Chapter 232: Irrational Certainty
Priam felt an overwhelming destructive aura emanating from that rune. It was like staring into the mouth of a volcano on the verge of erupting—a force capable of reducing heaven and earth to dust if unleashed.
’I won’t die because of this... right?’
Priam hesitated for a second. His intuition was screaming a fatal danger warning unlike anything he had ever felt before.
’There shouldn’t be any danger... I hope.’
Priam carefully stretched out his finger. The instant the tip of his index finger touched the rune’s surface...
*BUZZ!*
’Holy shit!’
Priam’s expression changed drastically. He tried to pull back that very millisecond, but it was already too late. The rune disintegrated, forming a terrifying blade of fire and wind over two meters long.
Moving like a bolt of lightning, the blade sliced through the void and slammed directly into his chest.
Priam didn’t have the slightest chance to dodge. He felt his flesh, bones, and even his soul being torn apart instantly.
’I’m dead!’
The space around him collapsed, and Priam’s consciousness was hurled back into the real world.
He opened his eyes in the hall, gasping uncontrollably. His clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and his face was completely pale. An overwhelming wave of exhaustion crashed over him, making his vision go dark for a moment.
’Damn... that was way too realistic. I really thought I’d died...’
Priam wiped the sweat from his forehead, trying to steady his breathing.
Inside that Inscription, it wasn’t his physical body; he couldn’t rely on the System or his Power Runes, only on his natural abilities and bloodlines. Even so, the feeling of being destroyed had been horrifyingly real. Even though he was perfectly fine in the real world, mentally it felt like he’d left half his life behind.
He let out a snort, closed his eyes, and dove back in.
...
Facing the rune once again, he focused every ounce of concentration he had and stretched out his finger...
*BOOM!*
Another overwhelming explosion, and his consciousness was blown apart into a thousand pieces.
He woke up once again in the hall, trembling and drenched in sweat.
"The feeling of dying... is unbelievably exhilarating! Every time I come back from it, I feel truly alive!"
If Flaris had been there to hear that, he would’ve definitely shaken his head and declared that his cousin had finally gone completely insane. The agonizing pain of being destroyed over and over inside the Catalog was enough to make even an experienced mage cry in despair and give up.
But Priam wasn’t just anyone. The feeling of death really was intense, and ironically, it made him feel more alive than ever!
He swallowed handfuls of pure energy pills just to eliminate the need for sleep, keeping himself immersed in that voluntary torture day and night.
...
With each new "death," he absorbed another fraction of the rune’s pattern. The path of the wind, the ignition point of the fire, the chaotic fusion of the two elements. The blade that had destroyed him in milliseconds gradually seemed slower and slower inside his mind.
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye within that mental storm.
Suddenly, Priam opened his eyes in the sect’s silent hall. His time limit had run out, and the Inscription had automatically expelled him.
He let out a long sigh, his eyes shining with a profound light.
’Chaotic Class Magic Art: Whirlwind Flare.’
Priam spoke the technique’s name with reverence. He had managed to master it and engrave the rune with only a few hours left before the deadline.
The feat had only been possible because he possessed a Transcendental Anima—whose presence manifested even in his spiritual projection—combined with the perfect symbiosis between two different bloodlines, one of Fire and the other of Wind.
But... no ordinary Mage or Sage in the universe possessed such an absurd combination.
’Who in the world could possibly master a monstrosity like this?’ Priam wondered seriously. ’Probably only someone above the level of a Sage... but why would someone at that level even bother using a Magic Art?’
He fell silent, deep in thought. He knew there were realms beyond Sage, but he’d also learned that Sages at the higher ranks abandoned conventional Magic Arts, since they could manipulate far greater power effortlessly.
In other words, that technique was a paradox: too complex for the people who actually needed it, and obsolete for those powerful enough to learn it.
Except for him.
’This Magic Art really came from another world. The application is actually pretty basic and straightforward, but the level of elemental mastery and the way wind and fire intertwine are unbelievably unique and strange. On top of that, it feels like an unfinished creation... something put together in a hurry by someone incredibly young, yet gifted with unmatched talent.’
Priam frowned.
’Wait... why do I feel like this was created by someone exactly like me? Young, with abnormal potential... where’s this irrational certainty coming from?’
He shook his head and let out a dry snort. Every now and then, his intuition would hit him with glimpses and certainties that had no logical explanation whatsoever.
’Whatever.’
Priam stood up and quietly left the building.
The walk back to his faction’s headquarters was peaceful.
Those ten days had been extraordinarily productive, and everything he had learned would raise his combat ability to an entirely new level.
After walking for a few minutes, Priam suddenly stopped when he felt an insistent vibration coming from his internal space. It was an urgent call.
He nodded and released his little partner.
The feline emerged in a beam of light and landed in front of him.
"Hmm? What do you want to show me?" Priam asked curiously.
Instead of letting out her usual meow, Mirra’s body began to glow.
In a flash of pure energy, her feline silhouette twisted and unraveled, the outline of the animal dissolving into the air until it disappeared completely.
The next second, a pair of bare little feet touched the stone ground.
A little girl now stood there. Long reddish-copper hair flowed down to her waist in gentle waves, framing a delicate round face with skin as white as porcelain. Between her slightly pointed, furry little ears sprouted a pair of small, elegant deer antlers.
But what completely froze Priam was the mesmerizing contrast in her eyes: one was a radiant sky blue, while the other was a deep, captivating violet.
Her face carried an unsettling familiarity—a perfect blend of Meien’s and Suien’s features, mixed with subtle traces of Priam himself.
It was obvious that Mirra had carefully sculpted that appearance, choosing every detail to feel closer to him, even going so far as to copy the exact heterochromia of his eyes.
The little girl tilted her head slightly to one side, her furry ears twitching adorably as she watched Priam’s stunned expression.
She opened her tiny mouth, but no sound came out at first. After all, she was still figuring out how to use humanoid vocal cords.
Hesitantly, she reached out with both little hands and grabbed onto his pants.
"P-p..."
A quiet, clumsy murmur slipped from her lips. She wrinkled her little nose, clearly annoyed that she hadn’t gotten it right on the first try.
Taking a deep breath, she tried again. Her large mismatched eyes shone with adorable determination as she looked up at him.
"Pi... Pi-ri..."
She stumbled over the syllables, puffing out her cheeks in concentration.
Then, after another second of pure effort, a radiant smile lit up her porcelain face. Everything finally clicked into place.
"Bri... am!"
Her voice came out soft and slightly awkward, but sweet, overflowing with genuine happiness at finally managing to say his name out loud.
A warm smile escaped Priam’s lips. Her intelligence and determination really were extraordinary.
"You learned how to take on a humanoid form all by yourself..." he murmured as he gently crouched down and lifted her with both arms.
When he raised her to eye level, he met those playful yet affectionate eyes.
A comforting warmth spread through Priam’s chest.
He finally understood the frustration she’d shown a few days earlier when he was with his sisters—it had simply been childish jealousy.
Seeing how happy he had been with his family, Mirra had done everything she could to shape this form and become even closer to him.
"Good job."
Priam carefully settled her onto his shoulder.
Even though she looked like a seven-year-old girl, that transformation was nothing more than an ethereal illusion sustained by pure energy.
Since Priam himself was slim and short, he didn’t feel any weight at all. Mirra’s transformed body weighed less than two kilograms, functioning like magical clothing wrapped around her true spiritual essence. With time and proper training, she’d learn to make that body denser, eventually giving it real physical weight and strength.
"P-Briam!" she insisted, trying to improve her pronunciation.
"It’s okay, there’s no need to rush. You’ll learn how to talk and walk at your own pace," he said with an amused smile.
Mirra beamed brightly and wrapped her arms around Priam’s head, hugging him with all the affection in the world.