Chapter 161: Experiment
"So, how are we supposed to save the Great Mother?"
Ash slowly raised his head from the book he had been reading and glanced at her. His expression was calm, but behind those eyes, thoughts were already spinning.
On the other side, Serena stood with her arms stiff at her sides, her posture tense, yet her gaze steady and resolved.
So... she’s finally made her decision.
"It’s simple," Ash replied, closing the book with a soft thud. "You just have to learn Life Magic. Once you do, we can save the Great Mother."
Serena looked confused. Her brows furrowed as she tried to grasp the meaning behind his words. "I don’t understand. How could my learning something change anything? Great Mother is Life itself. If she’s being corrupted from the inside... how would my magic even matter?"
Although Serena didn’t know, but Ash had always used a sound blocking artifact whenever he talked with her,
He knew that if there really was a traitor hiding among the elves, then they would definitely try to keep a close watch on the queen, one way or another.
I don’t know how careless she’s planning to be right now... She’s almost shouting, even though everyone knows she’s supposed to be alone in here. What would’ve happened if I hadn’t used the sound-blocking artifact?
"Tsk."
Serena’s eyes widened at the sound, and she looked at him. "Are you clicking your tongue now? At me?"
"Yes, because you are an idiot."
"You—What did you call me?"
Ash didn’t hesitate. "Looks like you are deaf too."
"What are you if not an idiot?" he asked, voice cold and sharp. "You’re standing here, practically shouting everything you shouldn’t. You’re almost announcing to the world that someone else is with you. Tell me, are you trying to abandon me and expose my presence?"
Hearing his tone, Serena trembled slightly. Her voice came out broken, and she lowered her head in shame.
"I-I-I’m s-s-sorry. I was careless... But there IS NO WAY I AM PLOTTING SOMETHING."
The moment those words left her mouth, she instinctively brought her hand over it, realizing far too late that she had raised her voice again.
Seeing this, Ash sighed deeply and stood up from his chair. He looked more exhausted than angry now.
"I already set a sound-blocking artifact around us," he said, his voice calmer now, "but you really need to control yourself. Next time, don’t talk to me unless you’re using one too. I won’t always be around to cover for your recklessness."
He walked past her without looking back. His tone had cooled, but his irritation was still clear.
"I’ll explain everything later. For now, rest. With your tired body and those deep circles under your eyes, you’ll only be a burden if we push forward like this."
Then he paused and added, "Also, I’ll be borrowing a few Life Magic theory books. I hope you don’t mind. They’re only theory anyway."
"Until next time."
With that, his voice faded as he walked deeper into the library.
By the time Serena turned around to look, he had already vanished.
Just who is he, really...?
Her cheeks flushed bright red as the embarrassment rushed in. She had completely lost control of her emotions during such a sensitive and important situation.
He definitely thinks I’m an idiot now... Ugghhhh!
***
Ash appeared back inside the isolated space he had entered earlier with the elf queen. Eclipse expanded in his hands, and as he unsheathed the blade, he muttered softly, "It’ll be the first time we fight for real, buddy."
Hearing those words, Eclipse trembled faintly, as if responding to its master’s call with agreement and anticipation.
The reason he was here was simple. He still had no idea how to remove the black heart from the roots of the World Tree. And when you don’t know anything about a problem, the only way to find an answer is by doing the most basic thing.
"Let’s start the experiment."
His smile widened behind the mask, resembling a beast filled with excitement.
"Fighting this many spirits... this will be fun. Huhu...."
{Omni Thought}
{Lightning Reflex}
Strange glowing symbols appeared and swirled around his forehead. The very next moment, Ash’s body blurred, vanishing and reappearing in the middle of the corrupted spirits like a flash of lightning.
Eclipse gleamed with crackling lightning, and every swing of the sword sliced through the twisted spirits with ease. It was as if he were cutting through air.
-Slash.
-Slash.
-Slash.
Clearing a path with every movement, Ash steadily moved closer to the demonic heart.
Let’s go... even faster.
{Lightning Step}
His speed exploded. He zipped through the corrupted spirits, becoming nearly invisible as he moved. But spirits—especially those tainted by demonic energy—were no fools.
They had become stronger, and their attacks were far more destructive than before.
From every direction, elemental attacks warped by corruption appeared. It felt as though someone had already predicted where he would move.
Black ice, dark fire, corrupted lightning, and other twisted elements closed in on him like a deadly storm.
But before any of those could land, his grin widened further.
{Lightning Bloom}
This was a spell Ash had developed himself, not too long ago. The concept behind it was fairly straightforward.
This was a spell Ash had created not long ago. The idea was simple. He would compress lightning mana to the absolute limit using his mental energy. Then, more mana would be added and compressed again.
This process would be repeated twice. That was his limit. Anymore, and it would consume too much mental energy.
After the compression, the mana would explode outward, destroying everything in the area.
-BOOM.
The entire space shook as the explosion erased everything within its range. Corrupted elemental attacks were blown apart.
Low and mid-level demonic spirits disintegrated on the spot. Even the high-level ones were left badly injured.
Only the highest-ranking spirits remained mostly untouched. They were few in number, maybe around a hundred, but they were the most dangerous.
"That was fun," Ash spoke cheerfully. His body remained fine, protected by his own mana. After all, lightning doesn’t burn its master.
With the way cleared, Ash moved toward the heart. It was pulsing wildly, attached to the center of the thickest root. Its veins twisted into the root as if feeding on it.
Ash raised his sword and swung. His blade moved so fast it left behind afterimages shaped like bolts of lightning.
He aimed for the veins linking the heart to the tree, but his slashes left behind only shallow marks. There were no real injuries—neither to the heart nor to the tree.
Seeing that, Ash didn’t slow down or give up.
{Lightning Bloom}
He used the spell again. Another explosion followed, shaking the surroundings.
But this time, he had a plan.
Inside his mind, everything slowed down. In that brief moment, he cut off the lightning mana and coated his sword with something else. It was faint, barely noticeable.
Life energy.
After reading those ten books, Ash had learned how to convert his mana into Life mana. It was weak for now, but with time and more knowledge, it would grow stronger.
Let’s see if this works...
His sword struck again, this time coated in faint life energy. One of the smaller veins was cut clean through. It was not much, but it was proof that it worked.
"Looks like I can cut you after all."
His grin widened behind the mask, sharp with satisfaction.
"Hehe. I’ll see you next time, Blacky."
Just as the final shockwaves of Lightning Bloom faded into the stillness, Ash had already vanished without a sound. He didn’t look back even once.
But the moment he left the isolated space, the demonic heart began to pulse violently. Waves of thick, corrupted energy burst outward, like a silent scream that had finally broken loose.
The World Tree’s roots trembled as if struck by fear, and the air inside turned heavy, pressing down like invisible chains. The fallen spirits began to stir again, pulled upright by the twisted rhythm of the demonic pulse.
Then, from the depths of that darkness, a voice rose—deep, distorted, and soaked in fury.
"Wh...o... i...s... th...at... r...a...t...?"
***
Time passed, and one full week quietly slipped away.
During this entire week, throughout the day, there was always at least one member of the Council present, staying close to Serena, helping her with anything she needed and keeping her company.
At those times, Ash would focus entirely on reading books related to Life Magic, Nature Magic, herbs, and many other ancient topics. He didn’t waste a single moment. By the end of the week, he had read through every single book that held any information connected to the theory of Life Magic.
And now, he had reached a point where he could convert his mana into Life Mana with the highest level of purity. It wasn’t just a basic imitation anymore. The energy felt natural in his hands, as if it truly belonged to him.
At night, when the library returned to its silence and only Serena remained inside, Ash would help her translate the ancient text.
Of course, he already remembered everything written inside the ancient book, but since he had to act like he was helping, he revealed the meanings slowly—step by step—so it looked like a process they were going through together.
Most of it was filled with Runic Spells related to Life Magic, but what caught his attention was the unique structure. The way elves controlled runes and shaped their spells was completely different from how he used runic magic.
But instead of feeling confused, Ash saw this as an opportunity. It proved that there wasn’t just one single path to reach the peak of magic.
There were many ways, many systems, and each race followed their own methods.
And if he could truly understand how Elves runic spells worked and rewrite them into his own style, there was no doubt he would be able to heal Elysia.
That was his goal.
But among all the spells and dense theories, there was one thing written in that ancient book he hadn’t expected at all.
A story.
A legend buried within the lines of magic.
It was the tale of how the World Tree was born.
***