A vague female silhouette emerged from the darkness of the tomb. The beautiful stranger looked surprised. The brightness of her eyes would shame the stars. At the moment, they were fixed on the unconscious boy with the girl snuggling next to him.

{He has found the heavenly pearl of light, hasn't he? It’s surprising given the circumstances… As a counterweight, he is destined to die here. Too bad. I was expecting more from him...} - The goddess decided to keep her hands clean and take the priceless piece only after the boy’s death.

A few hours passed unnoticed.

~ sigh ~

{He was worth my interest. A resourceful boy.}

…

Kyon opened his eyes. He had just heard five familiar sounds in his head that marked his enlightenment. At once, a muffled rumble shook the entire tomb to the ground.

The thunder stunned Kyon and Juno like a high-pitched hammer, the following quake threw them half a meter up.

«I AM ALIVE!» - Kyon exclaimed joyfully. He couldn’t believe his luck. He ran to the exit, carrying Juno on his shoulder, and pushed the stone wall to the side. It opened with a soft creak... His guess was right. It was the barrier that had been keeping the entrance blocked.

His soul rejoiced as he was leaving the unfortunate tomb. However, a strange gurgling sound and heat in his back made him turn around... Kyon saw the castle wrapped with bright orange magma that was coming from somewhere above.

{Holy shit!} - Kyon was amazed at what he saw, but it was dangerous and pointless to stay there. He quickly ran up the spiral staircase.

«Where am I?..» - Juno opened her eyes and asked in a weak voice. Her head was swimming. She couldn’t see a thing.

Kyon chuckled and carried trembling Juno in his arms, releasing the element of heat to warm her up.

Juno took a deep breath. A wave of profound pleasure washed over her. She felt free and exhilarated. Instinctively, she hugged Kyon. {How nice... Did I die? I have found the desired peace... I wish I had killed that freak. Too bad, I had to die under such circumstances, but... It feels so good.}

Kyon was out of breath when he climbed the spiral staircase and headed for the treasury.

Juno opened her eyes and sniffed the air. She couldn’t see anything, but she could smell the demon she hated with all her heart. The bastard was unceremoniously holding her in his arms as if she was his property!

«I am alive, aren’t I? And so are you?! Let go of me!»

«You’re a fool. It's dark in here. You’ll get lost and die. I need you alive.»

«Let go of me right now!» - Juno screamed. She was disgusted to be in his arms. It felt so sickening as if she was in the embrace of a poisonous snake.

«Shut up. I order you to remain silent until we get to the library. And stop kicking. That's better... You annoy me less when you sleep.» - Kyon couldn't hold back his smile.

He had taken a great risk, but he got out of the castle and mastered the remaining five elements. The heavenly geniuses would turn green with envy. He had achieved perfection! He was the master of nine elements! The world was his oyster now. He could become a sophisticated alchemist, or increase the quality of his energy, adding to the elements his knowledge from the previous world. Kyon thought he would cross this bridge when he came to it.

When they were up in the secret library, Kyon put Juno on the ground and wiped the sweat from his wet forehead.

Juno leaned against the bookcase. She was worn out. «It’s madness… You have saved me! How did you do it?!» - But then her charming smile turned sour. - «Why did it take you so long?! Was it your idea of giving me a hard time?! I thought I would freeze to death!»

Kyon sighed tiredly and offered his hand for her to kiss.

«What is it? What do you want…»

«Show more respect to me, darling.»

«You…» - Juno let out a bitter sigh. Her servant was the most insensitive and arrogant person in the world. His way of getting her gratitude was disgusting.

Juno, the little angel, shut her eyes and tried to touch his outstretched hand with her lips, but the effort was too much for her strength. She almost collapsed.

«Oops-a-daisy!» - Kyon was just in time to catch her. He grinned and added. – «Ungrateful little snot…»

«I can handle this!» - She scornfully pushed his hands away and leaned against the shelf. Juno was even more beautiful when she was angry... Proud, arrogant little devil!

«Thank you for saving me, master. But I suffered because of you! You dragged me into that damn castle... Moreover, it was me who helped you recover! Sneaky selfish parasite... I wish I had never met you! Puh!»

Her weak spit did not reach the target.

Kyon did not want and could not be angry with the furious demon. Quite the opposite, her words and actions were nothing but an innocuous growl of a little fox cub. She looked cute and funny...

«Okay, listen to me carefully. I order you to have something to eat, get washed and go to bed. If your maids ask you anything, answer them that you were in the treasury studying the techniques. You got tired and fell asleep. When your grandfather calls, I order you to pretend you’re sleepy and tell him that everything is in order. If he starts digging deeper, say that you are tired and sleepy, or try code 5. When you wake up, come straight to me. Your master hasn’t had a foot massage from his ungrateful apprentice in a long time. That’s all. Now get out of here…» - Kyon complacently finished his tirade.

«How dare you…»

«Please shut your mouth before I beat you up.» - Kyon threatened kindly.

Juno opened her mouth, outraged. She hated the arrogant servant with all her heart. He didn’t even let her talk with her grandfather!

The gloomy, cold tomb seemed to be the last thing she saw before her death. The heritage that the Stones had been trying to get for many centuries had fallen into the greedy bastard’s hands!

The only pleasant memory in Juno’s mind was the sweet warmth she felt when she was at death’s door. Every fiber of her being yearned for it. However, her craving disappeared the moment she woke up in the arms of the miserable scum... Juno shivered.

{Ugh! I hope the ungrateful servant will purify my keys or I will rip out his heart and make him gobble it up.}

On the way to the training ground, Kyon saw a couple walking around, Flitz and Marina. The old man seemed to have abandoned all his duties and arrived to cheer up his beloved one. He looked like a gray-haired knight on a white horse!

The servants told Kyon all about what had happened. From their frightened faces, he understood the lightning strike was an anomaly similar to the end of the world.

The guards didn’t attribute the strange phenomenon to the invasion due to its scale. That’s why nobody expected the full mobilization of the Stones, or anything of the kind.

The short absence of Juno (since the lightning strike) and failures in her formation had really hit the maids’ nerve. But now that the young lady was safe and sound, they had nothing to worry about. The worried patriarch might visit the estate soon... Anyway, Kyon would find out the necessary information from Juno and get prepared in advance.

The servants brought dinner to his room. When his stomach was full of yummy food, Kyon went to the training ground to do some experiments.

A smile lit up his face. Despite the curse from heaven, he managed to master all of the nine elements! It felt so good to achieve perfection in this regard... He had risked it all and won.

Kyon decided to leave the recipes from the ancient heritage to a later time. It was time to find out what he could do with the nine elements. He was also eager to know what had happened to his element of light. The nephrite trap had ruined the key, after all.

Kyon thought that the attribute of light would never work. The books told him, a destroyed key could never be restored. It would be a tremendous blow if he lost the whole element and the chance to mix it with darkness and create the attribute of space.

Contrary to his expectations, a light fog formed on his hand. It had changed its glow and density. The beautiful sparkling cloud emanated calmness and kindness.

{Come on!} - He couldn’t believe his eyes. The attribute was still there, but its nature seemed to have changed completely.

Kyon did several experiments and found out that the attribute had become more powerful and intense in an absolutely incomprehensible way.

{What's going on? It was a trap, wasn’t it?!}

Kyon combined the darkness and the light and created the attribute of space. When he united the elements, he saw the remnants of the light fog, which marked the superiority of light over darkness! Their energies were uneven. He needed to use more darkness to create spatial energy without excess.

{That ravenous little black ball... It was also a part of the heritage! It made my attribute of light stronger! I have a new key of light!} - A tidal wave of sudden awareness washed over him. He released Synergy into his soul through the key of light and noticed some differences compared with the last time. Now the walls sparkled with golden light as if the entire channel had upgraded its quality to a new level.

During his short experiments, Kyon discovered to his delight that he had acquired an advanced grade of the element of light in addition to enhancing the attribute. Now he could use the attribute in even greater ways. His healing techniques had become way more powerful.

Kyon calculated the gain he obtained with the attribute of the advanced grade. The key had amplified the attribute by exactly 50%!

He had never heard of formations or objects that could amplify an attribute by 50%, and even more than that, that could raise its grade! The key he had found in the Stone heritage was the most valuable asset.

It all seemed like a wonderful dream.

Kyon did not know that the heavenly pearl of light had given him the same percentage of resistance to this attribute in addition to raising the grade of the element and increasing its power by 50%. It had also purified the key at 100%, something Kyon could not notice.

The euphoria did not pass at once. Kyon slowly calmed down and admitted it was a great grace. The pearl would have killed anyone else. It was a dubious heritage, indeed. If he hadn’t been well prepared, he would have inevitably died from a heart attack or a pain shock.

Kyon began to analyze the wind element.

This attribute allows manipulating any gaseous substance it comes in contact with: carbon dioxide, steam, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.

Kyon also found out that he could concentrate the energy of the attribute in the most harmless gas, nitrogen. For example, in space, he would be able to create wind flows with his own energy of the element. Alas, he had failed to produce anything apart from nitrogen so far.

Time had come for battle experiments.

Kyon directed a gale of wind into the nearest dummy. He squinted and repeated this action, concentrating the flow into a subtle blow that sounded like a whip crack when it touched the dummy.

Kyon grinned, readjusted the channel and tried again. Now, the subtle blow changed into a thin blade of wind that flew into the dummy.

*snap*

When it hit the target, Kyon heard a quiet sound. A long thin scratch appeared on the dummy’s head.

A subtle air attack quickly loses power over a long distance, its total energy is insignificant. But in some cases, the damage can be great. For example, it is better to send a storm blow instead of a blade to extinguish a flying fireball. It deflects the attack or throws it back to the enemy’s face. Therefore, the wind bender has an advantage against the fire bender.

{Juno once used the wind element to parry a blow...} - With this thought in mind, Kyon provided Synergy direction for action. It had to create an imaginary enemy with the 10th level of the battle fist and the same speed of movement.

After a five-minute battle with a shadow, Kyon nodded to himself. {Theoretically, I get an additional battle fist using the wind element to balance my body. In fact, it does not exist! And yet, I can feel an increase in power...}

The wind element pleasantly surprised Kyon. Of course, the ether is more effective, but the wind increases the combat potential. It allows to parry attacks and helps to fight more unpredictably and nimble.

Kyon wanted to implement the principle of vacuum on his skin, but this idea failed. Most likely, his grade of the element wasn’t developed enough. The vacuum could give him high resistance to the heat, sound, and harmful shockwaves.

The next step was the water element.

Kyon could control any liquid substance the water element had contact with.

He found out that he could focus the energy of the attribute in the ordinary pure water. He didn’t need a bucket of water with him to launch an attack. If he was in the desert, he could always quench his thirst. This water had one disadvantage, though. It was devoid of useful minerals.

It was time for battle experiments.

A stream, a subtle blow, and a blade had about the same power as the wind element. He could deflect an attack, put up an excellent defense, and slightly change the balance of his body, controlling the fluid inside himself.

The two elements combined gave him an additional advantage. He could quickly change the balance of his body and unpredictably attack the enemy. They gave him another nonexistent battle fist.

Kyon decided to implement the principle of a water whip that required the elements of pure energy and water.

During the practice, he easily created a long water whip that did not lose its shape for up to three seconds. In other words, it could be used for a couple of strokes. After that, he would need a new one. It was fragile but could cause serious injury.

Kyon infused electricity into the water whip and struck the unfortunate dummy. It struck him as strange that electricity passed through distilled water, but then Kyon remembered that it had the same oscillation frequency as his soul, and everything fell into place. Any energy from one source (soul) is compatible with its own kind.

The ether had one weak point. It required contact with the enemy. The water element makes it easier. Therefore, the practitioners of both ether and water are powerful. The union of these elements creates a powerful combination. For example, Flitz bends water. Pure energy, darkness, and light to boot make the old man a genius. He is a master of four elements.