"So, what do you think?" Inquired Rion, with an expectant grin on his face.

"I mean...it's whatever, but I feel like that's kinda unnecessary right now...you know?" I replied with a shrug.

​​

"It's totes necessary, bro! Everyone's on edge lately, so this'll help for sho!" He insisted.

Huh...maybe he has a point. It's been about a week since the whole planet shook and expanded-...or rather, returned to its original size. The other races had been quick to occupy the areas where Bronztan and Goldway used to be. And I decided that it'd be best to spread the news in Abyss, keep the people 'woke af'...I hate that I just used that term.

Anyway, ever since then, there was an undeniable tension among everyone, which was to be expected, I guess. So, to counter that, Rion just suggested that we should assign ranking to everyone, and come up with an alternative for 'Adventurer', to be inclusive of the Demons and Vampires too. I mean, it wasn't a bad idea, but...

"I just don't have time for that right now, I've got my hands full with observing the other races, Silvland and the Rustlands," I replied with a sigh.

"Okay, then how about this? Give me the ranking numbers, and I'll come up with the names and stuff...and just so it isn't one-sided, I'll coordinate with Rai...we've already talked about it!" He grinned with a thumbs up.

Of course they had.

"...alright, fine, go right ahead," I sighed, relenting.

"Sweet! Thanks, boss-dude!"

Great, that should keep him busy for a while...now, then, I should go meet up with Az, he'd finally finished setting up the intruder-instakill protective barrier around Abyss, and he was so tired after that that he took a couple of days to just sleep like crazy. He should be rested and ready to go now...so let's find out just how strong he is now...

...

"I could have used one more day of sleep, but fine, let's do this, I guess," Sighed Az, stifling a yawn.

He says that, but I can see that he's more than a little excited to finally test out his new powers. Diablo had made several attempts at creating Chaos Magic spells to brainwash the Water Spirit inside Az and have it allow him to access its full power.

And a lot of those attempts failed, having had absolutely no effect on it at all. So, all we could do was keep trying. And then, after a lot of trial and error, he finally nailed it.

The spell he created brainwashed the Water Spirit to an extreme degree, to the point where control over the key to its locked power was fully transferred to Az. So, yeah, he no longer has to worry about the Water Spirit permitting him to use its full power...he can switch it on and off himself with total control.

He did it for like an instant when I first used the Chaos Magic spell, before quickly shutting it off, since he had a feeling that we shouldn't test it out indoors. There was a large, empty patch of land at the north end of Abyss, it was about five kilometers in radius, sort of...it's not a perfect circle, so it's hard to measure it exactly, but the bottom line is that it's huge.

Since we don't want our arenas and training facilities to get damaged, I declared this place as the spot to use if anyone wants to test out any highly destructive attacks or for more volatile training...as a result, the place was filled with craters and large, deep cracks all over, it was quite a mess...I should get some Earth Magic users to repair it every so often.

Anyway, let's get to testing Az's new powers, shall we?

"Alright, I'm going to activate my Phoenix resurrection, so once you unleash your powers, go all out...I'll also be going all out, but I'll be on the defensive...ever since I got these blades, I've had a little trouble gauging exactly how high my power level is now," I remarked, tapping my new twin swords.

"Okay, got it," He replied, before closing his eyes and focusing.

The Fangs of the Basilisk, huh...these things are legit, they produce poison indefinitely, and Lazarus had helped me figure out exactly how they work, they even have a sort of finishing move...and while it looks cool, I can't move much while using that move, so I'm not comfortable using it.

Whatever enchantments are on these blades have been scrambled likely due to the lack of compatibility with this world's magic system, but Lazarus was able to decipher some of it and figure out some details. Apparently, the finishing move is called Aura Basilisk...which is, I have to admit, super fucking cool, but it just doesn't work with my fighting style.

I then transformed, entering Diablo Mode and drawing out my twin blades...oh, and as for my Black Steel blades, I was able to repair my broken short-sword using Alchemic Magic. And since I used Alchemic Magic, I also made it as dense as possible, along with the dagger too.

So yeah, I then decided to carry all four blades on me, because the Fangs were amazing weapons and it'd be a total waste to leave them out, and I just didn't have the heart to leave out my Black Steel blades.

I mean, those were the first birthday present I ever received, and from Persia, no less...AND, I got them on 4/20! But, uh, mainly the Persia part.

The Fangs of the Basilisk were places diagonally across each other on my back, while my short-sword was placed horizontally on my lower back, where my dagger used to be. And as for the dagger, it was hidden in my left armguard.

I picked myself a new outfit, since I'm now, you know, the leader of this place and all. It was fully black, of course. A black tank top under a sleeveless hooded black coat that went down past the back of my knees, light leather arm guards that started as fingerless gloves and went upto my elbows, and black trousers with black boots that went about halfway upto my knees.

What, it doesn't sound that different to any of the outfits I've worn since coming to this world? Well, that's the point. Oh, there was that time I had to wear, ugh, white, when I infiltrated The Valaque Empire...oh, God, I-I think I'm going to be sick just thinking about it...

"Kuro? You look lost in thought," Said Az, snapping me out of it...by snapping his fingers in front of my face.

"Huh? What?"

"I'm ready to transform."

"Oh...ohh, right, yeah! Sorry, I think I'm just a little tired, being a leader is kinda stressful and draining...alright, I'm ready, come at me!" I exclaimed, slamming my fists together with a grin.

"Okay...here I go."

Suddenly, an explosion of cold air burst out from him, frost spreading out along the ground rapidly as the temperature dropped like a rock. His skin started to grow more and more pale, as his hair turned light-blueish-white...a similar hue to the frost that was spreading all around us.

His eyes turned icy blue as well, a shade slightly darker than his hair, as a frosty aura surrounded him, sending chills down my spine...both literally and figuratively. Alright, then...this should be fun...

———————————————————————————

Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus

———————————————————————————

Oh, wow...unbelievable, I'm speechless, I didn't expect this, I didn't even consider the possibility! Because...because...because the five Elemental Spirits all detest humans. For one to make a human its host should be unthinkable.

No, actually, thinking through it logically, I can kinda understand how and why this happened...the Water Spirit must have been accidentally left behind when Sant activated the Divine Magic spell to create the floating island...and then, it must have gone for centuries without a host, but beings without their own physical forms like Demons and the Elemental Spirits can't survive forever without a host.

If they remain in their non-physical forms for long without a physical host body, their existence will slowly grow weaker and weaker, before eventually ceasing to exist completely. So, the Water Spirit chose to secure its existence over maintaining its pride...and possessed a human. As a result, that human had seemingly inexplicably powerful Water Magic.

Wait, though, how is he suddenly able to use the Elemental Sage form? That's the form that those possessed by Elemental Spirits gain when they unleash the full power of their Elemental Spirit...but that only works if the Elemental Spirit agrees to it. I can't possibly imagine one giving a human permission to do so. Okay, that's it...I need answers!

Looks like the bout between Kuro and Azyl is over...that was brief, but intense, they both seemed evenly matched. It's insane, they've both reached power levels that were probably never meant to be reached in this world, they might even be strong enough to give me a run for my money in my Demigod Mode...ah, how fascinatingly brilliant, this is definitely the best time period I've experienced in this world...

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP