The next day, night.
In the Cangtian Minor World, atop the Divine Peak.
"Wisdom Lord-sama… is this okay?"
"Mmm~ not quite enough yet."
"Ugh~ but Beryl's hand is about to go numb from soreness…"
"Hang in there a bit longer. You're almost there."
"T-Then… okay. Wisdom Lord-sama won't lie to me, right?"
"Of course I won't."
"…"
Little Beryl wore a look of intense seriousness.
Her hands didn't stop for even a second—she kept shaking and tracing, over and over.
Taro watched her with clear satisfaction, a faint smile on his face.
"Just a tiny bit more. Keep it up, Beryl."
"Mm-hm!"
Sensing the fluctuations as well, Beryl became even more focused.
A moment later, both of their eyes lit up at the same time.
Literally—lit up.
Under Beryl's careful tracing, an azure magic array fully formed, complete at last.
Clap clap clap~
Taro lifted a hand and applauded gently. "Congratulations, Beryl. You succeeded."
"Ehehe~"
Beryl scratched her head, a little embarrassed.
"If it weren't for Wisdom Lord-sama, I probably couldn't have done it."
"But don't worry— I'll practice seriously."
She really was diligent.
It was rare for Wisdom Lord-sama to teach her personally. If she didn't take it seriously, where would her conscience be?
She was Wisdom Lord-sama's very first familiar.
No matter what, she couldn't afford to be mediocre.
Was Beryl mediocre?
Of course not.
"Beryl." Taro smiled. "You've already mastered the first step of casting Super-Tier Magic."
"Next, as long as you engrave it into your mind—so that the moment you think it, the array forms—you can move on to the next step."
As an extra spell tier exclusive to the player in the game, Super-Tier Magic's value didn't need explaining.
Even if the most basic Super-Tier spells no longer counted as "powerful" to him…
That didn't stop Taro from researching it.
Today's lesson was exactly that.
He wanted to dismantle Super-Tier Magic—take it apart, split it into components—so he could achieve the goal of: casting it easily even without relying on game rules.
And clearly, the research was going very well.
Under the game's settings, beings like Summons, Servants, and Familiars had absolutely no way to learn Super-Tier Magic.
And yet…
Beryl succeeded.
For now, it wasn't clear whether that was because he was special, or because Beryl was special.
That would need verification too.
Granted, she'd only completed the first step.
But it was precisely that first step that was priceless.
From 0 to 1 was always the hardest breakthrough.
Once the first step was proven possible, the rest was "just" attempts and verification.
"Beryl will definitely work hard~!"
"I absolutely won't disappoint Wisdom Lord-sama's expectations!!!"
After receiving praise from Wisdom Lord-sama, Beryl was so happy she nearly jumped into the air.
Her hand didn't feel sore anymore.
She wasn't tired anymore, either.
She even wanted to do it all over again—
"Too much is as bad as too little~"
Taro reached out and lightly tapped her little forehead.
"No matter what you do, remember to balance work and rest."
"We're not short on time. Take it slowly."
Beryl was currently his only familiar.
He had to protect her properly.
The first one… was always special.
"Rest well today."
"And remember to keep an eye on Zanmalan."
"If there's any new information, notify me anytime with information magic."
"Mm-hm! Beryl understands!"
Beryl nodded hard, then turned and flew toward the central region of the Divine Peak—toward Zanmalan's territory.
She was an individual personally awakened by Wisdom Lord-sama.
She had a name personally bestowed by him.
She was his first familiar.
As for the individuals that Zanmalan would nurture next…
They wouldn't get that kind of treatment, or that kind of honor.
Hm~ hmhm~ hmhmhm~
"…"
Watching Beryl hum some unknown tune as she drifted away at an unhurried pace, Taro couldn't help smiling.
In the end, she was still just a child—born less than half a year ago.
She always tried to act mature, but her childish temperament couldn't be hidden.
All it took was a little praise, a few fruits as treats, teaching her something new, or even a head-pat—and she'd be happy all day.
"Carefree isn't so bad."
Taro turned his head. A door opened.
Then he stepped through.
This was the place where he stored Nibelung's skeletal remains.
It had been a long time since he'd come here. The Abyssal power rooted within the bones had already begun to spread again.
But…
This time, Taro didn't purify it.
He simply lifted a foot and stepped forward—into the range covered by the purple mist.
A living presence arriving caused the entire purple haze to surge violently.
"So it's the 'living must perish' rule…"
Taro watched the purple fog coil around him, constantly trying to invade his body.
He raised his hand slowly.
A pitch-black "droplet," as dark as ink, surfaced in his palm.
This thing was something he'd seized by force—using the Void as a bridge, leveraging the power of a world-class item—to rip it out of the black tide in the endless deep sky.
The instant the ink-black droplet appeared, the purple mist—symbol of Abyssal power—seemed to find its source.
It poured into the black droplet like it had gone mad.
In the blink of an eye, the purple haze filling the space vanished completely.
And then—thread by thread—fresh mist seeped out again from Nibelung's remains, drifting toward the ink-black droplet in Taro's hand.
"…Want me to give you a hand?"
Seeing this, Taro's lips curled into a faint smile.
He poured magic power into the droplet as if it cost nothing.
Buzz~
A humming vibration echoed.
From within Nibelung's remains, wave after wave of Abyssal power burst outward.
And the black droplet accepted everything without refusal, swallowing the incoming Abyssal force whole.
Under Taro's gaze, the ink-black droplet gradually began to turn purple.
He didn't know how long it took.
Eventually, no more purple fog rose from Nibelung's remains.
The "droplet" in Taro's hand had transformed into a many-faceted diamond crystal that radiated a deep purple glow.
And it seemed to have lost any distinction between "illusory" and "real."
"…"
To be honest.
The shape of this crystal gave Taro a brief, uncomfortable sense of déjà vu.
Before appraising it, it really did startle him.
"An Abyssal Will Crystal?"
"By controlling this, you can obtain part of the authority of the Black Tide?"
Taro stared at the appraisal information and shook his head, half speechless.
No, seriously—didn't they just rename it?
"Honestly, you're something else, old Nibelung."
"Forcefully harnessing a manifestation of Abyssal will and making it your own… tsk. Phanes didn't get injured for nothing."
Taro closed his hand lightly, then lifted his head to look at the massive dragon corpse in front of him—Nibelung's body.
Truthfully, if Phanes hadn't barged in…
Nibelung absolutely could have led Teyvat's dragons into the deep sky.
As Teyvat's only king, to dragonkind, Nibelung was undoubtedly great.
But unfortunately…
There were no "what ifs."
What happened, happened.
Unless you were powerful enough to twist the timeline at will.
(End of Chapter)
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