Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Skullius paid keen but veiled attention to Ryte. The Arch-Mage didn’t seem to be caught in the tangent of a potential spot to gain power like Gillewart. Instead, he completely ignored it and continued focusing on the topic at hand.

He didn’t even entertain whether or not Skullius was lying about the legacy. It seemed that he believed that at the very least, the shield Skullius had presented was something the Hybrid Luman found in a special place.

Nothing else other than that mattered, apparently.

“What drove that creature away in the end?” Arch-Mage Ryte asked.

Skullius wore an even more deeply disturbed face before offering an answer.

“It said if I refused to give it the item it needed, it would take something from me in exchange. So… it did something to Stylla and left afterwards. I assume it has her as we speak. It’s probably waiting for me,” the Hybrid Luman spat lies that actually pinched his heart.

The mention of Stylla still scorched him with guilt, sadly enough, and more than that, him saying the Null Devil King was waiting for him was more like a stab to his feels.

The Arch-Mage nodded.

“Hmm. Theurien wouldn’t be happy to hear about this, provided he awakens that is. The curse placed on him… I’d never seen an enchantment so potently vile. Not even a Supreme Potion could make him open his eyes,” he said with a regretful tone.

‘Theurien? That’s right! Ryte did say something about this the last time we met. Theurien is Stylla’s father’s name…’ Skullius was made to recall.

 “Alright. Gillewart tells me this creature was able to overpower even him. How did you manage to brave through its powers?”

Skullius subtly swallowed a lump of saliva. He had dreaded to be on the receiving end of this question, but he had an obvious answer.

“I have a Mythical grade weapon of my own. A sword. Gillewart saw it,” the Hybrid Luman said while turning to the City Guardian.

Gillewart nodded to Ryte. Regretfully, he couldn’t seem to forget the treacherous wave of sharp energy that exploded from Skullius when he slashed down with the zhanmadao!

It was more than a little menacing!

Objects of the Mythical grade could make an impactful difference in a contest where the contenders were largely unbalanced in terms of powers. So, it wasn’t strange that Skullius survived the short confrontation with the Null Devil King with that long sword, especially with that showcase.

At least in the eyes of people who had no true idea how powerful the BoneTender in that kingly body was.

“I see. I’ll leave it up to the Capital Service to judge you on possessing a Mythical grade weapon. But surely, you wouldn’t be so cruel, right, Gilly boy?” Ryte said with a calming smile to Gillewart.

The City Guardian sighed.

It was prohibited to own Mythical grade weapons without permission, and Gillewart knew for a fact that Skullius owned it outside legal means. He would have known since very few actually had licenses for them, and he knew them all. And also, for those who entered with them in the city… the qualitative presence of such an item would draw Gillewart’s attention immediately.

Ryte seemed satisfied with Skullius’ answers. He only had one last question though.

“Do you intend to pursue Stylla?”

Skullius was torn on this in truth.

Following after her when there was a great chance that she and the Null Devil King were together was… suicide.

Finding her was probably not hard since there were items and Diviners specialised towards that field, but he didn’t have the means to help her or kill her enslaver.

While the Null Devil King had left Skullius alive, he had no delusions that it was because it couldn’t kill him. It was likely because it had some form of reverence towards Serenity, whom it knew was currently supporting him. If he used this a crutch… he was likely to find that it wasn’t as sturdy of a support after all.

But as to Ryte’s question…

“I might,” he simply said.

Arch-Mage Ryte’s gaze lingered on the Hybrid Luman before turning to Aurolio.

“What’s your story?” he asked.

The pale man had huddled against himself throughout the entire back and forth between Skullius and the high level Mage, shivering subtly while blowing into his hands. It seemed that whenever he wasn’t actively doing something, the chill only he felt would catch up to him.

“Hmm. I can’t really explain it,” he said, much to Gillewart’s displeasure.

But Aurolio continued.

“However, I can show you. I reckon giving up one of those things for a demonstration wouldn’t be a loss for you, right? You can learn as much as you can then.”

The Arch-Mage remained silent for a bit, his piercing eyes seemingly discerning Aurolio’s intent.

“Very well. Let’s go see it,” he said.

Soon, the group appeared outside the tower and Ryte led them towards the Wormworld Spiral, the largest construct within the Academy grounds, its height which was hundreds of meters somehow smothered by an illusion that made it seem like it sank into the blue sky.

Arch-Mage Ryte didn’t teleport them all there because of several rules that governed the Academy grounds. One of them forbade the use of magecraft outside designated areas of practise by Mages.

Therefore, the four had to manoeuvre to the large, shiny construct as mundanely as possible.

Skullius drew Aurolio back, the two then trailing behind both Gillewart and Ryte.

With a serious face, Skullius finally decided to present his curiosity.

“What you used on Gillewart earlier… What was it?”

Aurolio turned to him and raised a brow.

“Oh that. It’s called Veneration.”

Skullius frowned.

‘Add something dammit! I know that much!’

“What is it? I thought you were able to compel people like Incandescent Stagers,” Skullius lied.

This was probably the best way to ask about it without revealing that he had a Veneration Art of his own. Two actually.

One being [Evil Veneration] and the other being the Veneration that came with his Eternal Storm Veil Penetrator race.

He was sure Replicus had been abusing it but he couldn’t, especially when he spent most of his time as the Hybrid Luman.

For now though, he really wanted to learn what a Veneration art was. He had never encountered anyone else who could use until now and all of the channels he searched through had no idea what it was either.

Aurolio gave him a lazy glance.

“Veneration is actually pretty simple, though uncommon among most people in the world. It’s simply a… kindle you receive after coming into contact with a higher, FOREIGN power. A Deity, or something else on that level… or higher. Of course even the relatively strong people in this world wouldn’t know about this since they don’t even know there are other worlds,” Aurolio explained.

Skullius did his best to maintain his composure.

“A foreign power?” he asked.

“Yeah. Think of it as like a protective charm you’d wear when going into an unexplored, dreadful land. But it’s not yours and it was forced on you. Something that exists outside the natural forces of the world.”

“So… it’s like a blessing, but just from another Deity who isn’t of that world?”

Aurolio laughed.

“A blessing? No. It’s an affliction. Verbal, optical, auditory… It’s never given for the purpose of benefit. It infects a part of your body like a virus and never lets go. Before you know what it is, you struggle and it corrodes your mind and soul. It only takes the strongest of the strong to turn it into a weapon. But to do that… you often have to spend years pleading and begging the Deity who inflicted it for mercy. Veneration,” the pale man explained with his face turning from playful to sombre for a few moments.

“Your scribbling stalker has one too, so you should watch your back.”

“What?” Skullius was caught off guard.

Scribbling stalker?

As in… Gabel?

Skullius covered his mouth and grit his teeth.

Once again, he felt like Aurolio had expanded his world view with only words.

So Veneration… Fulgardt was touched, afflicted rather, but a foreign Deity or…

‘The Wanderer Who Seeds…’

Skullius’ eyes widened.

This had to be it.

Was this the origin of [Evil Veneration] which actualized anything the user said out of pure, unadulterated hatred?

And his other Veneration…

Was its source Serenity, or something else?

To add on to this, Gabel had something like this too?!

So many questions were left in the wake of these answers?

Like how did the dormant blessing within everyone react when they got a Veneration?

How would one even encounter a foreign Deity in a world bound by powerful Rules?

Skullius would have loved to ask but Aurolio suddenly swished his hand and something only Skullius and him could see shattered around them.

“Next time you want to ask something like that in public. Be tactful,” the pale man said.

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Skullius wanted to say something to this, but it seemed his limited window for questioning Aurolio before the big show had closed.

For as the four entered the Wormworld Spiral, everything changed.