Chapter 271: Marzana’s Training

While the others trained at the training hall, Regis and Marzana kept going through possessions repeatedly until the former finally felt his Perfect Adaptation working.

"Are we finally done?" Marzana asked with an exhausted expression.

To be frank, she was not really a fan of the feeling when another soul was controlling her body for her.

Nevertheless, she knew that everything they were doing was for her sake, so he steeled herself and did not even utter a single word of complaint.

While she was breathing heavily, Regis was in deep thought, ’3 times...’

’It took three possessions before I was able to adapt to her black energy...’

He was sure that by the next time he tried possessing the elven girl’s body, he would no longer be driven away by that strange black energy.

However, despite the sweat that trickled down his temple, Regis’s eyes shone with satisfaction.

He looked at Marzana and responded, "Yes. Let’s rest for a while first before we continue."

***

An hour later...

It could be seen that both Regis and Marzana’s complexion had recovered as they sat in front of each other on wooden stools.

Taking a sip of her cold fruit juice, which they got earlier, Marzana spoke, "What did you learn about this black energy inside of me?"

"Hmm, where should I start?" Regis muttered outloud as he fell into deep thought.

The two of them had been very exhausted to the point that they could not even utter a word.

Thus, this was the first time the two had broken the silence that had been going on for an hour straight since they decided to take a break earlier.

After a few moments, under Marzana’s expectant gaze, Regis spoke, "First of all, the name of that black energy... is Chaos."

"Chaos..." The elven girl repeated the name under her breath as a frown appeared on her exquisite face.

Seeing her reaction, Regis nodded, "That’s right, it’s the same energy that was present before the creation of this world."

The Myth of Beginnings.

It was a book that entailed how everything came to be from what was believed to be nothingness.

It described how, at first, there was only chaos in a vast expanse of nothingness with nothing to be seen until the gods decided to create Order, thus creating and bringing the whole world into existence.

The Myth of Beginnings was, as its name stated, a book that contained a myth of how everything began.

Of course, it originally did not have any title, as it came from a book from an ancient ruin, with no one having any means to verify its contents.

After all, who would be able to speak directly to the gods and ask about the past?

Even though some of the more powerful entities could do so, it was unknown whether they would be willing to share such knowledge with the world.

As an elf of the royal lineage, Marzana was not unfamiliar with the Myth of Beginnings.

Their huge royal library had thousands— if not tens of thousands of books from various fields of knowledge.

Furthermore, as an elf who naturally loves nature, something like chaos was frowned upon considering that it was engrained to their instincts to love creation, which equates order in the broader sense.

Likewise, Regis, who had read vast amounts of books throughout the years, was also familiar with a story as common as the Myth of Beginnings.

After a moment, he continued, "What you’re thinking should be the same as my thoughts."

"Then..." Marzana looked him in the eyes.

Regis nodded, "Yes. As you know, the Myth of Beginnings describes chaos as the thing that was present before all creation. Chaos was present before Order was implemented by the gods. You remember about the feeling I told you earlier, right?"

"When you said that, you felt as if this energy was the opposite of creation?"

"Yes. Along with the memories that I got from my soul being tackled by your chaos energy, I was also able to confirm that it is indeed the chaos in the Myth of Beginnings."

"Does this mean that the Myth of Beginnings was true?" The elven girl asked curiously.

But Regis shook his head, "That’s outside of what I know. I’m not a god, after all. But I do know that the chaos energy inside your body is the same chaos that the story describes."

"Well, to explain it more clearly, your chaos energy has the ability to nullify any kind of energy that comes into contact with it— or, in this situation— you. Besides that, it could also heal you of any injuries, and as for the potency of healing, we still need to verify it."

Marzana thought for a moment before asking, "Then, if this is really chaos energy, does it mean that I can also turn matter into nothingness?"

"You’re getting ahead of yourself..."

Hearing his words, the elven girl blushed, ’I got too excited...’

"But we can only fully know in the future. After all, even human gifts need time before we can explore the extent of their power. I guess we can treat your chaos energy as the same." Regis spoke with a smile.

Marzana’s long, pointed ears twitched as she felt happy inside.

Regis’s expression then turned serious, "Let’s now move to the next step."

"All right." The elven girl assumed a serious expression as she straightened her posture.

"I will possess you again."

Hearing the word ’possess’, Marzana could not help but flinch.

Regis chuckled at her reaction, "Don’t worry, it will be fine now, unlike earlier."

’But my chaos energy will still drive him out of my body...’

The first time Regis was driven out of her body, she did not really feel any pain.

However, in the two succeeding times, the intensity of the injuries brought upon by the chaos energy driving out Regis’s soul was too much to the point that even she felt it clearly.

’I guess I can’t really complain, since he’s surely feeling more pain just to help me...’

Just as Marzana was appreciating Regis’s efforts, his voice sounded, "Are you ready?"

"Yes." She answered without delay.

[Soul Possession]

Marzana felt the ever-so-familiar sensation of an intangible soul entering her body.

Just as she was bracing herself for the impact of the chaos energy’s backlash, she discovered a moment later that everything was calm.

As if reading her thoughts, Regis’s voice sounded as he spoke outloud, "Didn’t I tell you that this time, it will be easier?"

(You’re right, but what happened?)

"This is the power of my gift," Regis responded out loud.

As he possessed the body of the elven girl, the voice that came out of his lips was delicate.

’Alright, let’s get down to business.’

Regis thought as he seamlessly entered a state of meditation.

Marzana, who was observing from the inside, was amazed by this action, ’Although I know that he has excellent combat prowess, I didn’t think that he’s this adept at controlling his own mind as well.’

Oblivious to her thoughts, Regis kept sensing the chaos energy deep within his body.

As he did so, various thoughts swirled within his mind.

’Hmmm... this energy has a nullifying factor towards other energies, but at the same time, it seemed as if it had a lot of similarities with them as well...’

Feeling the black energy that seemed to circulate inside the body without any clear pattern or direction, he began to wander.

’Chaos is the opposite of order. If order is creation, then it would be impossible to create something with it.

By creation, I mean like those of formulas for magic spells and even the basic cultivation method of star formation that’sapplicable for all energies... Unless...’

It was at this moment that a smirk crept up on "Marzana’s" face.

Regis felt confident with the idea that suddenly dawned on him as he tried to circulate the chaos energy in the elven girl’s body.

Sensing what he was doing with her body, Marzana grew confused, ’I tried this approach as well. In fact, I have been trying to control it all my life, but I haven’t succeeded.

I even told him about it earlier, so why was he doing it now? Did he not believe me? I don’t think so...

...maybe he ran out of ideas?’

Numerous thoughts occupied her mind, but she could never have guessed that the source of Regis’s confidence would be his own gift: Perfect Adaptation.

While in the state of Soul Possession, Regis could not only use both his and the possessed’s abilities, but also use his very own gifts.

After all, his soul also harbored the same abilities his body had due to the intangible connection between the two.

At this moment, just as Marzana was having all sorts of thoughts, she felt the chaos energy move weirdly.

It was weird in the sense that it seemed to slowly follow a particular direction as it circulated deep inside her body.

’No way...’

While she was in disbelief, Regis gritted his teeth, ’More... More...’

Clearly, even with him clearly having adapted to the point that the chaos energy no longer tried to expel him, controlling it was another matter altogether.