A mad One-Eyed [Mage] was hovering over the hill, his eye socket quietly thrumming with static pulses of mana. Hovering over him, spinning in circles, were thirteen unlinked mana structures. Each the size of multiple people, all of them emanating almost as much mana as a fourth realm [Mage].

  That was the scene that greeted Ryan as he appeared back in The Realm.

  Unfortunately for the [Mage] the [Rogue] cared little for it, ignoring all of it completely.

  “Witch Tyrant! We had a deal! You said you wouldn’t touch anyone I knew!”

  The fury in his voice rattled the world around them as his aura came to bear upon the world. It washed over One-Eyed Rick as the display of magical prowess was completely overshadowed by the fourth realm that was in front of him.

  “Is this just aura? How?”

  Ryan kept ignoring Rick. He stared around, glaring at the world around him.

  “I did make a promise, Witch Tyrant. I will keep it if you don’t hold onto yours.”

  The old promise of mutual annihilation, that he would step into a Trial and never return. Rendering everything moot.

  Sometimes, you had to show them you were serious.

  He took a step forwards, then another, completely ignoring Rick. The old [Mage] hesitated. Rick couldn’t let his one ticket to freedom go, but he was realizing that he didn’t have the ability to stop Ryan from entering the portal either.

  A mana circle appeared in his hand instead. Crackling against the restrictions of a leveled zone.

  “How on earth are you a fourth realm?”

  Ryan ignored Rick once more as he kept approaching the Trial. His left hand holding a knife of returning, his other holding a blade of pure aura.

  It was the funniest thing, but there was a spike of fear from Rick. One of the greats of The Realm, fearing him at this moment. Whether it was because he could truly die, or that he was going to lose his chance for freedom who knew?

  It was then that words of white descended. In neat writing, the Witch Tyrant finally responded.

  Ryan read the words and tried to interpret them. He did smell some dragonshit in the wording, but he did believe her when she said that she hadn’t broken the spirit of the agreement.

  Otherwise there was no reason for her to send a message instead of appearing herself.

  Ryan put away his weapons and smiled at the dumbfounded Rick. Ryan did a performer’s bow, acting as if threatening one of the strongest people was just something he did on a regular basis.

  “Hello Rick, I heard you’re here to help me with my mana core. I want you to help me make something that makes me a [Mage] killer.”

  One-Eyed Rick was silent for a moment, digesting everything that had happened before him. With that display, Ryan had made his stance on the Witch Tyrant.

  “You want to kill the Witch Pioneer?”

  It didn’t seem like Rick was caught up in the times at all. The [Mage] was still using one of the old titles for the Witch Tyrant. The title of Tyrants had been popularized had been killed by the Seven Pioneers.

  Ryan just nodded amiably. “I want to punch her in the face at the minimum. Wait no, Pinkie’s already done that one. I want to be strong enough to stop her.”

  The mad [Mage] scratched his chin, suddenly more interested in his task than before.

  “So, she is raising someone that is hostile to her, that is How did you become so strong? I can tell that you have some form of energy extension skill but you didn’t use that at all just now. Are we so far in the future and these are the standards of Trialists these days?”

  “Neither. I have the [Undisputed Apex of the Fourth Realm] title. The world has recognized me as the strongest fourth realm in history.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “You–”

  “Passive Tyrant now, and yes, I’m stronger than her when she was at the fourth realm.”

  And now, One-Eyed Rick was smiling. A bit more of the magical blue light flicking across his empty eyesocket. Ryan felt Rick’s mana focusing on him for a moment. When Ryan raised an eyebrow at the violation of privacy Rick blinked and covered his eye.

  “Ahem, sorry about that. Most people don’t notice it you see.”

  “I’m sure.” Ryan scoffed. “So, Rick the [Arcane Seeker], are you willing to help me become a weapon to hurt your own killer?”

  Rick grinned.

  “You’re going to have to let me see what I’m working with for that.”

  –

  Both of them sat in the dark cavernous dome that was maintained by the Trial System itself. It did not let the entrance to the Fifth Trial get covered by dirt or rock. An ominous, untouched trial entrance, one that was waiting for an adventurer to finally enter and fulfill its task.

  0/10 scaling. The highest possible for a Trial entrance.

  One Apex was sitting in front of another Apex of The Realm, trying to evolve taking up the Trial. As if rebelling against everything that the Trial System offered.

  The blazing blue eye of the [Mage] faded. The elf scratched his side.

  “Hm, you aren’t a [Mage].”

  “Thanks. I didn’t notice.”

  “Are all kids this disrespectful these days?”

  “Only to mass murderers.” Ryan said in a joking tone.

  “Hmph, that was a mistake.” Despite his words, there wasn’t a hint of remorse in Rick’s voice. “What I mean is that you don’t have the right setup for what you’re wanting. A null mana core? What even gave you the idea that was possible?”

  “There’s someone called Atellion the Null Mage. He’s also considered one of the most dangerous glass cannons in existence. The Archmage Tyrant has said that he’s the last person he’d ever want to fight.”

  Rick made a face at the title.

  “Archmage Tyrant? . That brat has zero talent or desire to truly plumb into magic. No wonder he’s afraid of something like nullification mana.”

  Ryan was shocked at that revelation. “You don’t think the Archmage Tyrant is talented at magic?”

  Rick spat again. “He only cared about one thing, maximizing his mana use. Sure the Mage Pioneer was good at it, brilliant at even, but an Archmage? I refuse to believe a mere few decades is enough to call yourself an archmage.”

  Ryan filed that information away while Rick kept thinking.

  After a minute Ryan had to ask. “So, there’s no chance for a null mana core?”

  “I wouldn’t even know where to start with that. Well, I do have an idea but again, you don’t have the makings for it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Rick scratched at his beard. While most natural elves didn’t tend to have beards, a benefit of the Trial System was that you could choose to have one. Rick had chosen to have quite an almost goatee shaped beard himself.

  The mad [Mage] leaned in conspiratorially. “Hmm, I have come up with this myself. This is a huge secret that not a single person, not even the Pioneers understand. There’s a secret behind our classes. This secret is what everything is built on. Skills, classes, even titles. Perhaps even the Trial System itself. A binding factor that I have found out to hit the tenth realm before anyone else.”

  Ryan leaned in closer. Eager to learn.

  “I have coined the term . As in the essence of classes. The way the world sees us and the way we use the world. It’s what truly makes us Trialists than the Realmers.”

  Ryan just hung his head in disappointment at the super secret revelation. Nothing more told him that Rick was out of time than this ‘super secret’ revelation.

  “You’re talking about concepts. The term’s already been taken.”

  “Concepts?!” Rick spat, disgusted at the term.” Wait, you’re telling me the world knows these things?”

  “Maybe not that well? There’s a lot of theories about it and it really seems to be something only dragonslayers really seem to be able to tap into.” Ryan paused, realizing Rick didn’t understand what dragonslayers were. “Tenth realms and above.”

  “And here I was, thinking that the Witch was using me to learn everything I knew. If she knows this then what does she need me for?”

  “A moral lesson?”

  “A what?”

  “Exactly.”

  Rick didn’t understand what Ryan was saying at all. He was getting the feeling that despite being a [Mage], social cues were beyond Rick’s capability to process.

  Although the old elf did finally narrow his eyes. “Are you making fun of me?”

  Ryan sighed, “She probably put you in my way because I have your crowning skill. [Resource Overdrive]. Though with aura, not mana. I also experienced your ascension to the tenth realm in one of the skill orbs provided by the Trial System. I uh, tried to use that to create a mana core similar to your own.”

  Rick’s eyes grew wide once again. “Aha! That explains why your arm works the way it does!”

  “Uh no, I made that without [Resource Overdrive]. I think that was probably one of the reasons why I got offered the skill actually.”

  For a moment, Rick just stared at him, looking for a trace of a lie. Then he started cackling, he jumped up and started pacing, excitedly talking to himself.

  “Hahaha! Madness! A genuine madman. The same as me! It is no wonder she sent him to me! This is a project I would have give everything to take on, she didn’t even need to give me such a deal!” Rick kept laughing as Ryan backed up a little, being wary to not catch One-Eyed Rick’s madness, “Still, raising someone that’s hostile to her? Has she lost her mind? Or has she fallen into the depths of her class like I knew everyone would?”

  “Uh, earth to Rick?”

  Rick snapped to him, eyes burning with uncontrolled mana.

  “You have an antimagic magical skill, show it to me again.”

  Ryan imbued a knife with [Volatile Antimagic Throw] then threw it at Rick’s head.

  The one eyed madman caught it with one hand. He used one rope of raw mana and looped around the white knife in midair, freezing it in place. Ryan didn’t even know that was possible. The skill either blew up any imperfect mana or dissipated quickly when it failed to hit.

  Rick’s blue rope of mana started to take the white hue of his antimagic skill. Rick made the ends of the rope link together in a circle. All of taking the form of volatile energy.

  Nearly every antimagic skill has a core of mana in them. Though yours is designed for instability. To seek and rapidly catalyze mana. Do you not see the conflict in that? A mana structure designed to destroy mana! Antimagic skills once drove me mad!”

  Rick laughed as his eye burned. Focusing on the circle of white that was getting smaller. It started to shake.

  “I once wondered what a core of antimagic mana would end up as. That null mage has to be one of the results. The one that you have been setting up for. The you have started to embody.”

  The thick circle finally closed into a misshapen sphere.

  “You wanted something that will make you a [Mage]-killer? To make sure even the Witch has to tread lightly around you?”

  The sphere turned into a perfect sphere. It was shaking in between them.

  “”

  Then the core exploded.

  The explosion blew Ryan backwards as he barely got an arm up to cover his face. The remnants of the energy splattering all over the ground. His exposed hand slightly burnt from the intense heat.

  Ryan stared at the site of the explosion.

  “I'm not so sure how keen I am to turn my own body into a bomb."

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