Chapter 113: Derivation
Hours passed, and before long, midnight arrived.
Rios sat on his bed, staring at the intricate carvings decorating the ceiling, each one taken from the many legends of the Elves, while his mind drifted far from reality as he reflected on everything that had happened that day.
Zzzzzz!
Lost in thought, the creaking sound of the door opening caught his attention.
A smile appeared on Rios’s face. He already knew who had come before he even turned to look.
His eyes fell upon the stunning beauty with her slender figure and alluring clothes. She stepped inside, closed the door behind her, then remained standing there awkwardly.
"So, you finally gathered the courage to come."
Rios smiled mischievously as he looked at Thandria, making no effort whatsoever to hide his appraising gaze.
"D-Did Elena tell you?" Thandria muttered in a low, embarrassed voice as her cheeks turned a deep crimson.
"Hehehehe, no!" Rios chuckled and shook his head in amusement.
"Then... you were listening to us during the banquet!" Thandria’s eyes widened as she stared at him in shock.
"What can I say? Thank God my hearing is a little better than average." Rios shrugged mockingly, thoroughly enjoying the expression on Thandria’s face.
"B-But... why didn’t you say anything back then?!" Thandria’s voice trembled as the blush on her face deepened.
In response, Rios smiled slyly and raised his hand. His flexible branches immediately shot forward, wrapped around Thandria’s slender waist, and pulled her toward him.
"Ah!"
Thandria was startled by the sudden turn of events. Her body froze instinctively, and she didn’t even realize what had happened until she found herself lying directly on top of Rios’s chest, their faces only inches apart.
Rios held her slim waist, their breaths brushing against one another as he quietly admired her beautiful face.
"If someone throws a fruit straight into my lap, who am I to refuse it... or do you take me for someone ungrateful enough to kick away the blessing that was given to him?"
. . .
Hours passed, and then days followed. The new system had already begun taking its first steps within the City of Light.
The intensive training specially designed for those who had awakened their bloodlines a few days ago began under the leadership of several Royal Guard captains and Counselor Thandria.
Meanwhile, the families of the commoners who had become new nobles began learning about their rights, duties, responsibilities, and roles within the new system Rios had established, under the supervision of Queen Elena and her assistant, Yasmin.
At the same time, raids on the traitors’ meeting places began, and everyone connected to them was arrested under the command of the remaining Royal Guard captains and the Army Commander, Etham.
But no matter how hard they tried, and no matter how many captured traitors confessed, the true masterminds behind them always remained hidden in the shadows, and not a single piece of evidence against them was ever found.
The days continued to pass in the City of Light, and with them came countless changes.
More changes had occurred within just a few days than had happened over the course of an entire decade.
....
The days passed, and soon a full week had gone by since the celebration had ended.
At this moment, Rios was sitting inside a strange, tiny world.
There was no ground beneath him.
He floated freely in the air.
Rios sat with his eyes closed, contemplating the world around him as well as the cells flowing through his own blood, while continuously reciting in his mind the technique for comprehending the Cosmic Law of Derivation.
After finishing all the affairs of the City of Light, Rios had finally decided to begin comprehending the Law of Derivation and enter the world of The Eternal Path.
He had now spent three full days inside the Gate of Derivation.
Three entire days contemplating this strange world.
Unlike the Gate of the Law of Life, which was filled with life and lifeless objects gaining life, this world was completely different.
The moment he entered the Gate of the Cosmic Law of Derivation, Rios found absolutely nothing except endless emptiness, a tiny flame floating in its center, and a few bubbles of water drifting through the void.
The scene immediately filled him with suspicion, and for a moment, he thought that was all there was to it.
But in the very next instant, that tiny flame split into several different things.
White light, an almost invisible mass (heat), black and gray particles (smoke and ash), and many other things associated with fire.
This wasn’t simple decomposition.
It was separation from the origin, becoming a brand-new origin in its own right.
Nor did the phenomenon stop there.
Once the ray of light shot freely through space, it struck one of the floating water bubbles, splitting apart into countless rays of different colors.
Some of those newly divided rays struck other water bubbles as well, causing them to branch off into even smaller rays with different color gradients.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every bubble struck by those rays burst apart, separating into droplets of water and masses of air...
Then both the water and the air divided into even smaller particles.
The same scene repeated itself with literally everything inside that space.
Fire, water, light, heat, smoke, ash, bubbles... and everything smaller than them.
This endless cycle of derivation and branching had repeated before Rios’s eyes continuously for three straight days...
At that moment, Rios slowly opened his eyes and calmly looked ahead.
"Sir, Sir, have you comprehended the Cosmic Law of Derivation?"
Lily floated above Rios’s head, and the moment she noticed he had finished meditating, she immediately returned to her usual hyperactive self.
"How could I comprehend it that easily? It’s far more difficult than I imagined."
Rios shook his head with a look of disappointment and regret.
Yet inwardly, he was practically sticking out his tongue from sheer joy.
Hahahahaha... It was far easier than I expected.
Could it be because it’s my bloodline’s original law, and my body’s composition is far more compatible with it than with the Law of Life?
Rios pondered inwardly before quickly arriving at the answer.
Previously, it had taken him five days to comprehend the Cosmic Law of Life.
This time, however, he had comprehended the Cosmic Law of Derivation in only three days.
That was a full two-day difference.
To Rios, that difference was enormous.
But if someone with lesser talent were to hear him complaining about it, their heart would probably shatter from frustration.
It was common knowledge that comprehending the first stage of a law required anywhere from a few days for those with Immortal talent to several months for those with Basic talent.
That was only if it was a law of the major rank.
As for laws of the cosmic rank, those with Immortal talent generally required several weeks to comprehend one, while those with Legendary talent might need an entire year.
As for why Elena had needed a full ten years just to comprehend a fragment of the major Law of Light, it was because she had begun exploring that law completely from scratch without receiving any assistance.
As for the previous estimates, they only applied when every possible form of assistance was available. Otherwise, the process would naturally take much longer.
As for Ricky, it had taken him an entire month to comprehend the Cosmic Law of Blood Nirvana because that law consisted of two parts:
The Cosmic Law of Nirvana and the major Law of Blood!
"It’s alright, Sir. Don’t be sad. That’s only to be expected!"