Julia helped Aurivy arrange the boxes of Mage Heart carefully, being mindful of the faint energy leakage from each crystal. Immediately, she could feel the intense mana contained in the formation that they were establishing, but this was something that she had to consider ‘normal’ under the circumstances.

“Just to be clear… what is your goal with this experiment?” Julia asked again as they were emptying the final box.

“Hmm… to find a new avenue of development, or an ultimate ability for elementalists!” Aurivy responded after a moment of consideration.

Julia simply nodded. “If it’s development, we’ll need to try less resource-intensive options. After all, not everyone is going to be able to acquire what took you years to prepare. But, this could work as an ultimate technique.”

Aurivy quickly nodded her head, stepping back once the gems had all been arranged, and gesturing for Julia. “Well? Go on, give it a shot!”

Julia blinked in confusion, staring at Aurivy, who eventually explained. “You’re practically a nature goddess already, right? It’s only natural that you have a higher affinity with natural energy than I do!”

Julia let out a drawn-out sigh, shaking her head and stepping forward. With the intention of using this as an ultimate technique, she had to think about her desires carefully. What sort of technique did she want to create? Did she want a blast of immense power, an army of wooden soldiers, or something else?

Thinking about the nature of elemental magic, Julia tilted her head slightly, holding one hand out. She connected her mana with that being released by the Mage Heart, and formed it into a solid sphere. This would be the basis for a ‘blank’ fourth-tier spell.

She did not begin with the usual opening for an elementalist, declaring their identity to the natural energy of the world. Instead, this was an experiment to subvert the old methods. “Fire and stone as the foundation. Water and wind as the guide. Gather. Converge. Light and shadow bear witness. Twist. Mold. The eternal wood bears fruit. Split. Divide. Fold within space and bind in my hand.”

As Julia spoke, green lights rushed into the sphere of mana from the surroundings, and almost runic markings began to engrave themselves along the outer edge of the sphere. The gems beneath the spell shook, some of them cracking as their energies began to exhaust, while the wind roared through the barren plateau.

“Take root, the mighty force of nature. Spread unto the sky and devour the stars. Become shield and salvation. Become sword and spear. I bind you with the name, Eternal Rampart.” Julia stretched one arm out to the side, pulling back her sleeve as Aurivy watched in confusion.

The spell that Julia was creating seemed to shatter, streams of blue and green energy rushing at her arm. She let out a hiss of pain, clenching her fist tight as the energy seemed to carve itself into her body. Under Aurivy’s shocked gaze, a pattern began to appear, showing a dark tree extending up her arm, its branches twisting and wrapping around her flesh. At the end of each branch was a small orb that seemed to move faintly as she observed it.

When the engraving was finished, Julia let out a gasp of relief, falling to her knees. Aurivy rushed over to catch and support her, speaking in a worried tone. “You know… when I was setting this up, I didn’t think that you were going to use it for a fancy tattoo… is that…?”

Julia took a moment to catch her breath, before responding with a nod. “Fyor. Runic elemental magic is fundamentally different from how we have always treated geometric elemental magic. When I was thinking about what to do here, I thought that didn’t make much sense. Although geometric and runic magic have a different mechanism for activation, they’re not so fundamentally different from one another.”

“So… you made an elemental weapon… as a tree?” Aurivy asked in confusion, but Julia shook her head.

“Not a weapon, a bound spell. If it works as I hoped, it will cast the spell whenever I activate it, and then absorb mana to refuel.”

“...And if it doesn’t?” The halfling goddess asked with an arched brow.

“...Then it will be a cool tattoo?” Julia responded with a faint chuckle, pulling herself to her feet. “You wanted another way for elementalists to advance. An elementalist’s greatest weakness is that they have to perform a long chant to cast their magic. Even high-powered mages can have methods of simplifying their spell casts, so…”

She held her hand forward again. “Eternal Rampart!” One of the small orbs on the ‘tattoo’ faded away, leaving a faintly red spot. At the same time, the ground cracked in front of Julia, natural energy surging. A small tree rose up from the cracked soil, before surging up towards the sky, growing larger and larger with every passing moment.

Its roots twisted, forming spears that shot out of the ground, while its branches seemed to stab into the sky. Julia nodded her head, looking at the tree that had been formed by her spell. She looked at the red spot on her arm again, which was gradually fading. “In my case, it looks like every ‘fruit’ on the marking represents one time that I can use it. We’ll need to see whether it needs to be manually replenished, or if it will do so on its own.”

Aurivy nodded her head, deep in thought. “Being able to create bound spells like this will definitely increase the utility of an elementalist. Currently, the only way to do a bound spell is through high level runic magic. It’s not strange for a mage of Fyor beyond a certain level to have a dozen spells bound to them at a time.”

Julia smiled, pulling her sleeve back down. “So… what are you going to do with the rest of the Mage Heart you have stocked up?”

Aurivy paused, hesitant. She hadn’t expected to get a positive result so soon, so she hadn’t considered this point. “We shall… continue the experiment! Who knows if there are other methods to improve elemental magic!” Her eyes shifted from side to side as she said that, causing Julia to chuckle.

“You just don’t want to waste the resources.” She said in a knowing tone, shaking her head helplessly.

Inside the more unsavory half of the Underworld, Dana crossed her arms, watching with narrowed eyes as the creations of the Keeper struggled against the surging spiritual monsters. This was their first practical combat exercise, and they were forbidden from using their main techniques, so she shouldn’t have expected too much. But, it had to be remembered that these creatures were created specifically for combat.

“Spiritual energy is all around you!” She shouted at them. “It can be shaped and molded into whatever form you want! It can be a weapon, a shield, you can even directly rip your enemies apart!”

To her surprise, the first to improve was not the jester designed for the spiritual energy art, but rather the scholar made to master the Absurdity of Fate. He held a hand out, spiritual energy gathering and forming a massive sword that slashed through three enemies with every swing. Dana had to narrow her eyes further to make sure that he wasn’t secretly using his special techniques.

Is this necessary? A voice spoke up in Dana’s mind, causing her to glance off to the side. It was quite a distance away, but she felt a pressure similar to her own.

A new monarch has risen here? Dana responded to the voice in her mind, earning a soft sigh.

There are more than a hundred monarchs in total. You just happened to be in my territory.

I see. Dana nodded her head. In that case, I apologize. I don’t mean any offense by my intrusion. These warriors need practical training. Don’t worry, we have no intention of absorbing their souls, so you can reclaim their energy for your territory when we leave.

This tone… I see, so you are the Lost Child. It has been quite some time since we last found your traces. The voice spoke again after a moment’s hesitation. Very well. I have no desire to provoke a war over these beasts. We are aware of whom the Lost Child swears fealty to.

That actually surprised Dana, causing her eyes to widen slightly. You all have connections in the living world?

A deep chuckle sounded in the depths of her mind. That’s right. There are many who look up to us as ghost kings. We send a piece of ourselves to them, and they think that they control our main bodies. Through this connection, we can learn many things from the living.

Dana pursed her lips in thought, offering only a brief nod. In that case… would you like to cooperate with me?

What sort of cooperation do you propose, Lost Child? The unfamiliar monarch asked in interest.

I want to increase the pressure on these soldiers, and force them to adapt. You should have plenty of disposable spirits in your territory, right?

Hearing Dana’s suggestion, the monarch seemed to consider it for a long moment. And what benefit will this bring me?

This time, it was Dana’s turn to consider what she had to exchange. What resources would a Monarch of Hell want in exchange for some disposable soldiers? I can owe you a small favor. By my spirit, I can pledge to perform one act of equal value to the help you give me.

Hmm… a favor from the Keeper’s Lost Child? There was another pause. Very well. I shall arrange the beasts.

Dana offered a nod, turning her focus back to the aeons summoned by the Keeper. Their training was about to get a lot more intense, causing her lips to tug up at the corners. “Don’t absorb the spirits of the creatures you kill! Their stray thoughts could contaminate you! If you need to replenish your energy, only absorb the peaceful energy in the surroundings!”

“Fireball, you should be able to create spikes from spiritual energy, why are you only throwing out weak blasts like that?! Sage, don’t just hide in your turtle shell! Jester, why are you suddenly crying?! The real training is only just beginning!”

At Dana’s words, the ten aeons looked into the distance, able to feel a wave of enemies approaching. They grit their teeth, lashing out with renewed vigor.

“Don’t shame the name of the Keeper! You were all created to be his personal units! Each of you should be able to handle an entire wave like this yourselves!”

“So, you are saying that you are strong enough to do so?” The armored soldier turned to look at her, seemingly in interest.

Dana rolled her eyes, briefly messaging the other monarch. Looks like I need to do a demonstration. Feel free to put extra pressure on the one in red armor.

After she sent that message, she lifted one hand, lightly spinning a finger in the air. A silver circle followed the path of her finger, furiously absorbing the energy in the atmosphere to grow larger and larger. When she flicked her finger forward, the growing circle launched ahead, slicing apart more than half of the approaching wave. “Yes.” She looked at the soldier, answering simply. “Right now, the ten of you combined aren’t even enough to make me get serious. By the time we’re done, I want this to change.”