CHAPTER 54: AM I EVIL?

Rhys felt a deep sense of satisfaction. He was not just an Apprentice Formation Master; he was an apprentice with a tyrant-quality profession core!

The power he now held was far beyond anything even an Artisan could ever dream of.

Elder Solon was staring at him, the old man’s face a mask of pure, unfiltered shock. He had expected the process to take hours, maybe even days.

He had expected Rhys to struggle, to be in great pain from the chaotic energy of the Tyrant Core. He had been ready to intervene, to use his own power to help stabilize the chaotic energy.

But the young boy had absorbed the Tyrant Core in less than a minute. The most infuriating thing was that he had done it with no struggle at all.

Elder Solon remembered absorbing his own Boss Core in his mid-forties. Thinking about that pain, he shivered.

The boy in front of him was not just a genius. He was a monster. A monster who devoured power like it was simple food.

"How... how do you feel?" Solon finally asked, his voice a little shaky. He could not believe what he had just seen.

"I feel good, Master," Rhys replied. He stood up and gave a respectful bow. "Thank you for this incredible gift."

Solon just shook his head slowly, a look of awe on his ancient face. "The gift was meaningless in my hands," he said. "In yours... perhaps it can change the world."

He became serious again. "Now that you have the power, we must prepare for the final battle. The Chains of Temporal Stasis is a complex formation. We will need many materials to build it."

He gave Rhys the main scroll for the formation. It was a huge, heavy scroll made of some kind of tough, leathery animal hide. Rhys unrolled it on the floor.

It was covered in thousands of intricate runes and diagrams. It was the most complex thing he had ever seen.

"Most of these materials are very rare," Solon explained. "But I have had thousands of years to collect them. I have everything we need here, in my workshop. But the components... the formation flags, the energy nodes, the stabilizing arrays... I wanted them to be crafted by you. No, they must be crafted by you."

"Why?" Rhys knitted his brows. "Isn’t it better if Master made it?"

"If it were before, I would have agreed with you. But not anymore." Elder Solon shook his head.

"Boy, I don’t know how you can draw a formation so quickly and accurately. Not only that, the innovation you’ve shown... unheard of.

I actually doubt how a human brain could develop it. And I am sure that rather than using my method, if it’s made by you, the errors in the formation will be a lot fewer.

Also, you are the one who is going to plant it, so it’s better for you to make it."

That sounded ridiculously accurate.

Rhys nodded. "I understand."

"Don’t be scared, boy. Lena will assist you," the Elder cleared his throat. "Even if she is a bit dumb by your standards, her dumb brain is enough for you to use."

Lena opened her eyes wide and gave the Elder an accusing look. She turned to look at Rhys, nervous that he might reject her.

But Rhys merely shrugged, giving her a small friendly smile. Eggy also gave her few flying kisses.

[...]

Lena hurriedly lowered her head, a pair of dimples appearing on her cheeks.

The chaotic energy she saw around him was different now. Before, it was a wild, untamed storm. Now, it was a controlled, focused vortex.

It was still terrifying, but it was a focused terror. It was the power of a predator that was in complete control of itself.

"Lena, my child," Elder Solon said. "You will assist Rhys in the workshop. Give him any materials he asks for. Follow his every instruction."

’E-every?’

[Contain yourself, Host. Eggy is learning from you. Do you want to make him lecherous after he comes out?]

’What do you mean by that? I am merely deciphering the Master’s intentions in a ’suitable for work’ way.’

Eggy also agreed with him.

Lena looked surprised. She was the senior apprentice. She had been studying under the Elder for decades.

Now she was being told to be an assistant to this boy who had only been here for a day. But she did not protest.

She had seen his talent. She knew he was on a different level. She gave a small, respectful bow.

"Yes, Elder."

The workshop was a large cavern connected to the main hall. It was filled with strange and wonderful things.

There were tables covered in glowing crystals and rare, dark metals. Half-finished formation arrays were scattered on the floor, their runes glowing with a soft, blue light.

The initial interaction between Rhys and Lena was awkward. Lena was still scared of him. She would not look him in the eye.

She would hand him the materials he asked for and then quickly take a few steps back, as if she were afraid he would bite her.

Rhys, feeling confident and a little magnanimous after his huge power-up, decided to try and be friendly.

His idea of being friendly was very direct.

"Why are you so scared of me?" he asked without looking up from his work. He was carving a complex rune onto a flat, black stone.

Lena flinched. She did not expect such a direct question. "I... I am not scared," she stammered, which was an obvious lie.

"Yes, you are," Rhys said, still not looking up. "Is it because of my handsome face? Does it make your heart beat too fast?"

Lena’s face turned bright red. "No!" she said, a little too loudly. "It is not that!"

Rhys stopped his work and looked at her. He put the stone down. "Then what is it?" he asked, his voice genuinely curious.

Lena hesitated. She looked at the ground, at her feet. "My Trait," she said quietly. "It lets me... see things. I can see the potential for chaos in people."

"And what do you see when you look at me?" Rhys asked, genuinely curious to know what she saw in him.

He recalled that another seer had also been scared when looking at his future. Was his future and presence so terrible that he scared people?

"I see a storm," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "A huge, endless storm of chaos. It is... overwhelming."

"Oh... am I evil?"

"N-no... absolutely not!" her voice rose again, then she quickly lowered it, looking around in panic, fearing her Master had heard the outburst. "The chaos in you is terrifying, but not evil."

"Oh..." Rhys folded his arms and raised his brows. "So that’s why you fear me."

Rhys was silent for a moment. He finally understood. His very existence was terrifying to her. He felt a rare, small flicker of empathy.

He remembered how he had felt when he faced the impossible power of Yuki. Being in the presence of something far beyond your comprehension was a scary feeling.

He decided to try something. He focused his will. He tried to pull his aura inwards, to contain the chaotic energy that the System and his own power naturally gave off.

He tried to make himself seem smaller, less threatening. And when he did, the voice of his Master sounded in his mind.

’That’s great, my boy! A perfect hunter isn’t someone who always terrifies the prey; he is the one whom the prey willingly wants to embrace.’