Julius never experienced pain like this. It was a different type of pain that sent surges of power rippling throughout his soul. It was both exhilarating and terrifying.

  He didn’t appreciate that Doren was basically using him as a guinea pig, but he also didn’t have any grounds to complain. It was probably his best chance at surviving this with his soul intact.

  He also understood what Doren meant when he explained the purpose of the marble. He could see that the lightning running throughout his soul had a purpose. It was essentially outlining every nook and cranny of it. Creating a framework or a blueprint of its structure.

  Once it had achieved that, Julius noticed that the second effect of the marble began in earnest. His Emblem, which had been fully charged for a while, was being crammed with this energy. It was like someone was shoving more food into his already stuffed stomach.

  That wasn’t all, either. At the same time, he felt the lightning in his soul, which used to create the blueprint, begin to fold into itself. Collapsing inward, forming into a ball of pure power. It was shining so brightly that his soul senses were being blinded by its luminosity.

  Until it wasn’t. Suddenly, the ball of pure white light exploded, rocking his soul with its detonation. He didn’t even get a chance to react and could only flail with panic when he felt his soul experience the same sensation as if it had when Casey had attacked him. It was like he was being assaulted by an ever more powerful soul attack, and even worse, his soul wasn’t able to hold up.

  He didn’t even get a chance to fight back. One moment, he was holding his soul together, and the next, he was clinging to threads of his soul.

  Did Doren lie to him? What just happened?

  Fortunately for him, this emptiness didn’t last long, and he could feel the shards of his soul head toward the soul blueprint that the marble created. He let out a sigh of relief when he sensed pieces of his soul start to slot back together. Unlike his own attempts to weave his soul back into a single ugly mass, this was a much more refined process.

  He realized that his mistake had been simple. He hadn’t lined up the fragments of his soul correctly. That was why the edges had been frayed and jagged. However, with the blueprint, it didn’t seem to be an issue. The fragmented parts of his soul started to glue themselves back together, and Julius didn’t notice any large, ugly scars.

  There were clear signs of repair, but the scars were fully healed and almost seamless to his senses. In fact, these cords of scars almost felt stronger in some ways. As if someone had welded these individual pieces of his soul with mythril.

  His healing skill finally kicked in, along with Drasil’s own efforts. Combined, the two of them polished the surface of Julius’s soul. Any of the smudges or black marks on his soul were wiped clean.

  Julius was amazed at how simple the process felt, at how easy it was. Compared to his previous attempts, it was night and day. He knew how hard it was to connect even two pieces of his soul. However, that marble he consumed somehow managed to reconnect and weld together all of his fragmented soul pieces with ease.

  His soul felt good. Like really, really good. It was almost like nothing had ever happened to it in the first place. The only evidence remaining was the slight stiffness and soreness he felt in his soul. But that was nothing compared to what he had been experiencing before. Now that he was relatively fine, he realized just how excruciating the pain had been.

  Just how valuable was that marble? How many other items would have been able to achieve something similar? He doubted many, if any.

  “Hmm. You handled that better than I thought,” he heard Doren mutter disappointingly. “Did I give you the wrong marble?”

  Now that Julius’s soul was in much better condition, he could feel that his control over his soul space was much more precise. So, in the name of testing things, he created a big cage of fire around Doren.

  The flames didn’t affect the man. Doren just waved his hand, and the fire vanished. “Well, I didn’t get as much data from that as I hoped. But at least now we can see how you handle the advancement portion of it.”

  “What should I expect?” Julius asked the man, feeling a little satisfied by the man's disappointment.

  “Well, if you can’t tell, I am holding back some of the energy from the marble at the moment. But I won’t be able to hold it for long before it becomes dangerous. But now that your soul is in somewhat decent shape, your odds of survival have risen dramatically. I would just worry about your body's evolution. From what I can tell, it’s not going to be pretty. If you are going to die at any point, it will probably be during that phase.”

  “And just like that, I will be a Tier 4?” Julius asked, a little skeptical since it sounded so simple.

  “It’s not that simple,” Doren pointed out as if he could read Julius’s mind. “Let’s just disregard the fact that you just consumed an extremely valuable treasure and consider your current circumstances.”

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  “What do you mean?”

  “I can presume that your Emblem is likely a special variant, correct?”

  Julius shrugged, trying to hide his surprise that Doren knew this, but also not too shocked since Doren had shown that he wasn’t just any typical person.

  “You also have an extremely large number of epic skills and powerful abilities. A soul that has already reached its second evolution. Two familiars who are both very unique in their own rights. And enough combat experience that would put to shame most Tier 4 adventurers. There is nothing simple about your circumstances. If you weren’t qualified to advance to Tier 4, then nobody in the Empire would be qualified,” Doren said with a roll of his eyes.

  “I mean, what should I do to facilitate my advancement?”

  “You shouldn’t need to do much of anything at all. Things should just fall into place. Then it comes down to your willpower and your understanding of yourself. If you fail either of these requirements, you will not advance to Tier 4. In most cases, people will regress to the beginning of Tier 3 and have to start over. But for you, if you fail, then you might just die,” Doren said bluntly.

  “Wonderful,” Julius said with mock glee.

  “Right? I am curious how your advancement turns out. I am a little disappointed that you didn’t suff— I mean struggle more with the healing of your soul, but this should be interesting,” Doren corrected himself at the last second.

  Julius was about to retort when Doren must have stopped holding back the final effects of the marble. He groaned when he felt something crack within him. His emblem, which was normally dormant, was acting erratically. It was pulsing frantically, and there wasn’t much he could do as wave after wave of power surged through his soul.

  Notice: Tier 4 advancement is commencing… Would you like to proceed?

  Error: Anomaly detected… Evaluating conditions…

  Warning: You have consumed a Dawnrose Soul Stitching Orb. Advancement cannot be deferred.

  Notice: Advancement is proceeding…

  Julius felt his entire soul rumble, and his consciousness suddenly warped. It was as if he were being transported somewhere else. When he gathered his bearings, he noticed that there was still nothing but void around him. However, Doren was nowhere to be seen. The only things around him were all of the aspects of his soul.

  Whether that was skills, concepts, his emblem, soul-bound items, or even his familiars, they were all around him. Drasil and Seraphyne were represented as two glowing balls of light; they were the closest to him. His concepts were next, followed by his soul-bound items and his skills.

  His Emblem, on the other hand, was directly overhead. It was the brightest thing in the entire space. It was like a sun, and everything was revolving around it.

  Notice: Evaluation of the soul is in progress...

  Suddenly, all of the skill orbs around him started to converge toward the Emblem. They were quickly followed up by his soul-bound items, and then his concepts. After that were the orbs of Drasil and Seraphyne.

  They were drawn into the Emblem, swallowed up by the brilliantly shining object as if it were a black hole.

  Soul threshold has been met. Condition fulfilled.

  He read this message, but he was feeling a little worried when there wasn’t any sign of his soul energy stopping. It kept flooding into the Emblem, increasing rapidly. More and more energy kept infusing into his Emblem, but he could feel it starting to stretch, as if barely able to constrain all of the incoming power.

  Warning: Soul threshold is approaching critical levels.

  Warning: Soul threshold is exceeding standardized Tier 4 advancement protocols. Aborting advancement is highly advised.

  Error: Unable to abort advancement.

  Julius didn’t know what to do. More power was flooding in by the second. He tried his best to stop it, but he had no control over this process. It was like Doren said, there was nothing he could do but endure.

  Notice: Unusual phenomena detected. The presence of a second soul evolution before Tier 4 has been verified. Additionally, a system recognized Feat has been detected. Evaluating…

  Notice: Adjusting standardized Tier 4 protocols to account for second soul evolution and system-recognized Feat.

  Julius felt his entire Emblem shake, as if someone had suddenly stretched it like a rubber band, enlarging it. It was very uncomfortable, and he grimaced at the pain, but eventually the pain settled, and he saw the new notification.

  Notice: Soul threshold has successfully been adjusted and is within Tier 4 advancement parameters. Recommencing Tier 4 advancement.

  Evaluating Soul Threshold… Conditions successfully met.

  Evaluating Emblem… Special Emblem has been detected… Conditions successfully met.

  Evaluating Experience… Conditions successfully met.

  Evaluating Concepts… Conditions successfully met.

  Evaluating Comprehension… Conditions successfully met.

  Evaluating Skills… Conditions successfully met.

  Notice: Seed of Authority Ritual will commence in 3… 2… 1…

  Successful… Generating potential Seeds of Authority…

  Julius closed his eyes as he sensed his Emblem explode with immense waves of power. When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a room. It was the same room he had lived in when he was at Goldencrest. However, instead of a bed or any furniture, there was a table placed in the middle of the room.

  On this table were seven little seeds that were the size of a grain of rice. Each of them radiated with untold potential. He felt pressured just by looking at them. He could tell these seeds were created from his own soul.

  He slowly approached the table and examined the seeds. When he got close enough, he got a notification.

  Please select a Seed of Authority.

  To choose a seed is to set the first steps of your fate. It will become a pillar of your path, guiding your future growth, your evolving abilities, and the forms your power may one day take. Yet this choice is not a chain that binds you forever.

  A seed is not a judgment—it is a beginning.

  It is something you nurture, temper, and reshape as you journey onward. Through moments of wonder and revelation, through trials, loss, and quiet despair, your seed will drink from your experiences and change with you. As you change, so too may it.

  What you plant today defines the direction of your path…

  But it is how you live that decides what it ultimately becomes.

  Julius could only stare at the ominous-looking seeds as these words echoed in his head.

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