Darius Supreme

Deconstruct was a powerful spell that would cause a person's molecular bonds to destabilize upon themselves, slowly transforming them into energy. This energy usually took the form of pure aether itself, and the quantity of it depended on the quality of the target this skill was used on. 

However, it was not a deus ex machina spell. It would not kill everyone Anthony pointed at but worked on a circumstantial basis. 

Against foes like these that had already been weakened, he was able to turn some of them fully into aether while others only had some body parts turned. 

Stronger foes would only feel great discomfort in their body, so one could say it had a small stun/disruption effect. As for those weaker than Anthony, they would find themselves slowly turning into energy whether they liked it or not. 

That was why the Aether element stood above Space, Time, and even Order and Chaos. All of them sprung up from this one element, which was the only element without a counterpart. 

It was impossible to acquire this element on a normal basis, with even those who awakened with talents in this field unable to develop it further because it was so powerful and unique. Even the Basic spell was so overpowered, and self-sufficient. 

Such Aether Controllers were usually killed in the cradle as no force on Fallon would allow such a powerhouse to grow. Luckily, Aether users did not have any Journeyman or above spells since those who used this element had an immensely difficult time progressing through the stages, not to mention the kind of witch hunt they were subjected to. 

As stated, it was a self-sufficient spell, taking a percentage of the energy derived from a target during an attack, leaving you with a reminder. At level 1, you barely got 2% of the energy while the rest was used on the costs. 

Naturally, as one raised the level of the skill, the percentage share got better until it reached 50-50 at level 20. And this was even with the fact that Anthony had learned this from a transmuted spellbook which was 5 times better than the norm. 

When the Fungal Corruptors were struck with this, most turned into a small ball of greenish-blue energy that floated towards Antony, which he collected into a Bag of Holding. He had made sure not to collect any of the Aetheric Energy into his body, for it came at a cost. 

Aetheric Energy enhanced the body, mind, and soul, acting like a form of natural boost. You could absorb a limitless amount of it and would get stronger and stronger with slightly diminishing returns, which was the big fear around people who could use this element. 

However, at the same time, those who used this element gave off - shall we say - a unique 'frequency' that could be traced by those in power. 

That was how new Aether Controllers would eventually end up being discovered and snuffed out even though most of them would be very careful, were aware that there was some type of taboo around this element. 

As his studies concerned this matter, Antony had long since been aware of this. As such, he had never let even a speck of Aetheric Energy enter his body, but he also couldn't let them go to waste. 

As such, he usually collected them like this, waiting for the day when his master could assure him that no one could come after his life. 

His fellow students were quite surprised by this sight. They had never actually seen him use this skill before. The ability to turn an enemy into energy so easily was similar to James' Devour skill. 

However, the latter worked only on defeated targets and the conversion was pretty low. This though, could turn a completely healthy being into energy right away, and they could feel that the quality of it was far higher. 

Still, the lads did not stop their onslaught. Ash decided to make good use of his Sparks in this situation, while Reina decided to stick to her Wind Blades due to their effectiveness. 

Jonathan would obviously stay true to Ember, since his raw damage was not enough to seal the deal, while also letting his spawned undead hack and slash at his foes. They did not possess the growth abilities of Mikey and Joneson, so they did not absorb the Death Energy of slain foes. 

James was having a great time Devouring slain foes, so he definitely wouldn't waste his mana on anything else. How many chances would he get to fortify his stats like this when he had already become slightly saturated in this regard? 

And Anthony kept harvesting Aetheric Energy calmly. He couldn't use Time Skip, because that required melee combat and they were all in their 'mage' mode. He also couldn't use Blink, because it was also best used to melee or armed combat. 

Stabilize and Destabilize, the spells of order and chaos, were not usable unless he was in his Sage Mode due to the consequences. If one really thought about it, his only offensive means was to use the Aether Element, which was quite amusing to think about. 

Eventually, they cleared this wave and were then promptly attacked by a third wave consisting of 40 monsters charging at them. 

To this, the lads could only ready themselves for a longer and more pressing combat. 

......... 

Within Safemoon, Darla Brown and Kiran walked through the outer section with strange expressions on their faces. They noticed how congested and busy the area was, many people trying to buy higher quality materials, items, and consumables. 

What was crazy was that the prices of these things were so exorbitant when compared to alternatives that it felt like daylight robbery. 

However, once one checked the quality of these things, it created a feeling that Safemoon were fools for selling this so cheaply. 

This kind of paradoxical feeling was not unique to Darla and Kiran. Literally, everyone who had come had experienced this before, but they eventually got used to it. After all, what more could they do about it? 

The two spotted a blacksmith's shop that was established near the edge of the outer section. Darius had refused to let anyone open their own business in his city, so every store in the outer section was owned by Safemoon. 

However, establishments like this had Safemoon as the owner, but the workers within were vetted by Nicholas and Elijah before they were appointed to become craftsmen of the city. 

After all, one couldn't expect Darius to be creating basic weapons like swords and the like on a daily basis, right? What he rather did was create huge heaps of raw materials, and let the workers work on them to make them into finished goods. 

Since they only allowed experts to work in their stores, the final product - while it would not match up to some directly transmuted - was still of great quality because of the raw materials used and the competent workmanship. 

It also allowed the economy within the city to flourish since Darius 'sold' these raw materials to the city, which the city would distribute to their workers to make final goods and them sell them using their shops. 

The profit would then be sent back to the city - with the workers receiving a salary or commission depending on their mode of occupation and employment contract - which would then use this profit to spread its influence. 

If one were to count, the price Darius 'sold' materials to Safemoon was a simply pittance, not even 10% of their cost. 

Safemoon also paid the workers a nice 15% commission, which seemed small on paper, but was huge money to these fellows. The slots for them were even more brutally contested than a fight for the throne between noble princes. 

And the chunk went to Safemoon in terms of profit. After slightly more than half a year of establishment, Safemoon was so rich that even the top empire on Fallon looked poor in comparison. 

Just like Miranda was doing on Pokterr, she had been harvesting minerals to build more connectors and roads throughout Fallon starting from Safemoon. 

Most of these were constructed between Andrato and Safemoon, and now the two countries had more than three well-defined and proper roads to each other that could support large traversal at a time. 

Miranda had even gone ahead and created mechanical carriages, basically cars but styled like a carriage to fit the theme of this continent. They moved on the roads using electromagnetism like bullet trains, so one could imagine how fast they were. 

Ever since discovering Source Energy and its tricks from Pokterr, Miranda had slowly been replacing all the energy modules for the carriages and used Source Energy to produce everything. 

With the source of fuel sorted out, these carriages were so cheap to use that it cost about the same as traveling from your street to the next in fare to go from Andrato to Safemoon. 

As such, the citizens of the two countries had blended well as parties from the former frequently visited the latter many times in a day to buy goods or do business.