Time Twister 86 Pov: Valerie's Day

I sighed, looking outside into the brightly-lit garden. The words of the mysterious figure two nights ago reverberated in my head.

"Child, you don't even know your powers concerning the light element? Do you think, if one commands one of the origin elements, its pair is not used as well? Quite naive. You should just exchange for information relating to master spell formation of your set of elements. I do have that in my database, but there's only 1 of it."

Until now, I haven't decided anything yet. It was a risk for her. According to what she knows, Light and Darkness reign on a higher spectrum than that of the 5-elements, partly thanks to Gold D. Roger's and Therault's papers.

If the mysterious man was right, doesn't that mean that my current elements are not 4, but actually 5 elements: Light, Darkness, Water, Poison, and Fire?

But if he was wrong…I am going to send myself in a path of no return and of regrets. However, for some unexplainable reason, I trust him, and the words he said to him.

Truthfully, though, Xander wasn't lying about her talent in the Light element. Although it wasn't part of an origin element as what Xander had told Valerie, Light and darkness had a rank of half-step of an origin element, and above them would be Yin-yang origin element, which focuses on describing the relations.h.i.+p between opposites.

Yin-yang dominates Light and Darkness, dictating the functions of the two.

Light and Darkness dominates the 5-elements bellow it, dictating the characteristics and functions of each element.

I sighed, looking at the brightly-lit moons above the skies. As it shone down, the scene it has produced in the night was quite picturesque and at the same time, feels fake to me.

"Could this be my inherent sensitivity to the Light element? Haha." I said to myself sardonically, shaking my head.

I should head to sleep for now.

Nighttime quickly faded into the rising sun once again. I opened my eyes, feeling a bit tired.

Truly, I am not a morning person.

I headed downstairs and began to eat some prepared breakfast.

It was quite idyllic and well, a bit boring for me. I yearn a sense of adventure, of thrill.

I headed to the small field in our property and began to practice my skills.

Yes, these skills were the skills written in the books and demonstrated in the videos that Xander gave me when I told him I wanted to learn how to kill effectively and efficiently.

There were quite a lot of ways one could kill their target efficiently with my current primary elements.

One way was, of course, poison. For this, however, I had to train with a magibiopharmacist who has a side job for the military as a poison maker.

The foundation of a poison maker is quite simple: The more you understand your element, the more diverse and potent one's poison can be, and at the same time, the more immune one can be to other's poisons.

It was quite fun training under him who was hired by my father. He gave me quite a lot of different ideas of utilizing the poison, most of which I already know from the reading and learning materials Xander had given me.

In fact, what I needed from him was simple: Crafting poisons and antidotes.

As time pa.s.sed, it was lunchtime, and I bid farewell to my teacher. My next cla.s.s was starting: Killing with the Darkness element.

It's quite a potent element, and many people who specialize in the a.s.sa.s.sination or guarding of high-risk clients have the Darkness element or any of the elements under it.

There was much to learn here, since I had begun to understand the darkness element at a later period, specifically, 1 week ago.

I basically learned how to fight using it from the experiences of these a.s.sa.s.sins + the reading and video materials Xander gave.

The training session was quite normal. It was a reinforcement of basics, with a few variations. I used this opportunity to try out new things, such as robbing the 5 senses using the darkness element, hiding oneself in one's shadow, melding of one's aura, etc. The cla.s.s lasted until dinnertime.

The cla.s.s was quite tiring, leaving me panting and catching for my breath.

I took a relaxing bubble bath, and then ate the served dinner. Afterward, I continued to read the materials and videos that Xander had given me in the privacy of my room, no cameras, no form of recording whatsoever.

After a few minutes of reviewing the materials, I shook my head, unable to continue. The words that the mysterious figure really did strike a chord. Should I change some of my spells to add the so-called light-based element?

Since they're spells to be inscribed in the magic seeds, rank didn't matter much to me originally, but I keep recalling the information Xander told Faykes about spell creation and elemental comprehension: the two were inherently linked to one another.

After several minutes of thinking, I finally decided I would take the advice that the mysterious man gave me.

I immediately called the mysterious figure. No one answered. As I was about to try again, a voice sounded out in one corner of the room. I turned around and saw the shadow-like figure of a man whose facial features were unidentifiable.

"Hush, child. I am here. Have you decided what to do?" the shadow asked.

"Yes," I replied, my voice calm and steady. I then continued,

"I want to change one of my pseudo-spells to a light-based spell from your collection, get a light-based pseudo-spell, change two of my poison, water, and fire-based pseudo spells, as well as gain the information related to my set of elements on spell formation. I'm willing to pay any price you set forth for these two things."

"My, my, having quite an appet.i.te, do we?"

"I can allow this, but for every spell you replace, you owe me an unconditional favor. The information related to your set of elements is the one that comes from the contract between Xander and I."

I mentally calculated it: 7 favors. Unconditional favors. To be accomplished and cleared within a set period.

"I accept these terms. I plan to get 7 spells."

"Ok, then." Immediately, my communicator beeped, and the file arrived in my interface. I opened it and saw the millions of spells for each element.

"You have 2 hours to browse and select your spells. Time has started."

After hearing his words, I began to search for the spells I wanted. First, I eliminated everything below Divine rank, and the spells left were Divine rank and above, roughly thousands of spells for each element. I already knew that the quality and size of one's magic seed dictates the quality of my pseudo-spells. The bigger and more compressed it is, the stronger pseudo-spells I could place.

I spent roughly 30 minutes choosing 2 light spells, [Blinding Lights] which replaced [Pending Darkness], and [Light Sphere Absorption], my last pseudo-spell. Blinding lights had the same effect as Pending Darkness but has a corrosive and purifying nature. It can rob the targets in the area of their 5 senses.

Light sphere absorption, on the other hand, was focused on the creation of light spheres, from the rapid conversion of other elements present in the area, or the elements of the opponent that is under the Yin-yang elements.

I then changed my focus to my fire and water spells, spending roughly 45 minutes.

I selected following spells: [Agave's Inferno], [Aquatic Overture], and a combination of the two elements: [Waters of Avici].

For the Poison-type spells, it took me the remaining time to select the two spells I had my eye on: [Praix's Touch] and a spell combining poison and darkness, [Hydratic Rainstorm].

All these 7 spells were at Divine rank, with the two light spells being Sage ranked. After all, the Verdny clan had produced several cultivators above DemiG.o.d rank, with around 3 of these magicians reaching Sage rank.

After all, it needed to match to the level of my darkness spells, if it really was true that I can control light and darkness elements. I looked up to face the shadow figure, saying,

"Sir, I'm done."

"Hmm? Ok then. What spells have you selected?" he asked. I immediately responded the spell's names and ranks.

"Oh, quite ambitious are we? No worries. Please check and sign the contract." The voice mused, before handing me a contract paper out of nowhere.

Was it invisible, or was it just created? Anyways, I began reading the terms and conditions, and I didn't find anything problematic, except for one part.

"Sir, for the unconditional favors, can you ensure that Xander Cloverfield would not be negatively affected by the favors you request of me? Meaning, he won't ever be negatively targeted for a.s.sa.s.sination or the like."

"Hoh? You shouldn't worry about that, kid. Xander and I… share an explicable bond. The favors I will ask of you will never, ever affect Xander. However, they may affect your friends, family, and the like. Be sure you carefully decide what you want."

When I heard his response, I was silent. I knew that such things, especially knowledge and the benefits of power had an equivalent value requested from the requester.

I didn't plan to cower. I didn't plan to turn back from my promise. I unhesitatingly signed the contract.

The moment it was completed, the same force I felt when Xander and I made a pact appeared, and I closed my eyes and began to focus on Magic meditation.

After 45 minutes, I opened my eyes. My cultivation skill had cycled for 1080 times, a total of 5 rounds, enlarging and compressing my magic seeds. From the size of a mango, it was now the size of a growing watermelon, roughly 4 times its original size.

It was more circular in shape, and there was more surface to write down pseudo-spells at Divine rank or higher.

I took a deep breath and bowed to the shadowy figure. The latter merely chuckled, and said,

"No worries, it's part of the contract. Anyhow, the deal has been completed. The files have been sent to your communicator. If you want more information or guidance, ensure you have the proper amount of Universal notes before calling. Also, stop calling me sir, I'm not that old. Call me by my given name, Homer."

When he finished speaking, a beeping sound rang in my communicator and saw the incoming file. It was encrypted, of course. Another file was sent, it contained the decryption code.

"Thank you, Homer. I hope to meet you again in the future."

"Likewise. See ya." And with that, he disappeared, melting into the walls like he was never there in the first place.

Huh, he left. What an interesting person. I wonder how Xander met him in the first place.

Oh well, time to improve my abilities.

I won't lose to anyone!