‘I was right…there is still the trace of that energy that Hollowstar uses,’ Almond thought as he deeply inspected Krala’s soul. ‘There’s a minor difference, but the impact of that difference is big.’
‘If Hollowstar belongs to a force whose base is in the Grimverse, and they wreak havoc here, they must be enemies with this Grimworld Tree’s owner.’
‘And considering how Grimworld Tree used that energy, this energy must be from Grimverse. They are using a higher, stronger energy to do things here.’
‘Hollowstar uses it to corrupt monsters, turning them into Griminions, and even create abominations that can break Grimworld Tree’s laws.’
Almond internally sighed. ‘Yeah, I need to meet with that mysterious being again and get some solid answers.’
Even though Grimworld Tree turned out to be his greatest enemy, that didn’t mean he would side with Hollowstar who arbitrarily spread destruction as a means to their end.
‘I also can’t reveal my findings to others or Grimworld Tree will eliminate me. Seven people before me failed and I am the last chance.’
“Alright, I’m done. Since you have complete freedom of your mind and will, how about you check out the planet and things we have? Make improvements and give ideas if you get any.”
“Sounds good,” Krala nodded with a smile.
Almond also informed Astra and Regalons about the new powerhouses, but he also told Krala to introduce himself when he meets with people to make it easy.
“Now, let’s check this out,” Almond took out a wish stone.
He had two while Lily had only one. So it was better he checked one out first.
“Hmm, do I get a new Intent or make an Element reach a higher rank?” Almond rubbed his chin.
“Your Spiral Edge Intent has reached the level of Paragon-rank, right?” Lily asked.
“Yep,” Almond nodded. “My movements and the highest speed are achieved thanks to Spiral Edge, Space element is like a support asset when it comes to movement.”
“Well, we know that Intents and Elements are equally important and variant elements are basic elements that have combined with an intent, so…how about you make your Space element a variant by learning a suitable intent from a dimension of a space-variant?”
“Hmmm, so an Intent that I can use separately, but can also combine with space to make a proper Space variant, eh? Yeah, that sounds good,” Almond nodded before he wryly smiled. “Now I just need to think and imagine something suitable to tell Wish Stone.”
“Yeah, we have to brainstorm for that.”
Almond looked at his elemental chart thoughtfully. ‘Golden Haze and Vibrant Wave…’
—> Golden Haze Lightning (Transcendent-rank)
—> Space (Transcendent-rank)
—> Lumeir (Mythical-rank)
—> Wind (Mythical-rank)
—> Light (Mythical-rank)
—> Sand of Vibrant Wave (Mythical-rank)
“I’ve been thinking about getting an Intent related to Oscillation,” Almond said. “Oscillation means moving back and forth, switching between two things, which can be anything for us.”
“You want just Oscillation or there’s another word?” Lily raised her eyebrows. “Simply Oscillation can be broad.
“But if I add a word for precision, I would get more out of it for specific actions,” Almond said.
“Yeah, you have to choose one,” Lily nodded, her expression thoughtful. “Adding a word would be better, to be honest. Like…Oscillation Shred. This is already better than simply Oscillation with the possibilities.”
“How about…Oscillation Echo?” Almond’s eyes flickered as he imagined and explored this. “Alright, I’ve decided. The potential that Oscillation Echo can bring out in my combat power will be monstrous.”
Grabbing the Wish Stone tightly, Almond infused his soul energy in it and relayed his wish.
“I want to enter into a dimension where I can learn a variant of Space element related to the intent of Oscillation Echo I’ve envisioned to the Ascent-rank.”
Lily and Almond looked at the stone as it glowed and soon melted into a streaming liquid that turned into a tattoo on the back of his back.
“Eh? If it works like Elemental imprints, it’s awesome,” Lily’s eyes shone.
Elemental Imprints disappeared once they reached Mythical-rank in their respective chosen elements, but that was one of the best resources to get strong since they could enter a dimension whenever they wanted to increase their understanding of a chosen element.
“It…indeed works like Elemental Imprints,” Almond grinned as he got the information.
“Wonderful!” Lily took out her Wish Stone and grinned. “Alright, I’ll also think of something and use it now. I also want an Intent that can improve me as well as turn my Blood element into a variant.”
“Blood variant…” Almond rubbed his chin as his expression turned thoughtful. “Lily, your Parade of Dreadspire Kingdom is your originally developed conceptual power like my Riftveil Grimblade. We are the creators and source of it.”
“It has Blood and Darkness main power, but also has powers of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind, which are kind of variants that focus in debuffs—the Dreadspire Elementals.”
“What if you transform Dreadspire Elementals into Dreadspire Phantoms?”
“Or Dreadspire Sentinals?”
Lily blinked, her eyes sparkling, “You mean I can already absorb the blood of others, so why not make creatures of debuff power based on the blood of my targets PLUS adding a spirit’s power?!”
Almond grinned.
“That’s a freaking awesome idea, darling!”
“We need to think of an Intent that can make it possible,” Almond nodded.
Lily rubbed her temples, wanting to come up with it herself. “Debuffs invoking from absorbed blood, enchanted by spirits…”
Lily’s Sanguine Dread Pool of her Parade of Dreadspire King ability tree was big enough to store a large amount of enchanted blood, which she uses to fuel her moves flexibly.
Whatever blood she bleeds of target and absorbs is turned into enchanted blood, stored within the Sanguine Dread Pool.
If she made her Blood element a variant and also learned an Intent to allow her to shape flexible summons like current Dreadspire Elementals, she would get way stronger!
Unlike Almond’s Spirit Lords, Lily’s Dreadspirel Elementals were like ghosts. They could pop out of even a single drop of blood and attack, inflicting debuff and damage.
Sure, they were not individually as powerful as Spirit Lords. Both were completely and fundamentally different, but Lily’s Dreadspire Elementals directly elevated her combat power.
So if she created a unique, and more powerful version of her type of summons for more debuffs…
“I got it!” Lily exclaimed, her eyes bright. “But I have two options.”
“Oh?” Almond blinked.
“First, Dreadblood Covenant.”
“Second, Sanguinox Eidolon.”
“Wait,” Lily’s eyes suddenly sparkled. “Dreadblood Eidolon is perfect!”
“Eidolon, eh? Yeah, that’s clever,” Almond grinned. “I honestly think this intent is going to pair crazily good with you. Dreadblood Eidolon it is.”
Without further ado, Lily told her wish to the Wish Stone after infusing her soul energy and soon, it turned into a tattoo on the back of her hand.
“But for now, we need to reach the peak of Immortal-rank,” Lily smiled. “Let’s prioritize it first. The other Regalons already went back to the Academy to grind.”
“Yep. Let’s go. Gezero Dynasty will contact us in a few days once they’ve settled down from the tide’s aftermath.”
Lily grabbed Almond’s hand before Almond initiated the long-distance teleport, directly arriving at the Academy’s main outside ground, hundreds of cosmos away.
Almond’s people could just use his portals and return to the academy instead of booking a route using the academy ID card and waiting for a cosmic train of the Academy to pick them up.