Chapter 101: Talent
The waterfall continued to pour down beside Rios while he remained asleep, completely relaxed.
Time passed without him realizing it or even caring about it. All he had wanted when he came to this small pond... was to stop thinking for a while and simply rest.
Rios opened his eyes, blinked several times, and stared up at the sky without thinking about anything.
He wasn’t tired... he was relaxed to the very limit...
But his thoughts were completely scattered... The number of things that had happened to him recently was enough to drive anyone insane.
Yet he had remained composed through it all...
After sitting there for a little while longer, Rios finally stepped out of the pond, took out a set of clothes from his system storage, and put them on.
He walked beneath the dark sky and the bright stars of the night toward the royal palace, his face completely expressionless.
Royal Palace — Administration Office
Elena and Thandria sat together, surrounded by several temporary advisers. At this moment, they were reviewing documents, signing them, and making important decisions regarding the management of the City of Light.
Creeeak!
At that moment, the wooden door creaked open, and Rios walked in with a calm expression.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
The moment they saw Rios, everyone immediately stood up, bowed, and greeted him.
"Mhm."
Rios nodded and gestured toward them.
"Please leave us alone for a moment."
Rios spoke in a calm voice.
"As you command, Your Majesty."
The advisers immediately bowed once more before quickly leaving the room.
"Thandria, you stay."
Rios gestured for Thandria to remain.
"Mhm."
Thandria nodded and sat back down beside Elena.
Rios took a few steps forward, sat on one of the desks, then looked at Elena as he narrowed his eyes.
"You understand the major law of light, don’t you?"
Rios hadn’t reached this conclusion without reason.
Back when Adviser Gao had flown into a rage after Rios began devouring the Immortal Tree of Life, both Thandria and Etham had fought him and nearly killed him... It was Elena who had saved him.
That rescue hadn’t been ordinary. Thandria and Etham had both been at the peak of the third Level, just like Elena, yet neither of them had even been able to follow her movements.
Rios had witnessed everything back then, but due to his lack of knowledge at the time, he hadn’t realized that what Elena had been using was her understanding of the major law of light.
However, after Rios comprehended the cosmic law of life, he recalled that scene and examined it again, only then realizing just how terrifying Elena’s true strength had been before her bloodline seal was removed.
"Yes... I understand part of it."
Elena wasn’t surprised that Rios had discovered her little secret. In fact, she had already expected him to know. What she hadn’t expected was that it would take him this long to figure something like this out.
It seemed she had underestimated just how important laws really were...
"How much progress have you made in understanding the major law of light?"
Rios nodded and asked curiously.
"Honestly, not that much." Elena smiled awkwardly and scratched her head. "It all started when the previous queen was on her deathbed. She told me about laws and said they were the key to reaching the fourth Legendary Level.
Throughout the past ten years, besides participating in the council and various conferences, I spent my time studying and researching laws.
After several years of research, I discovered many Secondary Laws derived from the law of light.
Then I continued my research for several more years until I discovered the Primary Law of light two years ago.
From that moment onward, my path became clear.
After that, I devoted even more effort to my research, and my understanding of the Primary Law of light steadily deepened.
Over the following three years, my comprehension of the law of light continued to increase at a steady pace... I’ve already passed the halfway point."
Elena spoke with an innocent smile on her face, as though what she had just said was nothing worth mentioning...
But on the other hand, Rios’s eyes widened as he stared at her in shock... and horror.
"W-... What did you just do?"
The words caught in Rios’s throat for several seconds. His voice trembled, and his eyes shook as he looked at Elena.
Rios possessed perfect talent for the cosmic law of life, in addition to a high-level comprehension technique, the Gene Tracking technique, and an entire world where the law of life existed in extremely high concentration.
With all of that, it had still taken him five days to fully comprehend the law of life.
But Elena’s bloodline had been sealed. She possessed no technique that aided comprehension. The City of Light barely knew anything about laws, and the highest Level on this continent was only the third Level...
Yet despite all of that, she had comprehended the Primary Law of light in only ten years...
Not a Secondary Law...
But the Primary Law itself!
From Rios’s limited knowledge of the universe, and everything he had learned and heard in The Eternal Night Heaven about how civilizations first discovered laws and gradually developed them, what Elena had accomplished should have been absolutely impossible without some form of support.
When civilizations first discovered laws, the process normally took generation after generation... unless someone with Immortal-grade talent discovered that law.
It always began with the discovery of Secondary Laws. Then, as generations passed and research advanced, the Primary Law would eventually be discovered... whether it was a major law or a cosmic law.
This process usually took hundreds of years... sometimes thousands... perhaps even far longer, depending on the researcher’s talent.
Even those with Immortal-grade talent were no exception.
But Elena... she was the exception.
No... she wasn’t merely an exception.
She was a terrifying anomaly.
*How... How did she do this?
Does the Pulsing Star Body grant abilities like this?
No!
It’s true that it grants her monstrous talent toward the cosmic law of stars... but the cosmic law of stars is a top-tier combat law, not a support-type law.*
Rios’s thoughts raced as he rubbed his chin.
There are definitely many secrets hidden within Elena that no one has discovered yet... not even she herself!
"W-Wait! Hold on!
What are these laws you’re talking about? And why would they be the key to reaching the fourth Legendary Level?!"
Thandria looked back and forth between Rios and Elena in astonishment, unable to understand what they were talking about...
But after grasping a little of what had been said, she hurriedly asked.
"If you want to reach the fourth Level, then simply overcoming the heavenly tribulation won’t be enough. Before that, you first have to—"
Elena began explaining with a smile, but before she could finish, Rios took out a red box decorated with numerous pale red lotus leaves and handed it to her.
Both Elena and Thandria stared at the red box, their eyes trembling. Elena’s hand even shook as she reached toward it.
The last time Rios had brought out a box like this, it had immediately solved their food shortage, in addition to providing a collection of armor and equipment unlike anything they had ever seen before.
So what had Rios brought this time?
Elena took the box, then looked at Rios and asked in a trembling voice,
"What is this?"
"They’re laws."
Rios replied with a smile.
"I promised to make you stronger... and this is one of the ways."
"W-... What do you mean by that?"
Elena’s voice trembled as she slowly opened the box.
Inside were ten scrolls, each decorated with the same red lotus flowers engraved on the outside of the box.
"These are ten fourth-Level techniques.
Eight of them correspond to the eight laws of the Elves.
Fire, Water, Light, Darkness, Wind, Lightning, Wood...
And your own cosmic law of stars."
Rios spoke as though obtaining techniques related to such laws was something completely ordinary.
But to Thandria and Elena, there was nothing ordinary about this.
"You’re saying there are eight techniques for eight laws... Then what about the remaining two?"
Elena asked. She didn’t even bother asking where Rios had obtained these techniques or how, because they had most likely come from the same place where he had previously obtained the food and equipment.
What mattered now was that bringing back techniques like these would raise the City of Light’s strength to unprecedented heights.
Even if they couldn’t reach the fourth Level, within the third Level, no one would be able to defeat them unless they also understood one of the laws.
"One of the remaining techniques is called Gene Tracking. It allows you to partially perceive your blood cells and the law connected to them, helping you advance your understanding of laws much more quickly and easily."
Rios’s smile widened as he continued,
"As for the other technique, it’s called Nine Lotus Leaves.
This technique can increase the rate at which you absorb energy from the surroundings several times beyond the normal rate."
Then Rios frowned and spoke in a serious tone.
"These techniques are for the two of you... as well as Etham.
As for the rest of the Elves, only those who swear a Soul Oath to me, just as the three of you did, will be allowed to receive them."