A yellow flame appeared within Akata’s palm as he focused in on it. This flame didn’t look exactly like the flame Great Lord Taple had created as it had a red-black tint to it. It also felt a bit more sinister as well. Soon, the fire in his palm winked out and disappeared.

‘These two fires differ greatly. My hellfire is devilish and that other fire is holy. But even so, the two fires are fire after all. Hehe. Given a bit more time I should be able to recreate that other fire easily.’ Akata thought to himself.

Noluck watched as Akata conjured a fireball in his palm. It was a bit crude but it was still a fireball. ‘He used his connection of hellfire to feel for the Inner Element of Fire. Having his hellfire to extinguish the yellow fire let him slowly and surely feel the core of the yellow fire as it was burned away. Even if his own hellfire was the one to be burnt away, he would still be able to feel the core of the fire as it overpowered his own hellfire. Truly a genius.’ Noluck couldn’t help but be amazed at the actions of Akata.

Hellfire, although weird, wasn’t mainly made of the Inner Element of Fire but the Inner Element of Darkness. This was because it came from the Underworld. Fire was meant to burn the souls of the evil beings of the Underworld, to combat that, the powerful figures of the Underworld created an ability that would extinguish that fire of light and heat, their own fire made of darkness. Thus, Akata actually had more knowledge of the Inner Element of Darkness than in the Inner Element of Fire before he started to contemplate the mysteries of it.

Woosh!

Another fire winked out of Akata’s palm as he tried to light another fireball. He was slowly but surely acquiring more and more knowledge regarding the Inner Element of Fire and how to summon its power using magic.

In the blink of an eye five hours passed by. Akata sat down with his eyes closed. He sat still with his palm facing up on his lap, his breathing was calm yet held an intense heat to it. In fact, his whole body radiated a searing heat as he sat there. He sucked in a huge breath and all of a sudden a yellow flame gathered upon his hand completely engulfing it. It was a brilliant yellow flame that glowed with a holy light. Akata let out a deep slow breath and the yellow fire slowly retracted and was soon gone.

“Eh. This is boring me now. Well I already have the ability to summon fire and it is pretty fun actually! I wish I knew how to use magic before, it would’ve really helped me out before.” Akata’s bright mood was only dampened by the thoughts of just now figuring out how to use magic.

“Maybe I can get back to practicing with the scythe. I must be rusty by now.” Akata slowly stood up and stretched a hand out. A wooden staff with a black metal curved blade appeared in his hand. A red symbol could be seen on the scythe and as it glowed so did Akata’s red rune.

Akata swirled and waved the scythe around in a familiar manner. ‘Let’s see how much stronger I have become.’ Akata stopped swirling the scythe and stood still with it in his one hand. He looked straight up and took in a deep breath. He spread his nature sense out and focused his ‘sight’ on the ceiling. He swung the scythe straight into the air and a huge slashing arc of black scythe light beamed forth toward the ceiling instantly tearing a hole through it. It didn’t stop there as it proceeded to turn the ground it passed through into a rotten black and making it crumble.

“Woah.” Akata’s eyes went wide as he studied the blow of his scythe through his nature sense. He hadn’t even put all of his strength into that blow yet it had caused so much damage. Akata’s strength the last time he wielded the scythe was at the 4th Grade of the Mortal Rank, but now he had risen to the 7th Grade and also cultivated in the Plant Realm and also made it to the 7th Grade there. His strength more than double and even more than tripled. His strength also seemed to have an extra effect on the scythe as it gained a rotting ability.

Akata couldn’t help but be surprised by this as he stared at the hole in the ceiling through his nature sense. Subconsciously he inched backwards and held his breath. He was even frightened of his own strength at the moment, it was just too terrifying.

Noluck also was amazed at Akata’s strength, even though he didn’t know the insane growth Akata went through, he was still amazed at the level of strength he had just displayed. He was even more in awe of the fat that Akata didn’t use all of his power just then.

“Ahahaha! You truly are a blessed cultivator. Not only do you have tremendous talent when it comes to comprehending, gifted when it comes to cultivation, you are also lucky when it comes to gaining abilities and weapons. If you live long enough you will definitely become a resplendent figure in the eyes of many.” Noluck was extremely happy. The more talented Akata was, the more likely capable he would be able to revive himself.

Akata just continued to stare at the hole in amazement. ‘I should keep my true strength a secret. If others find out how powerful I am it will be disastrous. It might end up like it did with Xiun Wu sending assassins after me. And by that time, those assassins will definitely be more than capable to killing me.’ A strange light began to shine in his eyes.

“No. I will dominate all things that bar my path. Anything that doesn’t fit me will just have to go! The only way to truly make a clear path for myself is to be strong enough to pave the way.” Akata said with a clear decisive tone.

“And what is it that fits you? Why exactly do you want to become strong in the first place? Is it to protect someone, to dominate others, have anything you want? Just what is your goal. In this short amount of time that I’ve seen and been with you, you have been rapidly increasing your strength and I just want to know… for what?” Noluck said with curiosity.

Akata went silent. The whole room he was in became silent to the point that he could hear his own soft heartbeat. What was he getting stronger for? It was a simple question that he thought he had the answer to, but with Noluck asking it was as if he had his answer erased. Was it to keep his promise to Peizhi Xiuying? No, it had to be deeper than that otherwise he wouldn’t be so driven to get so strong. Was it to dominate others? Definitely not. Then what was it he thought to himself.

“Why do I want to become stronger?” Akata repeated the question to himself silently. He thought in silence for a long moment before lifting his head and speaking. “I don’t know why I want to become stronger. Looking back when I was a bit younger I always wanted to be a cultivator. Seeing the Elders flying through the skies, and witnessing the marvelous power they wielded, it fascinated me. But I can’t exactly say that it drives me to become stronger. Right now I just don’t know the answer but maybe later I will.” Akata gave his honest answer and went into more thought.

Now, he too wanted to know why he was so desperately pursuing a great amount of power to become unrivaled in the world. He still wanted to reach the pinnacle, he had wanted to do that even before Peizhi Xiuying suggested it. And now, he was treading that path yet… he didn’t know why he was exactly. This actually bothered him a bit as he sat down and frowned.

Soon, a little less than a day passed and Great Lord Taple showed up to the room Akata was in. Akata had been given his own room which had been carved out by Great Lord Taple himself. Only he and Akata could come in freely, the only way for others to come in would be if they were invited by Great Lord Taple himself, not even Akata could let them in.

By Great Lord Taple’s side was Tabet. He rushed toward Akata and smiled merrily. “Akata it’s great to see you!” he said very jubilantly. He then looked over Akata’s body and saw his missing arm and his face filled with a sense of sadness. He then looked into Akata’s eyes and saw that they were too dim. As if he couldn’t see at all. This caused Tabet to feel even more guilt for not stopping Akata that day.

Akata saw and felt Tabet’s mood change through his nature sense and he decided to speak happily. “I’m great hehe. I even learned how to do magic thanks to your grandpa. He is a really great teacher.” Akata said. He then waved his hand and caused a yellow fire to create a trail in the air and then disappear.

“Ah!” Both Tabet and Great Lord Taple were astonished when they saw Akata casually make the yellow fire appear. Creating and element through magic was a very hard thing to do. That is why it usually took a long time of familiarizing yourself with the element before one was able to summon it. There was no exception from this, even geniuses had to take time in studying elements before being able to produce, not even mentioning the fact of casually conjuring it. Yet Akata, was able to do just this.

Not only had Akata just started learning about magic, he had just started practicing with the Inner Element of Fire not even two days ago. Yet he was already able to casually conjure up a fireball with ease. This was a level of talent not even geniuses could measure up to.

Akata merely smiled and said full of respect, “Great Lord Taple, I still think that I am not suited for the Inner Element of Fire and would like to try a different element please.” Akata bowed toward Great Lord Taple expressing his thanks.

Great Lord Taple simply nodded his head.