After getting over his shock, Simon gingerly stepped onto the path of dark stones, before slowly walking forwards and looking around appreciatively.

The creatures in this land paid him no heed, seemingly indifferent to his existence. Meanwhile, he, too, didn’t wish to disturb their peace...

It wasn't that Simon didn’t desire the resources on this stretch of land. Only, he was hesitant to do anything which could be seen as disrespectful. After all, he had no clue of the repercussions of doing so.

And so, he merely strode forwards with his hands locked behind his back, enjoying the scenery around him.

‘What a strange and beautiful place.’ Simon thought with a rueful smile.

This floating paradise - no matter how unexpected - was a nice change of scenery within this world of emptiness. It had truly been a long while since he had seen anything so lively and full of color. And after being surrounded by solitude for so long, he naturally found himself appreciating the sight more than he normally would.

…

Soon enough, after tranquilly walking past many kilometers of enchanting scenery, Simon found himself standing before the front gates of the palace.

This gate was at least a hundred meters tall, and it seemed to be built for giants rather than humans. Upon the surface of it were intricate and complex patterns, which were incredibly mystifying and profound - as if a myriad of mysteries were contained within.

The walls of the palace, despite containing no windows, were similarly adorned with strange symbols and patterns. Unsurprisingly, even within Simon’s vast library of knowledge, he was unable to recognize a scrap of the mysteries lining this palace.

Meanwhile, as Simon looked up at the structure in front of him, he couldn’t help but sigh in awe.

‘At the very least, falling in this place wouldn’t be too bad. However, I don’t plan on doing so.’ he thought with a chuckle.

Simon then walked up to the massive gate solemnly.

But without him doing anything, the vast doors of the gate abruptly lit up from the center outwards, the symbols quickly filling with energy.

‘Eh?’

Soon after the entire gate was lit up, it parted with a boom, before gradually and soundlessly opening.

As the scenery within the palace was slowly revealed, Simon held his breath.

The halls were gloomy, yet magnificent in a way, with an enormous purple carpet extending forth from the gateway. Vast, stunning pillars held up the hallway, and coiled around a few of these pillars… was the familiar outline of a dragon.

This creature looked similar to the energy manifestation which had swallowed him up in the outside world, however, it looked far more majestic and imposing than before. Its scales seemed to shimmer in and out of existence, and its aura was overbearing and majestic to the extreme. As for its size… it appeared to be almost a kilometer in length, and 200 meters in width.

When Simon’s gaze landed upon its eyes, he found himself staring into their depths, transfixed.

Within these orbs of darkness, he could see the unending passage of time - stretching infinitely further than what he himself had experienced. Solitude was not enough to describe what was in those eyes; instead, it was a horrifying, endless void.

Meanwhile, these two eyes which seemingly contained black holes were gazing right towards him.

Simon imperceptibly shuddered when he snapped out of his strange state, his eyes filled with shock as he quickly fell to a knee.

“This lowly one greets you, Arcane Void Dragon.” he said in a mildly humble tone.

Previously, he could not tell exactly what type of dragon it was from just the energy projection. But now… he could. And what he found horrified him - it was actually a legendary Arcane Void Dragon.

Such a creature was one of the legends in his previous life! They were one of the strongest races of mythical creatures to ever exist, and in the primordial age, one of few races at the peak of existence!

Even after humanity rose to prominence in his old world, the race of the Arcane Void Dragons were one of the last to be subdued, and their wrath was archived in numerous legends, feared for many generations to come...

Thus, even when many thousands of years had passed in his old world, information pertaining to their strength was still widely known.

It was said that... with one swipe of their claw, entire cities could be wiped off the map; with one whip of a tail, entire kingdoms shaken. Not even a mage with ten star cores would necessarily be able to defeat an adult Arcane Void Dragon!

The dragon - whose image lined up with ancient depictions in Simon’s memories - opened its jaws and let out a booming chuckle, an amused glint appearing in its boundless eyes.

“Hmph, I do have to say that it has been quite a while since someone has referred to me as an Arcane Void Dragon. Such a name could be considered ancient, or perhaps, ahead of its time.” said the dragon in a deep voice, before shimmering and disappearing from sight.

Then its voice resounded from the now-empty halls, “Welcome, young one.”

Simon still silently kneeled. What the heck was he supposed to make of this nonsense that the dragon was speaking of? However, he didn’t dare to stand up just yet.

Clack. Clack.

Suddenly, behind one of the many pillars in the vast hall, an elderly man dressed in simple white robes slowly walked forwards.

He was a tall and forthright looking man, emitting a fierce aura - which seemed not to have decayed with the passing of time. His eyes were boundless as well, but it wasn’t quite to the extent of the Arcane Void Dragon. Nonetheless, Simon could tell that the man had transcended time and solitude entirely!

“My respectful greetings, sir.” Simon greeted him immediately.

Even if the elder was likely not as strong as the Arcane Void Dragon, he was probably still much stronger than him. Whatever the case, both were being whom he could not afford to disrespect.

The old man smiled amiably.

“First off, there is no need to kneel. Compared to the great Master’s prized Void Dragon, I am nothing. Just a casual creation of the master.” said the old man with a chuckle.

“And though my strength surpasses that of a Skybound Mage, my potential for growth is nonexistent, whereas your talent is extraordinary. I can see that despite being in this world for a mere month, you have achieved fourteen elemental stars! Moreover, your techniques are not bad either.” the old man moderately praised him.

“But more importantly, you even tread the path of the infamous Stellar Suppression Technique at that! Even in my time, only the bravest of souls would dare to do such a thing.”

Simon nodded and got off of his knee, inwardly sighing in relief. Thankfully, this old man - who was… actually a golem - did not seem to be the unreasonable type.

He had indeed connected the dots. Being a casual creation, as well as a being with a nonexistent growth potential, what else could the old man be but a golem?

But thinking back to its words, he was befuddled and couldn’t help but ask, “What is this Stellar Suppression Technique that I am treading the path of?”

As a being with strength surpassing a mage with eight star cores, there was not a chance that the words coming out of the golem’s mouth were baloney. However, to Simon’s knowledge, he was doing no such “Stellar Suppression Technique”, and nor did he know of any technique that could be reasonably named “Stellar Suppression”.

The golem blinked, astonished. “You don’t even know of the Stellar Suppression Technique, and yet you are utilizing it?”

It let out a booming chuckle as it shook its head. “I find it unlikely, but perhaps, it simply goes by a different name at this point of time. Tell me if this knowledge sounds familiar to you.”

“The Stellar Suppression Technique is a technique where a mage has their mana core modified, such that conventional star cores are unable to be formed. Only elemental stars would be able to be made. But in doing so, the mage becomes capable of forming many specialized types of star cores in the future.” said the golem amusedly and simply.

‘...’

Hearing this, Simon was badly startled. After all, such a description was… quite familiar indeed.

‘Are you kidding me? So this is the reason why I can’t form a star core? Because I unknowingly am using this Stellar Suppression Technique?’ he thought, feeling quite silly.

Simon had harbored a headache over his inability to form star cores. However, as it turned out, it might not have been a problem in the first place… How could he not be startled?

“I… am indeed unable to form a star core no matter what I try. However, I am not aware of such a technique, even if I seem to be unknowingly utilizing it.” Simon explained solemnly.

“Oh? Interesting...” muttered the golem contemplatively, before nodding its head.

“Whatever the case, it doesn't matter all too much how it happened. What matters is that you are nevertheless, undergoing the path of a mage with Stellar Suppression! Such a path is a precarious one. But fear not, for the great master embarked on such a path as well. If you fear a lack of information, you needn’t worry.” said the golem solemnly.

Hearing this, Simon nodded, feeling somewhat excited in his heart.

‘This is… undoubtedly good news!’

He doubted that the golem was telling a lie, as such creations would be absolutely truthful unless ordered against doing so. As for its judgement to be off? That was even more unlikely than for it to lie.

Thus, if this Golem deemed him to be using a technique... he likely was. And it had even claimed that it had plenty of information regarding Stellar Suppression.

This situation was likely even better than being able to form star cores once again!

After all, if such a technique which stunted one’s growth existed, it naturally would have some upsides as well. Elsewise, why would anyone even utilize such a technique?

And as he had already embarked on the path, he may as well see it to the end. In any case, if the Arcane Void Dragon’s master partook in such a technique, he did not have a reason not to as well.

“Then, would you mind explaining to me what this Stellar Suppression Technique entails?” Simon asked respectfully. In any case, he still wished to know more of it.

“Mm, alright. Don’t move.” the old man said with a nod.

Woosh!

He suddenly appeared in front of Simon and pushed out with a finger towards his forehead.

‘Crap!’

Being on the receiving end of the finger from a being which could kill him countless times over with ease, Simon suddenly broke out in a cold sweat; but he grit his teeth and stood still. After all, if the golem wished to do him harm, there was nothing that he could do.

Suddenly, the very tip of its finger made contact with his forehead.

Woosh!

Not a moment later, an influx of information suddenly began streaming into his mind, causing him to feel momentarily faint.

...

Soon, Simon regained his bearings, and the old man was just retracting his finger.

He now had a few new pieces of information within his memory.

‘What?!’

Inspecting his new memories, Simon was utterly flabbergasted.

From what he now knew, the technique of Stellar Suppression was indeed what the old man had described; one would be unable to form any conventional star cores, no matter how hard one tried…

But what shocked him the most was the benefits of using such a technique!

After all, these “Specialized Star Cores” which could then be formed were able to be made from practically any combination of elemental stars that one wished to…

For instance, one could combine a Light Elemental Star, a Dark Elemental Star, and a Nature Elemental Star to form a Samsara Star Core… Hot, cold, light, dark, and nature elemental stars into a Yin-Yang Star Core… And if one combined all elements into one… A Void Star Core!

This was groundbreaking, and Simon’s entire perception of magic shifted with this new revelation.