Death... and me

Chapter 1540 - You Won't Believe It

In the underground area where the formation was, Rean gathered with the other Formation Masters and began to teach them about higher-level runes, principles, combinations, etc. From what he was doing, his objective was obvious. He wanted to obtain their trust, especially Vaz's. "Did you see? That's why the stacking of your formations has gone bad so far. The superposition of runes was creating incompatibility, and it still is right now. I'm truly impressed you made it work without it exploding."

Vaz was the first one to ask questions. "I understand the principle. However, it also requires materials hard to get our hands on in the Upside Down World. Is there a way to circumvent this issue?"

Rean nodded, replying, "Yes, we can use substitutes with similar properties. It's just that since they aren't as good as the originals, we will need more stabilizing, flow, and control runes. However, it's not like we're substituting quantity to make up for quality. The process is different with these materials. That's all."

Someone immediately wanted to give it a try, asking, "Alright, can you show us a few examples? If possible, use some simple materials."

"No problem at all. If it is cheap materials, I have them in my spatial ring. Still, you should start searching for materials of better quality in the Upside Down World. After so long, we have a lot of people who turned into statues and were brought here. They most likely all had their spatial rings, just like my brother and me. Perhaps we'll be able to find some of them. After I help revise the formation, I'll make a list with everyone's help, listing the materials we will need for it."

Vaz was satisfied with that, nodding as he said, "Then let's start."

With that, Rean immediately took the materials and began to create some simple and fast formations. They didn't have much use, but it served to prove his ideas, which was more than enough to convince everyone. A few days later, the levels of the Formation Masters had increased by a lot. Sure, most of them had been working with formations for a long time. It's just that they didn't have the study materials necessary to improve. Rean's knowledge was like an oasis in the middle of the desert. In short, they all absorbed it like sponges. For the first time in years, the hard expression on everyone's faces began to ease up as they felt that they were much closer to completing the formation.

On some days, Vaz called Rean over to discuss some stuff. "Rean, come take a look at these blueprints." By now, he had no doubt that Rean was the most accomplished Formation Master in their group by far. A good thing was that Rean did not use a single Circuitry Rune. Instead, he only used the traditional ones to obtain their respect.

As Rean looked at the information, he immediately understood it was related to the core of the formation. "This... isn't this the core of the Barrier Breaker Formation?" After so long, he had obviously heard the name of the formation already. "Is it really fine to show it to me? I just joined your group a few weeks ago."

Vaz snorted in response, telling him, "Ha! If you aren't qualified to see and help with it, then is there anyone in this place who can?"

Rean shook his head. "That's not what I mean-"

"I know what you mean," Vaz cut Rean's words short. "You have largely helped us increase our knowledge in formations. Thanks to you, we're not only four Golden-level Formation Masters anymore, but seven. Three of our guys had finally made a breakthrough thanks to your support. Besides, it would be idiotic to try and jeopardize this operation since it could be the key to getting us out of this shitty-ass place. Don't worry, you can take a good look and tell me what you see wrong."

Rean pretended to be nervous, murmuring, "But... this is the culmination of over thirty years of development. So far, the formation isn't complete but is moving towards it. What if what I say causes a problem with the formation? I can't bear the responsibility. In fact, I think I would be killed if I was the culprit for such a problem. Due to the complexity of the formation so far, I doubt you could rebuild it."

Vaz shook his head, though. "There's no need to worry. If this fails, we can simply start all over again. Besides, it's now obvious to me just how jumbled our formation is with the knowledge you shared so far. Perhaps the new one will be much better."

Eventually, Rean decided to accept. In fact, he was sighing inside, thinking, 'The problem is that the runes I taught you to use would never bring a better formation to life. In fact, they would lead to much worse results. Sorry for that...' Of course, he kept these thoughts to himself.

Following that, Rean began to work with Vaz on the core of the formation. Sure enough, he gave Vaz several different ideas that, on the surface, looked good. Even Vaz couldn't see anything wrong with most of them. The ones where he found some issues were put there on purpose for him to see. That way, he wouldn't think Rean was too perfect, giving himself more confidence while leaving Rean leeway.

Meanwhile, Roan had found a few interesting things of his own. He went out with the other members of the purging organization to help with the challenges. That helped him obtain a better grasp of the powers in the Upside Down World and detect possible threats.

However, there was a particular power, or this power's leader, who shocked Roan with his presence. 'There's a new rising power in the Upside Down World. It seems like their leader is someone who came from outside as well. Believe it or not, they already acquired more territory in the last eight years than anyone else did in several decades or maybe even hundreds of years.'

Rean couldn't help but ask, 'And why should I be concerned?'

'You won't believe me even if I tell you,' Roan said in response.