Chapter 240 – Element of Creation (One)

The lake, now completely evaporated, resembled a vast basin.

Tap-tap! Thump! Tap-tap!

Busy footsteps descended the slope, heading toward the center of the basin.

It was Ray, using Enhancement Magic.

‘Hmm, the Ring’s Mana feels somewhat smoother now.’

Casually checking his Ring, Ray noticed something astonishing.

The number of Rings had increased.

From the original three to four.

When did that happen?

During the battle, he was too preoccupied controlling the rampaging Mana to notice, and after the fight, the lingering excitement and exhilaration left no room to check his body.

He didn’t know the exact moment of completion, but it was welcome news nonetheless.

Today’s fierce battle had made him acutely aware of the need for greater power.

‘If a clone made by manipulating Mana possessed such devastating destructive power…’

Just how powerful a Wizard was the Doctor himself?

5th Circle? 6th Circle?

The probability was extremely slim, but there was also the possibility he was a 7th Circle Wizard, something that had never existed in history.

Judging by his reaction, the Doctor was undoubtedly the Red Guardian, and he must have been orbiting the Mana point for an unimaginably long time, far beyond what an ordinary human could conceive.

Exactly.

‘From the Ancient Era to the present day.’

Lost in thought, he soon arrived at the center of the basin.

Only now, with the lake’s water gone, could the boy feel the throbbing in his chest directed toward the Stone Tablet.

Perhaps the massive amount of Mana dissolved in the lake had been the reason he couldn’t sense the tablet before.

A Stone Tablet about two meters tall.

Grayish Mana had pooled and hardened within the Ancient Script carved in intaglio.

Whoooom——!

As he melted the Gray Mana, the hidden Purple Mana revealed itself.

‘As I thought, it’s writing carved by the Purple Guardian.’

The woman in the purple robe had arranged Stone Tablets and Murals in multiple locations.

The labyrinth of the World Tree, the underground of the Ruins.

And now, the bottom of this lake.

To evade the eyes of the Red Guardian and deliver a message to someone.

「Please protect it. You must deliver it to Him, who will surely return one day.」

…And she had intended to pass it on, through the first Blue, all the way to the Blue Gem.

‘Him, who will return one day.’

Considering the content of the Murals and the Purple Guardian’s mutterings, this person was presumed to be Rainbow.

The one who breathed multicolored hues into a world that existed only in black and white.

He left small orbs of light at his feet, then transformed into multicolored beams of light and shot into the world, disappearing.

‘That person must be Rainbow.’

Ray was satisfied with his own sharp and clear deductive reasoning.

But that was as far as it went.

He couldn’t find out anything more.

The person presumed to be Rainbow no longer appeared in the subsequent Murals.

Just what kind of person was he?

What race was he?

Was he an emotional person?

Could we become friends if we met?

Would he be taller than me?

If we fought, would I win?

Where is he and what is he doing that he hasn’t returned all this time?

“…….”

Then, his fingertips tingled.

Snapping out of his reverie, Ray found himself unconsciously caressing the Stone Tablet.

He widened his eyes and glared at the densely inscribed Ancient Script.

The meaning was conveyed.

[The origin of the world is light. By His gesture, the world shed its shell of imperfection and finally became complete. He molded the light, creating what was lacking in this world.]

Summarizing the lengthy content, it was the method of creating the Element of Creation.

Fortunately, the dizzying situation of the text cutting off at a crucial part did not occur, but…

‘Combine all the elements that exist in the world?’

Ray felt deeply confused in a different sense.

Because it was exactly the same, down to the last detail, as the method for creating the Element of Destruction that Curiosa had taught him.

Wondering if he had missed something, he scrutinized every corner of the tablet, but no further content was recorded.

‘Combining all elements creates the Element of Destruction, clearly…?’

A question mark floated above Ray’s head as he gathered and compressed the Atmospheric Mana by color.

The combined color wasn’t darkening; it was gradually brightening.

What is this, why is this happening?

Clearly, the more they mixed, the color should become murky and dense, leading to the appearance of black.

But the color appearing now was rather… the exact opposite, close to white.

‘I see. The Spirits are playing tricks with the Atmospheric Mana.’

Admiring his own deductive skills, Ray sharply turned his head to look above the basin.

Philip was wagging his orange tail with an innocent face.

‘Probably not.’

Returning his head to its original position, Ray sank into thought to defend his common sense and values.

It was normal for colors to darken and turn black as they mixed.

That was an unchanging truth of the world, as much as the fact that Veronica was prone to sleeping in, and something he always confirmed when mixing paints while drawing.

So why, when colors mixed, were they becoming white, not black?

‘Because of the environment? Aside from quality, is there anything particularly different about the Mana here compared to surface Mana…?’

Looking around, Ray noticed something.

The Mana on the island was emitting light.

Not as brilliant as Gem’s Mana, but enough light to be noticeable if one paid attention.

In contrast, the surface Mana, having wandered the world for a long time, gave a very faded impression.

Not a single speck of light could be found there.

A remark Grine made while teaching him how to use a prism flashed through his mind.

「When you gather light of all colors, white appears. It’s a phenomenon exactly opposite to our intuition.」

「White light inherently contains light of all existing colors. A prism is a tool that splits and shows the colors contained within white light. Ray-nim, are you listening? This is an interesting story you’ll regret missing.」

「The color of objects we see is actually just a part of the reflected light. Ray-nim, that’s jerky I bought with my own money, so don’t touch it. Do you want to fight?」

The moment he recalled that past conversation.

A realization struck the boy’s mind like lightning.

The Mana on the island had undergone Purification for an unimaginably long time through the respiration of the plants.

He thought.

Perhaps Purification is the process of polishing and refining weakened Mana, restoring its lost light.

Like stripping rust from a corroded blade and reforging it anew.

“Hoo.”

Ray gathered the Atmospheric Mana by color and carefully combined them in appropriate proportions.

Enhancement, Weakening, Blocking, Regeneration.

Absorption, Amplification, Maintenance, Control…….

At first, it was chaos itself.

Countless elements, each with their own affinities, generated strong attraction and repulsion.

But soon, under the boy’s guidance, the elements began to intertwine with gentle movements.

By a law that could not exist in reality.

Ignoring existing common sense and notions.

It was a sight that would leave even the world’s most renowned Wizards speechless with shock.

Drip-drip.

Sweat poured down like rain, covering his forehead, cheeks, nape, everywhere without distinction.

Ray was exerting an unprecedented level of concentration, knowing that the slightest lapse would render the entire endeavor futile.

Yet, there was no sense of tension.

Instead, only curiosity surged.

It felt as if only he and the Mana existed in the world.

And so, time passed.

Finally, when a brilliant white sphere of light appeared above the boy’s palm.

[What in the world is that…?]

[I feel an incredible Presence.]

Hundreds of Spirits had gathered without him noticing, surrounding the area.

Among them, Lacria appeared, crawling along the ground toward Ray.

It had shrunk to the size of a palm, perhaps having exhausted all its charged Mana.

“You came back and fought together too.”

Lacria, wrapping around Ray’s arm, transformed into yellow Mana and was absorbed.

It was quite a notable spectacle, but the Spirits’ gazes were fixed solely on the white sphere of light in Ray’s hand.

Philip, cautiously approaching in a lowered posture, asked.

“Ray-nim, what is that?”

“…….”

Ray looked down at his own hand.

The sphere emitting brilliant white light was a stark contrast to the black Element of Destruction, devoid of any shading.

…It was different from the mass of White Mana typically used for Healing Magic.

“The Element of Creation.”

“The Element of Creation… you say?”

“A power that can materialize things beyond Magic into reality. The most powerful element in the world, capable of creating everything one imagines and desires.”

If the vaguely surfacing information from Blue’s memories was correct, that was it.

Ray shifted his gaze through the Spirits, who were instinctively feeling awe and overwhelm.

A bear, having received the message, approached and carefully lowered Blue, whom it had been carrying on its back.

Philip said worriedly.

“Grr…! The Blue Horn’s breathing seems much more labored than before! At this rate, will its core really shatter…!”

Ray stared at the mass of blue Mana beside Blue’s heart.

Resembling a blue egg, its surface was covered in countless cracks.

─Crackle.

…Moreover, the cracks were increasing in real-time, and the blue energy contained within was seen leaking through the gaps.

‘That seems to be the Spirit’s true energy.’

According to Blue’s memories, a Spirit’s core consisted of a kind of life energy called true energy, and a shell that protected it.

The reason a Spirit perishes when its core is destroyed is that the true energy, with nowhere to go, scatters into the atmosphere.

In other words.

‘It might not have to die. If there’s only a Vessel to hold the true energy again.’

Ray organized his thoughts and spoke.

“I’m going to create a new core using the Element of Creation. The plan is to transfer the true energy that flows out the moment the existing core shatters into the newly created core.”

“Grr…? That’s impossible. I also have a general understanding of our Spirits’ cores, which are like our hearts. A Spirit’s core is formed only at the very first moment of becoming a Spirit; there’s no other way to create a new core.”

“We’ll only know by trying.”

Ray closed his eyes.

The Spirits, sensing the work had begun, ceased their conversation, and tension and silence filled the area.

‘…….’

What unfolded before the boy’s closed eyes was a pitch-black canvas.

He recalled the shape of Blue’s core he had just seen.

An oval sphere about the size of a fist.

A smooth yet dull feeling…

Having fixed the image, the boy began drawing on the black canvas with a white pencil of light.

────.

The mass of white light in his hand changed its form in real-time.

Witnessing this bizarre phenomenon for the first time, the Spirits simply held their breath.

While drawing, Ray suddenly thought.

‘The shape of the core, wouldn’t this be more efficient?’

Using his imagination, he began modifying the shape of the core.

Make the shell a bit harder… the shape a bit more elongated, like a baguette… this would be better for Mana operation…

Ray opened his eyes after finishing coloring the core.

────.

On his palm, he saw an oval of light, tinged blue from white.

White light, containing light of all colors.

It was evident that all colors of light except blue had lowered their Presence within the white light.

Crackle! Crackle-crackle!

At that moment, Blue’s core began to crack and shatter.

Ray swiftly pushed the new core into Blue’s chest.

Crunch!

Blue’s core was completely destroyed, scattering into Mana. It was a razor-thin timing.

The blue energy contained within came out and drifted, then was sucked into the new core.

Whooooom——─!

A core emitting a vivid blue light.

And after some time passed.

Wriggle.

Blue’s body moved.

Blue, twitching slightly, opened its eyes and slowly rose from its spot.

As if assessing the situation, it looked around with a dazed gaze, then…

[My memories… where did all the lake water go?]

It asked, looking at Ray.

The boy answered with his eyes.

Ah, that.

I evaporated it all.