The next day, the morning sunlight illuminated The Walls. In front of The Walls' gate, a group of six Luminaries was waiting for someone. Among them was a young man with black hair, dressed in somewhat luxurious clothing, also waiting for that person—his name was Elias Geralith.
The other five were Luminaries hired by Elias's father to help Elias gain experience and learn to use his abilities better.
There were two Elemental Luminaries, one woman and one man. The beautiful and reserved woman was named Evren Valestra, capable of creating and manipulating lightning—a B+ rank Luminary. The other was a blue-haired man dressed like a wizard, named Ryze Nacth, who could create and manipulate ice—an A rank Luminary.
The rest were Physical Luminaries, one woman and two men. The woman had short brown hair and wore assassin-like clothing; her name was Irelyn Malphas, focusing on speed like an assassin—an A rank Luminary. The man with black-blond hair, a large muscular build, and dressed like a veteran fighter, standing nearly 190 centimeters tall, was named Raven Grimir. He had a body as strong as steel and could control Etherion for defense and offense—a B+ rank Luminary. Lastly, a young man with nothing particularly striking about him—messy black hair and slightly covered clothing—named Vale Calestair. He had exceptionally sharp senses and could attack or defend by manifesting Etherion into weapons—a B rank Luminary.
Raven was very annoyed because the person they were waiting for hadn't arrived yet.
"What's this?! Didn't you all make an appointment to meet here at 09:00 AM?! It's already 09:10, that person is ten minutes late!"
"Calm down, Raven. Maybe Han Yu will arrive soon…"
Elias turned his face toward the forest, looking anxious and hoping Han Yu would arrive soon since they were already slightly late to enter the Rift.
His wish was immediately granted as Han Yu arrived extremely quickly. Everyone was shocked because Han Yu moved so fast it was almost like teleportation.
"Wh-what kind of speed is that? He's faster than me!"
Irelyn was stunned, as it was the first time she had seen speed resembling teleportation.
"Everyone, let me introduce my friend, his name is Han Yu. Yesterday, Han Yu and I were both awakened, and we received the same mystical abilities and C rank."
Hearing this, Han Yu bowed and greeted everyone present.
Evren, Ryze, Irelyn, Raven, and Vale were once again shocked because Han Yu was a Mystical Luminary, not a Physical one.
"Is Elias joking?! Mystical?! With that kind of speed?! Isn't it obvious that's a Physical Luminary?"
Raven, hearing Elias's explanation, couldn't believe Han Yu's abilities.
"If your ability is truly mystical, show us your Luminary card. The Beacon Union never makes mistakes in assessing Luminaries!"
Setting aside his shock, Vale immediately asked Han Yu to show his Luminary card. They were stunned because Han Yu's ability was indeed mystical, and they began to believe in his abilities since The Beacon Union couldn't possibly be wrong.
"Alright, I understand, you're truly a Mystical Luminary. If so, what is your ability connected to? What can you do as a Mystical Luminary?"
Evren asked this, sparking curiosity about Han Yu's abilities among the other four Luminaries, except Elias.
"I don't know… When I first awakened, I felt like I was a Physical Luminary because my body became lighter and stronger, which are signs of a Physical Luminary. However, after the assessment, I was categorized as a Mystical Luminary, and I didn't feel anything…"
"Are you serious about not feeling anything?"
Ryze was slightly shocked by this explanation.
"It seems—"
"Ryze! We can talk about that later; we can't be late to enter the Rift."
"You're right, Evren, my apologies…"
The five Luminaries simultaneously looked at Elias, and he immediately understood their intention. They called Han Yu to come closer because they were about to teleport.
Elias closed his eyes, focusing deeply, still thinking about the coordinates of the Rift they would enter. In an instant, the seven Luminaries disappeared and arrived in front of a fairly large Rift.
Han Yu was slightly surprised because Elias could already use his abilities quite well, though Elias looked quite exhausted.
"So, this is the Rift we're entering… Based on the information, this Rift contains aberrants of B+ rank and below, so it should be safe for us to help Elias gain experience and learn to use his abilities."
"Is that so… Ryze, we'll also help Han Yu figure out more about his mystical abilities."
"You're right, Elias. I'm starting to get curious about Han Yu's abilities."
After a brief discussion, they finally entered the Rift.
A Rift is a dimensional tear connected to another dimension, the size of which depends on the amount of Etherion within it—the more Etherion, the larger and stronger the aberrants inside. By defeating all the aberrants, the Rift will forcibly close, releasing the Etherion inside to Earth since the aberrants that absorbed it are gone.
"By the way, what happened that made you late?"
Elias asked earnestly.
"Well… I was practicing manifesting Etherion to use in battle since I still don't know my mystical abilities."
Raven, hearing this, immediately became excited and approached Han Yu.
"What?! You practiced manifesting Etherion!? Were you able to? Only Physical Luminaries can manifest Etherion into weapons or defenses…"
"I could manifest it. I used it to enhance my speed. Since I don't want to be a burden in this conquest, I want to help as much as I can."
"You're incredible for already being able to utilize your Etherion! Especially since you've only been awakened for a day, and your rank is still C."
Irelyn praised Han Yu with sparkling eyes.
Physical Luminaries have the advantage of having extremely strong bodies, as they are natural vessels for Etherion flowing through their muscles, nerves, heart, and entire body. By utilizing Etherion, they can instinctively enhance muscle strength, reflexes, and stamina, as well as condense Etherion into weapons or shields without conversion.
Physical Luminaries generally have two forms of Etherion use: internal reinforcement and external manifestation.
Internal reinforcement channels Etherion throughout the body, enhancing physical performance to its strongest, fastest, and most durable state, but only for a short time.
External manifestation condenses surrounding Etherion into weapons, coats the body, punches, kicks, or other physical objects.
Elemental Luminaries convert internal or external Etherion into elemental forces, such as fire, water, lightning, metal, and so on. Unlike Physical Luminaries, they cannot manifest Etherion into weapons or shields; forcing it would cause an explosion. Physical Luminaries use raw Etherion, while Elemental Luminaries rely on converted Etherion.
Elemental Luminaries can do several things to their bodies and surroundings.
There's elemental embodiment, where Elemental Luminaries can transform and merge into the element they control—for example, a Fire Luminary could turn their body into fire.
Then there's environmental harmony, where an Elemental Luminary fighting in an environment matching their element can increase their power—for instance, a Snow Luminary's elemental strength would increase in a snowy area.
Lastly, elemental fusion, a rare ability where some Luminaries can control two or even all elements, combining them to create new abilities.
Mystical Luminaries utilize concepts and thoughts, as they manifest abstract and supernatural phenomena. Mystical Luminaries alter universal or surrounding concepts and meanings. They use Etherion through their minds, not their bodies or natural elements.
Like Physical and Elemental Luminaries, Mystical Luminaries can do several things.
Conceptual manifestation allows Mystical Luminaries to manifest Etherion as abstract concepts—they can manipulate concepts related to their abilities, such as materializing an idea or meaning, creating fear, erasing existence, and so on.
Then there's conceptual binding, where Mystical Luminaries can bind a concept to an object or being to alter their nature—for example, binding "destruction" to a sword so that anyone struck by it is destroyed, or binding "nonexistence" to an attack or body, making attacks negate all defenses or resistance and potentially erasing an opponent's existence.
Lastly, cognition field, where high-level Mystical Luminaries can create a cognitive domain separate from the universe—the size of the domain can be adjusted as desired but must align with their power capacity. Within this domain, all rules, logic, cause-and-effect, and reality differ from the universe, as the Mystical Luminary creates a domain that follows their will, independent of all existing rules.
"I just did what I could…"
Han Yu responded simply.
"For some reason, this Rift is so quiet… A Rift like this should be filled with a ton of aberrants, but this time it's different. I have a bad feeling."
Raven suddenly stopped and touched Ryze's shoulder. Ryze, confused, looked at Raven but was puzzled when he saw Raven's gaze fixed forward. The others around him were also focused on something ahead. When Ryze looked forward, he was utterly shocked to see an aberrant with an upper body resembling a human—long black hair, faceless, with four arms, and a lower body like a horse.
"I didn't expect filth to enter this place. I just killed all the creatures here, and now more food has arrived."
The creature spoke while smiling.
Aberrants also have ranks to determine their strength, but one specific trait indicates how powerful they are: their form. The more they resemble humans, the stronger they are. Etherion on Earth also causes mutations in aberrants from other dimensions, adapting them to the environment—since they're on Earth, their forms adapt to the most flexible creature, humans. The more Etherion in their bodies and the greater their power, the more their form changes, as Etherion alters their cells and physical structure to resemble humans.
"The pressure and intimidation are overwhelming! This is almost equivalent to an S-rank. If a creature like that is already nearly S-rank, what if it fully takes human form… Is there anyone who can defeat it?!"
Everyone panicked, their bodies trembling from the intimidation emitted by the aberrant. It had only released its aura, yet it rendered the group of Luminaries helpless.
"Weak creatures, trembling in fear just from my aura. I won't even need to bother killing and making you my meal."
Hearing that the creature wanted to make them its meal shocked them, and in their current state, they could do little.
"I'll introduce myself to you, my future meal! I am Quadryth! The Shadow King, the creature that will evolve into the pinnacle of darkness."
"Kuh… Kuhahahahaha, hahahaha! Look at your pathetic expressions! It's a shame you won't live to see tomorrow. You'll be swallowed by my darkness!"
Quadryth laughed at Han Yu and the others' fate, and simultaneously, a wide mouth with sharp fangs appeared on its face. In an instant, the room was filled with darkness from Quadryth's shadow, everything went black, like the vision of a blind person.
Quadryth charged quickly, its body now darkness itself. Its target was Ryze, the strongest in the group. However, its attack missed because Ryze vanished from his spot.
Even though he couldn't see, thanks to his enhanced senses, Han Yu could detect someone's presence within a 20-meter radius.
Han Yu saved Ryze just in time, his hand touching Ryze's body, and a strange phenomenon occurred—Han Yu began to feel cold, as if freezing. He knelt, unable to withstand the chilling sensation. Ryze, shocked by the earlier events, regained his senses and turned his attention to Han Yu, whose condition seemed odd.
"Han Yu, what's wrong?!"
"Did you get hit by that creature's attack?!"
"N-no, it's just… my body feels so cold!"
"What!?"
Quadryth was shocked because Ryze had disappeared from his spot. "I made this place pitch black to limit their vision, yet one person can still see?!"
"And why is that guy reacting like that? He wasn't even hit by my attack… No matter, since he's in that condition, I'll kill him first!"
Quadryth charged again with a wide grin. But his attack failed again, blocked by a barrier protecting Han Yu.
"DAMN YOU, HUMAN!! HOW DARE YOU USE A PATHETIC SHIELD TO STOP ME! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Quadryth was furious and shifted his target to Vale, who had protected Han Yu. Vale panicked, sensing that Quadryth was now targeting him. However, Quadryth's attack was blocked by Raven, who coated his body with Etherion.
"WHAT?! What kind of body is that!! Why does a lowly creature have such a tough body!"
*How can they move in this darkness?! They shouldn't be able to see anything! What's happening?!*
Evren and Irelyn charged at high speed. Evren moved like lightning, and Irelyn moved like an assassin, but Quadryth easily dodged their attacks.
"Kuh.. Kuhahahaha! You think you can attack me here? For your information, I am the shadow itself. It's pointless to attack me because you can't touch a shadow!"
Even though I failed to finish them quickly, they won't be able to harm a shadow.
On Han Yu and Ryze's side, Han Yu began to stand, no longer feeling cold.
I feel closer to snow. Does that mean I'm an Elemental Luminary now? Based on what happened earlier, I made physical contact with Ryze, and something strange happened to my body, then I felt I could control ice.
It seems my main ability is to copy another Luminary's ability through physical contact, but this is just a hypothesis. Can it work on non-Luminaries? Or can I only copy once? I'll use that creature as my test subject!
Han Yu didn't immediately use his ice ability but charged at high speed, surpassing even Evren and Irelyn's speed. His punch landed directly on Quadryth's shadow form, forcing Quadryth to stagger back.
"Im-impossible! How can someone hit me in my shadow form?!"
"Normal punches wouldn't hurt you, so I coated mine with Etherion, and it worked, you horse!"
"GRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
"DAMN YOU, HUMAN! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"
Quadryth went berserk, its roar deafening everyone and causing Han Yu to let his guard down. A powerful punch landed in Han Yu's stomach, delivered by Quadryth's two hands. Han Yu was thrown back, collapsing and coughing up blood, unconscious.
Ryze tried to create ice around them, but it was futile. Quadryth's rampage shattered the ice and delivered a horizontal slash across Ryze's chest, blood gushing from the wound. Ryze fell to his knees, and Quadryth grabbed his head, slamming him repeatedly before throwing him. The strongest member of the group was down, on the verge of death.
Two of the seven were down. Elias panicked, knowing something had happened to Han Yu and Ryze. Vale instructed Raven, Evren, and Irelyn to head toward Elias, as he directed—the second person with sharp senses besides Han Yu was Vale.
"Everyone, our focus now is protecting Elias. We've been paid for this."
In the darkness, they were cornered, especially since Ryze, the strongest, was defeated so easily—they forgot that Quadryth was an aberrant nearly equivalent to S-rank.
The aberrant emitted its intimidating aura again, causing fear—death was staring them in the face.
"Hold on, everyone! Do your best to prioritize Elias's safety. I, Raven, will be your shield!"
Raven stood at the front, despite his fear, using surrounding Etherion to create a shield to withstand Quadryth's attacks.
"Pathetic! You think you can block my attack a second time?"
Quadryth created a giant drill from shadows. Vale noticed and helped Raven reinforce his defense. Vale created multiple layers of Etherion shields. Quadryth launched its attack, but it was held back by Vale and Raven's shields—however, Quadryth intensified its attack, slowly breaking Vale's shields, then Raven's. Quadryth's attack continued, now targeting Raven, the team's defense.
"RAVEN!! WATCH OU—"
It was too late. Quadryth's attack pierced Raven's chest, creating a large hole. Elias, Evren, and Irelyn, hearing Vale's scream, panicked—they couldn't see due to the darkness.
Raven fell, but before his body hit the ground, Quadryth grabbed his head and crushed it.
"NO! R-R-R-R-RAVEN WAS JUST… KI-KI-KILLED… BY THAT CREATURE…"
Hearing Vale's words, Elias, Irelyn, and Evren froze in disbelief. Elias began to cry, overwhelmed by guilt, sadness, anger, and hatred.
"GRRRRAAAAAHHHH! DAMN IT! WHY… WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO US!"
Elias collapsed weakly.
"I'm so sorry… Han Yu, Ryze, Raven… I'm really sorry… for bringing you all to this place…"
Guilt haunted Elias.
"Kuh.. Kuhahahahaha!! Look at your pathetic expression! Hahahahahaha! Humans are truly lowly and weak creatures, crying over the loss of one weakling? Kuhahahahaha! Truly pathetic."
Quadryth's words ignited their emotions. Elias, furious, rose from his sorrow—he wouldn't accept his friend being belittled. His pupils glowed red, and the space around him distorted—Elias vanished and, in an instant, stood before Quadryth.
"Wh-what!? Teleporta—"
Before finishing, Elias's punch struck Quadryth, causing immense pain.
"What's this?! P-part of my body is gone?!"
Part of Quadryth's body vanished, an effect of Elias's punch. With his ability to manipulate space-time, Elias erased the space of his target—erasing part of Quadryth's body by removing its space.
A cold aura emerged, slowly freezing everything. Han Yu, previously unconscious, now stood, furious after learning what happened to Raven. He used the ice ability copied from Ryze to freeze the dark space.
"Im-impossible! My shadow… frozen—"
Suddenly, a hand grabbed Quadryth in its shadow form—it was Han Yu, moving at incredible speed and coating his hand with Etherion to touch Quadryth. Slowly, the area shattered as Han Yu froze it, freeing everyone and restoring their vision.
Evren, Irelyn, Elias, Vale, and Han Yu saw Raven's body—his head crushed, chest pierced. They were hysterical over their friend's death. Han Yu gripped Quadryth tightly, forcing it from shadow form back to its semi-humanoid state. Touching Quadryth, Han Yu felt something strange in his body again, though less severe. His hypothesis was correct—he could copy the abilities of living beings through physical contact.
With half its body gone from Elias's space erasure, Quadryth struggled to break free from Han Yu's grip. Elias, Vale, Evren, and Irelyn glared at Quadryth with sharp, furious eyes. Han Yu, sensing their anger, released his grip to let them kill Quadryth. In an instant, Evren appeared before Quadryth, moving like lightning, striking it with her ability.
The creature screamed in pain, but the attacks didn't stop—Irelyn moved like an assassin, slashing Quadryth with her dual daggers. Vale followed, manifesting dozens of swords aimed at Quadryth. The aberrant screamed in agony, begging them to stop—but no one cared. Finally, Elias pointed at Quadryth with a hateful glare, clenched his fist, and erased the creature's space, completely eliminating Quadryth's existence as there was no space left for it.
"Everyone, let's get out of here. The boss is defeated, and this Rift will close soon."
Han Yu urged them to leave while carrying the dying Ryze. Irelyn and Vale manifested Etherion to carry Raven's body out, and they all hurried to exit.
Moments later, they were outside, and the Rift they entered vanished.
Elias was exhausted from pushing his abilities to the limit but held on, not wanting Ryze to suffer Raven's fate. He prepared to teleport everyone back to The Walls. They succeeded, but Elias immediately fainted.
His friends grew worried.
"Elias is just unconscious, probably from overexerting himself…"
Han Yu said to them, carrying Elias to find the nearest hospital.