Chapter 205
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: Each Other's Time (2)
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[Maya] I'm goin' crazy here...
[Jun] Uh...?
[Maya] Came to some ruins. They tell me to chat with ancient spirits...
[Jun] Yeah, that's why I called you, right?
[Maya] It's different. These spirits talk all funny. Can't understand a thing.
[Jun] Ah...
[Maya] And their minds are all fuzzy too. Makes my head hurt even more tryin' to talk...
[Jun] Yeah, that'd be rough.
[Jun] Haha, I see. Our little Maya gettin' the royal treatment on the job?
[Maya] ...
[Jun] Food comin' out okay for you, Maya?
[Jun] Ah, damn. Monster horde. Gotta bounce for a bit.
A long-overdue message from Maya had come through the World Tree Essence.
And honestly, Jun was shocked by her very first words.
'This kid's not usually the whiny type.'
What in the world could she be up to, acting like that?
He asked, and her reply came right away.
The funny part was how that ordeal was actually fueling her growth.
Maya had always needed to hone her spirit communion skills, but the issue was the mana buildup in her mind—it just wasn't enough.
Jun had once shared a brutally simple way to fix that: burn through your mana until it was depleted and make using it a daily habit.
Back when she was with him, battles could pop up anytime, so she never pushed it that far...
'They guard me like Fort Knox. Can't even whimper...'
The Atlas Adventurer Group was protecting their sole lead—Maya—like she was in a vault.
With the adventurer leader himself right by her side as escort? That said it all.
The problem was...
Eleanor, fasting for days to keep her body pure for receiving holy power.
And Aiden, locked in life-or-death struggles amid thorny vines, chowing down raw meat every other day.
Everyone was suffering their own hell, so none of the three had any pity to spare for Maya.
Their own noses were barely above water—sympathy? In your dreams.
So Maya couldn't voice any real complaints either.
Not that she had much room to, anyway. Every now and then, she'd overhear her comrades' chatter...
"Here, take this. It's juice squeezed from fruit that's great for mana recovery."
"Th-thank you..."
"And tonight's dinner? Steak dusted with finely ground blue herb."
"Ooh..."
Hard to gripe after that.
Constant mana drain left her mentally exhausted, sure.
But her body didn't lie.
Ever since arriving, Maya's skin had started to glow with a healthy sheen.
"What're we gonna do with you all skin and bones like this?"
"Munch munch."
Ron Kyler, leader of the Atlas Adventurer Group and a Level 7 veteran, was surprisingly doting on Maya like a little sister.
A little over a month had passed.
On a day with roughly two months left until the season's end...
"Congratulations, Beles. You finally did it."
"Aaah! Aaaah!!"
Late into the night.
Beles had finally unleashed pure ice-attribute magic to take down a Red Lava.
Ranes showered praise on the cheering Beles without holding back.
She might not match Jun's talent, but Beles was still a prospect Ranes had her eye on.
Anyway, Beles trudged back to camp with a proud, exhausted grin.
Once it was just the two of them, Ranes spoke up.
"Looks like you're finally ready too. Right?"
"Yes."
Meanwhile, Jun gazed inward and nodded.
His life force felt brimming full.
The result of wielding only water-attribute mana this whole time.
In a space saturated with fire energy, channeling nothing but water mana for a full month? No easy feat—but the payoff was real.
'Especially brutal from the midway point.'
After first mastering pure water mana and even birthing his own unique Soul Drain attribute...
Ranes had piled on extra homework.
"Now incorporate enchantments too."
Meaning pure water-attribute mana only—for the casting and sustaining.
He'd figured it wouldn't be so bad at first...
'I was way too hard on Maya.'
Putting it into practice? Torture.
Holding steady pure water mana was tough enough; doing it mid-battle? Hell.
No shortcuts allowed.
This was for growth, not survival.
His mental stamina plummeted day by day.
Even for someone who loved learning like Jun, he couldn't fight brain fatigue.
Still, armed with his signature grit, he'd endured the month.
In the end, water attribute had taken firm root in his mana circuits.
"Shall we begin?"
"Yes. No point delaying."
Ranes had already butchered every monster in the area.
Prep was complete.
'Even I can see this is the perfect window.'
The environment helped too.
This space, laced with faint remnants of Red Dragon mana, suppressed the Sea Serpent's aura.
'Power's down, but presence ramped up. Bulked up to fight the clashing energies.'
Made separating it from the circle that much smoother.
'She factored all that in when she brought me here.'
Jun marveled anew at Ranes' foresight.
A plan that would've taken him days? She whipped it up in one.
Not just 8-circle mastery—deep theoretical knowledge made it possible.
"Then let's get to it."
"Understood."
Of course, Ranes wouldn't be lending much aid here.
Just standing by for any emergencies.
If the Sea Serpent heart fragment didn't absorb right against expectations, then she'd step in.
'Whew. Why am I so on edge?'
Attempting this in front of another mage—a grand archmage at 8 circles, no less—demanded real courage from Jun.
They'd spent a month together, but he still didn't fully trust Ranes.
She remained outside the walls around his heart.
Going fully vulnerable before someone like that? Terrifying. It poked at old traumas.
'Yeah, the "can't trust people" thing.'
Ranes picked up on Jun's guarded demeanor, though she didn't let on.
She'd considered stepping away...
But leaving him exposed in the 6th layer—outside a checkpoint? Recipe for disaster.
And...
'Sentimental fool, me.'
Her mage's curiosity burned brightest.
To think: peeling an attribute's embedding from the circle and orbiting it around.
Ranes had toyed with the idea once, but never acted. Shoddy theory, zero stability.
Yet this mage pulled off the audacious stunt with results.
'If I'd met him back when I was younger... other paths for me too? Nah, he wasn't even born then. Heh.'
This encounter wasn't a boon just for Jun.
Ranes was gleaning little insights from it too.
'Even if I can't use them myself.'
Couldn't upend the foundations built to reach 8 circles.
But alternatives? Plenty she could tap.
That was Ranes for you. They'd already agreed on it.
So she never took her eyes off Jun as he focused, Sea Serpent heart fragment in hand.
At last...
"......"
The Sea Serpent's aura began seeping into Jun's body bit by bit.
No dramatic changes showed.
Jun just sat there on the folding chair, eyes shut.
But...
'A cosmos...?'
Not through Ranes' eyes.
At 8 circles, hyper-attuned to mana, she saw a universe within him.
A genesis, really.
A new planet birthing around the solar circle at its core.
'Ah!'
For a moment, the breathtaking vista stole her gaze.
Her heart raced.
That ticklish thrill from her first brush with magic in the imperial palace.
The miracle warping reality before her eyes brimmed them with tears.
And...
'Elras.'
Her twin sister, eyes sparkling like night stars alongside her back then, came to mind.
What would that irreplaceable girl have thought of this sight?
'Gotten all mushy, have I.'
The vagabond archmage's miracle outshone mere beauty.
Others might scoff at her fuss...
But these emotions hit Ranes hardest.
Who could've guessed she'd gush pure awe for a greenhorn mage she'd known barely a month?
'Want to show the world.'
Parade this radiant gem for all to see.
Even if it wasn't hers.
Brag to high heaven that she had spotted it.
'Trouble is, I can't.'
Anyone else appreciating its allure would paint greed in their eyes.
Hadn't two already chosen that path?
Damien and Sergey—peers renowned as top talents—met their ends chasing unworthy ambitions.
'Past me might've too.'
Right after losing her sister, lost in magic madness... hard to swear she wouldn't have.
As her mind wandered through such thoughts...
"......"
A striking change overtook Jun.
Dragon Heart.
A mere fragment, yet fully absorbed—his body unleashed every ability at its command.
The Demon God Body, sealed by incantation, broke free on its own to embrace the Dragon Heart's aura.
Jun's black hair began bleaching snow-white.
He didn't notice, but his incantation seal was 50% released.
The 50% limit unlocked upon hitting 6 circles.
It meant the Demon God Body was devouring the Dragon Heart aura for all it was worth.
Immense mana swirls around Jun!
A colossal mana vortex whipped up around Jun.
So fierce it jolted even a dozing Beles into leaping out in alarm.
"Wh-what the hell is...?"
How much more shock could there be?
Beles forgot a mage's poise entirely, fixated on the mana torrents churning around Jun.
For her, it was a boon in itself.
And... the transformations were far from over.