Chapter 18

Only a deep pit dozens of meters wide remained, suspended amid the shattered void.

Zhao Yu held his breath.

This was the first time he had witnessed a spell of such power with his own eyes.

"Ding!"

"You have watched Wong and Hamir's demonstration."

A line of text appeared on the system panel.

The Chaos Orb's comprehension progress remained at one-quarter.

Zhao Yu raised his gaze. The two mages opposite him were walking toward him side by side.

The older one spoke first, his voice carrying a restrained weight.

"Before we teach you, there is something that must be made clear."

He paused, as though weighing every word.

"Once this power loses control, no one can bear the consequences."

The slightly shorter mage beside him took over, his gaze fixed on the young man's face.

"Remember, do not use it for evil—or we will not stand by and watch."

The air froze for several seconds.

Zhao Yu met that scrutinizing gaze and nodded.

"I understand."

His tone was steady, and his shoulders even relaxed slightly.

"With the Sorcerer Supreme in charge, who would dare entertain crooked thoughts?"

That was not entirely flattery.

Kamar-Taj had never produced a true traitor in centuries. The one exception had merely been a farewell planned long in advance.

That person had long since embarked on a journey into higher dimensions, leaving behind an ironclad deterrent.

As for himself—he knew he was not someone who would walk that path.

The two mages exchanged a glance.

The tense atmosphere quietly dissolved.

"Good."

The older mage stepped forward, his sleeves stirring without wind.

"Now, I will explain the structure of this spell."

His voice lowered, as if he were opening the casing of some dangerous device.

Zhao Yu listened intently when he suddenly felt a faint tremor deep within his consciousness.

—The Chaos Orb was deducing on its own.

Countless rune patterns intertwined, broke apart, and reassembled in the darkness of his mind.

The proficiency gauge was climbing at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

So this was not a single spell.

It required drawing upon two energies from higher-dimensional beings, making them collide and merge at a critical point before finally giving birth to an annihilating explosion.

That kind of destructive power was almost impossible to describe in words.

Hamir's voice continued in the air for a long while, yet his explanation of the spell had only reached the halfway point.

The study progress of his other spells had long since crossed into new stages, but this one alone still lingered at the threshold of initial mastery.

Zhao Yu muttered inwardly, Chaos Orb, you need to work harder.

Look at the other spells. They've all advanced, while you haven't even gotten through the door.

Just then, a faint notification sounded in his mind.

The Chaos Orb seemed to sense his thoughts and suddenly surged with an unwillingness to fall behind. Its cultivation speed quietly increased by a notch.

His eyes widened slightly.

Not bad.

This orb had some backbone after all.

Knowing it was behind, it strove to catch up. One day, it would probably match the progress of the other spells.

Naturally, Hamir and Wong had no way of noticing these fluctuations in Zhao Yu's mind.

They were not deliberately making things difficult by teaching him this profound spell—it was a hurdle every mage had to cross eventually. They were merely bringing that moment forward.

To reduce the difficulty of comprehension, Hamir explained it in exceptional detail, even laying out each condition that had to be met when casting it.

"There is no need to rush."

Hamir slowed his tone. "This spell is difficult to control by nature, and casting it requires two people working together.

"You can take your time figuring it out."

He paused before adding, "The greatest taboos in learning this spell are impatience and carelessness. Otherwise, it is easy to invite danger."

Zhao Yu lowered his head and replied, "Thank you for the reminder, Master. I will remember it."

Seeing his calm demeanor, Hamir's eyes revealed approval.

"Very good.

"Only by maintaining such a state of mind can you truly master it.

"In the future, you can find someone you trust to practice with."

Hamir had only gotten halfway through his sentence.

The rest caught hard in his throat.

His eyes suddenly flew wide, as if he had encountered something that should not exist in the dead of night.

Wong, standing beside him, had always worn an impassive expression, but now cracks seemed to split across his face as well.

"Impossible."

The words squeezed from his lips, dry enough to sound unlike his own voice.

The two froze in place, their gazes nailed to the same point—on Zhao Yu's open palm rested a swirling halo of golden light.

The orb was only the size of an orange, yet unstable radiance flickered and spat from its edges.

That was it.

It was indeed that thing.

But how... could this make sense?

Wong felt something sinking in his chest.

Hamir had even forgotten to breathe.

The Chaos Orb was considered a forbidden spell because of the never-ending war within it—the light of Vishanti's order and Chthon's chaotic power from the darkness tore at one another while also spurring each other on.

For an ordinary mage, gaining the favor of even one demon god was already fortunate. Controlling two opposing powers at once? That was like throwing a spark into an ocean of oil.

According to all historical records, this spell required two people to maintain it together in order to balance that fragile destruction.

And now.

What were they seeing?

Zhao Yu stood there alone, his five fingers loosely curled as that dangerous golden light floated obediently above his palm. Specks of light drifted down like dust.

Hamir moved.

He practically lunged forward, grabbing Zhao Yu's wrist. His knuckles turned white from the force.

He leaned in so close that his nose nearly touched the orb, and the minute, violent yet harmonious vortex within reflected in his pupils.

It was real.

Every characteristic matched.

"You..."

Hamir raised his head, his voice trembling. "...How exactly are you holding it in your hand?"

"This makes no sense."

His fingertips hovered in midair as Hamir halted his movement.

He stared at his own palm, then turned toward the young man opposite him, his brows knotting together. "No one has ever done this."

His voice was very low, as though he were talking to himself. "How can two completely different powers possibly be held by one person at the same time?"

Not far away, Wong had already begun trying.

Gray mist coiled around the fingers of his left hand, writhing slowly as though alive. In his right palm rested a mass of pure, steady white light, its soft glow spreading outward.

However, the instant the two powers tried to draw close and merge, a sudden change occurred.

The gray mist became frantic, and the white light flickered violently, repelling one another as fiercely as fire and water.

The energy field instantly warped and trembled, releasing a piercing hum.

Bang!

A muffled impact rang out, accompanied by a faint cracking sound.

An invisible force shoved Wong back in a stagger. Dust and glowing fragments clung to his sleeves and lapels, leaving him looking somewhat disheveled.

"See?"

Hamir withdrew his gaze and rubbed his thinning hair vigorously. His tone carried the irritation of having something proven true. "Conflict is inevitable.

"Kamar-Taj's records have documented this for centuries. They have never been wrong.

"Those dimensional demon gods... They are not without will.

"Their power may function like preset rules, available as long as the conditions are met, but there are natural barriers between one rule and another."

He paused, his voice full of confusion. "Controlling two at once? That exceeds every known law.

"I have studied magic for nearly a century and have never heard of such a thing."

But how could he explain the fact before his eyes? His gaze returned to the young man standing quietly nearby.

"You."

Hamir lifted his chin, pointing at the stable, swirling gray-and-white orb in the young man's hand. "Throw it out.

"Let me see whether it is merely for show."

The young man—Zhao Yu—said nothing more and simply nodded slightly.

With a light flick of his wrist, the chaotic orb flew from his hand, tracing a gentle arc.

Within this Mirror Dimension constructed by magic, the movement of all matter was controlled by the caster's will.

With a slight shift of thought, Zhao Yu abruptly redirected the flying orb toward a distant stretch of empty void.

The impact did not produce an earth-shaking boom, but rather a low, muffled sound, as though space itself had been torn apart.

Then brilliant light erupted, instantly swallowing that area. Within the glow, violent energy currents could vaguely be seen twisting and spreading like serpents.

Though its scale and power were far inferior to what Hamir or Wong could produce at full strength, the pure, primal aura of annihilation contained within that eruption made the observers' skin tighten involuntarily.

That was not a realm ordinary magic could reach.

That power possessed a quality that made souls tremble, as though staring at it for even a moment longer would allow the chaotic aftershocks to erode one's very existence.

Hamir and Wong quickly exchanged a glance.

No words were needed. Each saw the gravity and confirmation in the other's eyes.

Chaos Orb.

Without a doubt.

And it had been successfully cast by someone who should theoretically have had no possibility of forming it.

Something was wrong.

The warmth of magic still lingered on Zhao Yu's fingertips, while the smell of scorched parchment drifted through the air.

Hamir and Wong stood opposite him, their brows furrowed into knots. Silence weighed between the three like a heavy stone.

Light slanted in through the window, and dust slowly churned within the beam.

Wong shook his head first. His Adam's apple bobbed, but no sound came out.

Hamir repeatedly rubbed the short stubble on his chin with his fingers, his gaze shifting between Zhao Yu and the open ancient tome.

Every known rule, every principle verified countless times, seemed to have failed before this young man.

A thought suddenly struck Zhao Yu's mind.

Those powers—those beings from distant dimensions known as demon gods—had never felt like a one-sided act of taking whenever he called upon them.

It felt more like... an exchange.

Something with a faint degree of independent awareness flowed along the threads of the contract and attached itself to his will.

The Chaos Orb was one vessel. What about the others? What if more than one voice whispered when he cast a spell?

The thought made the skin at the back of his neck tighten slightly, while a barely noticeable heat rose from his chest.

What if I mixed more different "voices" together?

Would something completely beyond expectation erupt? His tongue unconsciously brushed over his slightly cracked lower lip, tasting dust and the lingering metallic bitterness left behind by the magic.

He needed to find a suitable opportunity—a place hidden enough and sturdy enough to test it.

Meanwhile, Hamir finally gave up trying to think it through.

He exchanged a glance with Wong, and it was filled with the exhaustion of abandoning the search for an answer, along with a trace of undisguised amazement.

Once all impossibilities had been ruled out, whatever remained, no matter how unbelievable, could only be the truth itself.

"You brat."

Hamir's voice broke the silence, carrying a note of astonishment. "You're quite the freak."

Zhao Yu immediately lowered his eyes, staring at a worn patch on the toe of his old boot. "You flatter me."

His voice was quiet, making him sound meek and utterly unremarkable. "I am only an ordinary apprentice."

Here, beneath the protection of Kamar-Taj's thick stone walls and within the Sorcerer Supreme's sight, displaying something exceptional might be tolerated—perhaps even encouraged.

But he had seen shadows elsewhere—places filled with greed or fear toward unusual talent.

Being studied, imprisoned, dismantled into fragments that could be understood... merely imagining such a future made his fingertips turn cold.

"Cut that out."

Hamir waved his hand in a broad motion, stirring up a small gust. "Around here, hiding yourself does you no good.

"The more outstanding you are, the older the texts you can access, and the more doors you can open."

He paused, and a glint flashed in his cloudy eyes. "Perhaps even that person will notice you and offer you a few words of guidance personally."

Even so, the old mage could not help muttering another line, his gaze sweeping over the young man's calm face like a brush. "But seriously... in all my years, this is the first time I've ever seen anything like your situation."

At a wooden table in the corner of a tavern, two figures sat facing each other.

Hamir's fingers rubbed the rim of his cup, his gaze lowered to the swaying liquor within.