Chapter 1036 - 860: Level 3 Intermediate_2

As they turned a corner along the eastern path of the plaza, they ran into Vera.

Today, Vera was not wearing the white magic robe she commonly wore on the battlefield, but had instead donned a simply tailored dark green casual outfit, her golden hair casually draping over her shoulders, holding several volumes of literature borrowed from the library in her hand.

Her expression remained characteristically cool and composed, a slight courteous smile at her mouth, but when her gaze fell upon the hand Serafina had wrapped around Duke’s arm, that smile froze for a fleeting moment.

"What a coincidence, I’m just passing by." Vera’s voice revealed no trace of anomaly, it remained cool and steady, "I heard the Sea Race sent a Level 4 Royal Family member to the Central Islands, didn’t expect to meet them here."

Serafina smiled politely, her hand around Duke’s arm showing no intention of loosening.

Her gaze lingered on Vera for a moment, those sapphire-colored pupils carried a mix of scrutiny and curiosity, seemingly quickly assessing the identity of the blonde witch before her.

Duke stood between the two, sensing an extremely subtle atmosphere. He instinctively wanted to withdraw his arm from Serafina’s grasp, but Serafina’s fingers held it just right, not allowing him to break free, yet not exerting too much force.

He felt strange at this moment: "Why do I feel guilty?"

And immediately concluded, this feeling was unfounded.

He and Vera had never had any commitment beyond being teammates and friends, not even an ambiguous word exchanged.

Yet inexplicably, facing Vera’s calm and profound sapphire eyes, he felt as if he had done something wrong.

"This is my teammate, Vera Moon Shadow, a genius witch from Thorn Holy Tower." Duke turned to introduce Serafina, then turned to Vera, "Serafina, member of the Sea Race Royal Family. We met years ago in the seabed abyss, back when she was still asleep at Beauty Berry. She’s here at the Central Islands now to renew several cooperative agreements between the Sea Race and the Wizard Council, and I’m showing her around the Six-Ring Tower as a courtesy of the host."

Serafina nodded slightly, reaching out her hand towards Vera.

Her demeanor maintained that royal exclusivity of dignified composure, but there was a subtle arc at the corner of her eye, a unique non-verbal signal exchanged between women.

Vera likewise extended her hand, the two gently touched fingers and retracted them.

Their actions were polite and restrained, their expressions impeccably courteous, but Duke felt that something akin to a silent contest had just occurred between them within their own perceptual dimensions.

Fortunately, they did not let this subtle atmosphere last long, Vera adjusted her hold on the literature, redirecting her gaze back to Duke, quickly restoring her usual cool composure, as if that fleeting moment of stiffening was just Duke’s illusion.

Serafina stayed in the Central Islands for only a day.

The following morning, she, representing the Sea Race Royal Family, signed several routine agreements with the Wizard Council concerning deep-sea mineral resource exploitation and coastal route safety, completing the entire process efficiently in less than an hour.

After signing the agreements, she departed from the Teleportation Hall of the Six-Ring Tower amidst a few Deep Sea Maidens, but before leaving, she sent Duke a brief message using the Wizard’s Mark.

The message wasn’t filled with farewell words, merely mentioned how the Sea Race wasn’t accustomed to staying long on land, even their breathing felt dry, and reminded him to contact her anytime the Keys of Rules were insufficient.

The message ended with a symbol of waves unique to the Sea Race, a royal formal phrase she had taught him in the Deep Sea Palace, meaning "May the sea flows protect you."

Duke stood at the edge of Silver Wing Plaza outside the Teleportation Hall, watching the light of the teleportation array illuminate then fade, before turning towards the dormitory in Zone 7.

The favor debt owed to Serafina had deepened once more, but presently there wasn’t time to weigh it carefully; enhancing his skills was the only way to make this debt meaningful.

...

In the Light God Court, Duke waved his hand, thirty Keys of Rules floated around him, radiating different lights.

The upcoming time was meant for digesting these things, advancing the proficiency of the Sixth Element Rules.

He glanced at the skill tree in his mind.

[Fire Rules: LV1 (4391/10000)]

[Rule of Darkness: LV1 (4272/10000)]

[Rule of Light: LV1 (4156/10000)]

[Earth Rules: LV1 (4212/10000)]

[Wind Rules: LV1 (234/10000)]

[Rule of Water: LV1 (212/10000)]

Wind and Water Rules proficiency were the lowest because they were mastered most recently.

As his thoughts stirred, a small cluster of Six-Color Divine Light appeared in his hand, emitting a deeply mysterious aura.

Since mastering the Six-Color Divine Light, he had not used it in any practical battle.

The six colors inside the light cluster continuously rotated, collided, and merged, each blend of colors stirred tiny ripples on the light cluster’s surface, which diffused to the edge then quietly disappeared, leaking not a slightest trace of energy fluctuation.

Yet if spiritual power were to probe into the light, one would perceive a destructive force capable of alarming any Level 3 Mage.

At the core of the light cluster, six Rules were forcibly compressed together, each generating a repulsive reaction with the other five, while Duke’s spiritual power acted like a precise net, tightly enveloping the mutually repelling forces, maintaining a delicate balance within a small space.

This balance, if disrupted even slightly, would cause the repulsive forces among the six Rules to explode exponentially, far surpassing a simple addition of six single-rule attacks.

This release in actual combat would certainly be with great commotion.

Currently, the spiritual power necessary to condense such a cluster of Six-Color Divine Light posed a significant burden, and prolonging combat, he might only be able to release it a few times.

Yet a few releases sufficed, one strike of the Six-Color Divine Light, at the same level, no one could withstand directly.

At the most critical moment, one strike could decide the victory.

It was best to use Metallic Yellow Sand as a carrier, easing the spiritual burden significantly.

In the days that followed, the sky above Light God Court witnessed a prolonged and silent accumulation.

One after another, Keys of Rules shattered in Duke’s palm, flows of various rules converged along their paths like tamed wild horses into corresponding branches.

The fiery branches solidified in a lava-like dark-red sheen, earth-colored branches thickened as though sedimented by time into mineral veins, bluish-white branches sharpened beneath the relentless cutting of cyclones, blue branches grew increasingly fluid under tidal-like rinsing.

The light-golden branches of Light steadily advanced with penetration from the Light Divine Status and the combined nurturing of these few precious Keys of Rules.

Only the ink-black Shadow branches progressed the slowest, the awakening of the Dark Bloodline took time, and the pure Shadow Keys were sparse, relying solely on the slow release of Bloodline Power, the proficiency growth indeed lagged behind the other five elements.

But Duke remained patient, advancing Six Element Rules simultaneously was unprecedented, five had already steadily entered the rapid accumulation phase, even if Shadow Rules was slightly delayed, it surpassed ordinary Level 3 Mage’s training pace.

In the Light God Court, there was no day-night cycle, passage of time could only be crudely sensed through the increasingly distinct textures on the World Tree Seed’s shell in the Spring of Life.

Ten months later.

Duke slowly opened his eyes and looked at the skill tree in his mind.

The proficiency of five rules branches had surpassed LV2, except for the Shadow branch’s progress bar which was still trailing.

He sensed the denser spiritual power within his Spiritual Sea compared to before seclusion, realizing he had firmly reached the Level 3 Middle Stage.