Novel Full Chapter 208: Profound
Chapter 208: Profound
The patriarch watched Evander quietly for a moment before speaking again.
Then he asked another question.
“What do you know about a world’s will?”
The moment those words left his father’s mouth, Evander’s eyes trembled.
It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck his mind.
For a brief moment, his thoughts exploded with sudden connections. Pieces of knowledge he had gathered over the years.
Ancient texts, fragmented teachings, rumors about higher magic, and the laws of reality seemed to collide together all at once.
His breathing slowed
His pupils narrowed.
It looked as if he had suddenly understood something profound.
Patriarch Kletis saw the reaction immediately.
“There we go…” he said with a quiet laugh.
Evander looked up again, still deep in thought.
But the patriarch waved his hand dismissively.
“Whatever you think you just understood,” he said calmly, “throw it out of your mind.”
Evander blinked.
“Many others make the same mistake when they first hear that term,” the patriarch continued. “They believe they have grasped something important.”
He picked up his wine glass again.
“But in truth…”
He took a slow sip.
“…they have understood nothing.”
Evander slowly leaned back in his chair, forcing his racing thoughts to settle.
The patriarch’s voice became calmer.
“I made the same mistake when I first learned of it,” he admitted.
He looked toward the window briefly, as if remembering something from a very distant past.
“I will not bore you with the countless theories about how the world, the universe, and life itself came to be.”
His gaze returned to Evander.
“Those are things you will only begin to understand when you become far stronger than you are now.”
Evander remained silent.
His father continued.
“What I will tell you is this.”
“What our family seeks…”
He paused briefly.
“…is tied directly to these concepts.”
Evander felt a faint chill run through him.
The patriarch’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“What we seek,” he said quietly, “is an Origin Core.”
Evander’s breath hitched slightly.
An Origin Core…
Even the name alone sounded ancient.
The patriarch continued calmly.
“An Origin Core is not simply a treasure.”
“It is not a weapon.”
“It is not even a magical artifact in the way you understand them.”
He leaned forward slightly.
“It is a fragment.”
“A fragment that forms part of this world itself.”
Evander’s eyes widened slightly.
Patriarch Kletis finished the sentence slowly.
“A fragment of our world’s will.”
For a moment, Evander said nothing.
The weight of that statement felt far too large for him to process fully.
’How can a world have a will?’
’Is it alive?’
’To that end, are elements alive?’
He immediately felt a terrible ache in his head that made him clutch his brow in discomfort.
It felt like something far beyond the current him.
Patriarch Kletis noticed immediately.
“Do not strain your mind trying to understand it,” he said calmly.
“That is my responsibility.”
Evander slowly exhaled and nodded.
His thoughts were still unsettled, but he forced himself to remain composed.
“You,” the patriarch continued, “simply focus on what you can do right now. We have reason to believe one of these cores might be in their holy land.”
His gaze sharpened slightly.
“Get close to the girl.”
Evander nodded again once he had finally settled his thoughts.
“Understood.”
Patriarch Kletis leaned back in his chair, slowly swirling the remaining wine in his glass as if he was thinking about something far away. The faint scent of the mana-fermented wine lingered in the air between them.
After a moment, he spoke again.
“Now…”
His sharp eyes lifted toward his son.
“Tell me more about this Elion boy.”
Evander looked slightly surprised by the request, but he quickly nodded.
“You mentioned earlier that Celeste Chronos favors him.”
Evander nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Patriarch Kletis tapped a finger lightly on the table.
“Then I want to hear everything you know about him.”
He leaned forward slightly.
“He might be useful to our cause.”
“How talented is he?”
…
“Ladies and gentlemen!” she called out brightly. “Now that the third year matches have concluded, we will proceed with the upper year battles!”
The crowd cheered loudly again.
“But!” she continued, raising a finger with a playful smile, “from this point onward, the fights will become far more dangerous. Because of that, we will be reducing the number of simultaneous matches.”
The large screens around the arena flickered as the battlefield platforms reset themselves.
“For the fourth, fifth, and sixth years, only four battles at a time will be held.”
The spectators murmured in excitement.
Everyone understood what this meant.
The academy was about to showcase the real monsters.
Soon, the fourth years stepped onto the battlefield.
And of course, no one Elion knew once again, so he watched with only a reasonable amount of interest. But of course, as soon as the minimum amount of power flexing was shown, his eyes were glued.
To be fair, he didn’t see much of a difference between third years and fourth years. Make no mistake, the difference was there.
Their mana control was far sharper, their movements far more confident, and their spells far more refined. But the gist of it was that it was nothing too significant.
Probably because students at that level were mostly mid to peak advanced mages, regardless of whether they were third or fourth year.
What truly sets them apart is control and efficiency. This tournament was becoming quite convenient for Elion. It let him scale his own power in comparison to other students.
In fact could see that he was just as, if not more, powerful than these guys in the arena, even if they had better control.
Elion could just throw around a bunch of powerful spells and win the fight.
After all, he didn’t need to worry about running out of mana as they did. So he watched on with interest, studying their movements, their spells, and so on.
The girls, however, were completely engrossed and star-struck.
“Wow!” Isolde had suddenly become animated and excited as she gazed at the screens with twinkling eyes.
“They are so strong,” Mira nodded.
The crowd was going wild outside, and honestly, Elion couldn’t blame them. The fights were blood-pumping.
Even though the fights were slower and more tactical, they were also fast-paced and destructive.
These students didn’t throw spells recklessly as those who had come before them.
Every movement had a purpose, and every attack forced a reaction from the spectators. It looked less like a chaotic brawl and more like a calculated duel between experienced fighters.
Still, the destruction was impressive.
One fight ended when a wind mage blasted his opponent clean off the platform with a violent tornado spell.
Another ended with a swordsman slipping past a lightning strike and landing a decisive blow to his opponent’s chest.
The crowd cheered loudly every time.
Before long, the battles ended with plenty of fanfare.
There was a short break before the host came back to announce the next round of fights.
“And now, ladies and gentlemen! Please welcome the fifth years!”
That was when Elion noticed a familiar, cute dwarf girl holding a hammer that was easily three times her size.
The sight was comical, even more so because the head of the hammer dwarfed her small head by quite a margin.