Chapter 387: The Truth About The World

After going back, he hadn’t slept. There was one big question that had been repeating itself in his mind.

What made absolute elements different?

He had been wondering about this question. While looking at the ceiling, he thought, ’Absolute elements should be quite special if they can really cause something like this. Soon, Tommi will develop symptoms strong enough that his daily life will be affected. I will talk to him after the training program.’

Lindwurm floated on top of Auric while saying, "First, you need to recall everything about the absolute elements."

Auric closed his eyes, recalling every absolute element he had encountered so far.

Tommi’s absolute element was extremely dense. The energy from that flame could burn everything, but after learning about this condition, he actually found something a bit more special in Tommi’s absolute fire element.

The reason his flame could burn everything was that each magical particle contained the power to do so.

If he wanted to burn something, the particles would stick to the surface of its target and burn it.

On the other hand, Timothy’s absolute water element was quite similar to Tommi’s fire element. It was dense on the outside, which was why he could use that density to create a wall that was almost unbreakable.

The same applied to Christina’s absolute wind element. She could shatter the trees and buildings as she liked. It was because of that same density.

He originally thought it was just a characteristic of absolute elements, but he realized it might have something to do with their condition.

He recalled the last clue he had, the Mysterious Cave ruins.

’The absolute earth element in the Mysterious Cave ruins is actually so dense that it’s actually sealing the energy flow outside the barrier? Is that the reason it was never found before?’

"Correct." Lindwurm smiled.

’Dense...’ Auric frowned.

Lindwurm gave another clue. "All ruins are supposed to have leaks, but you have seen a few ruins now. What correlation does the leak possess with the element’s strength?"

"!!!" Auric shuddered. He realized one thing. ’Now that you mention it, the stronger the element, the less the leak will be. When it comes to the Mysterious Cave ruins, the absolute earth element seals it completely.’

"Now, try to mix the avatars into your possible hypothesis."

’Avatars?’ Auric froze. He didn’t possess an avatar, so he didn’t know much about avatars. ’Avatars... combining avatars with ruins...’

Auric suddenly saw a pattern. ’Wait a minute. Are avatars and the ruins similar? For example, the ruins are channeling the energy from the planet outside within a certain area.

’On the other hand, the avatars are channeling the energy for the humans within a certain area. When you think about it, they are similar.

’However, humans have hearts, which are the core of their energy... No, wait. Does that mean the ruins actually have cores as well? Or maybe... the core itself is the world? Are you perhaps telling me that this world is treated as a living being as well, and it possesses many avatars called ruins?’

"I can’t tell you what is right and what is wrong, but I can tell you that you are at least one step closer to the truth. Now, I will give you a little clue. Your body is yet another clue."

’My body?’

"Why do you not feel anything special even though you possess absolute elements? How about your energy fusion? What will happen if you fuse all elements in one category?"

’Don’t tell me that the reason I don’t feel special is that I don’t have avatars. They are actually the ones causing all this mess? However, do I have to remove their avatars so that they don’t have to worry about this anymore? No way, right? If the answer to that problem is to become ordinary people... I don’t think they will accept it.’

"Nope. Just think about it. Avatars, the ruins, this world, and you."

From time to time, Lindwurm would give him a direct answer, but Lindwurm would use any possibility to give Auric clues. This way, Auric would be trained to figure out what he actually needed to reach that answer.

He was a guide, so he needed to guide Auric toward becoming independent.

Auric didn’t disappoint him. He finally figured out what he was talking about. ’What if I think of Timothy as something like the ruins? His energy is so powerful and special that it creates something...’

Auric paused for a moment. ’Oh! Are you saying that their current conditions are similar to the barriers in those ruins? Now that I think about it, only my chaos element can currently treat those symptoms.

’In that case, what about me? I don’t have the ’barriers’ in my body...’

"It has only been a few months, but have you forgotten already? You have barriers in your body."

’Huh? Do I? No, wait. Don’t tell me, the barrier you’re talking about is the Artificial Heart Method?’

This method indeed used the barrier as one of the inspirations.

Lindwurm smiled.

Auric felt chills down his spine. It turned out he could already treat them. He just had to create Artificial Heart Methods that suited them.

’That’s right. The ruins didn’t have that kind of problem because the ruins had been circulating their energy in the form of a barrier. In a way, the reason the ruins have a rich energy inside is actually similar to a human heart.

’So, I just need to create a ’barrier’ around their heart. And that is basically what the Artificial Heart Method does.

’Now the big question is whether I want to empower them and reveal the fact that I could create such a thing to them?’

"That’s the question you have to answer. Well, it’s not like they’re in a hurry, so you can take your time thinking about it." Lindwurm smiled.

Auric never thought that everything was actually connected. He couldn’t help but ask even more questions about the barriers, the ruins, the avatars, and even the world itself.

Were they connected? Why would the world suddenly produce magical energy and cause humans and beasts to evolve 120 years ago?

What actually happened 120 years ago? Why would the avatars take the form of fantasy creatures? Why would there be avatars with models similar to gods?

He couldn’t figure it out yet. There were simply too many things he didn’t know about.

However, if he kept asking questions and gradually answering those questions, he might eventually find out the truth about this world.

Auric shifted his gaze to Lindwurm, realizing that Lindwurm was guiding him not to the solution to absolute element problems, but to the truth about this world.

However, Lindwurm had already disappeared as though he had said everything he could.

At the same time, he figured out something about his father. Since Lindwurm knew about this world or might have many clues about its truth, his father should know about it as well.

Auric let out a long sigh, saying, ’And this is the kind of thought that appears at 3 in the morning. You can’t sleep because of it.’

...

The next day.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. I’m sure that everyone has been waiting for this. All events prepared for this training program have ended, except for the survival competition that will last for seven days.

"Currently, we are on a plane heading toward our destination. Let me explain the concept of this competition."

The host showed the map of Europe.

"We will be fighting in this place." The mark appeared as the map zoomed in, showing the region. "The students will be surviving in this area, which spans more than 30 square kilometers.

"There are three objectives in this competition. First, you need to survive. Each group will have four people. If one member of your group survives, you will get additional points.

"Second, you have to eliminate your enemies. Defeating beasts will give you points, but defeating the enemy team will give you half the points that the enemy group currently possesses. However, if there’s still one person surviving in that group, the point will not be given yet.

"If another group takes down the remaining person, then the points will be divided according to how many members of that group they’ve taken down.

"Last but not least, you will need to gather flags. There are a total of two thousand flags scattered around the region. Each flag will give you points. The closer you are to the center of the region, the more points you will get from the flag.

"You may do anything you want other than delivering a killing blow. Anyone who delivers a killing blow will be disqualified along with their group. The battle will be monitored closely by our instructors. If the students choose to give up, each group is equipped with one flare. Just shoot it and the instructors will come for you.

"Each country has different colors, so you don’t have to worry because the instructors coming for you will come from your country."

The host continued, "Each group will be transferred to its respective location. They will be blindfolded, and each instructor will take them to their respective location.

"The locations are random. Even if the instructors know the other locations, they won’t know who is actually residing at each location.

"So, please check your watch right now. The competition will begin at exactly 9 a.m. Before that, you are not allowed to leave your position.

"That’s all about the rules of this competition. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of strategy each team has prepared. This is free for all. Do your best, and I wish you luck."