Chapter 494: Soul Space Remodel

Julius felt the intense spatial energy wash over him like a crashing wave. Then he was shot out and tumbled to the ground with an excited grin on his face. But that slowly changed into a confused frown. He looked around and blasted out his sphere of perception.

Where in the hell was he?

He didn’t recognize where he was. Nor did he know what kind of skill or technique that guy had used, but it was pretty unique. From what he could tell, it was some kind of runic structure that used spatial energy as the primary focal point.

Not only that, but the circle did some very weird things to his mana. He didn’t know how it managed to do it, but his mana became almost entirely unresponsive. It was like being inside a Tier 5’s domain. There wasn’t the overwhelming pressure, but the way it managed to rip away his control was quite impressive.

It took everything in his power to focus on the skill structure for [Void Step]. Even then, something went very wrong. It was highly likely that the runic circle had done something to his skill. Instead of teleporting outside of the circle, he found himself inside the void for much longer than he should have been.

Thankfully, his healing skill ensured that he survived in the chaotic void for much longer than one usually should, at least long enough until he was able to return.

The runic circle had done everything in its power to nullify his skills and mana. It was something he wished he could have spent more time examining. It was one of the few times when he felt like he was unable to do something against another Tier 3’s skill.

The other skills he had seen were very special as well. The firestorm had been something to behold. He had purposefully let himself experience the flames just so that he could glean some information behind the skill.

From what he could tell, the guy didn’t have a Fire Concept, but had some other Concept that aided all of his mana-based abilities. There was also something else that seemed to help the older boy as well, but as for what it was, Julius had no idea.

Those massive pillars that attacked him were also quite beautiful to behold. There were several types of magic used to create the attack. While Julius didn’t believe he would be able to mimic the technique anytime soon, if ever, the sheer control on display was magnificent.

He couldn’t imagine the difficulty of controlling four various types of mana, not to mention keeping the barriers and flight magic active. Whoever the guy was, he was someone very impressive and very skilled.

Too bad Julius wasn’t able to prolong the experience. He had been enjoying every second of it, and it had ended so abruptly. Perhaps, he might be able to track down the guy again and convince him to show Julius more tricks. It wasn’t often he found someone in Tier 3 who could catch him off guard. He had a feeling that he would come across the mage again, and when that time came, he would be waiting.

“Now where in the hells am I?” He muttered to himself.

It was still dark out, and he wasn’t able to tell where he had teleported to.

At least he believed he had been teleported. It was hard to tell where, but at least he was still inside the Secret Realm. He would have been upset if he had accidentally left the realm before he could properly explore it.

He looked around and spotted the towering pillar of light. However, it looked like it was just as far away as before. Hopefully, that meant he was close to the same place he had been before.

He stretched out his arms and let out a yawn. It had been an eventful day, and with how late it was, he could use a little rest. He could find out where he had been transported to at a later date. For the time being, he wanted to eat some food.

***

He found a comfortable-looking area after a bit of searching. There was some natural shelter from several large boulders, and he set up camp. He took out all of his supplies that Lily had him buy and started to get comfortable.

A slight flick of his wrist created some furniture made of mana. He paid special care to make sure it was as soft as he could. He deserved it after such a tiring day.

As he slouched in the chair with his feet placed on top of an ottoman he constructed, he reviewed the fights he experienced during the past day. This realm had been a pleasant surprise. He had been tempering his expectations, but it was more challenging than expected.

In less than a day, he had fought several powerful creatures and people. He thought he had reached the peak of Tier 3, but he was quickly learning that there was no true peak. There were always people who were stronger and people who were better than he was at certain things.

That mage who had teleported him here was a great example. Julius still didn’t know what that runic circle was, nor how he was able to create it so swiftly and without Julius taking note of it. He couldn’t imagine that it was set up instantly; runic structures like that one typically took time to create. That meant one of two things.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

One, he was wrong about not being able to create something like that instantly. Or two, the mage had somehow been able to hide what he was doing from Julius’s senses.

He was leaning toward the latter being more likely. But that came with another problem. He had no clue how to remedy that. His mana senses were already excellent. Even Freya said so herself. So what could he do to make sure that didn’t happen again?