The excruciating pain that he felt was unbearable, but he continued to push forward, little by little, step by step. And the stars came into contact with each other. However, the impact was too big, the boom resounded in the entire Mana Pool and Kadyn howled as he clutched his head.

"Arghh!!"

He squealed but he didn't give up. He felt as if someone was slicing him piece by piece with a slow pace, poking prickles inside his wounds to further increase his suffering. However, he wasn't the Kadyn of the past. He had gone through a lot of pain and misery like this in the Practice Room. He had already died tens of times there and he died horribly. His willpower was already on another level.

Sizzle!

The stars made a noise as they drew closer to each other. It took him forever to overlap half of the stars. No, no, I can't give up! Though he said that, he couldn't hold any longer, he was tired and could not move any further. His mind started to go blank, darkness appeared as if wanting to engulf his consciousness into his embrace.

Just as he thought that all of his efforts were about to go to waste, a soothing sensation filled his body. The darkness started to fade and coolness appeared. His energy was stored and his spirit was invigorated. He felt refreshed and all the tiredness faded like a wisp.

Kadyn was shocked by this development. He realised that the energy was coming from below his butt—formation—filling his entire body with a soothing sensation. An ecstatic feeling overfilled his heart. He could complete the final step now. Without any delay, he pushed the smaller star towards the bigger one. Then the smaller one vanished, devoured by the larger star.

However, at this moment, something big happened: the star produced a glazing light, blinding him and filling the entire Mana Pool before becoming silent. A huge single star burned at the sky in front of Kadyn as he peered at the scene with awe and glee.

As he looked at the colossal star in front of him. He failed to notice that at the corner of his Soul Sea there was a dull space, a dull pool or one can say inactive pool. At this moment it started to tremble and a golden light emitted from it, overshadowing everything else.

Kadyn thought that the process had been completed when a notification sounded inside his head.

[Blessing Element has been activated. Activated Stars→ 1]

A suction force appeared on the Golden Pool(Blessing Pool) and started to drag the Fire Pool towards itself. Kadyn was horrified by this sudden development. He didn't know what was going on. Therefore he tried to resist the suction but failed miserably in the end. The Fire Pool continued to move towards the Blessing Pool and in the end, it was devoured by the latter, fading.

Suddenly Kadyn's will appeared inside the Blessing Pool, and he looked around in panic but then what he saw made him dumbfounded and shocked beyond measure. At the centre of the pool was hovering a gigantic ball of fire. Fire Star that he formed after combining ten other stars! Blessing Pool had destroyed the Fire Pool and made Fire Star its own.

"How's this possible?!" he shouted. Everyone knew that every element had its unique properties that couldn't be mixed with other elements. Just like Elora tried to use Life Element's spell and the result was a terrible backlash, even though the Healing Element had been driven from Life Element itself. Much less mixing two completely different elements like Fire and Blessing.

Well, he didn't have much knowledge about Blessing Element as he had never heard about it from anyone. As if no one knew about this element. Even in the shop, he didn't see any spell that belonged to the Blessing Element. Strange indeed.

However, at this moment he had no way to know what was going on so he sighed and left the Meditation Room.

——

The sun rose and scattered its orange and purple rays all about the city. The birds twittered and flew out of their nests in the hope of finding the food. Kadyn sat on his chair and looked at Khrom and Hot Rod in front of him. "Have you completed the work I've assigned?" he asked Khrom.

"I have collected information about 50% of the herbs." He replied. "Give me a day and I will be able to complete the mission."

"Good." Then he turned towards Hot Rod and said. 'The business of artefacts isn't that great in Avibria City. After all, the city is poor and not many people can afford the luxury to buy one for themselves. Even magus can't afford them." He paused then went on. "Potion business has also dulled somewhat. Though our products are great, not many people could bear to buy them."

"What do you suggest we should do?" Hot Rod asked.

"What do you mean by what I suggest?" Kadyn rolled his eyes at the man. "I'm asking you because I have no clue how to deal with it. Do you have any solution?"

Hot Rod rubbed his nose in embarrassment and thought briefly before replying. "The best we can do is expand our business to other cities. After all, it's not like we can't sell our goods because of some competition but because not many can afford to buy them."

Kadyn nodded in agreement. "How should we expand our business then?" he asked, looking at the man curiously. Hot Rod was far more experienced than him. That was the reason he thought to seek his guidance and he indeed did not misjudge the man.

As Kadyn expected Hot Rod came up with an answer in no time. "The most efficient way is to improve our reputation in the surrounding cities. After all, we aren't the only people in the business of Potions and Artefacts. Furthermore, we don't even have Rank 1 Potioneer in our shop yet. Though Elementary Potioneer might be highly respected in the Avibria City, it isn't anything in the outside world."

"Just tell me what we should do to expand our business," Kadyn said, wrinkles starting to appear on his forehead due to Hot Rod's explanation. He never did business in his life. So he had no idea how to manage it, he could just slowly learn.

"In the Orddono, the Capital of the Shado Empire," Hot Rod said and stared at Kadyn before continuing. "On every Sunday there will be a gathering. The Market. All kinds of people—interested in buying or selling—will gather there.

"I have also attended the gathering quite a few times. One can do business at that place and build relationships through business. Though it might not be a genuine relationship, in the business world it is common to make friends just to make deals with them, and when the deal is over we can go our separate ways, as simple as that.

"However reputation is very important, never try to con someone. It could work one time but it won't work a second or third time. On the contrary, someone who tricks someone like that won't have any place in the business world. No one would work with him after knowing the truth."

Kadyn nodded, understanding what Hot Rod wanted to say. He looked at the man and said. "So you suggest that we start from Orddono and build a relationship with influential people of the Shado Empire. Then our reputation will increase on its own."

"Exactly." Hot Rod nodded. "Even if we couldn't form any relationship with others, we can still do our business there. Though it would be slow, we can still build our reputation like that."

"Alright, we will go to the Capital Orddono the next Sunday."

"The next Sunday is just the day after tomorrow." Khrom interrupted. "And I don't think we can make it in time for the gathering. After all, we can't go there without any potions and artefacts. And to make them, we need time that we are lacking at the moment."

"Well," Kadyn said. "Then we'll go to the next gathering. What's the rush?" Afterwards, he turned towards Hot Rod and asked. "Can you tell me what kind of potions are most sought in the Capital? So I would try to concoct according to the market. As for artefacts? I'm sure you know what kind of artefacts you need to forge."

Hot Rod nodded and then hesitated for a brief moment and asked. "I would need my Cauldron. So…"

"You want to go to Glont City?" Kadyn interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

Hot Rod glanced at Kadyn and nodded. "Not just my Cauldron is there but all the collection of my Common Rank Metals is also there."

Kadyn's eyes lit up when he heard about the collection of Common Rank Metals. Right now he had a single Common Rank Metal and that was Hustril—that he had yet to add into his Virtual Shop—now he heard that Hot Rod had more Common Rank Metals he started to become restless. He peered at Hot Rod and said. "Alright. You can go and get your things. How much time do you need to return?

"Two days." He replied.

"Alright. When are you planning to leave for Glont City?" Kadyn asked.

"I will depart tomorrow in the morning," Hot Rod replied after thinking for some time. Then went on. "Dion will stay here," he looked at his son and said sternly "Don't cause any trouble while I'm away."