More and more time passed by, and Zelos slowly turned into what could almost be called an avid adventurer, as he now had his eagles constantly watching over the entirety of Midgard, with him using their vision to search for more trolls so that he could harvest their essence.
From the very beginning, Zelos had set himself a clear goal, which was to collect twenty essences for each of the different elements, because he had a project in mind that required such a collection.
After he had made enough progress, Zelos then began the actual construction of what he had envisioned. The idea was to build an orb that would act as a magical core, and for this purpose, he created not just one, but five separate cores. Each core was made entirely from pure mana, which Zelos carefully condensed and stabilized before adding anything else.
After that, he began refining and combining the essence he acquired from the trolls during his hunts. Day after day, he added more to the orbs, slowly layering them until he reached his requirement of twenty for each.
The first orb to be completed was the Fire orb, as fire trolls were the most abundant across Midgard, and their essence was much easier to obtain compared to the other elements. The second one was the Earth orb, which took him almost six months before it was finished, a little longer than the Fire orb, which had been done two months earlier.
The third was the Lightning orb, which required seven months of steady gathering and careful refinement before it was stable. After that came the Wind orb, which took about eight months, as the element was less common and harder to purify. The one that tested Zelos' patience the most was the Water orb, as water essence was extremely rare to find in its pure form.
Most of what he encountered was naturally ice elemental essence, not true water, and this forced him to search much longer than expected. In the end, it took him over one and a half years before he finally managed to complete the twenty pieces necessary to finish the Water orb.
During all this time spent hunting for essence, Zelos' skills in crafting improved more and more. He had his eagles secretly observe the two greatest craftsmen in Midgard, Brok and Sindri, while they worked in their forge. Through their eyes, Zelos carefully studied the movements of their hands, the way they tempered materials, and the subtle details that set their craftsmanship apart.
Whether the two brothers were unaware that they were being watched, or whether they did know and simply did not care, Zelos could not be sure. It might have been that they believed only they themselves could accomplish what they were doing, regardless of who observed them.
Even with all his time spent on gathering and crafting, Zelos did not neglect his training. He continued sparring with Kratos on a daily basis, still using his signature wooden sword, which by now had almost become a natural extension of his arm.
His magical development also did not stall, as he recreated several spells he remembered from his past life. One of them was the Zoltraak spell, a highly concentrated shot of mana that he combined with homing and piercing properties, increasing both its accuracy and its lethality far beyond ordinary projectiles.
In addition to this, Zelos also dedicated effort to reconstructing various plant-based spells, something he remembered from the Black Clover anime. Among these, he even managed to develop healing magic that was directly associated with plant manipulation.
When he noticed that Faye's body was gradually beginning to weaken, he offered to use the healing magic to help her. However, Faye refused his offer. She seemed to have already accepted her fate, and she did not even attempt to hide the fact that she had long since resigned herself to dying one day soon.
"Why, Mother?" Zelos asked softly, his voice carrying more curiosity than fear, for he wanted to understand what was truly going through his mother's mind. Faye then turned her gaze toward him and smiled, a smile so calm and gentle that it seemed to wash away the tension building inside him, giving him a small moment of peace in his restless state of mind.
"Death is not something to be afraid of, Zelos. It is simply a natural part of life," Faye explained, her tone steady and warm, as though she had already made peace with her own fate. "We may try to delay the inevitable, or we may choose to accept it. But no matter what we do, it will come. Always remember this: the culmination of love is grief. And yet, we love despite that inevitability. We open our hearts knowing one day they will ache. To grieve deeply means to have loved fully. So, open your heart to the world as you have opened it to me, and you will discover every reason to keep living in it. For me, it has been a blessing beyond measure to have three beautiful boys who love me so much that they would grieve when I am gone."
Her words, though meant to comfort, carried with them the weight of an unavoidable truth. Still, she embraced Zelos tenderly, wrapping him in a hug that conveyed the depth of her love, and Zelos found himself returning the embrace with equal warmth. For him, the moment was more than simple comfort.
In his previous life, in that other world he once came from, he had never known the love of parents. He had lived without ever experiencing what it meant to be cared for as a son. But here, in this life, he had found it. And yet, the cruel twist of fate was that one of those bonds he treasured would be far too short-lived.
Because of Faye's condition and her quiet acceptance of it, Kratos began staying at home more often, as though silently acknowledging what was happening even if he did not speak of it aloud. The change was subtle, but it was there — Kratos' presence became more constant, a rare thing in itself. In response, Zelos gradually took on the role of providing for the family, taking responsibility for the hunts and the gathering of food. Though he was still young, both his strength and his talents had already earned their trust.
To aid him in this new duty, Faye crafted and gave him a bow of his own. It was similar in design to the one she would later pass down to Atreus, yet this bow was not a mere replica. Along its body, Faye had carefully engraved his name, a mark that made it clear this weapon was uniquely his, a gift meant only for him. For Zelos, the bow was more than just a tool for hunting — it was a reminder of his mother's love, and of the responsibilities he had to shoulder for the sake of his family.
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While quietly accepting what would eventually be inevitable, Zelos turned his attention back to the project that had occupied his mind for so long — the five elemental orbs. Each orb contained within it twenty essences harvested from trolls of their respective elements.
Fire, earth, lightning, wind, and water — all gathered through years of patient hunting and refinement. Zelos carefully purified each essence and enhanced it further with his own magic, weaving them into a structure that was not only stable but capable of growth.
When the cores were finally complete, Zelos went a step further. He did not simply leave them as raw containers of power. Instead, he breathed into each of them a simple form of consciousness, an artificial awareness bound entirely to his will. They were not beings with personalities or independent thought, but rather extensions of himself — constructs that existed to obey his commands without hesitation.
Standing before the floating orbs, Zelos gave his first order. "Seek out the primordial places of your respective elements. Absorb the primordial essence that lies hidden there. Then return to me after five years," he commanded, his tone calm but resolute.
At once, the orbs responded, their forms glowing faintly with their elemental lights before they scattered into the skies, each soaring in a different direction across the vastness of Midgard and beyond. Zelos watched them disappear from sight, knowing that this was only the beginning of their journey.
His true goal was not simply to collect power but to create five creatures, each born from primordial essence itself. With such beings at his side, creatures tied directly to the raw forces of creation, Zelos would not only gain allies of immense strength but also permanent access to primordial elements, an advantage that could shape his path for years to come.