CHAPTER 69: GOLDEN SPHERE

The figure pursuing Darien peeked from the corner and quickly ducked back after realizing the boy had stopped to wait for it.

"You can come out," Darien said calmly.

Energy Bolts was a skill acquirable by any warrior, which was why Darien used it.

But the figure showed no fear. Instead, it stepped forward, revealing its mysterious form.

Darien expected to see a shady person or an assassin, something of a threat.

But what he saw was a short figure in a dark, bulky cloak.

Its nose was long and crooked, shadowed beneath a hood that hid its face. The creature looked like a gnome.

Darien wasn’t sure, but he thought he’d seen this peculiar being before somewhere around the magi buildings in the academy.

If that were true, then Energy Bolts of this level might be useless against such a magus.

The figure was calm and slow, yet Darien couldn’t forget how swiftly it had followed him through the alleys.

"Have you lost your way, old man?" Darien asked.

"No... no," the figure replied composedly. "Right where I want to be, I am."

Darien narrowed his eyes.

So, his execution of Ayn had been witnessed after all.

But he sensed the being wasn’t here to condemn him. There was more curiosity in this encounter than hostility.

Before the boy could say anything else, the gnome grinned strangely, and suddenly it began to spin.

Quickly, its cloak unravelled into smoke in the narrow, dark alley.

The swift motion continued into a vortex of black wisps until the gnome’s body vanished completely, leaving behind only a ghastly spirit of mist and two yellow eyes glowing in the night.

Darien stood his ground. He wasn’t frightened.

The spirit had no identity, no rank, and just like Vynsera’s manifestation, something about it was strangely familiar to him.

That must’ve been why Darien felt no fear, only anxiety over what might unfold.

But this wasn’t a trial for him.

The spirit’s distorted form rippled, and from its swirling wisps, an object began to take shape.

It was a golden sphere, the size of an awakening orb, ornamented with sparkling gems that shimmered in a dance of colors.

Darien had never seen any artefact like that.

His mouth dropped as it floated silently toward him while spinning gracefully, illuminating the alley.

Extinguishing his Energy Bolts, he lifted his palms to receive the enigma.

"The Undoing you will bring, young omni-mancer. Use wisely... and consult your oracle!"

The spirit’s voice echoed as the golden sphere descended into Darien’s awaiting hands.

The instant it touched his skin, the spirit burst apart, disappearing in a gush.

Darien was shaken by the encounter, but in his hands was something even more shivering.

The golden sphere had turned a deep brown as its glow faded, yet the powerful aura it emitted still vibrated through his palms.

He knew this wasn’t a good place to examine it.

Composing himself, Darien activated his rift compass, summoning a bright, swirling portal before him.

He stepped through without hesitation and reappeared in his inn room with the artefact still in his grasp.

Lighting his lamp, Darien sat in silence to study the strange sphere.

It was so mysterious that even his system displayed no description of it, yet he could feel the overwhelming magnitude it possessed.

He spent an hour of the night simply observing, turning it gently in his hand, tracing the complex runes carved across its smooth surface, feeling the subtle pulse of ancient magic humming within.

After what felt like an eternity of awe, the boy finally decided to rest, resolving to continue his inspection the following day.

He lay on his bed, eyes open to the ceiling, disturbed by the storm of thoughts that refused to let him sleep.

He wasn’t surprised by any of this. Why? Because he had already assimilated enough knowledge about Cursed Borns to understand the connection.

Apart from the wretched tales that painted them as calamities, the most striking truth Darien had learned was that Cursed Borns were the dooms of worlds.

They were like seeds planted by the Primordial Pantheons across countless worlds, but only one was fated to become the true world-ender for each world.

The prophecy spoke of a single Cursed Born who would rise to unimaginable power, either to destroy his world and its gods or, in a possible twist, to save that same world from the Pantheons who created him!

After everything that had happened, Darien knew that he was that one.

He was the prophesied world-ender of Valurion, bearing Primordial blood in his veins.

It was an early and daunting realization, but what other reason did he have for creating Instant Assimilation?

Darien had some sleep and woke up feeling strong.

His head was a churn of thoughts from all the mysteries. But pushing that aside, he dedicated the morning to meditation, attempting his core formation once again.

This time, he knew exactly what to do. The previous night’s visit to the general library had given him a clearer direction.

As expected, he didn’t find any works that addressed an Omni-Magus like himself, but there were plenty detailing Dual and Triple affinities.

Darien decided he could apply the same principles to his case, and perhaps discover a new method altogether.

He had been doing it all wrong, trying to focus on the entire Energy within his body at once.

The finer method was to focus on one element at a time, cultivating through its meridian, forming the core from it before moving on to the next.

This was the only way an Omni-Magus like him could ever hope to forge a core that contained all elements.

But it wasn’t as simple as picking any element and beginning formation. Even Dual or Triple affinity Awakeners were naturally attuned to one element more than the others.

The principle dictated that the aspirant must always begin from their most attuned element, only progressing gradually toward their least attuned.

This was the traditional path of core formation for such rare and gifted warriors.

The problem for Darien had been to find out which of his elements he was most attuned to in the first place.

But it turned out to be surprisingly easy.

Every province was known to have its own elemental associations, and anyone born within those lands would naturally carry greater affinity toward those elements.

Darien remembered that he hailed from the dilapidated Waterlands, and the records stated it was the province of Fire and Water, meaning his greatest attunement lay with those two.

Moving outward to the neighboring provinces, his affinities would gradually weaken, until reaching his least attuned—Lightning, the element of the distant Stormlands.

This excited him, so he quickly activated his 10x Godspeed Cultivation Rate to accelerate the core formation process.

Choosing Water as his first element was a wise decision.

Calm and serene, it would set the perfect foundation for the other elements to merge into later.

So, Darien made himself comfortable in the center of his room, cross-legged on the wooden floor.

He sat there for hour after hour, unmoving, immersed in deep concentration.

But soon, frustration formed on his face as no results seemed to come from his effort.

Darien decided to try again later in the day, but for now, he would use the rest of his strength on the golden sphere handed to him by the strange being.

"Use wisely," the being had said; that meant there must be a way for him to activate it.

Gripping the sphere, Darien inspected it closely.

The colourful gems that once adorned it were dull and glowless now.

But slowly, the longer he held it and poured his concentration into it, the more they began to glow again.

Starting faintly, the glow brightened until all lights illuminated his face and filled the entire inn room with a vibrant shimmer.

The sphere glowed golden again, and the more it flared, the more Darien’s consciousness was drawn into it, until he was fully immersed.

FLASH!

A blinding light followed, and when he blinked, he found himself standing in a black canvas-like space.

He was at the center of infiniteness, in what appeared to be a celestial realm, with primordial energy so concentrated, swirling in physical, gaseous form!

"Woaaah," Darien awed, gawking at the nebulae around him.

The golden sphere had brought him to this strange, boundless place the moment he had focused his will upon it.

(Welcome to ????? Cosmic Realm)

Cosmic realms were the greatest places a mortal could ever find himself—because they couldn’t!

A cosmic realm was a dimension created by gods alone, their personal turf and sanctum of power, serving as both a center of focus and cultivation!

Darien being here was no mistake; it meant he had been invited personally by the god who fathered this realm!

’But which god is it?’ he asked himself.

But then, from a distance, a massive, colossal humanoid formed itself from a star.

It was androgynous, shimmering and uncertain, made up of light and dust.

Each step it took toward Darien caused its size to shrink, collapsing from cosmic enormity to something more comprehensible, likely to reach an ordinary height by the time it arrived before him.

Darien struggled to stand, his knees weak under the gravity of divinity, fearing he was in the presence of an actual god.