Deep in the dark tomb, a vague female silhouette emerged. The beautiful stranger was extremely surprised. Her eyes, bright like radiance of the constellations, were fixed on the unconscious young man, with a girl snuggling next to him.{Today is the kid"s lucky break. He"s found the heavenly pearl of light. As a counterweight, he is destined to die here. That"s too bad. I expected more from him...} - The G.o.ddess decided to keep her hands clean and take the priceless piece only after the boy"s death.
A few hours pa.s.sed unnoticed.
~ sigh ~
{He was worth my interest. A resourceful boy.}
…
Kyon opened his eyes. He"d just heard five familiar sounds in his head that marked his enlightenment. At the same time, there was a m.u.f.fled rumbling sound shaking the entire tomb to the ground.
The thunder stunned the boy and the girl like a high-pitched hammer and the quake threw them half a meter up.
«I LIVE!» - Kyon exclaimed joyfully. He couldn"t believe his luck. Carrying Juno on his shoulder, he ran to the exit and pushed the stone wall to the side. It opened with a soft creak... His guess was right, the barrier had kept the entrance locked.
His soul rejoiced when he left the unfortunate tomb. However, a strange gurgling sound and heat in the back made him turn around... He saw the castle wrapped with bright orange magma which was coming from somewhere above.
{Holy s.h.i.+t!} -The young man was amazed at what he saw, but it was dangerous and pointless to stay there. He quickly ran up the spiral staircase.
«Where am I?..» - The girl opened her eyes and asked in a weak voice. Her head was swimming. She couldn"t see a thing.
Kyon laughed quietly and carried trembling Juno in his arms, at the same time releasing the element of heat to warm her up.
The girl breathed deeply. A wave of profound pleasure washed over her. She felt free and exhilarated. Instinctively, the girl hugged Kyon. {How nice... Did I die? The desired peace has come... It"s too bad I did not kill that freak. It"s a pity I died under such circ.u.mstances, but... It feels so good.}
Kyon was out of breath when he climbed the spiral staircase and headed for the treasury.
Juno opened her eyes and sniffed the air. She couldn"t see anything but she smelled the demon she hated with all her heart. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d was unceremoniously holding her in his arms as if she was his property!
«Am I alive? And so are you?! Let go of me!»
«You"re a fool, it"s dark in here. You"ll get lost and die. I need you alive.»
«Let go of me right now!» - The girl screeched. She was disgusted to be in his arms. It was so bad as if she was in the embrace of a poisonous snake.
«Shut up. I order you to remain silent until we get to the library. And stop kicking. That"s better... You annoy me less when you sleep.» - Kyon couldn"t hold back his smile.
He had taken a great risk but managed to get out of the castle and master the remaining five elements. The heavenly geniuses will turn green with envy - he has achieved perfection! All nine elements are in his possession! The world is his oyster now. He can become a sophisticated alchemist, or increase the quality of his energy, adding his knowledge from the past world to the elements. However, it was too early to decide anything.
When they were upstairs in the secret library, Kyon put the girl on the ground and wiped the sweat from his wet forehead.
Juno leaned against the bookcase. She was exhausted. «It"s madness… You saved me! How did you do it?!» - But then her charming smile turned sour. - «Why did it take you so long?! Did you want to make fun of me?! I thought I would freeze to death!»
Kyon sighed tiredly and offered his hand for her to kiss.
«What is it? What do you want…»
«Show more respect to me, darling.»
«You…» - Juno let out a bitter sigh. Her servant was the most tactless and arrogant man in the world. His way of getting her grat.i.tude was disgusting.
The little angel shut her eyes and tried to touch his outstretched hand with her lips but the effort was too much for her strength, she almost collapsed.
«Oops-daisy!» - Kyon was just in time to catch Juno. He grinned and added. – «Ungrateful little snot…»
«I can handle this!» - She scornfully pushed his hands away and leaned against the shelf again. The girl was even more beautiful when she was angry... Proud, arrogant little devil!
«Thank you for saving me, master. But I suffered because of you! You dragged me into that d.a.m.n castle... Moreover, it was me who helped you recover! Sneaky selfish parasite... I wish I had never met you! Puh!»
Her weak spit did not reach the target.
Kyon did not want and could not be angry with the furious demon. Quite the opposite, her words and actions were for him nothing but an innocuous growl of a little fox cub. She looked cute and funny...
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
«Okay, listen to me carefully. I order you to have something to eat, get washed and go to bed. If your maids ask you anything answer them that you were in the treasury studying the techniques. You got tired and fell asleep. When your grandfather calls, I order you to pretend you"re sleepy and tell him that everything is in order. If he starts digging deeper, say that you are tired and want to sleep or try code 5. When you wake up, come straight to me. Your master has not had a foot ma.s.sage from his ungrateful apprentice for a long time. That"s all. Now get out of here…» - Kyon complacently finished his tirade.
«How dare you…»
«Please shut your mouth before I beat you up.» - The guy threatened kindly.
Outraged, Juno opened her mouth. She hated the arrogant servant with all her heart. He didn"t even let her talk with her grandfather!
She thought the gloomy, cold tomb was the last thing she had seen before her death. The heritage the Stones had tried to get for many centuries fell into the hands of the greedy b.a.s.t.a.r.d!
The only pleasant memory left in Juno"s mind was the sweet warmth she felt when she was at death"s door. Every fiber of her being yearned for it. However, her craving disappeared the moment she woke up in the hands of the miserable sc.u.m... Juno s.h.i.+vered.
{Yuk! I hope the ungrateful servant will purify my keys. Otherwise, I will rip out his heart and make him gobble it up.}
On the way to the training ground, Kyon saw a couple walking around - Flitz and Marina. The old man seemed to have abandoned all his affairs and arrived to cheer up his beloved one. He looked just like a gray-haired knight on a white horse!
The servants told Kyon all about what had happened. From their frightened faces, he understood the lightning strike was an anomaly similar to the end of the world.
Due to its scale, the strange phenomenon was not attributed to the invasion. Therefore, they didn"t expect the full mobilization of the Stones, or anything special.
The short absence of Juno (since the lightning strike) and failures in her formation rally hit the maids" nerve. But now they had nothing to worry about - the lady was found. The worried Patriarch might visit the estate soon... Either way, Kyon will find out the necessary information from Juno and get prepared in advance.
The servants brought in the meal to his room. He had enough of delicious food and went to the training ground to conduct tests.
A smile lit up his face. Despite the resentment of heaven, he managed to master all of the nine elements! What a pleasure to achieve perfection in this regard... He risked it all and won.
He decided to get to the recipes from the ancient heritage later. It was time to find out what he was capable of with the nine elements. He was also eager to know what happened to his element of light. The nephrite trap had ruined its key, after all.
Kyon didn"t think anything would come out of trying to release the attribute of light. A destroyed key, the books told him, can never be restored. It would be a tremendous blow if he"d lost the whole element and the ability to mix it with darkness creating the attribute of the s.p.a.ce.
Contrary to his expectations, a light fog formed on his hand, different from the previous one in its glow and density. A beautiful sparkling cloud emanated calmness and kindness.
{Come on!} - He couldn"t believe his eyes. The attribute was still there but its nature seemed to have changed completely.
Kyon did several experiments and found out that the attribute had become more powerful and intense in an absolutely incomprehensible way.
{What"s going on? It was a trap, wasn"t it?!}
The boy combined darkness and light creating the attribute of s.p.a.ce. After the elements united, there appeared the remnants of light fog, which marked the superiority of light over darkness! Their energies were uneven. He needed to use more darkness to create spatial energy without excess.
{That ravenous ball... It was also a part of the heritage! It made my attribute of light stronger!} - A tidal wave of sudden awareness washed over him. He released Synergy into his soul through the key of light and noticed some differences compared with the last time. Now the walls seemed to sparkle with golden light as if the entire channel had been upgraded in quality to a new level.
During short experiments, Kyon discovered to his delight that in addition to enhancing the attribute, he acquired an advanced grade of the element of light. Now he can use the attribute in even greater ways; the healing techniques will become way more powerful.
He identified the gain he obtained with the attribute of the advanced grade. The key had amplified the attribute by exactly 50%!
He had never heard of formations or objects that could grant a gain of any attribute by 50%, moreover raising a grade! The heritage he found, the key, was the most valuable a.s.set.
It all seemed like a wonderful dream.
What Kyon did not know was that the heavenly pearl of light in addition to raising the grade of the element and increasing its power by 50% gives a similar percentage resistance to its attribute. Besides, it purifies the key at 100%, something he could not notice.
The euphoria did not pa.s.s at once. The young man slowly calmed down and admitted it was a great grace. Anyone else would have been killed by the pearl. Well, it was a dubious heritage. If he hadn"t been well prepared he"d have inevitably died from a heart attack or a pain shock.
Kyon began to a.n.a.lyze the element of the wind.
This attribute allows manipulating any gaseous substance it comes in contact with: carbon dioxide, steam, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.
Kyon also found out it could concentrate the energy of the attribute in the most harmless gas, nitrogen. For example, he will be able to create wind flows in s.p.a.ce with his own energy of the elements. Alas, he had created nothing except nitrogen so far.
The time has come for battle experiments.
The boy directed a gale of wind into the nearest dummy. He squinted and repeated his action, concentrating the flow into a subtle blow. When it touched the doll, there a sound like a whip crack.
Kyon grinned, readjusted the ca.n.a.l and tried again to achieve what he wanted. Now, instead of a subtle blow, a thin blade of wind flew into the dummy.
*snap*
When it hit the target, he heard a quiet sound, and a long thin scratch appeared on the dummy"s head.
The more delicate the air attack, the faster it loses power within the distance, the less its total power. But in some cases, the damage is more significant. For example, to eliminate a flying fireball it is better to send a storm blow instead of a blade. It deflects the attack or throws it back to the enemy"s face. Therefore, the wind bender has an advantage against the fire bender.
{Juno once used the element to parry a blow...} - With this thought in mind, Kyon provided Synergy direction for action. He wanted to create an imaginary enemy with the 10th level of fighting fist and the same speed of movement.
After a five-minute battle with a shadow, Kyon nodded to himself. {Theoretically, I get an additional battle fist using the element of the wind to balance the body. In fact, it does not exist! There is an increase in power, though...}
The element of the wind pleasantly surprised Kyon. Of course, the ether will be more effective, but the wind increases the combat potential. It allows to deflect some attacks and helps fight more unpredictably and nimble.
The boy wanted to implement the principle of vacuum on the skin, but his idea failed. Most likely, the grade of the element wasn"t enough. The vacuum would give him high resistance to heat, sound, and harmful shockwaves.
The next step was the element of water.
The element of water allows controlling any liquid substance it contacts with.
The boy learned that he can concentrate the energy of the attribute in the ordinary pure water. He doesn"t need to have a bucket of water with him to launch an attack. If he is in the desert, he can always quench his thirst with it. There"s one disadvantage: such water is devoid of useful minerals.
It was time for battle experiments.
A stream, a subtle blow, and a blade had approximately the same power as the element of the wind. He could similarly deflect an attack, put up a defense and slightly change the balance of his body by controlling the fluid inside.
The two elements combined provide an additional advantage. He could quickly change the balance of his body and unpredictably attack the enemy. In fact, he acquired another nonexistent combat fist.
Kyon planned to implement the principle of a water whip, which required the elements of pure energy and water.
During the practice, he easily created a long water whip that did not lose its shape for up to three seconds. In other words, he created it for a couple of strokes, then he needed a new one. It was fragile but could cause serious injury.
Kyon infused electricity into it and struck the unfortunate dummy. It seemed strange to him that electricity pa.s.sed through distilled water, but then he remembered it had the same oscillation frequency as his soul, and everything fell into place. Indeed, any energy from one source (soul) is compatible with its own kind.
The main problem of the ether is that it required touching the enemy. The water element makes it easier. Therefore the pract.i.tioners of ether and water are strong. The union of these elements creates a powerful combination. For example, Flitz bends water. Pure energy, darkness, and light to boot make the old man a genius. He is the lord of four elements.