The Arcane Emperor Chapter 64 Lords of the Void

Chapter 64 Lords of the Void

Bolts of Arcane slammed into the varied leaders of the Devil horde. They were long since dead by the calm fury of [Absolute Frost], but Rainer saw no reason to leave their forms and their lives to chance. Jor had seemed to sniff them before this, a flaring of the tongue being a snake's version of a sniff, and found nothing he wished to consume.

The Frost had lived up to its name.

And what looked like a glare from Jor was now directed at him. Jor being deprived of food in the form of one of the [Devil King]s had Rainer thinking the rune on his shoulder burned just a little hotter during the serpent's return.

A slight s.h.i.+ver went through Rainer as he watched the white and violet ice progress past the cavern and head down the tunnel. He flew away rapidly as he felt Tiamat within his coat press closer against him. Inside his flight spell, he manipulated Arcane-Fire from him to push away the cold.

Arcane-Ice consumed the heat and energy around it. And while the magic would eventually fade as any, regardless of what was consumed, for the time being, a wave of Frost headed down the tunnels of the mountain.

Rainer rubbed his coat where Tiamat stayed in, feeling the little Dragon was uncomfortable with the cold. Even as he flew farther and farther away, the temperature did not improve much. Yet slowly, but surely, he outpaced the oncoming frost, wondering to himself if his use of [Miasmic Conversion] had affected the spell somewhat. It seemed almost alive in how it consumed the miasma in the air to fuel itself.

Having little else but his thoughts and comforting a sleeping Dragon, Rainer turned toward his recently acquired messages.

[Archon has leveled up to lvl 22/25. Standard Attributes have been distributed. 2 Attribute and skill points have been rewarded]

[Archon has leveled up to lvl 23/25. Standard Attributes have been distributed. 2 Attribute and skill points have been rewarded]

The compounded experience brought him toward the edge of level 24. He still had subcla.s.ses to level and had no worry over whether he'd soon reach level 24, and experience the so-called insurmountable gap from 24 to 25. The gap Mira had spoken of when telling him of the recently opened dungeon.

He believed the gap would not prove so insurmountable for him, having now two tier 7 spells to level and improve. But only time would tell. And a nagging voice told him that a several centuries old powerful Fae, who couldn't cross that gap, might be right about it.

Rainer went to inspect his t.i.tles next and the spell that brought him such a thing in the first place.

[Absolute Frost lvl 1/11: A spell which condenses a ma.s.sive amount of Mana and Arcane Power and unleashes a ring of Absolute Frost at the wielder's command. A Frost limited in its effect only by the power behind it. An all encompa.s.sing Arcane-Ice which consumes all manner of heat and energy.]

A tier 7 Arcane Spell. Even in the Arcane spell book, it granted him the t.i.tle for Ice as well, leading him to question how such things were judged. Learning spells at and above the fourth tier was not a common enough occurrence for the subsequent t.i.tles to be properly studied, leaving Rainer searching through his memories of tomes and books and finding nothing on the subject.

He hoped to find an answer in the Fae's library of t.i.tles and other similar subjects. Something he now wished he visited, seeing as t.i.tles were quite important for his upcoming Trial.

[Master of the Arcane: A true master of the origin of Magic. The true power of the Arcane is within their grasp and bends to their control. 20% Experience Bonus]

[Master of Ice and Frost: A true master of Magic which makes the world devoid of heat and energy. Ice and Frost exist as tools for their purpose, beholden to their control. 15% Experience Bonus]

Thinking of not only the formula for [Absolute Frost] but [Void-walking] as well, Rainer understood the issue immediately.

Efficiency.

Both spells, his own creations, were disordered and messy to the point where any sane Mage would wonder how the h.e.l.l they worked. Even then, strictly speaking, [Absolute Frost] didn't work. At least, not on its own. His final tests in [Sleep Learning] led him to the magical language that made it possible. Otherwise, he could not escape the Frost, let alone properly channel the Magic.

[Will of the Arcane lvl 1/10: By infusing words with the power of Arcane and Magic, one can alter the very fabric of the universe and guide existence to their will.]

Rainer chastised himself for how much he depended on his [Archon] cla.s.s bonus to pull him out of the fire.

[Magus of Tongues: One whose skill in the Magic of Languages has surpa.s.sed the norm. A true holder of the power of words influenced with Magic. Their words hold an incomparable meaning. 20% Experience Bonus. 25% Total Bonus to Magic Languages. 15% Charisma Bonus when speaking.]

[Arcane Speaker: One who has wielded the power of sound infused with the very origin of Magic. Bent the very nature of Magic to their will and molded its Arcane forces into their desires. 20% Experience Bonus. 20% Total Bonus to Sound based spells and skills.]

Both left him with deferred experience once more. If he had any doubt of a Tier 3 Cla.s.s existing, it was there no longer. It left him too with a source for the so-called Lord Magus t.i.tle any Mage of repute held within the North. He found it even more pompous given the achievement required to hold any real Magus t.i.tle, his [Draconic Magus] t.i.tle coming to mind, but figured at least he could have people refer to him as such with no shame.

[Devilsbane: One who has slain both many and strong members of the race of Devils with ease. 5% Experience Bonus. 10% Total Damage Bonus against Devils]

[Devastator: One who takes no heed to the concept of being outnumbered. A force of unstoppable destruction that extends their power and slays armies before them. 15% Experience Bonus. 10% Total Damage Bonus when outnumbered at least 1000-1]

Rainer raised an eyebrow at the last t.i.tle, thinking of Mira's Tier 2 cla.s.s, the [Aural Devastator] and wondering if there was a connection. With having only his personal experience in what determines Tier 2 Advancements, he had no idea if t.i.tles could affect it as well. Everyone else lost the memory of what was required to unlock the different choices for their second tier.

Thinking again to [Absolute Frost] and how he developed the spell he realized just how poorly designed the spell was to need the a.s.sistance of his magical language to cast. But soon, he came across a possibility beyond the need for a Magical Language to activate it.

Now he tried to apply that same line of thinking to his [Void-walking] spell. The magic was horribly inefficient, from what Rainer slowly understood, [Void-walking] should be less expensive. He was merely slipping through the Void, and yet instead it felt like he needed to dig through a glacier with a pick.

In the short distance, it didn't matter. What was a single thin wall of ice? Let alone of a pick; he could merely walk through it. Yet as that distance grew, such as when he headed immediately to Jor, Rainer's recent gains in [Void Call] and [Void Manipulation] let him see something different. And the similarity with [Absolute Frost] brought the truth to light. [Voidwalking], while incredible, relied far too much on brute force and his own ability.

He wondered too then if [Void Detection] was needed for the so-called Lords of the Void to use the same ability. Or if it was his own method of compensating for the poorly constructed, or perhaps poorly used, spell.

Rainer's thoughts steered towards the interrogation of the Devil Mage who hurt Jor. In reality, Rainer barely paid attention as he let out the frustrations of his time here, and the guilt over letting Jor get hurt overtook him. At the time, he hadn't cared what information he gained.

But he learned enough.

He knew the [Devil King]s he killed with [Absolute Frost] were all of them. At least, if one took their appearances into account. He, in the end, couldn't be sure all the figures standing at the back of the horde were, in fact, the [Devil King]s which pursued him.

Combined with the stolen memories, he knew for certain which direction to head to reach the Abyssal Dungeon.

And a note on the group that the Devil Mages had belonged to. They were hired not only to a.s.sist in the capture but prepare a proper ritual so that Rainer could be shared. Rainer a.s.sumed the Devil Mage who tried to stop his spell was the leader of the group. He was by far the strongest, but the [Archon] couldn't check as for many who had been in the air at the time, he shattered against the ground as the very air around him froze and consumed his energy.

He barreled down the tunnel as he used the earlier acquired map to head toward the exit. He paused for a moment as he pa.s.sed by some fleeing [Deviling]s.

Frowning, he decided not to leave things to chance and killed them with a few [Arcane-Fire Bolt]s. The existence of the essentially mercenary group of Mages hinted at Devils having some sort of society. And the iron hold [Devil King]s had over their subordinates meant there might be some form of innocence among the lesser Devils.

Of course, the opposite could be true that they could be nothing more than vicious creatures bent on destruction.

In the end, Rainer weighed his own life above the animalistic [Deviling]s and others now fleeing the mountain.

The ten thousand souls he eliminated and all those before stayed in the back of his mind. He was no longer a single ent.i.ty, but an army unto himself. There was no other way he could view himself after the ma.s.s destruction he wrought with two words of Magic.

He was both the leader who needed to make the hard decisions and the soldier who pulled the trigger.

He paused after almost a day of travel, nearly reaching the end of the Tunnel. Sitting against the wall of the tunnel, Rainer decided to be at his best condition before leaving. As [Arcane Invigoration] cleared the numbness in his body from further use of [Miasmic Conversion] Tiamat left his pocket.

Suddenly, she grew, no longer like a kitten but a fully grown one. With his [Arcane Sight] Rainer noted the similarity to Luna's own ability, though he couldn't see anything that denoted it as similar to Dragon Magic. Whether its true nature was not Draconic, or if he simply lacked the ability, he couldn't say.

He guessed the Miasma Tiamat was inhaling sped up her growth and that her transformation displayed her true full size.

He laughed as Tiamat tried to flap her still small wings and take to the air. She bounced up and down on her four legs but found no purchase. Lacking the hollow bones and weight of avian, Rainer guessed flight would be magical in nature, something he could tell Tiamat had yet to realize.

His continued laughter brought about a glare from the little dragon as she turned toward him. She opened her mouth to attack with her breath, and as Rainer flinched, she immediately stopped, pleased with herself.

Pleased, until she found herself grabbed by the person she tricked. Rainer carried her again like a baby, thoughts of revenge lost as he looked at her. He found himself unable to muster any annoyance at her previous actions.

She looked at him suspiciously but in the end relaxed in his arms.

Having been consciously separated from Luna longer than before, as he still wasn't sure how much time he spent gaining [Arcane invigoration] in his half-awake state, he found displeased with Luna's current life.

She went from being a prisoner to once more caged in another way. He was also reminded that he never truly talked to her about the full extent of what she suffered as the Faerie Fire was nurtured and implanted in her. He didn't even have a clue as to how she gained her fire beyond her single talk of the pain she suffered, never to be brought up again.

With Jor's recent attack, he felt such things needed reevaluating. Fae be d.a.m.ned, he wouldn't let her stay a prisoner in his room or jacket when he came back. And if any recognized her cla.s.s, and sought to use that knowledge, he'd show them the full extent of what he gained here.

After feeding Tiamat with [Draconic Essence] once more, marveling as he watched the magical liquid flow and melded into her own body and magic, he and the dragon still in his arms found themselves falling asleep. She shrank soon after in a half-awake state, climbing back into his overcoat.

Only the gentle light of his armed [Arcane Bolt]s lit the tunnel amidst the sleeping figures and the carefully watching Serpent.

[Sleep Learning] was now filled once more with the practice of [Void Call]. Now, Rainer used corpses of Devils as targets, doing his best to attack vital points on the figures propped up with manipulated Arcane-Earth.

He found when aiming with as much speed as he could his accuracy suffered. This only showed him a way forward in how to improve the skill before it was time to take the Trial.

A full night's sleep pa.s.sed undisturbed as he gained another level with [Void Call], and found himself now having to ponder how he could advance the skill beyond this. If it followed the same pattern as [Arcane Rage], simply improving it would do no good.

[Void Call has reached level 9]

His flight toward the end of the tunnel was filled with plans on how to improve it. And with that he thought back toward the end of his interrogation of the Devil.

"And what the h.e.l.l is a Lord of the Void?"

The Devil Mage stared at him confused. The information from a spy within Agmar's ranks had mentioned he tracked the fledging Lord of the Void from a distant world, and brought him here when the pathway was weakened enough by said Void Lord.

A flux of Mana and a jolt of pain brought the Devil Mage back to the conversation. With the Mage no longer showing as much anger as at the start of the questioning, he did not see a reason to antagonize him once more.

"A race of beings born with the power of the Void," The Devil Mage said before chuckling. He felt the coming arrival of his companions, "A race that abandoned a pitiful descendant such as you," He added, hoping it would distract the Void Lord as his companions came.

"What do they look like?"

The Devil Mage stared at him confused. The Void Lord in front of him certainly was a bit pinker than he knew Void Lords to be. Maybe, his ears and eyes were a bit different. But he could hardly tell the difference between them. Before he could answer the fledging Void Lord became just as aware of the reinforcements as he was.

There was only darkness after the snapping of his neck, unable to see the violet Magic that now flew towards his misbegotten hope.

Once more he was trying to learn a skill that did not belong to his race. Rainer suddenly frowned. He felt that [Void Call] alone wouldn't be enough to see it reach level 10. With the pain he felt from the use of the skill, especially when making it cast faster, or even a bit larger than usual, he knew it was unnatural.

He started thinking of another possibility, for like how he needed [Void Detection] to guide [Void-walking] he believed that he might need another skill or spell to further guide [Void Call].

His thoughts were interrupted as the hazy purple sun of this Abyssal Plane arose from the horizon. He landed on the ground and prepared to face whatever Devils were left behind for him.

Amidst the flying Devils and those watching the entrance to the mountain below stood a single cloaked figure overlooking it all. His black cloak was of a similar quality to the Devil Mages Rainer had faced within the tunnel, though he stood a couple of feet above the humanoid figures at 8 feet tall.

His face was hidden apart from a closed mouth and a long white beard. An otherwise normal display of hair was ruined by grey tentacles of flesh growing from his chin and weaving into the beard.

He leaned against a large gnarled staff as he awaited news or as he a.s.sumed, an escaping fledging Void Lord. He let the entirety of his apprentices join the [Devil King]s in the chase. It was not argued for he had long since displayed himself as blind and not a combatant when his group of Mages offered their services.

A lie that served him well. A lie that he now used to wait for the prize he'd steal from the [Devil King]s.

The concept of all the Devil Kings and their forces falling to the fledging Void Lord did not even enter his mind. For even a moderately powerful Void Lord could not do such a thing. But nor would they ever find themselves alone or unprotected by their race.

Dropping out of his meditative state his pitch-black eyes stared at the lone figure departing the tunnel.

A strange presence and application of what he could only a.s.sume to be magic caused any Devils around the entrance to flee in fear. The more intelligent ones seemed stunned still. The magic suddenly dropped, and any Devils left behind were met with bolts of Magic, effortlessly tearing them apart.

This was the first warning for this lone figure that the Void Lord was not escaping.

No longer propped up by their Devil King leaders, the weaker Devils responded to their instincts as they should have and fled at the first sight of the figure in tattered clothes, apart from a pristine black overcoat, with slightly glowing violet lines.

Piercing blue eyes bore into the Devil Mage as he suddenly teleported away before his previous position exploded in a violent burst of Magic. He lacked the time to teleport a truly far distance away.

He grimaced as the Void Lord appeared in the wreckage of stone, his face showing a grin.

The hooded figure kept scowling underneath. It wasn't hard to guess he was the last remaining leader of the Devils that had gathered after a subordinate of Agmar let slip the news of a truly tantalizing prey. The Devils left behind to watch the entrances would never be able to run away if their Kings who commanded them to stay were still alive.

Though now it seemed, he was that prey.

Rainer stared at the tall figure across from him. Only a grey and white beard was visible from the distance the separated them and with the black cloak covering the rest.

[Devil, Male, Soul Master lvl 24(2nd), Spatial Bender lvl 11(2nd)]

[t.i.tle: Curse Manipulator]

With his mind focus, Rainer keyed in himself to use [Void Call] the moment the Devil across from him spoke in his cursed tongue. He didn't imagine he could compete directly in its use, and the recent encounter with the power of a curse left him leaving nothing to chance.

He flexed his hands as his armed [Arcane Bolt]s seemed to tense with him, flas.h.i.+ng in their violet light.

"You, H-" The Devil spoke.

And Rainer had no interest in hearing what another of his pursuers had to say. Especially not one who appeared so dangerous.

[Arcane Bolt]s flew as the Devil vanished once more. An [Arcane-Spatial Domain] spread around Rainer. He still didn't understand why he couldn't manipulate the gravity in this plane, but that wasn't the purpose here.

He spread out the Domain farther than he ever had before alongside [Void Detection]. With [Miasmic Conversion] he didn't leave anything to chance and expended his Mana and Arcane Power at will.

A small distortion occurred a few feet to his left and already a mana packet left Rainer, exploding in a fury of Arcane-Fire as it combusted at the distortion.

The Devil appeared once more several hundred feet away, his cloak singed and burns across his chest. He slammed his staff down into the ground and just as the magical Soul language of the Devil's left his mouth Rainer appeared before him in a Void-walk. Rainer held his hilt as he prepared a backup plan.

His eyes opened wide as he felt the power of the Void forming near his head. Different from when Rainer used it on Agmar, no longer was the far more practiced skill able to be easily resisted.

The Devil ducked his head, but still managed to unleash a short spell infused with the [Devil's Soul Language].

Rainer grimaced before flooding his body with [Arcane Invigoration]. The Devil appeared by his side once more, this time Rainer not having time to react to the spell. The curse in his body strengthened.

Miasma and Aura wrapped around the Devil's staff as he slashed it down towards Rainer, reinforcing the previous curse as well with more shouts of the power language. The Devil was all but sure this mage who looked nothing like a Lord of the Void wouldn't be able to block him.

[Arcane Awakening: Might] flooded Rainer's body with power as he used it to resist the pain of the curse even as [Arcane Invigoration] still fought its effect.

A hilt reappeared in his hands as he slashed out against the staff with his [Arcane Blade].

The magic of the blade cleaved the staff in two and cut through the Miasma and Aura as if it didn't exist. The Devil barely dodged the blade as he cried out in pain as part of his beard, the flesh of his tentacles, was removed.

He teleported once more and began to cast another curse to layer on the other. The [Devil's Soul Language] vibrated in the air once more as Rainer fell to a knee. He fought against it, but even with his surging Mana as he consumed the Miasma around him, he found himself in a losing battle. Trying to Void-walk left Rainer repelled by a strange force just like when he fought Agmar.

He stared at the Devil across from him, his head still throbbing from when he rushed a [Void Call] as fast as he could. As it was now, the Devil was too far away. The curse left his aim wanting as armed [Arcane Bolt]s flew far from the intended target.

Rainer stretched out with the power of the Void once more, this time using his still cast [Arcane-Spatial Domain] to try and augment its power and speed. In a moment of inspiration, and rush as he felt Jor try and rush out of the rune despite Rainer's internal protests, Rainer wielded [Void Manipulation] in place of s.p.a.ce.

And for that moment in time he felt as if the very Void present around him bent to his will. Rainer's eyes bore in the Devil's Mage.

The Devil was far too slow to avoid the Call of the Void this time.

Hundreds of miles away a Devil cried out in pain as half of him perished. He grimaced as he clutched his chest, despite the pain originating from his Soul. Yet even amongst his suffering, he was not worried. The only thing that kept his Soul from recovering when he split into two as he always did, was that the other half still existed.

With his Avatar slain it would take a day at most for his powerful Soul to recover under the strength of his Aura and Mana.

Even now as he looked inwards he expected to see it slowly return to form.

But such an event did not occur.

He froze as he thought it over. His Avatar had clearly died. That much was certain. But his Soul did not make a iota of progress towards healing.

His eyes opened wide as he gripped his head. His Soul was captured. It was the only explanation. And seeing as his opponent had known the [Devil's Soul Language] he imagined such a thing was possible.

He grasped along his Soul using all his detection and sensing skills to try and sense the direction. He found a faint trail. He stood up before grimacing. His body still felt aftershocks from the damage he incurred fighting the strange Mage.

His mind turned as he thought it over.

He grimaced in worry. An untold number of consequences flew through his mind if the Mage decided to hold his Soul hostage and knew methods to deal with it. This was a situation that could lead to his current and now only body dying as well. He couldn't take any chances.

Deciding a diplomatic approach was needed, he looked around for just what he could trade for his lost half. Of course, he never even considered meeting with the Mage who did not even let him get a word out in person. He'd send one of his many apprentices while simultaneously preparing to kill the Mage in any case.

He scratched his white braided hair, as several of the tentacles growing from his chin still s.h.i.+vered in pain from the memory of them being cut.

"This might do…" He said before preparing to leave as he stared at his bookcase. At the very least he'd need to spend the rest of the day recovering. He could hardly guarantee that the meeting would be in anyway peaceful and it would not do to flinch at the sight of the other Mage as the memory of his death was still fresh on his mind even in a peaceful setting.

One way or another, he needed that part of his Soul back.

Rainer gasped for breath as he clutched his head. His vision cleared and he stared at the message in front of him. That was a momentary lapse on his part, as even if one was blind they could view the messages. Not that Rainer particularly understood how one who couldn't read could understand their status screen, but he left such thoughts for later as before. The pain left little room for reason.

[Spell Gained: Void Domain lvl 1/10]

[Void Call has reached level 10]

[Void Call has reached its maximum level. First time a skill of this difficulty has reached level 10, 50 skill points have been rewarded.]

The level gained as Rainer made the Void his own before calling it forth.

[Experience Gained: XX]

Yet as the pain left, Rainer found no skill coming from reaching the maximum level of [Void Call].

He looked at the corpse of his hideous fallen foe. Even without this battle, scars had already covered most of his body, at least where his robes were torn away by Arcane Magic. Allowing Jor to leave now, the Serpent set forward to consume the corpse and any power remaining.

It took only moments for it to magically vanish under the strange powers wielded by Rainer's familiar.

Rainer paused for a moment realizing he should have checked the body for valuables but could not fault Jor for it in any case. In any case, he ventured anything enchanted to be affected by his magic and possibly damaged or destroyed. The staff was certainly nothing more than wood now.

Rainer's eyes shot open wide as he felt a power tug at him. He was all too familiar with this power and fought with all he could to remain here. Jor stared at him in confusion before rus.h.i.+ng into the rune just as its master disappeared, unable to resist the power that gripped him.

Rainer eyes opened wide but saw nothing as only darkness existed around him. He struggled as he tried to move, but found anything other than blinking to be an impossibility. Reaching for his Magic proved no different.

A strange power covered him and suddenly he felt an influx of it. Only his frozen body kept him from yelling out as power flooded him.

And then he felt his body began to change. His ears lengthened to a point, his skin became far paler than anything possible by a human before taking on a tone of grey. His eyes changed to pure darkness, causing an itching feeling on them. His height increased several inches.

A t.i.tle crossed his vision as what he could only describe as the power of the Void began to increase in him evermore, altering his body even further.

[t.i.tle Gained: Lord of the Void]

[Experience Gained: Deferred, Deferred]

[Void Call has unlocked Void Mastery lvl 1/10]

[Attribute Unlocked: Void Attunement]

[Lord of the Void: One who mastered the Call of the Void and brought forth its power on their foes. Their future limitless with the omnipresent power of the Void within them as they accept the gift of power. 50% Experience Bonus. Racial Change: Abyssal Elf. 50% Total Bonus to Void Skills. 100% Total Void Will Capacity.]

Rainer suddenly had a thought. That the very first Void Lord must have been changed by whatever being was doing this to him. That the power was then pa.s.sed on. But he knew already, that such a power would come at a cost.

And as he felt some being connect to his mind, he knew he was not willing to pay it. It did not matter what was offered. His mind was his own, and he would not subjugate himself to an unknown power, no matter the terms.

Jor reacted in that moment and lashed out at the tendrils of darkness that covered Rainer. He consumed it unstoppably as they started to retreat in fear.

They tried to lash out at the serpent and yet Jor ignored their efforts, the attack seemingly just slipping away, not finding purchase on the Serpent's body.

Rainer fought back with [Arcane Mind Counter], expelling the presence from his mind in concert with Jor's attacks flooding his body with Arcane Power. Even under the debilitating effects, and just like when his magic was blocked before, he could still wield the skill, [Arcane Awakening].

It changed to [Arcane Rage] as he attacked the power flowing within him. His body started reverting back as the power was destroyed and then healed by [Arcane Invigoration]. His skin returned to a normal color along with the shape of his ears. His eyes pierced the darkness with a glowing blue.

Whatever had latched onto him retreated in pain as he was suddenly free from what was holding him. And in the same instant, the being sought to send him away.

But Rainer refused to go empty handed. He grasped on the remaining connection and stole what was originally given to him. This time, the power did not flow from his body but pooled alongside his Mana as it entered a recently unlocked attribute.

[Skill Gained: Void Will Drain lvl 1/10]

A skill gained far too easily with his other draining abilities and having already experienced the influx of the power. Messages of his Void Will capacity increases flew by ignored as he pulled on more power.

Tendrils of darkness tried to escape Rainer's grasp while trying to force him away, but he forced himself to remain, taking as much power as he could.

A final burst of energy sent him back from whence he came.

[t.i.tle Lost: Lord of the Void]

[Experience Lost: Deferred, Deferred]

He landed back in the Abyssal Plane, as if nothing had happened at all. Apart from the new power swelling within him.

Rainer opened his status screen if only to confirm he was still human.

[Name: Rainer Nvos]

[Age: 20]

[Primary Cla.s.ses: Archon(2nd) Lvl 23/25, Voidwalker lvl 25/25]

[t.i.tles: Immortal Slayer, Draconic Magus, Arcane Scholar, Fae Contractor, Dragon Contractor, Arcane Elementalist, Manipulator of the Elements, Basic Elementalist, Dungeon Pioneer, Philanderer, Trollsbane, Devilsbane, Devastator, Queen Slayer, Chosen Slayer, Wielder of s.p.a.ce and Time, Master of s.p.a.ce and Time, Wielder of Fire and Brimstone, Wielder of Water and Tides, Wielder of Ice and Frost, Master of Ice and Frost, Wielder of Light, Wielder of Mind and Illusion, Wielder of the Arcane, Master of the Arcane, Energy Drainer, Voidwalker, One who defies Divinity, Magus of Tongues, Arcane Speaker, Speaker of Power, Shaman, Corruptor]

[Exp: 91%, XX]

[Sub-cla.s.ses: Chronomancer lvl 11/25]

[Race: Human]

[Skill Points: 101]

[Talents: Excellent Arcane Affinity, Human Growth, Gift of the Fae(Luna)]

[Stamina: 37/37]

[Stamina Regen: .1% per second]

[Mana: 112/267(347)]

[Mana Regen: .0280 per second]

[Arcane Power: 139/139(174)]

[Conversion Ratio: 1-12]

[Arcane Aura: 18/18(28)]

[Void Will: 45/83]

[Void Will Regeneration: .00280]

[Const.i.tution: 36(+2)]

[Affinity: 347]

[Vitality: 35(+2)]

[Endurance: 37(+2)]

[Strength: 37]

[Dexterity: 37]

[Intelligence: 297(+2)]

[Willpower: 140]

[Arcane Attunement: 174]

[Arcane Alacrity: 25]

[Gravity Control: 25]

[Aura Control: 28]

[Aura Attunement: 28]

[Void Awareness: 134]

[Void Attunement: 25]

[Attribute Points: 16]

He couldn't keep the grin off his face from the power he stole. He glanced for a brief moment to the side as a [Void Domain] formed, granting him dominion over a portion of the Void and he summoned it forth. A far larger portion than he could have ever managed was consumed soon after. Leaving the same spherical hole, he was in awe of just days ago.

Of course, it was still far smaller, and the time it took made it likely useless against opponents he'd actually need to use it against, but the sped up small version was not to be trifled with.

He paused for a moment, wondering if enough time had pa.s.sed for it to have been his birthday before he realized that any time he spent in time distorted places could have altered his age and dismissed the thought.

Seeing nothing change in regard to his race, he looked at himself and was reminded once more of the lack of Luna's flame. In any case, he was not ready to think anymore about what had happened to him.

What I wouldn't give for a bath…

Rainer thought before resisting the urge to scream at himself. He was a mage capable of wiping out a ten thousand strong horde of Devils and yet he couldn't even think to use his magic to make a bath?

Suddenly Arcane-Earth formed in front of him. Held up by four pillars beneath it a square bath of violet earth was formed. He poured Arcane-Water into, finding the substance more comfortable than regular water and finally used just a regular [Fire Manipulation] beneath it to heat the water.

Jor wrapped around Rainer's shoulder, having finished consuming the Mage. Taking off his clothes, Rainer placed Tiamat on his head as she too stared at the strange construction and the fire beneath it.

Glancing at himself for a moment he noticed he looked several pounds thinner, likely a remnant of whatever that abomination tried to do to him. Remembering he had yet to do anything resembling weight training since he came here, Rainer realized he had already been several pounds underweight from before, though nothing too noticeable.

Looking at his hand he swore his fingers were a tad slenderer and longer, but it was too small of a change to see clearly. If it existed at all.

He rubbed his ears and noted they seemed unchanged. He figured he'd check given the other changes seemed to resemble what he knew of elves. That, and how strange his ears felt during the process.

A strand of his hair entered his eye before he grabbed more to inspect it.

Dark…too dark…

Rainer thought. His already black hair seemed to do the impossible and find an even deeper shade of black.

He sighed, noting that the system still deemed him Human, and that was good enough for him.

Manipulating some of the water out, he noted the temperature was good enough before jumping in, much to the chagrin of Tiamat.

She nipped at his hair despite his laughter, quite displeased at the sudden water that splashed on her.

He altered the tub slightly, creating a seat for himself as comfortably as he could manage. His Const.i.tution kept it from being truly uncomfortable.

Tiamat crawled down from him, hesitantly tapping her foreleg into the water from his shoulder, before deciding her place on his head, was better after all.

Jor seemed entirely at home swimming in the Arcane-Water, in the tub that with Rainer's magic was far too large in comparison to any normal baths.

Rainer glanced up at the ever-present purple sun that bathed this plane in its light. Knowing that his moment of rest would not last so long as remained under such light, and yet enjoying it all the same.