Aethan woke up to the uncomfortable lurching of Ignaroth, looking up just to find the night sky out with millions of stars twinkling in its infinitely wide expanse.He redirected his gaze and found Merek sitting across Ignaroth's back, his eyes focused on the road.Merek turned his head slightly, sending a glance towards Aethan before focusing ahead again."How's your head?" He asked, to which Aethan simply shook his head and sat up properly. He knew his brother was just messing with him, as nothing was wrong with his body—just a little fatigue that more sleep could alleviate."Where are we?" Aethan asked after noticing his surroundings.He looked back, staring at Mt Veyrun, remembering all that had happened within it—the dungeon stages and how he had almost lost his life.Truth be told, the moments where his life was at risk had forced him to tap into a latent potential he didn't know he had. Although the knowledge gained from the first dungeon level had given him the necessary ideas

The destructive spheres closed in on Aethan, curving towards him like homing missiles. The deadly intent behind each one was as great as the other, and Aethan could literally see the sneer on the Water Mage’s face. He could make out what he was thinking, but Aethan was unfazed in the face of it all. He still had an arsenal of unused spells, ranging from Common, all the way up to Legendary. If the bandits thought they had him cornered, then they were in for a rude awakening. “Bl'u!" Aethan voiced out a Rune, and his Aether connected with the world, sparking a spell into existence. Gale and Thunder gathered above, morphing into a fierce spherical creation. Then just as quickly as it appeared, the air around it was suddenly compressed, and a strong electromagnetic wave was released from the electrical charges. These two procedures resulted in it creating a powerful suction force that affected the surrounding twenty meters! And the closer one was to the spell, the stronger the pull on

Merek went on to explain what the ring was and what it did. Turns out the bandit leader was a Solid State First-Circle Sorcerer, and not a Second-Circle Sorcerer like they thought. The Ring of Tidal Resonance was the cause of this. It amplified one's affinity for Water element and increased their control over it; so that's why his spells, though First-Circle, almost felt like Second-Circle. It also explained why Aethan never saw him use his Totembeast. He was quite expectant of it, wanting to see how he fared against a Second-Circle Sorcerer. “Aethan, do you know anything about Artifacts?" Merek suddenly said, snapping Aethan out of his thoughts. "Not much. Why?"Merek paused for a second, seemingly gathering his thoughts. Then he spoke. "An artifact is a powerful tool created by enchanting an equipment.”Aethan raised a brow. “Is that all?" He asked, confused, to which Merek shook his head. “Have you heard of… Primordial Artifacts?”Aethan narrowed his eyes, his mind churning

Aethan dashed forward at his fastest speed, cutting a straight line path towards the , his blades flashing with Runes simultaneously, sparking and weaving spells into reality seamlessly. He hadn't slacked off when learning Gale and Thunder spells, and he had successfully learnt two more spells tailored purely for attacking with his swords. The first spell activated swiftly, drawing Aether from the atmosphere to conjure several bolts of Thunder. These Thunderbolts then wrapped around Volt Edge, making the metal heat up and turn red-hot. And due to the metal having a good affinity for Lightning element and its variants, it easily absorbed the Thunder Aether, channeling its raw destructive heat for a powerful slash. In the next instant, Aethan swung his blade diagonally at the White Tiger, leaving red-blue afterimages behind. There was no pause in his movements. He swung the second blade vertically, delivering an overhead slash while shooting a crescent wind blade at the same time.