In a quiet part of the forest—
Deep within a naturally formed cave hidden beneath a ridge of petrified roots, a pale blue light mixed with a green glow continuously rippled against the walls. The surrounding fog had been pushed away, leaving the underground chamber dry and still.
Qucell sat cross-legged within the light.
Her long blue hair spilled across the ground, while strands of soul force slowly drifted around her body like floating threads of light. The Soul Shaking Heartfruit rested in her lap, its emerald glow softly illuminating the cave and mixing with the sparse spiritual energy leaking from Qucell's body.
The atmosphere wasn't heavy, but it also wasn't light.
Even Mellia, who was usually very talkative, had stopped talking. The small badger beastmen sat in a corner with her arms crossed, nervously grinding her sharp teeth together. Every so often, she glanced toward Qucell, an irritated and complicated expression flashing across her small face.
"…I still think giving it to this pervert is a waste," she muttered.
"Hm?" Cirsen smiled bitterly, not even opening her eyes. "But it's too late now~"
Rotell ignored them and focused.
Her sharp eyes quietly watched the formation in the center of the cave, while Old Man Roe calmly adjusted several spirit stones around the floor. He was a formation master, and not a low-level one. If Rotell was correct, his level of formation mastery even surpassed his cultivation realm, likely sitting at the fifth level.
The old man slowly pressed one stone into the earth after another…
Hum!
The formation brightened, and then—
Qucell slowly closed her eyes, and her playful smile gradually disappeared.
"…It's starting," Rotell muttered.
-
The advancement process began…
Qucell slowly spread a thin layer of spiritual energy she had quickly gathered, shrouding her entire body like a protective veil. Then, pale blue light drifted around her skin, clearly distinct from spiritual energy, forming a series of thin moats, while the formation beneath her continuously rippled with light.
Once the space around her stabilized, she closed her eyes and turned her focus inwards, concentrating entirely on her sea of consciousness.
She swallowed the Soul Shaking Heartfruit.
The instant the spiritual fruit dissolved, her entire sea of consciousness began violently vibrating at an extremely low frequency. The tremors spread through every corner of her mind, causing an ethereal membrane hidden within her consciousness to suddenly emerge, then thin.
It had always been there, but as a part of her body, it was naturally overlooked. In short, she simply lacked the qualification to perceive it properly.
This membrane was what divided the ethereal Sea of Consciousness from the brain of the physical body.
Crack…!
A sudden, blinding pain erupted through her mind!
"Gh—!"
Qucell gritted her teeth, nearly collapsing.
Cold sweat poured down her face, but despite the agony, she did not hesitate.
She initiated the first and most dangerous step, stripping the Soul Core from the Sea of Consciousness!
Because a practitioner's thoughts, memories, and physical control all originated from the soul, Qucell had already 'prepared' the surrounding spiritual energy beforehand, 'programming' it with a special form of 'muscle memory' so that it could continue to help her guide the next steps automatically after her consciousness weakened.
She knew very well that the moment the Soul Core left her Sea of Consciousness, her thoughts would become hazy. Her perception would blur, and her ability to properly control her own body would inevitably begin to collapse.
Taking one final deep breath—
She began!
Slowly, meticulously, the Soul Core was pulled free from the depths of her mind, and the thin veil was pierced like paper.
—!
A horrifyingly intense pain instantly ran through her entire body, shooting down her spine and spreading out into her skin. It felt like something fundamental was being torn out, like someone had reached into her skull and pulled out a piece of bone.
The Soul Core gradually emerged from her glabella, suspended before her eyes. Up close, it resembled a condensed sphere of pale blue light encased within a hardened translucent shell.
Hum!
The moment it fully separated—
Everything changed!
Her body instantly lost contact with her mind, and the world blurred into an unrecognizable haze. A profound and uncontrollable fear surged upward from the depths of her being, and everything suddenly felt extremely wrong.
What was this!
She no longer understood what she was feeling!
She no longer understood what 'she' even was.
Her Thoughts fragmented as her Emotions scattered.
Pain!
Fear!
Panic!
Her memories began fading little by little…
Something was wrong, something was very wrong!
Qucell's remaining thoughts immediately trembled. Her sense of self became increasingly empty, as if she had lost the most important piece of her existence.
No…
Not 'as if,' she definitely had!
Meanwhile, the body sitting below had become nothing more than an empty shell, barely maintained through instinct and muscle memory.
Knowing that she could not stop, Qucell mobilized every remaining fragment of willpower she possessed. Using the spiritual energy surrounding her body, the lingering connection to her detached soul, no, to her detached body, and the deeply ingrained habits prepared beforehand—
She slowly guided the Soul Core downward…
Buzz!
It slowly moved toward her chest.
Blood began flowing from the corners of her mouth as her breathing became ragged, yet the Soul Core continued descending.
Slowly…
Carefully…
Come on…!
She aligned it between her breasts before beginning the second step.
She began to 'bury' her soul within her body. The Soul Core began sinking into her flesh like a shifting spirit that slowly disappeared beneath the water's reflection.
The process was agonizingly slow!
Hours passed…
Throughout this entire process, Qucell felt neither alive nor dead. She felt detached, like an observer watching herself from outside her own existence.
As the Soul Core gradually anchored deeper into her physical body, her senses slowly began to return.
A flood of emotions surged back into her mind.
As for why, well…
At one point—
She felt herself falling, no, returning was a better word. She was returning to a pure white world where everything existed, yet nothing existed at all. There were people, but at the same time there was only one person. It was a strange white world, a place without space. There was no sound, no time, only an endless sea of white.
It was only while sinking deeper into this infinite expanse, as her mind waned, that she noticed it—
A faint flicker of color, a strange green light…
It seemed to transcend space and time, reaching here, where it should normally not…
The distant green light, like a star, hid somewhere within the endless white, or perhaps it was merely projected through it, it was impossible to tell. It vanished almost instantly, submerged behind the surrounding white, but that tiny trace of color allowed her, Qucell, to hold on…
Click!
The Soul Core finally completely settled into her body!
BOOM!
A wave of pressure erupted from Qucell's frail frame.
Her eyes snapped open, and an overwhelming sensation of absolute control flooded through every inch of her body. Before, controlling her body had felt like piloting a massive machine from a distant seat, but now, now it was no different than becoming the machine itself. Every muscle, every breath, every flicker of movement, all of it was perfectly synchronized, perfectly connected.
Qucell slowly lowered her head and stared at her hands.
She felt reborn!
This was an incredible sensation!
"…Success!"
Nearby, she didn't see Rotell's eyes flicker violently.
She had already prepared herself for failure.
Before entering the Secret Realm, Elena had quietly warned her that after the signs of failing began appearing, Qucell should have already been beyond saving.
In nicer words, she was supposed to die.
Rotell had even prepared a backup candidate.
But somehow, she succeeded…
There was clearly a problem here…
Qucell herself remained completely unaware of Rotell's thoughts. Instead, she quietly examined her body. She felt light, clean, and refreshed. This was a sensation many times greater than stepping out of a warm bath. At the same time, the emptiness within her Sea of Consciousness became immediately apparent. The place where her Soul Core once rested now felt hollow, like an entirely separate void hidden within her mind.
She knew this empty space would eventually become the foundation for advancing toward the Sixth Realm, but for now, that future was still very far away.
Unlike the other pathways, Necromancers didn't have the phenomenon of forming a vortex after each advancement, so she was still relatively weak.
A smile slowly spread across her face.
Although her body felt weak and her mind still hurt, she suddenly wanted to find Mellia and hug her!
Immediately after thinking this, as Qucell began standing up with some dangerous intentions in mind, Cirsen immediately pointed her spear toward her.
"Sit down and consolidate your realm first!"
Qucell pouted.
Then, without warning—
She scooped up the nearby Mellia anyway~
"Wha—!?"
"Hehehe~" Qucell happily giggled while hugging the bratty little badger beastmen tightly in her arms.
Rotell stared blankly for a moment, before finally sighing in relief.
At least everything had gone well…
-
Time passed.
The atmosphere within the cave gradually relaxed.
The oppressive pressure from earlier slowly faded, while the pale blue soul force drifting around Qucell's body became calmer and more restrained. The formation beneath her dimmed little by little, and the cave once again returned to stillness.
"Fifth Order..." Cirsen muttered while scratching her cheek. "Honestly, seeing it in person still feels a little ridiculous. Even from a different pathway, I can feel the overwhelming power coming from you, but this should be your weakest state, right?"
Necromancers were already uncommon on the Cross Continent, and High-level Necromancers were even rarer, so it was understandable that she didn't meet one until now.
Meanwhile, Qucell was currently squeezing Mellia's head against her chest while shamelessly rubbing the cheek of the angry badger beastmen.
"Hehehe~"
"Let go of me!"
Mellia violently struggled, legs and arms flailing.
Unfortunately for her, after advancing, Qucell's coordination had become absurdly precise, and her reaction speed had basically disappeared. Every time Mellia tried to escape, the blue-haired woman somehow tightened her hold at the exact angle needed to stop her.
"I'm so angry!"
"Is it just me, or has your fur gotten softer~"
"That's because you're touching it too much, you freak! Prevent! Beast!"
Chomp-chomp-chomp!
Rocking back and forth, Qucell ignored her happily while passively stabilizing her realm.
Meanwhile, Rotell sat nearby while quietly observing Old Man Roe.
The bald old man remained seated beside the spirit stone formation, calmly drinking a cup of tea from a chipped wooden cup. He appeared as if nothing important had happened, but Rotell felt as if he seemed very pleased with himself.
Rotell suddenly asked, "…How close are you?"
The cave quieted down.
Even Qucell stopped bullying Mellia for a moment, equally curious.
Roe slowly lowered the teacup.
"…Hm!"
He hummed, paused, then nodded and hummed again.
"Close enough, it should be about time…"
Cirsen burst out laughing. "What kind of answer is that!?"
The old man slowly looked toward her, then shook his head.
Instead of answering, Rotell spoke up first, "…The Fifth Realm of the Mage Pathway is a bit different. It's all about accumulation. The more you accumulate, the stronger your foundation will be. Unlike the immortal path you follow, the Mage Pathway had more than one 'foundation building' level."
Nobody understood what she meant, but it sounded like a lot of work.
Qucell suddenly narrowed her eyes.
"…Wait…" Her gaze slowly scanned the old man's body. "If you're still preparing your foundation or whatever, then won't you have a problem with lifespan in the future?"
Roe did not answer directly.
Instead, he slowly closed his eyes again.
"…A tree must grow before it blooms, even if the tree is destined to wither and die."
"If it were to bloom early, then to who does it shine?"
Rotell's expression subtly shifted.
If Qucell's breakthrough had shocked her earlier, then Roe's answer was even more terrifying.
What he meant was he would either reach the ninth order, the 'Magic Sage Realm (Ninth Order Mage),' or die trying. This old monster was genuinely preparing to enter the Fifth Realm, but that was far from his goal. In fact, his vision was much broader, so broad that even Rotell struggled to glimpse it.
For the first time, she genuinely wanted to ask Kilemin where he had found this old guy…
As for advancing to the fifth realm—
The first realm of the mage pathway was all about absorbing spiritual energy into the body, then learning to utilise it and visualise a series of magic and phenomena.
The second realm of the mage pathway was to concentrate the spiritual energy in your body, then flow it through your mana channels and carve them out from within your bones.
The third realm of the mage pathway was all about taking the spiritual energy in your body, transforming it into mana, then forming a mana core within your heart.
The fourth realm of the mage pathway was completely focused on refining and developing your mana core into a solid object. The initial mana core should have some give, so by absorbing mana and filling it to and beyond its absolute capacity, you solidify it into something like a hard stone.
To advance to the fifth realm of the mage pathway, a mage must form at least one rune directly on their mana core. This serves as a kind of automatic spell that can be cast whenever necessary, something that is always there with you. The more runes you draw, the stronger you can become. This was exactly the accumulation he was referring to. Runes could be used to accelerate and decelerate; they could be used to reflect or absorb, and they could be used to turn or to feel. Essentially, they could be used for basically anything.
To make matters even more complex, runes could originate from multiple different species. Basically, anything that possessed a language could produce runes, and each of these rune systems could produce varying effects even if they meant the same thing.
As for the old man, it was impossible to know just to what extent he had prepared beforehand…
Just because he was old didn't mean that he lacked talent, in fact, it was often the opposite. This was also the reason why many mages were far older than other practitioners from different paths.
A one-rune legendary mage was not uncommon, but a nine-rune legendary mage could be considered powerful. Beyond that lay the realm of the extreme, and only those who reached this realm could truly demonstrate that they possessed the qualifications to journey even further down the mage pathway.
Throughout history, the highest number of runes ever recorded to be inscribed during the fifth-realm advancement was 64, which came from the current master of the World Tower…
Rotell looked at him and nodded.
Unlike Qucell, his breakthrough would likely take quite a lot of time, perhaps even weeks, so she would have to find a time for that later…