living humans.
It was horrifying.
Rei stored the desk, reclining chair, and books back into his storage space.
After a full day of studying,
he had finally fulfilled the Perfect Advancement Conditions for the Cipher Scholar.
By calculation, he had accumulated roughly 20 advancement points.
And with three billion souls in reserve,
he should be able to handle most unexpected situations.
Rei returned to the City Within the Circle.
The moment he arrived,
he felt a familiar presence of perception brushing against his own.
It was Iz.
Izparut had returned.
"Long time no see, Iz."
At a fruit stall, Rei walked up beside him.
Iz picked up a pomegranate.
"It has been a while. How have things been going lately?"
With a light tap of his finger, the pomegranate's peel separated instantly, leaving only the seeds resting in his hand.
"My growth might surprise you, Iz."
"Haha. Surprise me?"
Izparut laughed heartily.
"I already heard about it when I returned. You cleared the hundredth floor of the War God Tower, and you achieved a 500-win streak in the Combat Arena."
"But I didn't expect you to boldly declare that you'd defeat Luluvi while still a Level-3 Mage."
Rei blinked.
"…Huh?"
When did I ever say that?
Rei always considered himself fairly modest when speaking to others.
Even if he knew he was strong,
he never bragged about it aloud.
Making such an arrogant declaration definitely wasn't his style.
"Oh? Wasn't it you?" Iz noticed Rei's confusion.
"No."
Iz shrugged.
"What a pity. I thought you might have that kind of bold spirit."
Not that my courage is small…
I just don't feel the need to say it out loud.
"So?" Iz looked toward the staff Rei was holding.
Then back at Rei himself.
"Are you planning to challenge Luluvi?"
Rei sighed.
"Is she strong?"
Aside from sparring with Iz,
the only opponent who had truly given Rei trouble so far was Kaiga.
As for everyone else—
Not a single one had placed him under any pressure.
Luluvi's 5,000-win streak certainly made her sound formidable.
But exactly how strong was she?
When Rei asked himself that question honestly…
he couldn't help feeling a hint of underestimation.
Surely she couldn't be stronger than Kaiga?
Yet Iz answered immediately.
"Yeah. She's very strong."
"If we were at the same level, I'd still need to put in some effort to beat her."
Oh…
That high of an evaluation?
Iz paused, then added,
"If I were one level lower than her… hmm… I'd probably win, but it would be a very difficult victory."
A very difficult victory?
Should I call that confidence…?
Well, I'm hardly in a position to judge Izparut.
After all, Rei himself believed he could defeat Luluvi—
even though he was currently one level lower.
"I'll keep that in mind."
If Iz rated her that highly, Luluvi must truly be formidable.
To ensure he could obtain the Prophet's Secret Scroll, he should probably gather some information about his opponent.
"What kind of opponent is she?"
Iz thought for a moment.
"Her attack range is… extremely long."
"Basically anything that archers excel at, she can do."
Attack range, huh…
Rei tightened his grip on his staff.
His own casting distance now exceeded one hundred kilometers.
That should offset quite a few disadvantages.
"As for the rest…"
"I don't know that much. She challenged me once before, but she didn't win during our same-tier fight."
"Afterward, she said she wanted a rematch when we were the same level again, without holding anything back."
"But until now, she's still Level 4, while I've already reached Level 6."
Oh… a failed challenger.
Wait…
Why does that sound a bit like me?
No—my match wasn't a loss.
It was a draw.
And that was with 150,000 souls.
Now I have three billion.
Iz… even you probably wouldn't survive that explosion.
Rei planned to watch Luluvi fight later.
Seeing his opponent firsthand would be more reliable.
"Oh right, Iz. What happened with Messer?"
"Messer? I killed him."
Izparut said it casually.
As though it were nothing worth mentioning.
"He had a deep understanding of the Origin, but when it came to actual magical mastery… he was far inferior to me."
"What a pity."
"If only he had used magic for the right purposes."
A complicated emotion flickered in Iz's eyes.
Two days earlier
"Yo—Izparut."
"This is our first time meeting, right?"
A man wearing a monocle stood there in noble attire.
It was likely the formal clothing he wore as a territorial lord.
Across from him stood another man—
Long hair.
A magnificent, flowing mage's robe.
His expression was calm as still water.
And cold as frost.
Messer looked into his eyes.
The pressure radiating from him was suffocating.
Even though they were both Level-6 Mages—
Even though Messer had advanced earlier and spent far longer exploring the sixth tier—
He felt no hope of victory whatsoever.
Just by meeting his gaze…
he already knew.
They were not on the same level.
"I'm actually your admirer," Messer forced an ugly smile.
"The greatest mage in history…"
Izparut's thoughts spread through the air.
"Is that so? Having an admirer like you might be my misfortune."
"I don't wish for people who admire me to use magic to create unjust slaughter."
A blood-red staff appeared in Messer's right hand.
"Of course… a genius like you wouldn't understand."
"You can't comprehend the suffering of those of us pursuing the Origin…"
"Did you know? I used to be a genius too."
"In just six years, I became a Level-5 Mage admired by tens of thousands."
"But when I reached Level 5, I realized something…"
"My path was wrong."
"It could never prove the true Origin."
"It was nothing but my own delusion."
"To pursue the real Origin, I searched for countless methods…"
"You think I wanted to kill people?"
"No. I had no interest in them at all."
"If they had no relevance to the pursuit of Origin, I wouldn't even bother looking at them."
"So why would I kill them?"
"But I had no choice."
"Because I needed to prove something."
"I needed to prove that the Origin exists independently."
"I needed to prove that the Origin is something real and tangible."
"I wanted to extract Origin Magic from ordinary people who knew nothing about it—to verify my hypothesis!"
"You're the greatest mage alive."
"You should understand what I'm talking about."
"You should understand my idea!"
"Isn't it brilliant?"
"Isn't it a unique method of proving the Origin?"
Izparut frowned deeply.
"Haha… since we have such a rare opportunity, why don't we discuss our views on the Origin?"
"We're both mages. Why must it be life or death?"
"You're curious about my research too, aren't you?"
"You want to know what kind of Origin I discovered!"
"We don't necessarily have to fight."
"You and I—"
"Enough."
Iz's will vibrated through heaven and earth.
Cutting him off.
"I find your ideas interesting."
"But… I also have my own principles."
"I may be interested, but that doesn't mean I want to know what you've researched."
Messer shouted,
"What if the path to the Origin requires these actions?!"
"What if it demands that you betray your conscience and drown the world in suffering?!"
"Would you abandon the path of the mage?"
"Would you abandon the pursuit of the Origin?!"
"The path toward the Origin will not bend to your personal morality!"
"We all must seek the ultimate truth!"
"Are you truly a mage who would abandon the Origin, Izparut?!"
"No! I believe your determination to pursue the Origin is even stronger than mine!"
"If you were placed in my situation…"
"You would make the same choice I did!"
FLASH!
The moment he finished speaking—
Iz had already appeared directly before him.
"We are not the same, Messer."
His staff pointed straight at Messer's chest.
A deadly premonition exploded inside Messer's mind.
A spell was coming.
But from where?
Instinct screamed.
His senses plunged downward—
Only to discover that the ocean below had already been carved into a massive cylindrical void.
"Extract the Void."