RE: LORD OF TIME

"Although it’s not fractured, it will still take two or three days for it to recover completely."

William muttered as he examined his left arm. It was covered in dried blood and looked noticeably swollen.

Earlier, in order to seize the opportunity to deliver the Shockwave Fist directly to the monster’s head, William had withstood the Lava Bear’s full attack using only his arm.

Although the shield had blocked part of the impact and he had even used Earth elemental Aether Energy to reinforce his arm’s defense, it was still heavily injured.

The entire skin of his arm had been ripped apart, and all the muscles in his hand and forearm had suffered significant damage.

It was a good thing that he had drunk a Minor Healing Potion before entering the source area. Otherwise, the bleeding from his arm might not have stopped even by now.

’Well, being able to kill a powerful Star Commander-level monster while suffering only a minor injury to my arm is already a pretty good deal.’

William muttered with a shake of his head before once again focusing on climbing to the top of the black mountain.

As he got closer to the top, the temperature continued to increase, and he had no choice but to cover himself in Water elemental Aether Energy just to keep his body from being burned by the intense heat.

Just as he was about to reach the top, William suddenly thought of something and asked.

’By the way, the Fragment of the Source of the World won’t attack me or something if I take that treasure from the mountain, right?’

’There is no reason for the source to attack you...’ The spirit responded in a calm voice. ’Because this place came into existence because of the Source of the World, you can think of this place as a small world. If you traveled around a world and found something lying on the ground, would the world itself attack you for taking that thing?’

William raised an eyebrow at the spirit’s words.

’Didn’t you say the treasure here is nurtured by the Source of the World? It wouldn’t do anything if I took away the thing that it nurtured?’

’I think you have misunderstood what I meant,’ The spirit explained. ’Being nurtured by the source doesn’t mean that the Source of the World intentionally used its power to create this treasure. The treasure came into existence on its own because of the presence of the source. It is similar to weeds that grow on their own because of the nutrients in the soil.’

A look of understanding flashed across William’s eyes, and he finally understood what the spirit was trying to say.

At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief because he really didn’t want to face the Source of the World, even if it was only a fragment.

This entire volcanic space had come into existence because of the Fragment of the Source of the World.

What if it became angry at him for taking away something that belonged to it and caused the volcano to erupt, killing him in the process?

Soon, William reached the top of the black mountain and stood at the edge of the volcano.

Looking down from the edge, he could see bubbling lava below.

’Where is the treasure you mentioned?’ William quickly asked because even with the help of Water elemental Aether Energy, he still felt as if he were standing inside a furnace.

’Look to the right. The energy fluctuations are coming from that rock stuck in the middle of the volcanic wall.’

The spirit’s voice echoed inside William’s mind.

Following its guidance, William’s eyes fell upon a small dark red rock embedded in the volcanic wall approximately twenty meters away from him.

’That rock...’

William narrowed his eyes and immediately used Eyes of Insight.

Under the effect of Eyes of Insight, the seemingly ordinary rock instantly transformed in his vision into a blazing object with extraordinary energy fluctuating within it.

’I think I know what is inside that rock.’

The spirit’s voice once again echoed inside his mind, and William could clearly hear the shock in its voice.

His heart couldn’t help but skip a beat because he knew that anything capable of shocking the spirit wouldn’t be something ordinary.

’Don’t speak in riddles. Just tell me what that thing is,’ William urged impatiently.

’I am still not one hundred percent certain. First, get your hands on that thing so that I can observe it more carefully.’

William’s eyes twitched at the spirit’s words, but he didn’t waste time arguing with it because the heat of the surroundings had already begun to affect his body.

He walked along the edge of the volcano and soon appeared directly above the place where the dark red rock was embedded.

Taking a deep breath, he summoned Blood Moon and carefully examined the place where the rock was stuck.

Then, he suddenly jumped down from the top of the mountain.

The heat from the bubbling lava beneath him crashed against his body as he fell into the volcano.

However, William didn’t pay any attention to it and his eyes remained fixed on the rock embedded in the wall.

As he got closer to the rock, he activated Time Perception, and everything in his eyes immediately slowed down.

When he was only three meters away from the dark red rock, he struck the volcanic wall with his sword and plunged the blade deep into it.

RIP!

The blade penetrated deep into the wall of the volcano, and because of its sharpness and William’s momentum, he slid across the wall for several meters before finally coming to a stop, hanging from his sword directly beside the dark red rock.

’It’s not anything dangerous, right?’

He was about to take away the stone when he suddenly paused and asked.

’Don’t worry. It’s not.’

Only after receiving the spirit’s confirmation did William pull the dark red stone out of the volcanic wall.

William had thought the stone would be scorching hot because it was embedded directly above the bubbling lava.

However, to his surprise, he found that the stone’s temperature was completely normal, as if it hadn’t been affected by the surrounding heat at all.

Although he was curious about this strange phenomenon, he didn’t linger to examine it because his body was already reaching its limit under the sky-high temperature inside the volcano.

Holding the dark red stone in his hand, William pressed his feet against the volcanic wall and, using his extraordinary physical strength, jumped upward.

After jumping several meters into the air, his momentum weakened, and he was about to fall back into the lava below.

But he once again plunged Blood Moon into the volcanic wall and repeated the same process.

Using his sword as support, he quickly climbed back toward the top, reaching it in less than a minute.

Once he was out of the volcano, he didn’t linger there any longer and immediately ran down the mountain.

Now that he had gotten what he wanted, he didn’t want to stay in this place for even a second longer.

He had already examined the entire area while standing at the top of the mountain and hadn’t seen anything else valuable.

Other than black, cooled lava, there was nothing else in this place.

Soon, he reached the bottom of the mountain, and the exit portal came into his view.

He walked toward the portal and, without hesitation, stepped inside, returning to the Fire Essence Crystal Mine.