After accepting the oath, Simon found himself back in the Void Palace, his hand having retracted from the tome by itself.

“How was it? Are you alright, master? You were quite pale there for a while.” Jake asked worriedly.

After regaining his bearings, Simon chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, I only received a scare! But you can go ahead, it's relatively safe.”

“Alright.” Jake nodded and unhesitatingly raised an arm, before touching the tome.

Afterwards, Jake’s body suddenly went limp, as his consciousness seemed to get dragged into another area.

Simon chuckled inwardly, somewhat startled by his disciple’s immediate belief in his words. ‘Man, Jake trusts me a bit too much… But his will is like steel. It should be fine!’

…

Soon, the process was complete, and the technique was imprinted into both of their minds. And to Simon’s horror, Jake left the world within the tome barely affected, saying, “You’re right! It was just a scare.”

With that done, they made their farewells with the golem, and finally left the Extinguishing World.

...

After being engulfed by the Arcane Void Dragon, Simon and Jake suddenly found themselves tumbling onto the Mirrored Paradise.

Thump, thump.

Upon landing, the two - now master and disciple as well, as fellow apprentice brothers - quickly stood up and looked around.

They were on the silent, crystalline island once again, where a gentle breeze greeted them.

Standing atop this beautiful land, Simon and Jake then turned to look at the vast skies surrounding them.

As of this moment, the sun was just rising in the world of Island Ascension Online, starting to blanket the world with its luminant rays. The air was crisp as always - the white clouds and blue skies calming as ever. Compared to the void which was within the dark world, this one was rather comforting…

“Ah…” Simon exhaled deeply. “We’re ba-”

However, before Simon had the chance to properly enjoy their return, a barrage of notifications, colors, and sensations bombarded them.

Ding!

Ding! Ding!

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Brrrrrrrr!

[You have received a message]

[You have received a message]

[You have received a message]

[You have received a message]

[You have received a message]

[You have received a message]

[You have successfully escaped the special zone. Time elapsed: 62:11:53]

[Cleared the D- Tier Ruin. Completion Rate: SS tier. Rewarding 1x [Ruin Deed], 1x [Mirrored Paradise] (Biome Blueprint), 100,000x ancient shards, and 1x [Random S- Tier Artifact]. Please evacuate within one hour]

At the same time, a glowing box and two slips of paper appeared in front of him, while his pockets burned painfully, searing his thighs.

‘F*ck!’ Simon inwardly cursed, startled by this sudden onslaught of information, but he quickly recovered and began sorting through the details.

First, he fished out the red-hot glowing talismans from a few of his pockets. However, after seeing which ones were glowing, he frowned.

After all, these talismans were ones which he had instructed his island to only activate in the face of a disaster.

“Jake, it seemed that whilst we were gone, our island faced some sort of crisis. Let’s go, there’s no time to waste.” he said solemnly as he picked up the box and slips of paper from the ground and stowed the talismans.

“Alright.” Jake nodded, before quickly heading to the location of their docked airship, not hesitating to heed his command, and Simon followed shortly after.

As they ran atop the crystalline island, Simon took this time to check his notifications.

First, he went through personal messages.

In this time, Kenny had spammed him, asking if he was alright, as he wasn’t responding to messages in game or in real life. Seeing this, Simon couldn’t help his grin and quickly reassured him that he was fine.

Afterwards, he read his other system notifications, until the system evaluation for his Ruin raid came up…

By the time that Simon was finished with reading the evaluation, his gaze towards the glowing box in his arms changed.

‘Damn! This thing is a random S- Tier Artifact?’

From what Simon heard, S- Tier Artifacts were at minimum, worth 250,000 golds… As for their maximum value?

Over 2 million golds at the very least!

Moreover, unlike a ruin deed or blueprint, artifacts could oftentimes show their value immediately. Thus, Simon valued such a thing quite heavily… If his luck was good, his strength or fortunes could soar to new heights.

Nonetheless, the ruin deed and biome blueprints were also undoubtedly valuable as well. After all, this crystalline island - which also happened to be a massive array - was obviously quite powerful; there was no way that such a complex and unfathomable mechanism would be worth little.

He could hardly contain his excitement as they made their way to the airship!

…

Soon enough…

Simon and Jake finally arrived at the airship, which was untouched since their departure. And after entering the ship, Simon took out the ruin deed.

However, he did not immediately use the slip of paper. Instead, he activated the talisman which the golem of the Void Palace had given him...

Woosh!

A stream of mana flowed from Simon’s palm into the talisman. With a glow, the amulet lifted from his palm and began levitating, spinning slowly in the air.

Suddenly, the Arcane Void Dragon’s familiar archaic voice then emanated from the talisman, at first faint, then growing more clear as more energy built up within.

“Young one, what is it that you need?”

Hearing the voice, Simon nodded.

“I was given the power to relocate the crystalline array, as well the power to integrate it into my island. Thus, I am hoping to relocate it to stay beside my island, so as to better ensure their mutual safety. Would such a thing be possible?” he said seriously.

The dragon was silent for a moment. Afterwards, it slowly spoke out.

“Fine. You may relocate it close to your island. However, I will only defend your island from destruction once.” it said, with a hint of amusement in its voice.

After all, who was Simon trying to kid when he said that it was for their “mutual” safety? It was like a toddler dragging an adult towards them, claiming that they could fend for each other… It was ridiculous!

Simon nodded. Ultimately, this was not too bad of a situation.

After all, if he were to state his biggest worries, the safety of his island would rank among the top 3. Thus, the dragon’s assurance of defending his island was quite valuable to him. In any case, he had never expected to have the crystalline island act like his island’s personal guard in the first place.

“Alright, I will trouble you then.” Simon said respectfully and gratefully.

“Mm. Good luck, young one...” said the dragon’s voice from the other side, growing fainter as it finished. Afterwards, the talisman’s luster faded and fell into his hand once again.

Stowing it into a pocket, Simon grinned.

‘Now that that’s finished…’ he then activated the ruin deed within his other hand.

Woosh!

The vast crystalline island abruptly shrank, swiftly flying in his direction. And after just a few moments, the entire island was getting absorbed into the tiny slip of paper on his hands.

Seeing this, Jake’s eyes seemed to pop out of his sockets.

“So that’s what it looks like when you use a ruin deed?...” he asked, feeling somewhat awed.

Simon nodded and chuckled. “It also startled me when I first saw it! However, you’ve yet to see the best thing…”

After the island was completely absorbed, he then put away the ruin deed and activated the arrays on the airship, causing them to begin soaring through the skies once again.

Afterwards, he pulled the glowing box which he had retrieved earlier out, and onto a table...

This glowing cube was covered with a series of mysterious patterns, where a pure light emitted from within. Moreover, along with the white light, an aura of strength and majesty also leaked out from the interior.

And though this melon-sized cube was seemingly simple, both Simon and Jake had a premonition that it wasn’t something ordinary.

“This,” said Simon, holding up the box excitedly, “Is a S- Tier Artifact!”

Jake nodded and gulped. He knew exactly how valuable such an item was, after all.

‘It’s time!’

Simon resolutely twisted the top of the cube, activating the mechanism hidden within.

Woosh!

All of a sudden, the cube began levitating into the air, and the outer layer of the box crumbled apart to reveal a blinding light within.

Ding...

Ding...

Ding...

This brilliance suddenly intensified further, and a series of heavenly chimes sounded from the box, as if signalling the coming to being of an unfathomable treasure. And these chimes… could induce the awe of any mortal who heard them; even Simon was deeply affected.

‘Wow, the effects are quite dramatic!’ Simon couldn’t help but think, astonished.

And soon enough, the brilliant rays of light faded away to reveal the silhouette of a circular object… At the same time, he was greeted with a system notification.

[Congratulations! You have obtained the S- Tier Artifact, [Soulsplitter Quintessence] (Damaged)]

After the unboxing, Simon crouched down, gazing at the orb sitting on the table solemnly and curiously.

The orb was a deep violet color, with cracks and scratches upon its surface. However, despite its damage, it still omitted an unmistakable aura of strength - which was customary of powerful artifacts.

In particular, Simon could detect the distinct aura of soul related artifacts in this orb! But given its name, it made sense that it was a soul related treasure.

‘A soul treasure, huh…’ Simon fell into deep contemplation.

In his past life, information regarding that of souls was taboo. And typically, only supremely powerful or supremely idiotic beings would dare to delve into such a topic.

After all, one’s soul was the root of one’s existence!

Without a soul, one would be without the means to connect with magic - nor would one be able to have their own free will. It was just like when one was without a heart.

One would be unable to utilize magic, and nor would they be capable of feeling emotions...

Naturally, the soul was considerably more complicated than the heart! Thus, even if one made a small mistake with one’s soul, one could expect to be subject to becoming a cripple, if not dying on the spot.

But at the same time, the benefits that could be obtained from modifying one’s soul were not shallow...

At worst, one would gain heightened senses, magical control, or mental capacity. And at best, one would be able to split their soul, living in more than a single body at once!

However, seeing Jake’s look of confusion, Simon decided to explain to him matters regarding that of the soul as they returned to their island.

-----

In the blink of an eye, nearly three days passed. By now, a familiar faint speck could be seen in the distance from Simon’s airship…