There may also be some inaccuracies, since English is not my native language.
Essentially, TBATE is first translated from English into my native language — and in that process, some details are already altered to make it more understandable for us. Now I'm taking that adapted (and somewhat distorted) version, revising it, rewriting it, and then translating it back into English.
I hope you'll point out any mistakes in the text that I might have missed.
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Lucius Zogratis POV
Eating the aether fruit, my gaze focused on the towering figure as I entered the ensuing battle. Two ascendants were fighting him, and from this distance, they looked more like toothy mice desperately scurrying around a giant orc.
Communicating my thoughts to Arthur, we rushed straight toward the huge guard, leaving craters in the barren ground as I picked up speed. My hand gripped the curved hilt of the white dagger tightly. Compared to the size of the monster I was about to face, this dagger couldn't even serve as a toothpick, but holding it in my hand gave me the confidence I needed.
Obtaining the GodRune had an incredible result: I could feel subtle, minute changes in how the aether flowed through my body and how I myself began to understand this aether.
At first, after forging my new core, using the aether was like trying to regulate the direction and speed of the aether flow with a kitchen strainer. Now, however, I felt that I had a real gateway, while the aqueducts leading to various points of my body had already been created when I was drowning in lava, and now they began to develop even more strongly due to the influence of the GodRune.
The first to notice my presence was a huge monster. Its bat-like snout darted toward me and let out a furious scream that shook the earth.
As soon as I gathered the aether in my legs, accelerating to meet the monster head-on, I was surprised at how natural it felt. Everything except the monster's shovel-like snout turned into a blur as I enveloped the dagger in aether.
I broke away from the ground, spinning to gain momentum for the attack. Even the monster wasn't ready for my sudden increase in speed, as it tried to throw its head back.
It wasn't fast enough.
The dagger I held in my hand, blade down, turned into a shimmering streak of white and purple as it pierced its nose from the side. And although my weapon was only a fraction of its size, the blow was completely different.
The blow sent out a thunderous roar, sending shockwaves of such force that they were almost visible. His head jerked to the side, causing the monster to stagger long enough for Arian to jump in and unleash a flurry of golden crescents. Taegen, whose body was adorned with intricate earthen armor, used his mace to deliver a crushing blow almost as loud as mine.
Arthur, like me, was just running around cutting up the monster, but after more than five minutes, I finally understood.
We could have cut it up for a whole day and it wouldn't have made much difference.
We needed to use destruction, but in order to use it safely, Arthur needed to have a small amount of aether in his core.
So Arthur and I exchanged thoughts and continued to attack the giant monster.
The flurry of golden arcs and the crushing blow of the mace could hardly cause bleeding, but they were enough to sweep the monster's legs right out from under its body.
With a furious roar, the giant collapsed on its side, shaking the ground and sending such shocks that the very tower it was trying to protect nearly collapsed. Both Taegen and Arian had to retreat immediately after he made his attack; the giant's body weight alone would have been enough to crush even the most powerful mages.
"Tall effeminate one! Is Lady Caera safe?" Taegen shouted as soon as he and Arian had moved to a safe distance.
"Her ankle is broken and her core is severely depleted, but she is at a safe distance," I shouted back, keeping my eyes on the giant monster trying to get to its feet.
"It seems we owe you one," Arian replied, his voice quiet but strangely clear despite the distance and the noise coming from the giant.
Arthur and I didn't miss the opportunity, landing a few more blows to its face to keep it from getting back on its feet for as long as possible.
However, despite its enormous size, the monster was surprisingly agile. It managed to recover, pushing itself off the ground with its long tail. As soon as it was back on all six legs, it whipped its neck and tail like a whip, gouging out chunks of earth where it passed and scattering fragments of earth around it, trying to keep us at a distance.
I made my way through pieces of earth the size of train cars falling down, trying to stay within striking distance. The problem was that the monster was so large that no amount of poking or hitting would do any significant damage until I found its weak spot, if it had one.
Amidst the ensuing chaos, there was a loud crack, and the monster bent over for a moment before swinging its tail. Taegen, clad entirely in stone armor that made him look more like a golem than a human, grabbed the monster.
Almost immediately, he was thrown away like a dung fly. He crashed into the ground like a meteor and was instantly buried in a thick cloud of dust and debris.
It was easy for me to always keep the entire battlefield in my field of vision, keeping everything that was happening around me in my head. Rank seventh intelligence was a cheat in itself.
Reaching his front left leg, where Arian had previously launched his attack, I could see several deep cuts on his three-story leg. I would have to focus on them.
I pushed off the ground and plunged my dagger, and the aether surrounding it, into a particularly deep wound that Arian had made. Pinkish blood spilled everywhere, covering me almost completely. A giant shadow suddenly enveloped me as the monster's head quickly approached.
Pulling the dagger out of its flesh, I prepared to face it head-on until a spinning sphere of mana struck the monster in the side. Arian was a few meters away, his body radiating a huge aura as the monster turned to face him.
The fencer's face darkened as he prepared to face the colossal monster. I needed strong cover so that Arthur could calmly use his destruction, so I had to take action.
"How much stronger can you attack?" I shouted. The monster held its head high, keeping us both in its field of vision, as if it were trying to decide who to kill first.
"Perhaps five times stronger, but I need more time to prepare," Arian replied, his voice as clear as if he were standing right next to me. "Why do you ask?"
"You'll have to trust me," I shouted back before turning my attention back to the monster.
I turned into a flurry of blades dancing between its six giant legs as I carved wounds and dodged, then carved wounds into those wounds in an attempt to keep the huge monster's attention focused solely on me. The ground shook with each of its steps, and I had to dodge its blurry tail from time to time as it tried to strike me from directly beneath it.
At the same time, I was sending the entire battle to Arthur in real time, and judging by what he was sending me, he was ready; he had also spent a fair amount of aether. Part of my attention was focused on constantly limiting my aether output, controlling it as effectively as I could in preparation for the perfect moment.
"I'm ready," Arian said from afar, his figure no bigger than a white crow from where I stood. A golden flash suddenly filled my vision a second before a deafening explosion thundered through the air.
Arian unleashed a giant stream of cutting power directly at the monster, enveloping its entire head in a bright golden stream of light. I leaned forward, crossing my arms in front of me so as not to be knocked off my feet by the attack.
The monster's head on its long neck was thrown back by the force of Arian's attack. And although the monster was irritated and in pain, it refocused its attention on me.
I needed its attention to be focused on something else, and the monster itself was angry enough to use its breath attack again. A few moments later, a low-frequency hum came from the monster, or more precisely, from its mouth.
It was about to use its breath attack again.
Arian retreated to a safe distance, drinking several bottles of elixir in an attempt to recover. Meanwhile, the monster focused on Taegen, whose giant hands in stone clothes raked up huge chunks of earth, condensed them, and threw them at my feet, where I had wounded him.
Its fang-strewn mouth was even wider than before, and I could feel vibrations in the air. I had to get below the monster's head, now. Sending my emotions to Arthur, I activated the God step with force. My position and timing were perfect, as a shimmering sphere of energy formed in the monster's mouth.
I gathered the remnants of aether in the center of my palm and released a compressed purple charge that slammed the monster's lower jaw shut just as it was about to unleash its destructive breath attack.
A giant boulder hurtled from the sky, and only after a moment did my slightly foggy mind realize that Taegen had disintegrated all of his armor into the tip of his mace to form this giant chunk of earth.
Both my attack and his flat jaw closed, and the monster's breath attack exploded in its mouth. There was a dull thud, and a shockwave arose from the monster's mouth with enough force to send Taegen and even Ariana flying.
I managed to stay in place thanks to Arthur catching me and preventing me from flying further.
Exhausted from two activations of the God's step, I knew the monster was still alive by the way it tried to regain its balance, but the goal had been achieved.
Everyone who was close by was thrown back, and those who were far away would not have seen what was happening because of the huge clouds of smoke billowing from the monster's head and legs as it stamped its feet in an attempt to keep its body upright.
And now, sitting on the monster's back, my slightly tired gaze shifted to Arthur, who nodded weakly, looking at the monster. Arthur swung his black sword and stabbed himself right in the thigh so that the pain would keep him conscious.
A second before the inevitable, I gathered all my remaining strength and jumped up so as not to be hit by the GodRune of destruction.
Immediately, Arthur was enveloped in cold amethyst flames, and a second later, the flames of destruction engulfed the wounded and defenseless giant.
Arthur's face began to contort in madness, but realizing what he was doing, he thrust his sword even deeper, ultimately causing the giant's body to stagger and collapse.
Picking up the unconscious Arthur, I began to fall from the back of the huge monster. This fall would have killed even me.
Without wasting any time, I took out another aether fruit and immediately consumed it. The aether immediately spread to my core, and after a couple of moments, having replenished my core, I reactivated the God's step and tried to see the aether paths. Activating the GodRune for the third time in an hour was exhausting, and this fatigue worked against me.
Finding what I thought was the perfect aether path with Arthur on my shoulder, I stepped forward and immediately found myself about five meters above the ground. With a tired glance, I looked at where I was falling and didn't like what I saw.
About five meters below me were rocks, not just rocks, but rocks that looked like sharp spears sticking up.
"Fuck," I said wearily as my body crashed loudly onto these spikes. My body, capable of gathering only a small amount of aether to protect the aether core, was immediately pierced by dozens of stone spears, and red blood immediately began to pour onto the stone spears that pierced me.
As always, there was no pain, and I quickly glanced at Arthur, who was in a better position than me. I began to gather aether from the atmosphere, as at that moment I could not even move my hand due to the overload of the aether channels. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the system.
[Do you want the system to absorb the rank eleventh GodRune, the God step?]
Hesitating slightly, I answered yes, and immediately the GodRune on my back and the knowledge disappeared from my head.
With a little fear, I mentally moved into the echoes and was relieved to find the God step there. Just as before, I transferred the GodRune to the character's cell, that is, to me, and familiar knowledge appeared in my consciousness, but even though I could feel the GodRune, it was somewhere far away.
Reaching for this feeling, everything changed.
I could still see and feel with my physical body, but it was something else now. I was no longer in the zone where I had just turned into cheese with holes.
No, now I was in a completely strange space. The heaven and earth were a strange mixture of black and white, black floating on white and white floating on black, touching each other but never mixing. No matter how hard I looked ahead, I could see nothing but what I had already seen.
Turning back, I froze.
What I saw was a sphere. A huge white sphere glowed in this space, dominating it, but within this sphere was a black, writhing impurity that seemed to float in the white light.
Not knowing what it was, I concentrated and finally saw a familiar rune.
The GodRune, the God step, was incredibly small compared to the sphere, no, not the sphere.
I finally understood what it was. It was my soul, or more precisely, I was now in the sea of souls, looking at the core of the soul.
Third-person view
All those who were still alive gathered together, bandaging their wounds and drinking mana replenishment potions. Now they were going to quickly find the other survivors and go to the sanctuary.
Heavy footsteps interrupted them.
"Oh tall effeminate one!" said Taegen in a slightly elevated mood, "I thought you had been carried away."
Lucius's heavy gaze, combined with his height, made the air heavy. Even though he was tired, his aether core was full.
Carrying Arthur on his back, he approached the group without saying a word and dropped Arthur like a sack of potatoes.
Daria's gaze slid first over Arthur and then moved to Lucius, her eyes wide open.
Lucius, though recovering slightly, looked very bad, dozens of cuts stretched across his body, red blood flowed from his wounds, and just standing there, a huge pool of blood gathered beneath him.
A couple of fingers on his right hand were broken, and his left arm up to the shoulder looked like mush. Due to the small amount of aether, his arm had been turned into this horror when struck by the huge monster.
Arthur looked better, as he did not have huge cuts all over his body, but his hand was badly burned.
Daria gasped as she ran up to them. "Gracious Vritra, how are you still alive?"
Daria took two glass vials out of her spatial ring and held one up to Lucius, then opened the other and held it up to Arthur's face.
"Drink this. I don't see any spatial rings on you, so consider this my gratitude," said Daria, leaning closer and lifting Arthur's head.
"..." Lucius paused for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and replied, "It won't work."
Daria's thin eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "This was done by the powerful Instiller, so even such severe wounds can be repaired, albeit with difficulty."
Lucius raised his eyebrow even higher, completely focused on what was about to happen.
Ignoring Lucius, Daria filled her mouth with elixir and pressed her lips to Arthur's. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks flushed. After a few moments, Daria finally pulled away, her lost composure reflected on her crimson face as she glanced around at everyone staring at her. "I-I had no choice, since he was unconscious."
A flash of amusement flickered in Lucius's eyes as he returned the vial to her. "Regis."
A shadow flame flew out of Arthur's body and into Lucius's. Immediately, Regis began to rapidly absorb the aether, simultaneously directing it to help Lucius's body recover more quickly.
Twenty seconds later, the shadow wolf flew out of Lucius's body. "Regis, do you think Grey will like this wonderful memory?" Lucius said, completely ignoring everyone else.
Regis's head turned to Daria, who was looking at them in confusion. "As my friend so 'eloquently' tried to explain, it wasn't that Grey couldn't drink the elixir you so generously poured into his mouth, but that it wouldn't have worked on him," Regis explained with a toothy wolfish grin.
Daria remained confused for a few moments, then her embarrassed gaze fixed on Lucius, who raised an eyebrow in response. "I told you it wouldn't work."
"Phahaha," Regis laughed and disappeared into Arthur's body.
"Can't you take the elixir either?" Caera asked Lucius.
Instead of answering, Lucius unfastened the buckle that held the leather sheath and dagger to his waist and threw it to her.
"I just need time," Lucius said, examining himself. Most of his wounds had healed quickly thanks to Regis. "Let's move on."
A couple of hours later
"Where am I?" Arthur asked, getting up.
"You can relax," Lucius replied, his expression calm, though his gaze was still heavy. "We are in the sanctuary."
Arthur's gaze darted around the room, first lingering on Lucius, who was twirling the dagger between his fingers again, but this time there was a gold medallion at the end of the dagger, and then moving on to everyone else, pausing for a moment on Caera, who was watching Lucius with a conflicting mixture of caution and interest.
"Guh," Arthur grunted as a wave of memories was transmitted directly to him from Lucius. Lucius's eyes sparkled slightly with anticipation. Arthur's wide-open eyes flashed first at Lucius and then at Daria.
Daria smiled awkwardly.
"Why didn't you stop her?" Arthur said, slowly getting up with Regis's help.
"I was curious about your reaction, and looking at you now, I don't regret anything," Lucius replied, pulling his hair back into a ponytail.
"We all have questions for you and your silent friend, but I think it's best for you to gather your strength," Daria said gently, handing Arthur a bowl of steaming stew. "I've learned that you Southerners, the Lehndert Blood is famous for delicious and invigorating recipes."
"However, this representative of the Lehndert Blood seems to be particularly stingy," Taegen muttered. "Limiting everyone to only two servings per person..."
Daria hissed at Taegen, giving him a fierce look. "That's because you started eating straight from the pot, using a ladle instead of a spoon!"
"We still have our own rations, Taegen," said Lady Caera, calmly taking out what looked like a wet brown brick with pieces of dried fruit sprinkled on it.
"...Thank you, Lady Caera." The huge mass of red hair and muscles actually sighed before he sank his teeth into the nutritious bar.
Arthur's hands automatically reached for the food. The thick, strong broth slid down his throat, coating his mouth with a deep meaty flavor. Arthur's expression changed dramatically as he looked up to see Daria smirking and Taegen staring longingly at the bowl in his hands.
"The power of Lehndert's cuisine triumphs again," Daria giggled. "I didn't think you could have any other expression on your face besides annoyed and impassive. Your friend needs to learn not to reject the kindness of others. He rejected the food of my Blood!"
"I don't eat food from strangers' hands," Lucius said calmly, earning an angry look from Daria.
Regis curled up next to Arthur. "He's getting soft once you get to know him better."
Finishing his second bowl of stew, Arthur finally spoke, looking at Lucius, who nodded and began to slowly get up and stretch his body. "Although your actions were unnecessary, thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious."
Patting Regis, who was still lying down, Arthur continued. "Let's get out of here."
"Wait, you're just going to let them go?" Daria stood up. "I still have simulants you can attach yourself to. Once we all get out of here, Lehndert blood will definitely be able to provide you with whatever you want. I've mentioned this before, but we're always looking for strong forwards."
"And you also called Grey handsome," Regis added.
Daria flushed and shot him a fierce look. "Yes, that's right. And, as usual, after adding a few compliments, you should reveal a few runes."
Exchanging glances with Taegen, Arian, and Caera, Lucius nodded slightly and said, "As for the medallion and the dagger. I will return them."
Heading to the end of the sanctuary, where a closed door awaited them, Lucius placed his hand on Arthur's shoulder, opened the door, and saw a shimmering portal that he knew would take them to a place unlike any other.
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30 Power Stones and a new chapter tomorrow.
In general, I thought for a long time about how to develop the plot so it wouldn't repeat itself too much, and I realized that I wouldn't change much until the Academy Arc.
What I want to write is the relationship between Caera and Lucius. But if they don't kill the Granbell children and don't get sued, then there's no need to seek refuge in Academy.
And if they don't get into the Academy, their paths will likely diverge, as Lucius and Arthur will quickly gain strength, making the need for Caera simply disappear.
Ah, right! Lucius is a bit goal-oriented, so it will be difficult to connect him to this world, since everything he does now is to return home.
I could have given him another godrune, but he received the godstep because of his desire to see the way home. So yes, he is obsessed with returning home, and Caera is an anchor that will try to help him not lose himself on his journey home.