The tattoo on Rezen’s stomach was stimulated and lines of intertwining lines of tattoos spread from it that covered the entirety of his body
His aura instantly rose as he held Maze on his shoulders before exerting pressure on him
Rezen’s heavy hands along with his imposing aura force Maze to his knees. He tried to stand but every time he would try to do so, Rezen would once again put him in his place
“I don’t need someone as hotheaded as you. I don’t have the time nor the desire to supervise you 24/7. Either you calm the hell down or get the fuck out of here”
“With your current state, if I give you even just a bit of power, you might go and seek death by searching and attacking the Twighlight Beast. You’ll just waste my resources”
Rezen’s words were completely merciless, stabbing Maze in the heart. Indeed, if Rezen made him stronger than he is now, Maze really has planned on attacking the Twighlight Beast
Even if he cannot defeat them in one go, he would still slightly avenge his clan
“Y-you…!” Maze’s cheeks flushed in shame and anger. No one has treated him in this manner before
“Be angry but don’t be a fool. What I need is a person that uses his anger as a driving force, not a person that has become a fool because of his hatred” Rezen continued before letting go of the other man’s shoulders
He waved his hand and a piece of carrot and pepper appeared on his palm. “Eat these and you’ll be my person with no ability to betray me and I’ll give you more power. Refuse and you can work hard on your own but remember, not all hard work is worth it. If it was, everyone in this world would have been successful already”
Not all hard work is worth it… those words continuously rang inside Maze
As a mage, Maze worked really hard but Rezen… a mage at the same age as him is far more powerful than him
In terms of hard work, Maze has never lacked that. He never slacks off on his cultivation but…
Maze unconsciously glanced at Rezen’s stoic and emotionless face. Deep down inside him, he knew that if the two of them fought, he might not even last for a few minutes before he would he defeated
Not all hard work is worth it… what if Maze spends his whole life working hard but still can’t have the power to enact his revenge…
The young man unconsciously clenched his fist and while gritting his teeth, grabbed the carrot and pepper before directly swallowing them
“Blind” Rezen simply said and Maze’s body shook. He found out that he completely lost his sense of vision
“Betray me and that’s not the only thing that would happen to you” Rezen said before returning Maze’s vision back to him
“Eleven” Rezen called out and an artificial human brought two black boxes with him
“Take these and consume everything inside. After that, go and seek Zero, he would turn you both into a 5th rank Tattoo Warrior”
Zero was the first artificial human that Rezen grew. And it was also only Zero that could create a 5th rank Tattoo Warrior and naturally, he was also at that level
It seems like the great change that his Master undergoes affected him greatly causing a breakthrough
——
Vadena City
Preston Family Estate
Claude’s room
Boom!
After absorbing the last bit of essence that the Spirit Ruby has, a booming sound echoed inside Claude’s elixir field
The abundant spiritual force elevated his soul to another level, making it more refined and powerful than before
From a mage with a soul that is just a bit superior compared to the weaker 6th fusion rank mages, Claude’s soul undergoes a transformation and reaches the peak
Improving the soul to the peak of 6th rank should be a long process even if the mage has all the necessary resources
However, in just around a month, Claude has easily reached the peak all thanks to the Spirit Ruby
As expected of a treasure that could only be created by the sacrifice of at least 10,000 souls. Not to mention, the Spirit Ruby that Claude uses was definitely created using more than ten thousand souls
His soul reaches the peak of his rank in one go
Suddenly, the sky above the estate of the Preston Family turned black and the sound of thunder raged. There were even flashes of lightning that appeared
It was as if the heavens were angered and is baring its fangs
This phenomenon attracted the attention of many people and they all looked at the sky with a frown on their faces
This situation is not something that was created using magic but a natural phenomenon just like the ocean waves or the eruption of a volcano
But it happened so abruptly that people can’t help but be doubtful of its origin
Back to Claude’s side, the man opened his eyes as soon as he broke through. The moment he did so, it was as if the clouds blocking his vision parted
His body stays rooted on his bed, unmoving as if he was a statue. The mana particles in the space around him were stirred and became lively
It was as if the mana particles were communicating with Claude to the point that they became visible to the naked eye
Colorful lights suddenly surrounded Claude’s figure because of the mana of various elements that gathered around him
It gave him an image befitting to the child of the heavens which was one of the titles people use to call him
After what felt like centuries, Claude finally moved, his face filled with a complex whirlpool of emotions
“So that was it… the reason why in the path of mages, I am talented and lucky that people started calling me the heaven’s chosen…”
“All the fortuitous encounters I had weren’t just because I was lucky… it was predetermined…”
“Even the formation of my personality is also… fated. My fate… so that was my fate… how cruel but… for the sake of the ‘greater good’… I can’t refuse my fate…”
Claude talked to himself before his enchanting blue eyes became moist with fresh tears
“Hahahahaha!! Fate… how cruel…”
The man laughed like a madman. His laughter contains endless bitterness as he unconsciously shed tears
It was as if he just learned that his whole life was a joke causing him to suffer a mental breakdown
“Hahahaha! Cruel… really cruel… but… this is my fate…”
After laughing for minutes, Claude stops and turned his head in a specific direction. His eyes seemingly have the ability to penetrate layers and layers of space
“Well then… the first target of my fate… not bad”
From someone that looks as if he just lost his mind, Claude’s expression and aura instantly change. His eyes were filled with murderous intent as his body suddenly turned into black smoke and vanished
What he had done should be magic but he didn’t create any magic circle at all. He is still clearly a 6th fusion rank mage but he managed to do something that only magic could do without using a magic circle
If this was known to all the mages in the world then they would definitely be shocked to the core
——
Outside Vadena City, formless black smoke suddenly appeared and condensed into the figure of Claude
He was floating in the sky, surrounded by clouds. Such a scene should be a great subject for painting but because of his serious and murderous expressions, the harmony between him and the clouds suffered greatly
“Myriad Poison Serpent, come out” Claude said calmly as if he was sure that someone called Myriad Poison Serpent is really nearby and could see him
“…”
Moments passed but nothing happened and Claude was forced to make a move. He raises his right hand that was suddenly engulfed with the power of light
He waved his hand aggressively and sent that beam of light in a particular direction
At first, still nothing happened but after the light beam traveled tens of meters away from Claude, space suddenly twisted as if someone that was hiding in it decided to show themselves
A woman with a beautifully alluring face and body appeared and with a simple wave of her hand, the light beam disintegrated
“Claude Preston… what a surprise. How did you know I was there? No, that was not important. How can you control the elements without the aid of a magic circle? I doubt that you are now a 7th rank mage” the woman said in interest though deep inside her, she was completely shocked
A 6th fusion rank mage controlling the power of the elements without the aid of a magic circle? Common sense dictates that something like that is impossible
The ‘broken laws’ of earth made it so that the ‘mortal mages’ couldn’t and would never be able to control the elements and form a spell without the help of mystic gems and magic circles