Titan Star Soul-Skylight

Faced with the muzzle flashing, the replica shifted its body, trying to dodge the deadly bullets.

The phantom wielded the crimson longsword in its hand with flawless precision, trying to replicate the miracle of slicing a bullet in two. But if Ryan's trump card for ending a battle could be so easily blocked, he wouldn't have kept it hidden as a last resort time and again.

The alchemical bullet that shot from the barrel glimmered faintly. It whipped up a raging gale as it left the muzzle, then pounced on its prey with the savage cruelty of an invisible demon in the wind.

The high-speed bullet struck the replica's crimson longsword, sparking against it. In the end, the physical attributes the replica had set for itself proved its undoing. After knocking the sword aside, the alchemical bullet lost none of its force and pierced straight through the replica's chest.

The bullet passed through its chest and flew straight to the barrier at the edge of the training grounds. It fell to the floor only when an invisible wall stopped it, landing with a crisp, pleasant chink.

A huge hole pierced the replica's chest from front to back. Looking at the Mage holding up a hand cannon with the metallic beauty of a work of art, it broke into a surprised smile and sighed ruefully. "Nice shot..."

As its words faded, the phantom melted away like snow in spring, disintegrating inch by inch into specks of light that vanished into the air.

Right on cue, the Tower Spirit's familiar mechanical voice rang out:

"Esteemed challenger, congratulations on passing the second trial. Calculating highest-difficulty bonus...

Loading and calculating inheritance mode... Bzzzt...

Distributing rewards..."

Only when the Tower Spirit spoke did Ryan finally believe that it was all over. The taut string inside him slackened a little.

The Mage spun the gleaming, fearsome weapon in his hand, then stylishly imitated a Western gunslinger and gently blew on the muzzle. His eyes crinkled with a smile, and his calm tone could barely conceal his pride and satisfaction.

"This gun is called Black Rose. It was meticulously polished, carved, and forged by a master Dwarf craftsman. It weighs twelve jin and eight liang. I hope you enjoy the show."

As a visitor from Blue Star, how could Ryan not have coveted the powerful automatic weapons of his previous life?

However, after a series of experiments, Ryan had discovered to his regret that the formula of "one part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal" didn't seem to work in this world of swords and magic. Gunpowder on Faerûn was a special chemical that only looked like the substance from his previous life.

The most primitive firearms had indeed appeared on Faerûn. The Dwarves of Ironforge in the north made flintlock rifles, for example, while matchlocks were widespread among the pirates sailing the stormy Azure Waves of the South Sea. But Faerûn's gunpowder had a completely different composition from that of his previous life, and its power was nothing special.

Ryan had once studied its secrets in detail, only to discover with resignation that the difference might come down to the laws of the world. The explosive force of Faerûn's black powder was greatly diminished. What was more, burly men who could shatter rocks with their bare hands and carry a horse on their shoulders were a dime a dozen in this world. Primitive firearms sometimes couldn't even scratch the oily skin of certain freaks. He had no choice but to abandon the idea of building up the world through gunpowder technology.

Faced with this harsh reality, what could Ryan do? No matter how unwilling he was, he had to accept it. After all, the two worlds differed even in their microscopic makeup and fundamental particles.

Unlike Blue Star, where microscopic atoms formed the basic framework of the world, this fantastical world was filled with forces shaped by belief. Conviction held power, and souls could interfere with information.

At the deepest level of the world's structure, elemental magic permeated Faerûn's microscopic realm.

The elements and fundamental magical particles found everywhere in the world were both the original form of magic and the materials from which all things were made.

Everything in this world was steeped in the elements. This latent, invisible energy existed in every grain of sand, every stream, every living creature, and even the air. It was everywhere and encompassed everything.

These forces called magic, these elements spread throughout the world, were the essence of every kind of energy in this multiverse. They manifested and divided into four aspects: matter, energy, information, and soul. They were the most primordial materials the Creator used to build all things, and the aggregate of the information underlying the world's material foundation and cosmic laws.

In this world, the surging, violent tides of magic were constrained by the Weave, while the key to truth lay hidden at the heart of the Sea of Force.

Yet even if the technology of his previous life couldn't be replicated, the light of human ingenuity wouldn't simply go out.

After much painstaking thought, Ryan adapted to local conditions and redesigned firearms for this other world.

He mixed mithril, which conducted magic, into cold iron, then redesigned the body of the gun based on some of the most famous weapons from his previous life.

To ensure that the gun's body conducted energy flawlessly, Ryan personally traveled to a renowned Dwarf master in the Northlands and commissioned him to cast the entire gun in a blazing furnace. He then had the acceleration, charging, and other magic arrays intricately engraved inside it.

The hand cannon used gunpowder that Ryan had refined and reformulated as its basic energy source. A crystal-clear Magic Crystal was set into the grip to power the arrays engraved in the gun's body and barrel.

After Ryan painted it a heavy ink-black, like the night sky, the entire hand cannon became a luxurious object, brimming with artistic flair and cool metallic beauty.

But once paired with alchemical bullets engraved with magic incantations, this luxury item transformed into a dazzling weapon of slaughter.

Ryan named it Black Rose. Each brilliant, resplendent bloom of Black Rose marked the passing of a living soul.

Ever since he had spent a fortune having the hand cannon made, he had kept it as one of his trump cards.

After all, both the bullets and the gun had to be custom-made. Even Ryan, who was fairly well-off, winced at the exorbitant cost. In the early days, one bullet had blown the skull off a savage, rampaging Earth Dire Bear in a moment of crisis. Since then, he had rarely needed to use the weapon.

After lovingly wiping Black Rose clean, Ryan stored it away in Traveler Space once more, leaving it sealed until its next bloom.

At that moment, the light from the platform's moon-white floor slowly dimmed. The sealed steel door opened again, revealing the Half-elf Ranger who had been waiting anxiously outside.

"I got through by luck."

Before the delighted Half-elf could speak, Ryan smiled and spoke first, having already guessed her question.

Jelona paused. A happy smile blossomed on her lovely face like peach blossoms after the spring snow had melted. The Half-elf nodded in response to the Mage. "Mm. As long as you're all right."

The Tower Spirit, utterly oblivious to the mood, suddenly interrupted their conversation with an announcement:

"Esteemed challenger, your reward is ready. Please proceed to the designated location to claim it."

At its words, joy welled up in the young man's heart. The trial had been brutal, but the reward was truly precious.

The Myriad Changes Card from the first trial would be a priceless treasure, whether he used it himself or traded it away.

To be fair, the rewards from this ruin's trials were generous indeed. Ryan was very much looking forward to the reward for this round.

Following the prompt to the designated location, he found a magic array before them.

The circular array had a diameter of ten feet, and its center was covered in intricate, elaborate patterns. Interwoven magical runes gave off an air of mystery, while glittering gemstone fragments adorned its outer edge. Even with Ryan's knowledge, he couldn't figure out what this strange array did.

"Challenger, please proceed to the hub to receive your reward."

As if worried Ryan might not understand, the Tower Spirit helpfully projected a huge downward-pointing arrow above the array.

Ryan's forehead creased with a few lines. The Mage wasn't at all reassured by something whose purpose was unknown.

"Challenger, please proceed to the hub to receive your reward." The Tower Spirit's prompt rang out again, and the arrow above the array actually began bobbing up and down.

Damn, now I'm even less reassured. This feels like one of those waypoints in a bargain-bin game. Is this another trap?

The Mage's inner voice of complaint burned fiercely. But faced with the temptation of a legendary Mage's legacy, he had no other choice. Ryan could only grip the card in his hand and walk toward the so-called "hub" step by step, as if marching off to war.

The Mage stepped into the hub. The patterns on the array lit up one by one, and his figure vanished in an instant, leaving the Half-elf Ranger staring dumbfounded at the empty array.

In a boundless, profound void, the golden-haired youth appeared beneath a starry sky. Layer upon layer of stars flickered on the deep-blue firmament, circling an amethyst core that shone like a diamond.

Ryan gaped at the magnificent scene before him. The stars had shifted, and space and time had changed. Wasn't this reward a little beyond the scope of the trial? I didn't want to end up in a place like this!

At that moment, an ethereal, imposing thought reached him:

"Greetings, young Planeswalker."

The simple greeting made the Mage's pupils contract. He prepared to use his Spark to flee this strange place as if his life depended on it.

But the thought that came from the void next made him stop:

"Don't be nervous. I mean you no harm."

The benevolence in that vast, ethereal thought, which spoke straight to the heart, needed no words to make itself known. It was as gentle as a breeze caressing everything in a mountain forest, and as soothing as spring rain falling from the heavens.

Ryan paused for a moment, then asked the boundless, brilliant starfield, "Who are you, exactly?"

The vast thought seemed to come from a distant horizon. Laughter tinged the voice echoing in Ryan's ears:

"I am the Titan Star Soul, sovereign of metal, ruler of the earth.

"Power is my dominion, steel is my kin, and the stars are my servants.

"My name is Skylight."

The vast thought reverberated among the stars. They shone and shimmered, and the entire void seemed to echo and praise that sacred name.