He moved swiftly through the hallways.
The place was too big for its own good.
It was like a labyrinth that seemed determined to lose anyone who dared to enter it.
He had to ask Velkaria for help.
“Where is the main hall where we met Bael?” he asked.
‘Turn left here, then go straight and take the third right, and…’
Velkaria’s voice echoed in his mind.
He followed Velkaria’s words.
It took him a few dozen minutes to reach the location.
The grand hall stood before him.
Its massive double doors were slightly ajar.
The hall was empty.
“Where did he go?” Neo muttered as he looked around.
His brows furrowed in irritation.
It seemed Bael had no intention of meeting him.
‘Might as well try to meet the other guy who is here,’ he thought.
“Velkaria, where is the World Core?” he asked.
‘Above you,’ Velkaria replied.
Neo raised his head.
All he saw was the massive chandelier.
Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire
Its crystal ornaments shimmered like frozen stars.
‘There is a sub-space there. The World Core is inside it.’
“I see.”
Neo expanded his senses.
He probed the space above him, searching for the hidden sub-space.
He tried to locate the sub-space but was unsuccessful.
“I know you can hear me. Come out,” Neo called out to Earth’s World Core.
There was no response.
His lips twitched in irritation.
“Fucker, come out,” he repeated.
Silence.
Neo clicked his tongue.
As much as he wanted to meet the World Core, it didn’t look like the World Core wanted to do the same.
“These fuckers,” he muttered under his breath as he massaged his brows.
Neo clicked his tongue again and returned to his bedchamber.
He sat cross-legged on the bed.
‘What are you doing?’ Velkaria’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Trying to create a World Core,” Neo replied as he closed his eyes.
‘You know how to create a World Core?’ Velkaria’s asked.
“Yeah, my skill told me how to do it,” Neo lied without missing a beat.
‘Huh? You have that kind of skill?’ Velkaria questioned.
Neo didn’t respond.
He closed his eyes and focused inwards.
‘Don’t ignore me, fucker! Hey!’
Neo accessed the information of the Primordial World Core Condensation technique stored inside his mind.
To create a World Core, he needed only one thing: a Sacred Treasure.
The Sacred Treasure would become the foundation of the World Core.
‘The elemental affinities of the Sacred Treasure will determine the elemental affinities of my World Core,’ he thought.
No single world had all elemental affinities.
As an example, Earth didn’t have Void affinity.
It was why no one from Earth was born with Void affinity and why no one from Earth had resistance against the Void element.
‘If I can get a Sacred Treasure that has affinity to all elements, my World Core will be able to give me resistance to all elements, along with Void.’
Neo’s lips curved into a faint, thoughtful smirk.
He already had a high resistance to all elements thanks to Earth’s World Core.
If he added his own World Core on top of that, he would gain a nigh-impenetrable defense.
However, creating a World Core with clashing elements was not easy.
Death and Life.
Darkness and Holy.
Shadow and Light.
Mixing them was nearly impossible.
Neo, deep in thoughts, heard a voice inside his mind.
Neo.
You don’t need to worry.
I’ll handle the balance.
Neo smiled faintly as he recognized Obitus’ voice.
Obitus’ unique ability was ‘Harmonization.’
It allowed two opposites to exist together within him.
Her ability was the reason why Neo, a Dark-type element user, could use healing potions and both Life and Holy elements without consequence.
Almost all Dark-type users avoided healing potions or the Life and Holy elements unless it was a last resort.
While such remedies could heal their injuries, they often left behind internal damage that might become permanent.
At worst, their foundation and Core would be in danger.
Neo had never faced such a problem.
He could use both Life and Death elements with ease.
It was all thanks to Obitus’ unique ability.
‘Even the fact that I am a Heavenbreaker and an Awakener at the same time should’ve been impossible,’ Neo thought.
Awakeners connected to the World Core of a planet.
Heavenbreakers, on the other hand, created their own World Energy and forged their own World Core.
These were fundamentally opposing paths of power.
Either drawing energy from an external source or generating it from oneself.
No one could do both.
But.
Obitus’ unique ability solved the problem.
‘I guess this is why brother kept Obitus for me.’
‘He knew Obitus’ Harmonization ability would allow me to use both Mom and Dad’s elements without tearing myself apart.’
Neo’s smile deepened.
‘Thank you, Obitus.’
He could feel Obitus’ presence shift.
Her emotions fluttered like butterflies in her stomach.
Neo chuckled softly before refocusing.
‘All said and done, Obitus isn’t a complete Sacred Treasure.’
He would have to find a way to turn her into a complete Sacred Treasure.
It was the only way he could attempt to break through from Half-step Ascension to First-step Ascension rank.
‘Maybe I can use other Sacred Treasures?’ Neo thought.
His gaze turned to the status screen.
[Sacred Treasures: Skyfall, ???, Obitus (Incomplete)]
Skyfall, the name of Zeus’ headless corpse, was within his Shadow Space.
He didn’t plan to use Zeus’ corpse as the foundation for his World Core.
Even if he wanted to, Skyfall was weaker than Obitus.
‘Using Skyfall will give my World Core the affinities of Zeus.’
‘I don’t know the exact number of affinities Zeus had, but I doubt it’s more than what Obitus has.’
His gaze then shifted.
‘The second Sacred Treasure is a question mark.’
‘I don’t even know what the fuck this is.’
Neo clicked his tongue.
He could only ignore the second Sacred Treasure.
The only Sacred Treasure he could use—and the one he had planned to use—was Obitus.
He could feel Obitus’ sulking when he thought of using another Sacred Treasure.
Her mood brightened almost instantly when he finalized her as the Sacred Treasure to use.
‘You’re too easy to please, you know that?’ Neo thought with a faint smirk.
Obitus harrumphed in response.
She closed the mental connection.
Neo opened his eyes.
‘You created the World Core?’ Velkaria’s voice rang. ‘Weird, I don’t feel any fluctuation in the energy around you.’
She paused before adding,
‘Isn’t a breakthrough supposed to… you know, come with boom and bam?’
“Boom and bam? Seriously?”
‘What’s wrong with that?’ Velkaria retorted indignantly.
While they bickered, a screen suddenly appeared before Neo’s eyes.
[Come meet me.]
“…?”
Neo frowned.
‘Who are you talking to?’ Velkaria’s asked.
She became quiet when she noticed Neo’s sudden shift in demeanor.
“Who are you?” Neo asked.
[Sphinx]
The single word appeared on the screen.
“…Why are you contacting me?”
[I have a deal for you.]
Neo’s expression remained neutral, though his thoughts raced.
‘Why is Sphinx contacting me?’
‘What does it want with me?’
“What’s the deal?” he asked.
[I will give you three answers if you complete a task for me.]
“That’s quite surprising for you to—”
[How to turn your sword into a complete Sacred Treasure? How to save Elizabeth de Beautfort?]
The questions surprised Neo.
But he kept his calm.
“That’s two questions. What’s the third question that you will answer for me?”
Despite the temptating offer, Neo’s remained expressionless.
‘There’s no way this bastard Sphinx is contacting me for something easy,’ he thought. ‘I need to be careful until I know its goal.’
The screen flickered momentarily before the final words appeared, sending a jolt through Neo’s chest.
[How to find your parents?]
For a moment, Neo’s thoughts froze.
[I will answer all three questions for you.]