Chapter 214: Forming The First Elemental Chakra

After running out of patience, Berlic Draveon decided to investigate the matter himself, heading first to the city’s training ground before making his way to Elias’s manor in search of Daemon and Berman. However, despite checking both locations, he found neither of his knights, and the longer he searched without discovering anything useful, the more his irritation grew.

When Berlic finally entered the manor and found it completely empty, his patience snapped.

Smoke-like crimson Aura erupted from his body and spread throughout the courtyard, its oppressive pressure crashing down upon the knights who had followed him. Several immediately fell to their knees, struggling to breathe beneath the suffocating force, while others collapsed unconscious before they could even understand what was happening.

Berlic turned toward Himber, who stood nearby with his teeth clenched and his body trembling as he fought against the pressure.

"Where is that bastard and his wives?" Berlic demanded.

Himber struggled to lift his head before answering, "I do not know, My Lord. We have already replaced all the gate guards with our knights, so he could not have left the city."

"Then did they vanish into thin air, or did the earth swallow them whole?" Berlic asked, his voice growing colder with every word.

Himber fell silent because he had no answer to offer.

Berlic’s jaw hardened as he clenched his fist, and the head of the knight standing beside Himber suddenly exploded beneath the invisible pressure. Blood and fragments of bone splattered across the courtyard, while the headless body remained upright for a brief moment before collapsing heavily onto the ground.

The gruesome sight made Himber’s stomach twist, and he barely managed to suppress the urge to vomit as warm blood splashed across his face and armor. His breathing became ragged, yet he dared not move while Berlic’s Aura continued pressing down upon him.

"Go search every home, every corner, every single rock, and find me that bastard," Berlic ordered in a chilling tone.

"W-What about the rift?" Himber stammered, his voice trembling as he struggled to raise his head.

"Why should I care about the lives of these insignificant insects?" Berlic asked dismissively. "Their dying for my goal would be the greatest deed of their whole lives."

"B-But the Crimsons would come then..." Himber muttered darkly.

The moment those words left his mouth, Berlic’s expression twisted with anger. He stepped forward, seized Himber by the neck, and lifted him off the ground with one hand, forcing the struggling knight to claw desperately at his wrist.

"Do you think I am scared of some brats?" Berlic demanded, tightening his grip until Himber’s face began to turn red. "As long as Aegon does not come himself, none of them can dare touch me."

Himber groaned as the pressure around his throat increased, his boots kicking helplessly above the ground while he struggled to draw breath.

"You had better watch what you say," Berlic continued, his voice low and menacing. "I may trust you, but that does not warrant you a long life."

After holding him there for another moment, Berlic finally released his grip, allowing Himber to fall onto his knees as he desperately sucked in air. Berlic then turned around and began walking toward the exit, showing no concern for the knight who had nearly choked to death in his hand.

"Find him, or I will once again have to get myself new competent knights," he muttered.

"A-As you wish," Himber mumbled, lowering his head as he fought to steady his breathing.

Berlic continued toward the manor’s entrance, his Aura gradually receding as he left the courtyard behind.

"No matter how much you hide, in the end, you will die by my hands."

---

Meanwhile, Elias sat cross-legged on the floor of Monica’s room, his eyes closed as he once again entered Mana Limbo, the dark world in which he could perceive the individual elements flowing within Mana.

Over the past few days, he had gradually refined his method of gathering Earth elements, realizing that merely picturing soil or rock was not enough to form an Elemental Chakra. Instead, he had begun recalling everything he knew about earth, drawing upon the sensations and memories he had accumulated throughout his life.

He remembered the smell of soil after rainfall, the rough texture of rocks against his palm, and the overwhelming presence of a mountain that made him feel insignificant while simultaneously inspiring him to keep climbing. He poured these impressions into his understanding of the element, using them to guide the faint yellow particles floating within Mana Limbo.

However, the deeper he immersed himself in those memories, the greater the danger became, because losing himself in Mana Limbo could leave him trapped until he successfully completed the Elemental Chakra. That possibility remained his greatest concern, yet he could not afford to let it distract him now, especially when he had finally begun making meaningful progress.

Before him, the faint yellow particles gradually gathered into a delicate ring, their light flickering whenever his concentration wavered. The structure was so fragile that even a minor mistake could cause the entire formation to collapse, forcing him to begin again, but Elias continued carefully drawing each particle into place.

Outside Mana Limbo, Monica watched him with an expression that appeared almost indifferent, although the worry in her eyes betrayed her true feelings. She had activated her Mind’s Eye and could sense how close Elias was to completing the ring, which only made her more anxious as the minutes passed.

She knew how dangerously absorbed he could become, and she had no desire to experience another incident like the previous one, when he had lost himself so completely that an entire day had passed before she managed to pull him back.

Nevertheless, she remained calm, keeping a close watch on his condition while the torches flickered and cast shifting shadows across the room.

Inside Mana Limbo, Elias carefully moved the final particle into position, completing the delicate circle of yellow light. For a brief moment, the ring shone so brightly that its radiance overwhelmed his inner vision, forcing him to pause as the light gradually settled.

Then he felt something change.

A strange sense of familiarity spread through his consciousness, connecting him to the ground beneath his crossed legs.

[Ding!]

[The host has created the Earth Elemental Chakra!]

[Magic Affinity: Earth (D) → Earth (A)]

Elias opened his eyes, still trying to make sense of the unfamiliar sensation that lingered within him.

At the same moment, Monica felt a strange power drift into her Mind’s Eye before dissolving into her mana circle, leaving her momentarily bewildered.

She blinked and wondered inwardly, ’What just happened?’

Unknown to her, a single glowing white dot had appeared within the colorless symbol in her Mental Library, quietly altering its otherwise empty appearance.

Monica quickly shifted her attention back to Elias, who was sitting before her with an oddly thoughtful expression.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Weird," Elias answered, struggling to find a better word to describe the unfamiliar connection he had just experienced.

Monica frowned. "Huh? That is all?"

"Mhm," he replied with a nod before glancing around the room as though expecting something else to happen.

After a brief pause, Elias turned toward her and asked, "How do I cast a spell?"

Monica stared at him with a deadpan expression as a vein throbbed on her forehead.

"What is wrong?" Elias asked with a frown, unable to understand why Monica was looking at him as though she wanted to strangle him.

"What is wrong, you ask?!" Monica exclaimed furiously. "For the past few days, you have done nothing but walk into my room and start meditating! You do not even bathe me or feed me as gently and lovingly as you used to!"

"I..." Elias began, but he quickly closed his mouth when he realized he had no reasonable excuse to offer.

"I simply want to become stronger as quickly as possible," he explained after a moment. "At the very least, we need someone at the Lord rank to deal with the Crimson Ducal Clan or any other threat that might come our way."

Monica’s expression darkened as she turned her face away, and after a brief silence, she mumbled, "I... I can do it."

Elias blinked several times before tilting his head in confusion. "What?"

"I can become a Lord whenever I want," she repeated, her voice growing quieter toward the end.

Her answer left Elias staring at her in bewilderment for several moments before he finally asked, "Then why have you not?"

"Did I not tell you that the poison grows stronger as I do?" Monica muttered, avoiding his gaze.

Elias’s expression gradually darkened, and he fell silent as he considered her words.

After a while, he looked at her again and asked, "What if you knew what the poison actually was?"

Monica turned her gaze toward him, her brows knitting together. "What?"

"If you knew its true nature, would you be able to defeat it?"

"I do not know exactly what it is, but..." She hesitated before continuing, "If I understood its nature, then I might be able to find a way to overcome it. The only thing I know is that it belongs to an element that is extremely weak against Darkness, but it is not Light either. Whatever it is, it resembles Darkness, yet it is somehow different."

Elias stepped closer.

"Then perhaps it is something that cannot exist without light, something that darkness can swallow," he muttered.

Monica furrowed her brows as she tried to make sense of his words. "What are you talking about?"

However, Elias did not answer her question and instead continued, "Have you ever considered that it might belong to an element we have not yet managed to comprehend?"

The problem with geniuses was that the same knowledge that allowed them to shine could also trap them within a web of impossibilities. They understood the laws and principles so thoroughly that anything beyond those established boundaries became difficult to accept, even when the evidence stood directly before them.

After all, the laws they followed had been established by ordinary people through observation and experimentation, yet generations of mages had gradually come to treat those discoveries as absolute truths.

A mage was taught to acknowledge the knowledge of the past as the foundation of the present, because abandoning those principles without understanding them could push the very study of the Arcane to the brink of collapse, as had happened once before.

That was also why <anno data-annotation-id="fbec6201-7373-4757-a9ee-876002df6744" data-title="Magi">Magi¹</anno> were not merely praised for their extraordinary discoveries but sometimes hated for them.

Monica pressed her lips together and remained silent for a long while, carefully examining Elias’s suggestion before finally speaking.

"It is made of the Shadow element..." she mumbled. "But what is it?"

"Shadow Ghost Poison," Elias muttered.

Monica immediately looked at him, her brows furrowing as she muttered, "You are wrong."

"What?"