Norlan shouted inwardly,and as he did, the dizzying flood of intricate details that had been overwhelming his senses faded out of existence. His vision sharpened, honing in on just five particles of energy, each spinning gracefully around the others in a slow, silent dance. From those particles,each glowing with a distinct color,came a breathtaking display of molecular-scale fission and fusion, processes that should have been chaotic but instead moved with the precision of a celestial clock.
They enhanced one another in one breath and restricted one another in the next, weaving a perfect state of balance. It was balance achieved so flawlessly that not a single wisp of energy was lost. Power merely changed forms,from kinetic to potential, from thermal to spiritual,yet the total remained constant, an unbroken law made visible.
Looking closer, Norlan's breath caught. These were the five primordial elements: Wood, Fire, Metal, Earth, and Water. They were demonstrating to him, with breathtaking clarity, the ancient principle of equivalent exchange. For every portion of energy sacrificed in one corner of the loop, an identical portion was gained elsewhere,sustained by the endless, harmonious circulation of the five.
A storm of thoughts and ideas raged wildly through Norlan's mind. Experimental concepts danced and eloped with one another, each more daring than the last.
He acted on one.
Grasping the thought like a lifeline, he reduced the effect of his technique – Filter and deliberately shattered the delicate balance of the five-element loop. With surgical precision, he separated the Fire and Wood elements from the rest, leaving the other three to idle.
Then he began to gather them. He contained the isolated Fire and Wood essences, molding them into two much larger spiritual molecules,each now pulsing with condensed, furious potential. He compressed them separately, squeezing their essence until their potency increased to the very limit of his ability. The end result was half the size of the original molecules, yet twice as dense with power.
A different type of energy,cool, metallic, and unyielding,coated the two compressed molecules like a shell of forged steel. Containment was displayed in full force: the wild energy locked within, trembling but unable to escape.
Norlan raised his hand sideways, since Titus stood directly in front of him. Spirituality seeped from his pores like morning mist, latching onto the two compressed molecules and pulling them outward, ready to express them into the physical world.
When the two were almost touching,a hair's breadth from collision,he suddenly evoked expansion. The containment cracked. The two molecules collided and reacted instantly, eagerly, as if they had been waiting for this very moment.
He extended his finger.
The Fire elemental molecule ignited with a roar. The Wood spiritual molecule, feeding the flames like dry tinder on a pyre, transformed into a booming combustion that spiraled outward in a violent cascade.
Boom!
A streak of fire erupted from Norlan's fingertip,a blazing sphere at its core, then spreading and dispersing like a straight line being violently shaded with a thick pencil: dark and dense at the source, then thinning into scattered embers the farther it traveled from him.
Titus, standing nearby, was frozen in shock. His eyes went wide, then wider still. What did he just witness? Did this young man actually use the four primal energy runes in conjunction? Just how monstrous were the skills the goddess had bestowed upon him?
"No!" Titus whispered, then spoke louder, almost to himself. "It's not just about the rank of the skill. Many… many saints and even sacreds cannot use primal runes at all. That is precisely why none of them can even dare practice the Energy Contradiction skill to its fullest. They can only use derivatives,watered-down versions given by Sacred Angle Hanna."
He watched the streak of dispersing blast fire toward a nearby rock, carving a smoking trench into the stone. His mind churned.
He couldn't help but dwell on the Class Norlan had awakened: Unique Incubus—an SSS+ rank class. A class so absurdly rare that it had facilitated the transfer of not just a divine skill, but even a dominion level skill directly to Norlan.
And one must understand… the skills and realms are as follows.
Awakened mortal...D rank mortal skill
Awakened master...C rank master skill
Awakened grandmaster...B rank Grandmaster skill
Awakened supreme...A rank supreme skill
Sovereign....S rank Sovereign skill
Saint....SS rank Saint skill
Sacred realm... SSS rank Sacred skill
Divine realm...Divine rank divine skill
Celestial god... Dominion level skill
Meaning that the unique Incubus Class SSS+ ( 1 ) being a class of the Sacred level was able to influence the transfer of divine skill and even lesser dominion level skill Resonance evolution that stemmed directly from the Goddess's Aurelia's expressed dominion.
Just how massive was that?
I mean Titus knows that the class is SSS+ meaning that it's a unique Sacred class but...
It could even affect a celestial god's Dominion!
He sighed, his gaze looking at the streak of light that had just hit the distant rock with a Poof.
The damage was miniscule. An ordinary rock could have delt better damage against the distant rock.
The attack was too flashy with no substance. Like a tyrannosaurus trying to get the better of a dragon using it's tiny hands.
"Something's missing. The reaction of the fire molecules and the fueling of the wood molecules seem to have a missing link that is needed for this skill to work." Norlan mumbled as he tried his best to compress more molecules even further,contain them even more strictly all the while coating the outer shell of the molecules with distinct expansion energy threads that will spread out the impact more fiercely when the eruption happens.
However.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Failure! Failure! Failure!
"Damn! I guess it's not that easy to advance two realms at the same time" Norlan chuckled dismissively.
While Titus looked at him like he was seeing him for the first time ever.
"You freak!" Titus rumbled softly. Not enough for Norlan not to overhear though. He rebutted jockingly,
"Careful old man, your words getting spicier by the day."
Titus didn't pay him any heed,his mind reeling in the fact that Norlan continued to improve and use the four primal energy runes conservatively.
"Does this kid also had talent and affinity for runes?" He mused. Turning around to see that Norlan couldn't hold his realm any longer. His body erupting with crackles of energy spreading out from a particular point in his body. His divine aperture.
Seeing this,he also got serious and faced Norlan cross-legged. His arms extending to touch Norlan's. Who muttered with authority.
Divine lesser dominion – Resonance evolution!
Divine skill – Yin energy storage!
A crimson,hot energy erupted out from Norlan's divine aperture. Followed by a cold,blue one that seemed to be acting as fuel to the crimson energy rather that putting it out or balancing it out.
These were the energy that propagates evolution and the energy that Norlan got after participating in sensual dances with two powerhouses. Like wood to the fire. Evolution requires a lot of energy and unlike when Norlan activated it with Aurelia by the side,the energy requirements are just too great for a an awakened Mortal. Hence the use of the Yin energy.
This made the process more easier, allowing a mortal to induce evolution.
The two mixed energies crushed upon each other. The blue energy and red ground each other as in a millstone. A purple regal and dominant aura being the product seeping into Norlan body.
Coincidentally, Norlan had no desire to claim the energy for himself. Instead, he channeled it all into his palms, where it swirled and clashed in a controlled contradiction. Then, with a focused push, he sent that volatile force rushing directly into Titus's body.
Titus shuddered violently. The moment the resonance evolution energy made contact with his skin, a wave of goosebumps erupted across every inch of his flesh. So dense and sudden it was as if his body was trying to shrink away from itself.
"Ahhh!" He clenched his teeth, jaw trembling, desperately trying to withstand the searing agony flooding his veins.
But the next moment, he couldn't hold back any longer. He screamed with every ounce of his being. A high, piercing shriek that cut through the air like a frightened nine-year-old soprano hitting her purest, most desperate note. Then, his resistance crumbled. His whole body surrendered to the baptism, arms flung wide, muscles convulsing as the energy burned through him.
Above the mountain peak, a thick streak of purple light exploded outward from him, blanketing the rocky summit in an otherworldly glow. Like a rocket tearing free from its launch pad, the aura shot skyward with relentless, uneven pulses of power,each surge wilder than the last, shaking the very air around it.
It was like a beacon. A cause that predestined dire effects.