Not even Lina expected that Shiba would enter an enlightened state at that moment. Moreover, it was the type of enlightenment that made one advance through battle, not meditation like usual.
However, she was able to see that it was due to the ancient spatial ring.
"To think that he would receive enlightenment from that ring... I was scared that he would die, but it seems that his master left something inside him that purified the energy."
Given how quickly the energy merged with Shiba, not even Lina could act.
She didn't feel that the energy had bad intentions, it should have been left by the owner to help whoever used it after him. However, Shiba was too weak, so the unpurified energy could have made him explode.
"Given the speed and power of that stream of energy, the owner of that ring was an Origin God."
For her to not be able to react at all, it was obvious that the one who left the energy was far stronger than her.
Of course, it was just a bit of energy, so Lina could also purify it without problems. As long as one was at least a Law Master, that energy wouldn't pose any danger and would be extremely beneficial.
However, she could believe that the previous owner of the ring never thought that a mere Mortal Rank would use the ring. People as strong as the previous owner usually forgot about anything lower than Law Master.
In fact, even a Law God like Lina wasn't considered an adult by the standards of the families, the same applied to Master Liye. Unless they reached Essence God, they were considered too weak to be adults no matter how many thousands of years they had lived.
Of course, it was still negligent on his part to ignore that a kid might pick it someday, but he was about to die when he put his energy there, so he didn't have time to think that much.
Thus, Lina felt that it was just bad luck that the energy could harm Shiba, but since he had the means to purify it, it didn't matter.
Due to the sudden enlightenment, Shiba's battle prowess increased by several folds. Although he wasn't in control of his actions, the fact that he reached that level of expertise once was more than enough to make it easier to reach the same level in the future.
As for the expert stage in martial arts, he reached it automatically. He had been near to attain it from before, and the impulse of the enlightenment had been enough to break that barrier.
At that moment, Shiba's battle prowess was able to fight on par with the two guards despite having a weaker body than them.
The enlightenment Shiba possessed a battle prowess that was far beyond his level.
Shiba was using Earth Armor to attack, but he also used a skill that he never used before, Wind Claw.
Seeing how powerful the enlightened Shiba was, several other guards joined the battle.
Then, the enlightened Shiba used Wind Wings and started to use the capacity to fly to his advantage.
Shiba had no idea how to battle with flying, but his body was acting on his own due to the enlightenment, so he was very proficient in battling like that.
"Eini will regret not being the one getting this ancient spatial ring. If my guess is correct, the elder who owned it was quite famous back then. Although, as an Origin God, he was proficient in all elements, he was quite famous for using Earth and Wind. It matches perfectly with Shiba's affinities, but Eini would have improved quite a bit with this help. Well, I guess she wasn't fated with this ancient spatial ring."
Although all the skills Shiba was using were very low level compared to what an Origin God could do, the way he battled gave some reminiscence of that deceased expert.
Moreover, there was another reason for Lina to think about that expert so quickly.
Most people didn't know it, but her father did. The planet where that elder fell while being wounded to death was the same as the planet they were at that moment. He was the previous owner of what Lina and her father wanted Eini to obtain.
After Lina confirmed that the thing was on that planet, her father investigated it thoroughly and discovered the identity of an expert that died there long ago.
Moreover, the area he fell was the same where that ring was dug out, so it wasn't too difficult to discover who was the previous owner of that ancient spatial ring.
She guessed that it wasn't impossible that the ring belonged to that expert, but it wasn't until Shiba was enlightened that she confirmed it.
Usually, Origin Gods didn't need spatial artifacts to store things since they could control space to create storage areas, but some still used them for diverse reasons, and that expert was one of them. He really didn't use that spatial ring to store things, but he always wore it because it was a memento.
However, it didn't matter if she knew or not because she couldn't interfere with Shiba getting the ancient spatial ring.
Interfering with something so directly related to that expert to help Eini most likely would harm her fate too much. Moreover, Lina's father would probably be angry if she acted like that against someone related to his best friend. Thus, there wasn't any benefit in interfering with that matter.
Although having that ancient spatial ring would increase the connection between Shiba and that elder, that elder didn't have any relevance in regards to who would be fated to obtain that thing after his death, so Shiba obtaining that ancient spatial ring didn't mean that he would be the one to get that thing later.
What Lina didn't know was that if Eini were the one to use the ancient spatial ring, she would have suffered a fate worse than death. It was also a good decision when the Lord of the town decided to not use it.
Inside Shiba. When the energy of the ancient ring activated.
"To think that a weakling would pick this ring. This is my chance to take over control of this body."
That was a fragment of the elder's will. Although he died without a chance of reincarnation, he had hidden a piece of his will in the ring. If a Law Master picked the ring, he would be powerless, but if someone weaker did, he would be able to obtain a pseudo reincarnation.
He didn't forget about the weaker ones. He was hoping that a weak one picked it.
Although he had a good reputation when he was still alive, in the face of death, he was willing to do anything to survive.
"I can't let you do something like this to my disciple."
At that moment, another fragment of will had materialized there. It was Master Liye's will. He had left a bit of his will there to help Shiba in the future.
"A fragment of the will of a Law God? If it were your true body, purifying this energy to get rid of me wouldn't be difficult, but you are in the same state as me, so you aren't my match."
The elder didn't fear Master Liye in the slightest.
"Really? I don't think so."
Master Liye smiled before the face of the elder changed.
"Shit, what is purifying me. Stop!"
When the elder realized that something inside Shiba was purifying the stream of energy where his will resided, it was already too late.
"I only have a single chance to help Shiba. No way I am wasting it with you. The Legacy System is more than enough to deal with things like you. I was just distracting you a bit."
Master Liye's fragment of will was different from the one of the elder. It wasn't created to last a long time and live again, but to be able to go full strength a single time to save Shiba of a danger he couldn't resolve by himself. Thus, he was far stronger than the fragment of the will of the elder, but if he attacked, he would have disappeared afterward.
Everything that happened inside Shiba was just an instant outside, so no one was aware of it.
Everyone focused their attention on the prowess of the enlightened Shiba. Even all the guards together were having difficulties in dealing with him despite the difference on the level.
That was an experience gap. The enlightened Shiba was battling according to the experience of that fragment of will, so there was no way the guards could compare to him.
Shiba's attacks weren't deadly since his intention was training when he was enlightened, so the guards were also using the chance to prove themselves.
The Lord of the town was impressed by the battle. He knew it was just an effect of the enlightenment, but he had heard that there were people capable of battling like that in a normal state.
Rumors said that reincarnated experts could show a battle prowess far beyond their level due to the sheer difference in the experience.
The Lord of the town already saw how fearsome someone in that kind of state was, so he couldn't imagine how fearsome would be someone who was like that permanently.
"You all! Stop! I will be taking your place from now on."
After seeing that battle for a while, he wasn't able to remain looking and decided to join.
He wanted to test personally if that kind of battle prowess that could skip the difference of levels could also do it with ranks.
The guards were surprised to hear the words of their boss, but they obeyed and stopped battling when their boss jumped from the upper floor into the training grounds.
"Young friend, it will be my pleasure to help with your training."