The fragments collapsed before assimilation could bind them.
I adjusted.
This time, I allowed devour to strip only partially, weakening the structure without completely annihilating it. Assimilation flowed immediately afterward, smoothing the unstable fragments into cohesion. A small violet sphere formed in my hand. It pulsed once and stabilized.
I increased the scale. The sphere grew larger, denser, its structure compact and refined. I could feel the efficiency of the fusion. It did not waste energy. It converted everything. I stopped and allowed the sphere to dissolve back.
The chamber vibrated faintly again.
The white platform glowed brighter for a moment, acknowledging the successful fusion.
I exhaled slowly.
This hall was not about defeating enemies. It was about preparation.
After mastering the first two fusions, the hall did not remain silent for long. One after another, different laws that I had learned over time began to manifest above the circle. Elemental laws rose in clusters, polarity currents intertwined in opposite flows, sealing constructs hovered like geometric frameworks waiting to be activated, and even the blood law shimmered faintly in deep crimson strands.
Each time, two laws were brought together and demonstrated in front of me, not in chaotic display, but in precise combination. I watched time merge with polarity to create a field that could both slow and repel at once, the push and drag working in the same space.
I observed elemental synchronization where fire and lightning did not clash but reinforced one another, stabilizing into a condensed burst rather than dispersing wildly. When blood law was paired with elemental flow, the fusion altered the rhythm of circulation itself, allowing power to surge without tearing the internal channels.
The objective remained the same every time. Understand the interaction. Recreate it. Refine it until it held stable under my control.
Some combinations required careful pacing, others demanded raw output and tighter focus. A few attempts collapsed entirely before stabilizing, forcing me to adjust angles, timing, and the balance of force between the two laws.
But gradually the process became smoother. I began to anticipate how one law would respond when brought close to another. I stopped forcing them together and instead allowed them to overlap naturally, guiding rather than overpowering.
Time passed without me noticing at first. Only when the final fusion stabilized cleanly in front of me did I realize I had remained in the hall for more than two days. There was no exhaustion in my body, only sharpened focus and a clearer sense of control than before.
When the last construct dissolved, the white floor at the center shifted quietly. A circular seam appeared and slowly parted, revealing a staircase descending further below.
I stepped forward without hesitation.
The next hall awaited.
When I entered, I found it similar in design to the previous one, the walls and floor smooth and white. Standing within that boundary was a single shadow.
It was completely black, its outline clean and defined against the pale background, almost like ink poured onto white stone. It did not move when I entered. It simply stood there, facing me.
Before I could take another step, a clear instruction appeared in my mind.
Only one attack allowed.
Fusion of any two major laws.
I read it once and then smiled.
"That’s easy," I muttered.
The shadow reacted at the same moment I raised my hand.
We both moved together.
Power gathered above its palm first. I watched carefully as two distinct forces began forming in its grasp. A faint distortion twisted the air as space gathered into a tight sphere, and within that structure, a silver current flickered, time. The sphere began spinning rapidly, layers of spatial compression wrapping around a core that pulsed with shifting temporal flow. As it rotated, the surface flickered between acceleration and delay, the outer shell folding inward while the inner core adjusted the rhythm of collapse.
A fusion of space and time, designed for explosion.
I nodded slightly in appreciation.
Then I focused on my own formation.
Space gathered above my palm first, violet distortions bending inward as a compact sphere formed. But instead of threading time into it, I introduced devour. A dark current spread across the surface of the spatial sphere, not destabilizing it but wrapping around it like a second layer. Devour did not interfere with the structure of space. It fed on it, sharpening the compression instead of resisting it.
The sphere in my hand did not flicker. It deepened. The outer spatial layer compressed tighter and tighter, while the devour core within it absorbed excess energy, refining the structure instead of allowing instability.
The shadow finished first.
Without hesitation, it thrust its hand forward.
The spinning sphere shot toward me, tearing through the air with violent precision. The spatial compression ahead of it warped the path, while time within it altered the rhythm of its advance, making its trajectory difficult to read.
I stepped forward and released mine.
My sphere launched forward.
The two attacks collided in the center of the hall.
For a brief instant, the impact held.
The shadow’s fusion attempted to manipulate the exchange. Time within its sphere slowed the collision point, trying to stretch the interaction and destabilize my structure. The spatial compression attempted to overpower mine through rotation and layered collapse.
But devour activated.
The moment contact was made, the devour core began consuming the temporal modulation inside the opposing sphere. Instead of being slowed or destabilized, my structure absorbed the fluctuations. The spatial layer held firm while the devour aspect stripped away the time-based rhythm controlling the enemy attack.
The spinning sphere faltered. Its temporal balance broke. Without time regulating its compression, the structure destabilized under its own rotation. My sphere pushed through it, devouring fragments of the collapsing attack as it advanced.
In the next instant, the shadow’s fusion shattered completely. My sphere continued forward, striking the shadow directly in the chest.
There was no explosion.
The compression folded inward and devour consumed the structure at the same time. Cracks spread across the shadow’s body as its form began to break apart from the inside.
It did not struggle and did not attempt a second strike. Its body fractured cleanly and dissolved into darkness. Where it stood, a human soul appeared briefly, bowing in silent gratitude before fading away and merging into me. I felt the density of my soul increase again, heavier and more defined.
The hall fell silent.
I lowered my hand slowly, the faint excitement still lingering in my chest.
"That wasn’t bad," I said quietly.
The white floor beneath the shadow’s former position began to shift once more, preparing to reveal whatever waited below.