Determined, not to fail again Elias tried his best even causing drops of blood trickle from his nose.
The three Viperclouds shrieked in unison, forcing the poisonous fog screen to move more towards Elias.
Suddenly, Elias felt like he was drifting towards an unknown area in his soul, where he had never been.
He felt his mind relaxing, cutting him off from all external disturbances.
He heard the screaming of the beasts becoming faint as all his disturbing feelings dispersed, causing his mind to relax more and more.
Elias opened his eyes, after noticing everything had gone silent.
Elias blinked, feeling uneasy with the sudden and overwhelming silence. There were no fog, no fang bearing serpents and no ear-deafening screams of beasts– just silence and emptiness.
" What the– Where the hell am I?" Elias exclaimed, widening his eyes.
In front of him were…stars…that's all he could see.
He was squatting alone in the middle of a vast sea of stars.
Even though he was sure that he had never been there before, he knew where he was. Now don't ask me how, but it's just…he knows where he was.
This was his inner sea, where the Beastial Qi of a beast tamer, gathers–known as the heart of the energy flow.
He saw a massive star made of silver energy rotating slowly in the middle of the sea of stars, forming threads made of stardust(Wink).
He floated-or perhaps stood-on nothing. Beneath him, an endless stretch of starlight surrounded him like a living creature. Each star glowed with faint light, spreading their silver aura into the space around it. Above him? The same. It was as if the universe itself wrapped around him in every direction.
"What… is this place?"
The words echoed softly from Elias's throat. He looked down at his hands—solid, real—but felt lighter, as if some part of him had lost.
Then he saw it.
In the middle of this sea of stars, there pulsed a great silver star with energy in soft motions around itself. It did not just shine as the others did.But it glowed, emitting an ethereal light that seemed to live as if it was breathing. With each pulse, ripples of stardust swept faintly across the star sea, tugging on Elias like invisible threads.
"What the hell…?" Elias took a cautious step forward. His movements made no sound, but the silver star responded. It brightened, spinning slowly on its axis, its light pulling him in closer.
He squinted, and his eyes caught something faint on the star's surface. At first, it looked like a trick of the light, but as he neared, it became clear.
A mark.
It wasn't a shape he knew. The mark looked ancient, carved into the star itself. Lines curved and crossed one another forming a sigil that pulsed with the same rhythm as the star's energy. Each pulse sent warmth through Elias's chest, a soothing hum that resonated deep in his core.
"That's… mine." The words were out of his mouth before he could think it. He didn't know how he knew, but he had no doubt. This star, this mark-it was his. It was part of him.
As he stared, the mark began to glow brighter. The pulses quickened, each beat matching the pounding of his own heart. Elias stepped backward instinctively.
The space around him quivered.
Above the star, a faint glowing light appeared. As the light expanded, it began to expand and before starting to taking shape. A perfect halo materialized, hovering over the star like a crown.
The halo began to spin. Slowly at first, then faster. Its edges sharpened into threads of light, arcs of silver energy breaking off and scattering into the starry sea. The entire void seemed to vibrate with power, sending shockwaves through Elias's body.
"What… is this?" Elias whispered, his voice trembling.
The halo now spread and soon enveloped the star, assuming a ring-like form. Elias covered his eyes to protect himself from the blinding light it emitted in the process. He felt it-raw energy surging through the space, connecting him with…
Then, the light died.
The halo remained; a perfect, glowing circle of golden light encircling the huge energy star. Its red ore glittered like a gem etched to a golden crown.
Naturally he knew what it was.
The Halo of Lumina.
He suddenly began to feel a connection– a link which seemed to connect him with it, forming at a rapid pace.
The ring softly vibrated as if saying it was now ready to do anything for its master.
The symbol that seemed to have been seared on the star's surface began to blaze more brightly than before.
Elias once again blinked, as his heartbeat pound within him in a rhythm with the mystical energy swirling around him.
In a whoosh, Elias felt himself being yanked-pulled away from this void to reality. The sea of stars began to blur disappearing in reality.
Elias opened his eyes.
He gasped, his chest heaving up and down as if he had just surfaced from deep water. The sensation of the endless sea of stars still lingered on like a ghostly impression in his mind. He could still see it: the huge silver star, the shining halo, the burning mark had seared into his soul.
'What just happened?'
He sat still for a moment, trying to process everything. His whole body felt different-lighter, stronger-but at the same time brimming with something new. A connection which pulsed with devastating energy ready to release at any moment.
No time for questions.
A low, shrieking cry shattered the silence. Elias jolted, his head snapping up. The Viperclouds.
"Dammit. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you " Elias forced himself up, stumbling as his legs went weak beneath him. He had no time to falter. The beasts were not going to wait while he sorted it out.
The next shriek came again. This time, three Viperclouds flew at him, their bodies blurring as they struck from all angles along with the poison screen.
His mind screamed, Move!
Before he could think, his body reacted. A surge of power erupted inside him-silver energy speeding through his veins. His eyes snapped forward, glowing faintly. He ducked, spun, and leapt back in a single motion as the beasts' attacks missed him by inches.
He landed on one knee, panting.
"What… the hell… was that?" he muttered. He looked around only to find out his weapon– Halo of Lumina, circling around him forming a shield made of silver energy. Before he could notice he had jumped through the three poison walls formed by the beasts.
Once again, the beasts closed in, circling around him like sharks, the poisonous fog still moving to pin Elias into a corner.
'I can't just keep dodging forever!'
The light at his chest pulsed in silver again, hard. It felt alive-like something trying to tell him in hushed tones.
' Enough of this!'
He closed his eyes.
The world slowed.
A moment after his eyes snapped open as a burst of energy swept through the area. The force impacted heavily on the serpents as they were pulled back, slightly deforming their formation.
Then the Halo of Lumina sprang into action.
It began to hover above his head, following his thoughts. He didn't know what happened, but after returning from his inner sea, he felt like his weapon was another hand of his. He noticed it followed every thought of his mind, thinking it as an order.
The best example was escaping from the Viperclouds attack.
Just when the three beasts threw themselves at him, he had only one thought.
' I want a goddamn shield'.
Then he had closed his eyes, and when his eyes opened once again, he found his weapon circling around him forming a shield. Just what he wanted.
' Alright buddy, show me what you can do.'
The silver flames on the ring, flared high in response showing its agreement with him. The viperclouds had pissed the weapon itself, as he felt its eagerness through the link.
A faint yet unbreakable shield, made of silver light materialized around him covering his entire body from every direction as a bright ball of light formed at the centre of the ring.
' I want to destroy those bastards in one move.'
He muttered, ordering the ring to gather more and more energy, both for the ball and for his shield.
The ring began to spin on a perpendicular axis as the silver ball enlarged to fill the entire area surrounded by the ring, reaching to its frame.
The red orb glowed violently, as Elias thought, 'I want more!'
Silver threads appeared from every direction forming pathways to flow energy into the ring. The surroundings became more darker, the moonlight itself dimmed as more and more light energy entered the ring.
"Yeah, that's it."
Elias mumbled happily seeing the ball completely swallowing the ring as a whole.
A few seconds passed, and the ring was completely inside it.
The snakes shrieked and came to a halt probably noticing the abnormal energy spike his weapon emanated.
They looked at it, hissing as layers of fog covered their bodies forming tough yet flexible shields.
" Enough. Release it now!"
Elias yelled as a blinding flash of silver light illuminated the entire night sky.