On the other side...
"What a nasty, disrespectful brat... fame has already gotten to his head," Wei-Lan scoffed in irritation, not too fond of Levi’s short, direct reply.
He hadn’t even said thanks for the praise... sure, it didn’t come from a good place, but Wei-Lan wasn’t a fan of being ignored.
Too bad, Levi’s achievements in the event were still fresh in his mind... he took a deep breath and dropped the matter, understanding that Levi’s reputation had gotten too big even for Earth.
In other words, he could join powerful Noble Houses and make his enemies regret the day they opposed him.
"Rescheduling while dealing with a Bishop?" Wei-Lan smirked, "At least he is being an asshole to both of us."
No hesitation, Wei-Lan forwarded the D-mail to Bishop Va’ren, knowing full well he wouldn’t like it.
Unbeknownst to him, Bishop Va’ren couldn’t care less if Levi disrespected him by rescheduling his chosen date... the moment he received the message, he replied with a thumbs up and gave him no further orders.
It was clear that Bishop Va’ren was relieved to know that Levi still shared his vision... for now, it was enough.
***
Twelve Boundless Days Later...
Levi and his friends had settled nicely into Jasmine’s territory and were getting used to the isolated, paradise-like life... they built some facilities around their homes, turning the area into a small town. There was a training center, a gym, a group dining area, and more.
Since Jasmine kept her territory closed off, no outsider was able to step inside the borders unless they received her permission... even merchant convoys and such were rejected from crossing through her land.
Because they received no official response from the owner, the territory had already gained a nickname in the Ninth Sky Province: The Deserted Kingdom.
Levi and the others had learned quite a bit about it from the network during their research, making them find out that Jasmine’s territory had been recorded as owned by an unknown entity for more than a million years... the way he/she earned it was undisclosed. Though they did find that the territory hadn’t been habitable for all of these years.
This finding had driven the girls to ask more questions about Jasmine’s origins... but she maintained her ignorance.
While she was dealing with this, Levi had spent most of his time attempting to perfect the method to free the Omnithar Genie.
He had put in great effort to the point that he already had the code ready to go... though, he still struggled with the ability to detach emotionally from the connection.
Right now, he was sitting on top of a Redwood-like tree’s branch hundreds of kilometers away from their tiny town... the tree had mesmerizing autumn brown leaves, fluttering against the wind as Levi kept murmuring to himself.
"Time is running out, and I still haven’t even taught the Valence Cipher to the Omnithar... just what kind of melody can connect me and detach me simultaneously... the logic is contradictory."
Levi had gone through many creative trajectories that helped him create some new melodies, each with its own potent effect... some even boosted his prowess temporarily.
Yet, he still hadn’t crafted the Melody/Technique he needed... he even tried to synchronize other Aspects in the melody, but to no avail.
"Only three days are left before the wish expires... should I just give up and seek different approaches for next time?" Levi sighed inwardly, "I really don’t want to lose this opportunity, but I also hate the idea of sacrificing one of my three souls during the contract signing."
Levi knew that the meeting was just around the corner, and this was the time to use the wish for its intended purpose... but at the same time, he had invested too much effort into this, and he didn’t feel good about dropping it.
’Wait a second... the other souls.’
Suddenly, Levi felt the world go silent as an idea struck him akin to a lightning bolt...
’What if I played the melody while switching my consciousness to the Void Soul?’
Levi realized that he had tunnel vision when dealing with this problem... he was fixating on the Melody itself, achieving two contradictory goals.
However, if he switched his consciousness to the Void Soul and played the Melody, he would be able to pick up the Omnithar’s emotional wavelengths without showing any reaction!
It was a perfect combination that he felt like he should have thought about much sooner... but then, he realized why the notion hadn’t crossed his mind before.
’Damn... it is still as heavily corrupted as I have left it.’
Levi showed a wry smile after entering his spiritual leywell and seeing the Void Soul... it was as dark as a bottomless abyss, resembling a floating shadow.
"If you go for it, just prepare to bring back some of that corruption to your main soul," Ash’Kral warned lazily, "That if you could return."
"..." Levi remained quiet.
He was always avoiding the Void soul due to its overwhelming corruption, which was his own debt from the Ashora Empire’s Expedition... now, just the look of it scared him a little as it made him understand that it could easily erase his true identity if his consciousness remained integrated with it for long.
He could never forget the dreadful emptiness he felt during the Void Form and the aftermath it left on him.
"How about the Sun soul?"
Levi wondered, switching his focus to the golden shimmering soul on the far right side... it was still somewhat pure compared to the Void Soul, but Levi knew that it was just an illusion.
"Well, it might not be as effective as the Void Soul, but it is far better at dealing with an Omnithar’s emotions than your own soul," Ash’Kral confirmed.
Levi thought about it for a moment and then nodded... he made up his mind to go for it, knowing that some Sun Laws corruption wouldn’t impact him as badly as using an already fully corrupted Void Soul.
As for giving up on the whole matter? Not a chance... he needed to figure out at least what the Omnithar wanted from him and what his Lantern had to do with its freedom.
...
Sometime later... In Levi’s private territory within the Boundless Void.
Levi called for the Omnithar, and it had responded instantly... its cosmic overwhelming form stealing the spotlight from everything around it.
’Are you sure about doing it in the Boundless Expanse?’ The Titan frowned, ’Nocturn is always watching...’
’I’m just going to have a chat with the Omnithar, not free it,’ Levi replied.
Levi wasn’t foolish enough to free the Omnithar in the Boundless Expanse under Nocturn’s eyes... he knew that even if he found a way to not alarm the system, Nocturn would be on to him. But a chat? He doubted Nocturn had that much free time to keep an eye on him.
Soon, Levi spent the next five minutes explaining the Valence Cipher to the Omnithar... he named it as such since Valence in psychology meant the intrinsic goodness (positive) or badness (negative) of an event/emotion... when added to a code, he could swing between those poles to create a primitive language.
The language might be primitive, but the code itself was nothing as such... it was highly complex and required immense attention to detail and deity-like control over one’s emotions.
Yet, the Omnithar Genie understood it the instant Levi finished the explanation... It confirmed it with a slight head nod.
Seeing this, Levi took a deep breath and said, "Don’t look at me differently after this..."
No hesitation, Levi switched his consciousness to the Sun Soul. The transformation was instant and blinding!
His ethereal green hair fluttered as it turned into liquid gold that glowed with faint internal heat... His chest and forehead shared a golden, illuminating tattoo, which burned his clothes before he could even exhale.
It was like the moment Levi shifted to his Sun Soul, the Divine Sun Skin activated on its own... the only difference was that even though he was in the Boundless Expanse and it had no natural sunlight, the transformation still went through!
Sure, he would be much more powerful under direct sunlight, but with the Sun Soul purity in play, he was getting some love internally.
As the last time, an aura of absolute solar arrogance radiated from him... a heavy, crushing pride that demanded every soul in the vicinity acknowledge him as their superior.
It was so much that he even looked down on the Omnithar before him like it was nothing more than an ant in the presence of a deity.
When the Omnithar felt his radiating, unmatched arrogance, it flinched... Fear? Hatred? Disgust? Or was it reminded of the Radians? No one could tell.
Still, it decided to stay.
Meanwhile, Levi said nothing... with a casual flick of his hand, he summoned his violin from a cloud of shadowy flowers.
Then, he settled the instrument on his shoulder with effortless grace and lifted his head to face the Omnithar.
"You have been granted a single opportunity to exist in my presence," Levi uttered, his voice as indifferent as the blaze of a midday sun.
Uncaring about the Genie’s lack of reaction, he adjusted the bow on the strings as if he were alone.
"Spill everything... do not force me to waste another second of my eternity regretting your insignificance."
As the last word left his mouth, Levi started playing the violin... his expression emotionless, but his tunes were nothing as such.