The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 397: Chapter 392 — Space

’These crystals...’ Zephyrion stared at the crystal beneath his palm, watching as its white surface slowly turned purple. ’They’re absorbing my metal essence.’

There was a long silence. Then, Demorian burst into excited laughter.

”Jackpot! Fucking jackpot! Hahaha! Oh, I’ve prayed for this day! Thank the irons, it’s finally here! This is good! This is fucking beautiful!”

Emerging from the rod, Demorian immediately broke into a ridiculous dance. Wearing nothing but a loincloth, with his snake dangling freely beneath it, the sight was disgusting, to say the least. Zephyrion scrunched up his face in distaste.

”What the hell are you so happy about?”

The ancestor didn’t even bother to stop dancing.

”Are you blind, protégé!? A material that can absorb metal essence! Do you have any idea what this means!? We’ve hit the fucking jackpot! We’re rich!”

Zephyrion frowned. ”I’m heir to the Calderalth House. Since when have we been poor?”

”Yeah, yeah, I know, you spoiled brat.” Demorian finally stopped dancing and waved him off dismissively. ”But here’s the thing, protégé. You’ve got daddy issues. And now that you’ve suddenly started getting in touch with your feelings, it’s only a matter of time before you and daddy have some big falling-out and he kicks your ass out. And then what? We’ll be dirt poor! Penniless! Even a harlot wouldn’t look twice at us!”

Demorian suddenly broke into a triumphant grin.

”But now... now we’ve got money! We can do whatever the hell we want! You can piss daddy off all you like, and I won’t have to worry about us starving on the streets!”

Zephyrion slowly narrowed his eyes. ”I’m not angry at my f—Lord Calderalth.”

Demorian chuckled. ”Pfft, yeah, right. You can’t even bring yourself to call the man father, but sure, you two are getting along wonderfully.”

”I addressed him by his title. It’s a sign of respect.”

”Haa, whatever helps you sleep at night, protégé.” Demorian shook his head with a knowing smile. ”Honestly, your entire family is one big tangled mess. That uncle of yours seems to be the only one you don’t have some complicated history with. At this rate, once you’re done sorting things out with Ingrid, you’ll probably move on to the next one on the list. Daddy.”

”They’re not the same.” Zephyrion’s eyes grew cold. ”Don’t compare her to him.”

If anything, Ingrid had also been a victim of their father’s neglect, just as he and his mother had been abandoned by the man. What Lord Calderalth had done to them wasn’t something that could simply be settled with a conversation.

Demorian noticed the look on his face and sighed. ”Haa, protégé, you really need to learn to loosen up. You keep bottling everything up like this, and one day, it’s all going to blow up in your face. And trust me, it won’t be pretty. Besides, how the hell are you supposed to know what’s going on in your father’s head if you won’t even talk to him? For all you know, the old bastard might have his reasons. If you keep—”

”That’s enough.”

Zephyrion turned away, making it clear that he had no intention of continuing the conversation. Demorian watched him for a moment before shaking his head with a wry smile.

”Well, what do I know? I’m only a centuries-old genius who’s seen more of the world than you’ve had hot meals. But sure, don’t listen to me.”

When Zephyrion continued ignoring him, Demorian could only sigh and give up, reluctantly retreating into his rod.

Zephyrion took a few slow breaths to calm himself, pushing aside the lingering irritation. Demorian was simply trying to get on his nerves, as he’d always done, and he had no intention of letting the ancestor succeed. Once he’d regained his composure, he turned his attention back to the crystals.

’They can absorb metal essence...’

In a way, the unusual hardness of the pillars above finally made sense.

Still, Demorian was right about one thing. These crystals were indeed incredibly valuable. There were countless objects throughout the world capable of storing WorldPulse, ranging from certain metals to rare minerals and relics. However, Zephyrion had never heard of anything capable of specifically storing elemental essence.

Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean such materials didn’t exist. Given the sheer size of the world, the numerous empires and organizations, and the countless secrets they kept, it was entirely possible that something similar had already been discovered. However, the fact that he’d never heard of such a material suggested that it was far from common, which only made its potential value even greater.

And beyond their monetary value, Zephyrion was even more intrigued by the possibilities these crystals presented for his fighting style. There were countless ways he could potentially make use of them, especially when he considered his Titan Armor...

’Hold on...’

Zephyrion suddenly narrowed his eyes as a thought occurred to him. Yes, the crystal had absorbed his metal essence, but what if that was simply because metal was the element he’d been using at the time?

Zephyrion decided to test his theory and approached another untouched crystal, this time focusing on channeling his air essence into it. A moment later, he watched as its clear surface gradually took on a milky grey hue. A smile slowly spread across his face.

’Well, I’ll be damned...’

He tried another, this time using fire essence, and watched as the crystal turned a brilliant orange. Through their connection, he could practically feel Demorian jumping around in excitement.

Truthfully, this was even better than he’d imagined. These crystals weren’t limited to storing metal essence. They could absorb all elemental essences!

’Now, let’s see what else you can do.’

He approached another clear crystal and placed his palm against it, intending to test the last element, blood. However, the moment he made contact, he suddenly felt a violent tug at his essence. Startled, Zephyrion immediately yanked his hand back and stared at the crystal warily.

The suction had been terrifyingly powerful, almost as though the crystal was trying to drain every last shred of essence from his body.

Even Demorian had gone unusually quiet. After a moment, the ancestor spoke cautiously.

’Hmm... could be the size, protégé. Look at the others. This one’s practically a giant.’

Indeed, most of the crystals embedded in the wall were roughly the size of three footballs stacked together, whereas this particular one was at least twice as large. However, Zephyrion shook his head.

’No. There’s something else going on here.’

Although the crystal was considerably larger than the others, the force he’d felt was far too powerful to be explained by size alone. If anything, the suction had been at least a hundred times stronger, and that was despite the fact that the crystal hadn’t even begun changing color.

Something was definitely unusual about it.

’Let’s find out what’s behind it. Who knows? There might be even more crystals.’

Demorian certainly had no objections to that. More crystals meant more money, and as far as he was concerned, there was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Zephyrion took a step back, drew his fist behind him, and punched.

BAM!

Crystal fragments scattered like bullets as his fist smashed into the wall. He immediately felt that violent pull at his essence again, but this time, he ignored it and continued striking, steadily carving a deepening hole through the crystal-covered surface.

After several more blows, his fist finally smashed through the remaining wall and pierced into empty air.

By then, he’d created an opening roughly as tall as his torso and wide enough for two people of his size to stand side by side. A brilliant white light immediately poured through the opening, illuminating his face.

Squinting against the light, Zephyrion carefully stepped through the opening and emerged on the other side. For a moment, he stood completely still, stunned by the sight before him.

’Just as I thought...’