Fire Mage

"That spear? He did say it's a valuable artifact." Charles paused, then asked, "Do you want to accompany him?"

Zera was silent for a few seconds before nodding.

"If possible, I'd gladly go with my creator, Master."

"Interesting. Then we'll give Runeth a big surprise." Charles smiled and added, "We'll discuss this later. For now, I need some rest."

Zera returned his smile and bowed before taking the plates and bowls away.

Charles closed his eyes and sank into deep thought.

Reincarnation, huh? Entering the Eternal River of Life isn't simple. I don't know how he managed it last time, but I'm sure he lost much, even his spell models. Even if I send an incarnation with purple flame essence, there's no way it can stop the Eternal River's Mind Fire.

His mind drifted to the Purple Star inside the bead, sparking a strange idea.

If what Azolla said is true, the Purple Star might have consciousness. If I can strike some kind of agreement with it, maybe I could create a spell strong enough to block Mind Fire from entering the soul inside the Eternal River of Flame.

But he knew it was a terrible idea.

I'm certain that being sealed in that bead is no less powerful than the Phoenix itself.

Even thinking of facing such a creature sent chills down his spine.

With a deep sigh, Charles decided to rest for now.

The next day, Charles woke around 8 a.m., freshened up slightly, and called out to Zera.

"Bring out the Eternal Flame Seed spell model," he ordered.

As before, a purplish, gem-like crystal appeared out of thin air, hovering before him.

But just as Charles reached for it, Zera suddenly froze, her gaze fixed on the wooden table.

"What is that, Master? I sense a presence inside that pendant," she asked, voice tense.

Charles was surprised by her words but chuckled softly.

"That's the child I've been raising for a while now. Snake Princess, come out."

At his command, a small dark portal opened above the pendant. A two-meter-long snake slithered out.

"This is...?" Zera blinked in surprise at the snake's form.

"Where did you get this snake, Master?"

"She's a friend from the Dream World," Charles explained. "Back then, she was just a consciousness. Now, she has a proper vessel."

The Snake Princess opened her mouth, whispering in the air as her tongue flicked out.

"Hiss... I couldn't improve in that place. Something blocked my growth." Her feminine voice echoed softly around the room.

Curious, Zera stepped closer to the snake.

"That's because you're walking the path of bloodline." She paused, then asked, "What's your name, Young Lady?"

The Snake Princess tilted her head, confusion flickering in her eyes.

"I don't have one. But this human usually calls me 'Shadow Princess.' Now that I think about it, I saw something like that in the soul I possess. Let me check the memories."

Closing her eyes, she seemed to slip into her Inner World.

Zera turned her gaze to Charles with a questioning look.

"Shouldn't you give her a proper name, Tower Master? Even if she's born from a collection of memories, she deserves a proper name."

Charles scratched the back of his head, a faint smile appearing.

"I thought about it too. How about Belinda?"

Zera considered it briefly, then nodded.

"Hmm, Belinda sounds good."

But Ophira—still with her eyes closed—shook her head gently.

"Ophira Seraphine. That's the name I found in the soul I possess."

"Do you like it?" Charles asked.

She tilted her head again, unsure.

"I don't know."

Zera interjected firmly, "You must not change that name, Master. If it's already engraved on the soul she carries, it is her identity. Even if you give her a new name, it won't be as genuine as the original."

Charles frowned slightly.

"But when I use the [Inspect] skill, I don't see any difference."

"[Inspect] isn't omniscient, Master. It sometimes relies on your knowledge, so its accuracy varies," Zera explained, leaving Charles more puzzled.

"Well, if she accepts that name, she can use it however she wishes," Charles said, giving up on convincing her otherwise.

Ophira then moved slowly closer to Zera and asked softly,

"What is the bloodline pathway? Do you know how I can improve my physical strength?"

Zera scanned her body carefully.

"Your body belongs to the Shadow Basilisk bloodline. To grow stronger, you'll need the bloodline essence of a Rank-2 or higher Shadow Basilisk. Absorbing that essence lets you rank up and improve. Until then, try to avoid using any class skills."

She turned to Charles, seeking permission.

"May I look after this child, Master? She needs to learn about the world too."

Charles considered for a moment.

Hmm, that's a good choice. I'm bad at caring for others, so I'll leave Ophira to the Tower Spirit.

He waved his hand and focused on the purple crystal containing the Mind Fire spell model.

"I won't disappoint you, Master," Zera said, bowing her head as she took Ophira and the pendant with her, then vanished from the room.

Meanwhile, Charles caught the crystal, entered his Inner World alongside it, and soon reappeared before the Mind Fire spell model.

"Let's focus on constructing the spell models now. Hmm, this one contains around 5,000 Mind Fire Essences."

He fixed his attention on the crystal, concentrating on a single Mind Fire Essence.

To his shock, it took over thirteen hours to comprehend just one.

So, comprehending Mind Fire is difficult, huh?

He wasted no time, casting the [Rebirth Domain] spell and activating [Accelerate Thoughts] before resuming comprehension.

For the next seven and a half years, Charles remained in his Inner World, steadily constructing the [Eternal Flame Seed] spell.

By the time he finished, more than four months had passed outside.

But Charles didn't stop there.

He picked up the next spell model—Cleansing Soul Fire—and began constructing it. Fortunately, it took only two months to complete.

Afterward, he started on the Overlord of Domination spell, finishing it after another two months.

Eleven months after returning from the Star Tombs Tower, he had fully constructed all the spell models.

Even more impressive, his comprehension speed now far surpassed any mage's, thanks to his Divine Rank Fire Affinity and Sage's Eye skills.

Next, Charles took out the Crystal Dimension Stone and focused on understanding the Chaos Eye spell.

Instead of retreating to his Inner World, he entered the Crystal Dimension, immersing himself in the study of Chaos Fire Essences.

Though time in the Crystal Dimension passed faster than in his Inner World, progress remained slow.

Like before, he stayed more than four years inside, comprehending only 600 Chaos Fire Essences. Thankfully, only ten days had elapsed outside.

Seizing the opportunity, Charles returned to the Crystal Dimension and spent more than sixteen years there.

Specifically, he spent forty days in total, devoted to absorbing Chaos Fire Essences.

When he finally emerged, he had comprehended 4,300 Chaos Fire Essences, creating four Chaos Fire Laws.

He reappeared in his bedroom and slowly moved toward the bay window.

Activating his [Eye of the Faceless], he scanned twenty possible futures over the next twenty seconds.

"Oh? Chaos Fire shattered the forcefield before even the four fire laws touched it. The spell's speed surpasses any other." Charles nodded inwardly. He decided to focus next on the [Ignis Sanctuary] spell.

He pulled the Golden Badge from his space ring, entered his Inner World, and began comprehending Lawful Fire to strengthen the spell.

Two more months passed in the outside world as he fully upgraded [Ignis Sanctuary].

It had now been about a year and three months since Charles arrived at the Rebirth Tower.

"I've finally comprehended all seven spell models to their fullest," he muttered, checking his progress.

…

[Name: Charles Nightwind

Health Status: Normal

Race: Cloner

Main Class: Rank-6 Fire Mage [Legend Rank – Peak]

Sub-class: Rank-5 Cloner [Pseudo-Legend Rank]

Physical Body Rank: Saint Knight Level

Soul: Demi-God (Mutated+1)

Title: Chaos Maker, Savior, Flame Demon, Fire Angel

Health Points: 1130/1130

Wisdom Points: 0

Attributes:

Strength – 32.0

Dexterity – 32.0

Constitution – 32.0

Wisdom – 954

Charisma – 14

Class spells:

Overlord of Domination (Peak Rank-6, Completed) [3,400 Wicked Fire Essences, 3 Laws]

Chaos Eye (Peak Rank-6, Completed) [4,300 Chaos Fire Essences, 4 Laws]

Rebirth Domain (Rank-6, Completed) [15,400 Rebirth Fire Essences, 15 Laws]

Ignis Sanctuary (Rank-6, Completed) [4,100 Lawful Fire Essences, 4 Laws]

Eternal Flame Seed (Peak Rank-6, Completed) [5,000 Mind Fire Essences, 5 Laws]

Cleansing Soul Fire (Peak Rank-6, Completed) [3,500 Soul Fire Essences, 4 Laws]

False Fire (Unknown) [4,200 False Fire Essences, 4 Laws]

Sub-class skills:

Hand of Wonders – 800 (Rank-5)

Cloning – 626 (Rank-5)

Eye of the Faceless – 1201 (Rank-6)

Unique skills:

Sage's Eye – Casualty Manipulation (Rank 6)

Shadow Stealth – Advanced (Rank-3)

Dark Vision – 50 (Rank-1)

Swordsmanship of Madness – Advanced (Rank-3)

Sharpshooting – 50 (Rank-1)

Accelerate Thoughts – 700 (Rank-5)

Elemental Affinity Level:

Sword – Intermediate

Fire – Divine

Darkness – Genius

Time – Low**

…

Charles stared at the progress and felt deep satisfaction.

"My current goal is to improve my subclass skills and rank up. To enhance cloning, I need to do actual cloning. As for the 'Hand of Wonders,' constant use of the strings should help. Speaking of which, didn't I give the nullify stone to Runeth to craft a weapon?"

At that moment, Zera appeared in the main hall.

"You have a visitor, Tower Master," she said, bowing her head.

"Visitor?" Charles raised his eyebrows.

"Who is it? If it's not important, send them away."