CHAPTER 264: TOO PRIMITIVE

"This might really help me face Collossith."

Liora Virell’s voice emerged as a quiet murmur, her gaze distant, lost in thought.

Her entire evolution path, every Spark she had chosen, was built for raw physical combat. She was a pure damage build, designed for direct engagement, crushing force, and overwhelming impact.

And that was exactly why she had never been able to defeat Collossith in a straight fight.

Despite her strength, all she’d ever managed to do was hold it back, stall its advance, reduce the destruction, and buy time for the kingdom. She could not overpower it, not truly. Because the issue wasn’t her power.

It was the Spark’s nature.

Collossith possessed two innate abilities that, when combined, made it nearly immune to everything she specialized in: Tremorhide and Echo Harvest.

Tremorhide was a passive ability that encased its massive body in a multi-layered, shock-absorbing exoskeleton. It didn’t just reduce incoming pressure—it deflected it, dissipating force before it could penetrate.

But the real threat came from Echo Harvest, and its synergy with Tremorhide.

Echo Harvest absorbed a portion of the kinetic energy from each physical hit and converted it into a reverberating tremor—a shockwave that radiated outward, directly targeting the attacker. The harder you hit it, the harder it struck back. And the more often you struck, the more you empowered it.

Together, these two skills created a vicious cycle. Every attack didn’t just fail to break through—each one actively strengthened Collossith’s counterattack.

For someone like Liora, who relied entirely on strength, high-impact strikes, and close-range pressure, it was a nightmare. Her attacks weren’t just inefficient—they were dangerous to herself.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t harm it, though. She knew that if she pushed hard enough, she might eventually wear it down. But the problem wasn’t offense.

It was survival.

Each exchange left her just as damaged as the Spark—sometimes more. And because her regeneration wasn’t high enough to keep up with the blowback, she was forced to retreat before she could ever reach a finishing point. Over time, this turned the fight into an endless loop: hit, absorb, tremor, damage, withdraw. Repeat. A loop she could never win.

But now... things might be different.

The Grace Adyr had shown her wasn’t just boosting her natural regeneration—it was multiplying it. Tripling it, to be exact. Against Collossith’s constant, unavoidable tremor feedback, that alone would be enough to keep her standing longer than ever before.

But Grace wasn’t just about recovery.

It enhanced the vitality of her entire system. Like an active Spark skill, it accelerated cellular repair, pushed dormant energy into motion, and sustained the body at an unnatural peak.

This healing effect—when Adyr had tested it on Marielle—hadn’t been strong enough to regenerate a lost limb. Not yet, at least.

Still, for someone like Liora—already blessed with high-tier regeneration as a Rank 4 Practitioner—Grace wasn’t just a bonus. It was a breakthrough.

A genuine power-up. One that could finally give her the edge she’d never had.

"We should speak with the others before making a decision." Liora’s eyes sparkled, though her tone made it clear—she’d already made up her mind.

"Do you have anything urgent? Can you come with me?"

Adyr smiled. She looked almost excited at the thought of facing Collossith. He nodded. "Let’s go."

They didn’t waste any time. Liora summoned her Spark—a drifting, cloud-shaped entity—and leapt onto it in a single, practiced motion.

Adyr followed right behind her. Looks like a good mount type.

The moment his feet touched the surface, he felt solid ground beneath him—yet it was soft, too. Softer than any bed he’d ever laid on. Stable, weightless, and somehow comfortable.

"You might want to hold on to something," Liora called back with a grin, already giving the command for the cloud to take off.

"Hold on to what?"

Adyr hesitated. In front of him was nothing but Liora’s small frame—no reins, no handles, no proper saddle.

He didn’t have time to think—his Gaze had already shown him just how fast the cloud could accelerate.

The cloud surged forward with sudden speed, and instinct took over before reason could catch up. He lunged forward, grabbed hold of the only thing within reach, and steadied himself just in time, right as the Spark shattered one of the tall windows with a deafening crack and shot into the open sky.

The loud noise echoed through the manor.

Moments later, the heavy door to the chamber burst open. Orven and Vesha stepped in with urgent expressions, flanked by armored knights who looked moments away from engaging in combat.

For a brief moment, the sound of the crash had made Orven forget he was merely a mortal—someone who had no place interfering in Practitioner affairs. Panic had taken over. He’d imagined the worst, burst into the room... only to find nothing. No danger. No one inside. Just a shattered window and shards of glass glittering across the floor.

He let out a long breath.

"I think Lady Liora just doesn’t like using doors," Vesha said with a laugh. The memory came back—last time, she’d entered the dining hall by tearing straight through the ceiling. Compared to that, this was barely a scratch.

—

"Adyr, can’t you find somewhere else to hold?"

Liora glanced back, her voice sharp but touched with a faint blush as the cloud surged through the sky, slicing clean through the wind.

"Oh—sorry. I didn’t notice."

He laughed, then slowly pulled his hands away from the two soft cushions he’d been gripping.

She’s blushing like a virgin, and she’s over two hundred. Interesting. Adyr made a mental note of her reaction, continuing his constant habit of character analysis.

Liora stood perfectly balanced on the cloud, unmoving, almost as if she were part of it. The moment he let go, Adyr felt the platform slipping beneath his feet, like the wind might tear him off at any moment. But he caught the rhythm quickly, shifted his stance, and adjusted to the motion.

He even got [Rider] talent recognition for it, though, like always, he ignored it.

There were too many talents stacked up already, all waiting for his next rank-up. Until then, none of them could be registered, but it was still good to have them queued.

The real limitation was that unregistered talents couldn’t evolve past level 1. But that wasn’t a problem—not when he had two bodies. His Earth body could always handle the grind later.

The cloud maintained its speed as it continued cutting through the sky. Unlike Lucen’s mansion—secluded far outside the city, hidden deep among the mountains—Liora’s estate had been built right at the city’s heart.

Soon, a massive structure came into view. Adyr had flown over it countless times before and had often suspected it might be her home. But now, flying directly toward it, he was certain.

It was the largest building in the entire city. At first glance, it resembled a great fortress—tall, imposing, and regal. Yet despite that, there was a delicate, almost historical elegance to it. The hard edges of a military stronghold were softened by ornamental design and craftsmanship that spoke of reverence more than warfare.

"I would’ve preferred something smaller, more modest," Liora said with a troubled look. "But this is what they built for me... I couldn’t exactly refuse."

Given her role as the city’s protector—perhaps even her entire race’s it made sense for her residence to be at the center of everything. The sheer size of the estate alone, far too grand for her small frame, was proof of the people’s love and respect for her.

And clearly, that burden of admiration weighed heavier on her than she liked to show.

"I heard the king is having a mansion built for you as well." Liora’s troubled expression faded as quickly as it had appeared, curiosity flickering in her eyes.

In the eyes of most Velari, Adyr’s current status wasn’t far from hers. While Liora had lived here for over two centuries, Adyr had only just arrived in the kingdom. Yet his role in repelling Collossith had already earned him the title of savior. That alone was enough to grant him a near-equal standing.

"Well, I don’t really know." Adyr shrugged, his tone indifferent. As long as it was safe and comfortable, the appearance didn’t matter to him.

As they spoke, the cloud had already descended onto the building’s massive rooftop, settling on a broad, open platform.

"Lady Liora," greeted four maids waiting on the rooftop as if always stationed there. They bowed respectfully the moment she dismounted.

"Hey," she said casually. "Prepare some snacks for us in the guest room, please, and inform Mirela and the others. Tell them to come here immediately. It’s important."

The maids moved without hesitation. Two of them disappeared inside, no doubt to handle the snack preparations. The other two, however, caught Adyr’s attention.

They ascended the marble stairs leading to a circular, raised platform that looked like an oversized bronze tray. With practiced efficiency, they placed several materials at its center and set them alight. Moments later, a pillar of deep red flame and red smoke rose high into the sky, visible to the entire city.

What the hell?

Adyr blinked.

Is this how she calls them? Isn’t that... a little too primitive?

He had half-expected her to use some kind of Spark for communication, something elegant or at least modern. But instead, they were lighting signal fires like a tribal war camp.

It was almost surreal.