The Glorious Evolution

Meanwhile, in Nocturn’s Heart City Main Hub...

After the hangout concluded with his friends, Levi didn’t return to his apartment. He flew a great distance and then teleported to his studio in the Boundless Expanse. Only when he was under Nocturn’s safety did he dare check his dimensional wallets.

He knew that too much heat was on them at the moment due to how things ended in the ancient site... although he had no clue if the Supervising Radian had his eyes on him, he preferred being cautious.

”At the moment, I can’t sell the Leviathan Phoenix’s materials or Azhukar’s artifacts... not even to the Black Slime Syndicate,” Levi murmured as he strolled inside Azhukar’s dimensional wallet through his consciousness.

”Indeed, it’s better to hold on to them for a few months or more.” The Titan nodded in approval, ”It’s a known fact that once a planet gets devoured by the Primordial Tree of Death, many Scavengers pick up on the dimensional disturbances through devices or artifacts... they camp the spatial tear to collect anything of value through the rubble.”

”But... it was different for the Ashori Planet.” Levi held his chin in confusion, ”I thought that the Tree of Death’s root connects to the celestial rivers of rubble at the far ends, not so close to the Hungering Dark... Won’t the Radian find out?”

”There are always exceptions.” Ash’Kral replied, ”You should feel glad that this happened... although Scavengers aren’t usually situated so close to the Hungering Dark, Oblivars are known to use the Hungering Dark as a gateway between the lower realms and the Shadow dimension... so, the Radian will assume that Azhukar must have been killed by an Oblivar. It’s the sole logical conclusion. Radians follow Order and rational thinking to the letter.”

”That works for me, I guess.” Levi sighed in relief, ”Still... It’s best to hold on to them for now.”

Levi left the artifact storage alone for now, not wanting to be tempted to sell them... he had seen the kind of artifacts stored inside, and the least expensive was C Grade.

Although a C Grade was considered low, one shouldn’t forget that artifacts were just like natural dimensional treasures... Grade mattered in terms of artifacts or treasures with a common Aspect... The rarer the Aspect, the harsher the conditions for its grade to be rated high.

There was even an artifact graded as a mere C on the glass display, but its details left him speechless.

It was an assassination artifact with a red ribbon appearance... however, the instant it was tightened around someone’s limb, neck, or such, it got severed and teleported to another dimension. This meant the artifact might be graded low, but it still possessed spatial powers.

After reading the details of most artifacts, Levi realized why Azhukar didn’t bother using any of them against him... his intangible Void Form negated 99% of the artifacts’ effects. How could he use them on an entity that became the embodiment of nothingness?

After taking a short stroll, Levi arrived at the storage for Rare Collectables.

This was the first time he entered it. Once he was inside, Levi was slightly stunned to find hundreds of grandiose display stations situated a couple of meters away from each other. Each display platform lifted a transparent glass container.

What surprised Levi was the sight of hundreds of mysterious and peculiar feathers being held by two wooden handles.

Some cases held bright blue feathers from birds long gone, others had dark ones that gleamed like glass, and a few were almost see-through, looking like they could disappear at any instant.

”...was Azhukar an avid feather collector? Was this his hobby?” Levi muttered with a dazed tone.

Levi thought that he was going to find a treasure trove filled with various rare collectables, but instead... the theme was unified to bird feathers.

Beside every case was a small plaque showing where the feather came from, what kind of bird it belonged to, how it was found, how rare he graded it, and even a written poem for each feather signed by Azhukar himself.

”This is something else.” The Titan commented, ”Most of those feathers might have no other value than their ’rarity’, but I can see a few that are considered high-grade natural treasures.”

Levi nodded in agreement, going through the details of some feathers as he strolled inside the storage.

He might not have expected this, but he wasn’t complaining... he could tell that such a collection was priceless for the right kind of buyers. Its worth might be in the tens of millions of credits if someone truly appreciated its value.

Levi knew that certain entities in the universe had reached a high level of boredom due to their immortality; one of the few things that brought them some joy was owning such a priceless collection. Azhukar collecting rare feathers was the proof.

As Levi got deeper into the storage, he began to find some unique feathers... well, each feather in the collection was unique, as there was no repetition, but the last ones on display were so bizarre, he couldn’t even imagine the birds’ species.

”What the hell is this thing...”

Levi commented as he leaned closer to a glass container holding a small feather that was changing colors over and over again. Each time a color was picked, its entire appearance and aura changed to match it.

If it was red, the feather’s appearance became wild and fierce... if it was blue, it turned limp and watery like it was made out of liquid... When the hue shifted to green, thin veins spread through the feather like plant roots, and it gave off the faint smell of wet leaves and fresh air.

The list goes on.

Not waiting for an answer, Levi read the details written next to it.

”Percepia Chroma Bird... it is a unique, mysterious bird that lives in the Realm of Perceptions. It isn’t born like normal creatures; it appears when the realm’s balance is disturbed by strong emotions, then vanishes once peace returns, leaving behind a single feather to validate its existence in reality, and not dreams.” Levi raised an eyebrow in surprise, ”The Realm of Perceptions is truly a mysterious place to have a creature born out of emotions and die off them.”

”It’s expected... the Realm of Perception is believed to be a unified dream landscape that feeds off the dreams and emotions of all living forms in the universe... most of its inhabitants are born out of people’s strong dreams and emotions, their entire existence relies on them, while they had no clue they even existed in the first place.” Ash’Kral nodded, ”This bird is quite rare because it’s one of the few creatures capable of leaving a tangible feather in reality... If Dream Catchers were to find out you have it, they will die of envy or rob you clean.”

”How magical...” Levi showed a faint smile, appreciating its one-of-a-kind beauty.

As much as he hated Azhukar for what he did to his brother and friends, he had to admit that this collection was absolutely amazing... The written poem made the experience even better.

Born from thought, it flies alone,Its colors change with hearts unknown.When peace returns, it fades from sight.A feather left, still holding light...

It was short, and yet it spoke volumes about the bird’s entire lifespan.

”Unfortunately, you should also hold off on selling this collection or some of its items.” The Titan reminded, ”Azhukar might be collecting them for the love of the game, but his ego wouldn’t allow him to keep it hidden.”

”True.”

Levi nodded in agreement and left the storage to go check the Experimental Lab... to be honest, he had yet to decide whether he wanted to sell the collection or not.

The amount of effort, resources, and time spent on it was simply too much to just put a price tag on it. Levi knew that if he was going to sell it, he was going to sell everything to keep the collection’s value on the high end... Once he made up his mind, he didn’t want to regret it.

But for now, he went to check on the lab.

After pushing the door open, he was greeted with a clean, well-spaced lab... the air smelled of herbs, metal, and something faintly sweet. The room was dim, lit by warm orange crystal lamps. Though it didn’t have any machines that he was familiar with.

There were three tables situated in a triangle formation... they were carrying vials, alchemy-based glassware, and open books filled with ancient IIthorien, left wide open. The unused glass tubes, flasks, and other pieces of equipment were placed on shelves resting on the walls.

A circular rocky platform was situated in the center of the triangle formation... it resembled a summoning altar with its peculiar and mesmerizing IIthorien inscriptions on it.

A bronze cauldron, sealed shut, was on top of it, still looking clean and pristine, like it wasn’t left here to rot with the rest of the items for eons.

”A decent Alchemy Lab... Azhukar must have been a private Alchemist who researched his own evolutionary path to succeed in the Glorious Evolution.” Ash’Kral praised with a head nod.

”I can tell...”

Levi agreed, flipping some pages of the open books... although the language was ancient IIthorien, Levi still had no clue what the hell he was reading.

Nothing made sense... it was like a literature student reading an advanced math problem. His Brain wasn’t braining.

Levi scratched his head in confusion as he asked, ”Ash’Kral... you understand any of this? I know you’re an Array Grandmaster, but what about alchemy? Are you just as good?”

”What do you think?” Ash’Kral smirked faintly, not bothering to hide his prideful smugness.

”Good, teach me.”

”...”