Oblivious to the passing of time, Emery gradually roused out of the dark abyss as he opened his eyes. The moment his consciousness awakened, he was immediately hit by a strong sensation of dizziness that nearly made him want to embrace the senseless realm again. Fortunately, he quickly recalled what he was doing before falling unconscious.
Emery quickly sat down in a cross-legged position and willed his spiritual sense to delve into his body. He wanted to check the condition of his core, as that was the most important matter at the moment.
While his senses blazing through his entire body, Emery opened his eyes and turned his head around.
"Killgragah, how long did I pass out for..? What just happened?"
Killgragah didn't immediately answer his question. In fact, Emery could see that the dragon was looking straight at him, but seemingly ignoring him as well. The other party's silence caused anxiety to rise in his heart.
Thinking that his words weren't loud enough, Emery repeated his question. "What actually happened, Killgragah? tell me!"
Finally, a faint growl could be heard as Killgragah opened his massive mouth.
"You can not complete your breakthrough to Rank 9 yet."
Emery was stunned by the unanticipated revelation.
"What did I do wrong? Tell me, and I will try again!"
Killgragah once again growled, the dragon said the next words with annoyance
"The problem lies in that tiny seed of yours! I didn't think it could create this much trouble!"
Upon hearing that, Emery immediately checked his body again and inhaled a deep, long breath. Then, he was puzzled. It looked like nothing was wrong with him. Everything appeared to be still the same as before. Other than his now completely filled dark core, Emery could still perceive his three elements and the seed was still there, lying peacefully beside the dark core.
"Killgragah, do you really don't know what seed this is?"
It was apparent that Killgragah heard his question, as nothing escaped his surveillance in the Khaos space. However, it deliberately pretended to not hear it and even ignored him. Seeing that, Emery could only release a long, helpless sigh.
After knowing and interacting with the dragon this long, Emery had instinctively known that it would certainly never admit that there was something it didn't know about. The pride that it had basically prevented it from doing so.
Then suddenly, it looked like Killgragah managed to think of something as its massive figure moved closer to Emery.
"I can think of two possible ways to solve your problem." said Killgragah in a serious tone while staring straight at Emery.
A jubilant expression swiftly appeared on Emery's face when he heard that. He nodded his head rapidly and said, "Please, O Supreme Being! Please graciously bestow your knowledge onto me!"
"The first method is I can use my Soul Seek ability and completely destroy that seed for you.." said Killgragah when it suddenly stopped itself and muttered, "No, no, no. Never mind. This method has a great chance to destroy your dark core as well. And we can't have that, can we?"
A resigned look was briefly seen on Emery's face when he heard the first part of Killgragah's words. It also quickly went away when he heard the dragon canceled its own idea.
"Then, what about the second method?"
Emery's question brought Killgragah out of its mumbling as it returned its attention on him.
"The other method is by using my Hellflame. Its destructiveness could hurt your body enough to dissipate the tiny seed. In addition, there's a high enough chance for you to survive. As with your current level of situation, there's a 30% chance of you surviving; this is the better way."
Emery could only be dumbfounded when he heard the so-called better way. He wanted to think that the dragon was joking, but he himself knew it certainly was not. There was no way he would be willing to give up the tiny seed, which allowed him to access his other elements, albeit partially. Therefore, he quickly opened his mouth before the dragon made a decision for him.
"Wait! There is another alternative" said Emery, making Killgragah turn to him. "I'm sure the one who gave me the seed knows how to remove it. Therefore, let me ask her first before we further discuss this again. Is that acceptable, supreme being?"
Killgragah was stunned for a moment before a look of realization appeared on its face. "Ah, yes. That's one way.. Alright, quickly return here after you deal with it."
Hearing the dragon's affirmation, Emery swiftly casted [Spatial Gate] and left the Khaos space. He knew that it was better to get away until the dragon calmed down when it became unstable like this.
It seemed Emery had to first find a way to deal with the seed in his body before he could continue with his cultivation. He really hoped he could go and ask the High Priestess as she was the one who gave the seed to him. But unfortunately, she had instructed him to only come to her when the seed had fully bloomed.
Thus, a question appeared in Emery's mind.
Would he really have to patiently cultivate with [Nature Grasp] until it bloomed?
It was at times like this that Emery really wished he was in the academy. He didn't have to worry about fumbling through the unknown because there must be some information about the mysterious seed somewhere.
With how [Nature Grasp] had barely brought any changes to the seed so far, Emery could already envision his future of relentlessly cultivating - all in order to fully bloom it. Now, he could only hope that the endeavor wouldn't take more than a year and a half because by that time, he would have to leave Earth and return to the Magic Academy.
Putting the thoughts to the back of his mind, Emery planned to return to his estate before he continued his training as it had been three weeks since he entered the Khaos space. He swiftly casted [Spatial Gate] and his figure vanished from where he previously stood.
---
Seconds later, Emery had arrived in front of his estate at Venta Town. He immediately walked inside and made his way to the bathroom. After taking a bath, he gave himself a decent meal before visiting Luna in her place.
He had a casual conversation with Luna, asking how she had been doing and so on. While he was at it, Emery also asked her if there was any news about Gwen, which she seemed to have.
It appeared that Arthur and Gwen did return to Venta Town last week, but they immediately set off again a day later.
"Emery, they are going over to Camelot, there was a certain plan for an important gathering, she wishes you to come see her there"
It looked like Emery did take longer than he promised.
Emery did contemplate the possibility to go and see her in Camelot. However, he just couldn't keep his mind off the seed in his body.
Then, he made his decision.
Emery planned to try to find an audience with the High Priestess first before considering going to Camelot. It had been months since he last saw the high priestess and even if he was to be rejected, at his current state, he really needed to ask.
Therefore, after bidding farewell to Luna, Emery quickly made a [Spatial Gate] and headed towards Fey village.
When he arrived, he was surprised to see the red-haired girl coming out of the shrine. Her face looked even more devastated than the last time he saw her.
"Morgana? What happened?! Why are you.."
The red-haired girl looked directly at him, her eyes glittering while tears kept falling down her face..
"This is all your fault! I wish you never came here!"