The remodellers moved rooms like it was a Sims city building planning to move a wardrobe room and a display room . While Ryela finds something " I need to get this before he does " she closes the tab that showed information about the world tree in an auction house .
" Today we will talk about the past heritage " Nisse and Ezio felt sad hearing this because they heard about glimpses of this " The Yggdrasil was the reason why elves used to have a great lifespan in the age of recovery "
" Even humans benefited from having the medicine of the Alchemist from the ancient civilization not to mention the beastkins who originate from their creator the first core " Ikuta paid a bit of attention because history as he know it only came from his father and the internet .
Plus he was stuck downstairs with his laptop because he didn't have the privacy to research coding on his own " The Yggdrasil gave the elves the blessing of life , every part of it was valuable , but what was most valuable was the gift of life it gave to the elves "
" But after the withering that killed the tree all elves slowly lose their blessings " " What's the withering ? " " Many people thought that the withering was a spell made of anti-magic but we can't tell , it could be a curse from the god of destruction but the withering was gone after the death of Yggdrasil "
Ikuta was more curious about the tree ' I don't need it but I do want to look at images of it ' he pulled out images of Yggdrasil from the internet ' " Now I forgot to mention that the reason dragons have a great lifespan was that there was a dragon who achieved godhood but like all the gods these blessings silently disappeared during ragnarok "
" What's ragnarok ? " " It's the event when all gods died and when this happened and people started discovering remnants of the ancient civilization this is also where we learned that humans and Beastkins' origin this period was called the age of discovery "
The presentation slides showed an alchemist with a human body " So the alchemist was a human ? " " No they were originally something else before getting a human body "
" Then what about the dwarves who gave them longer life ? " " The world itself blessed the dwarves through its simplest form the earth and metal that's why they worked with mining , crafting and etc. but the will of the world also disappeared along with the gods during ragnarok "
" Then can you talk about ragnorak ? " " Children you will get the answers to your questions eventually but first I have to discuss more things about the first reason for the long lifespan of humans and the creation of the beastkins "
The slide moved to show a dungeon core " These beastkins were originally monsters but the core gave them higher intelligence which they evolved to be more independent and settled in tribes , even if they were independent the dungeon core still helped them and made sure they had long lives "
" Teacher , does that mean that the dungeon core is our ancestor ? " " No unlike a parent the dungeon core only kept the beastkins because they helped in the production of their dungeons , the alchemist is also the same both of them are benefactors of both the beastkins and humanity "
" Then why are there no apekins ? " " Because the apekins would've been humans , even the other apes were turned to humans by the alchemist which led their kind to disappear and turn to humans "
" So were there any elves and dwarves yet during that time ? " " Yes there were , the world tree and the will of the world were born much earlier but were still immature so they haven't built towns and only sheltered under natural occurring shelters like caves "
The slide changes to show caves " but the alchemist which led the civilization of humanity and the dungeon core that led the civilization of beastkins were not one nation but eventually became one nation "
" Why did they become one nation " " Because both of them were logical characters , there were no grievances to cause war , peace , trade and cooperation just had all the benefits for both peoples , so they shared each other's produce and knowledge without any problems "
" But after all that , they had to face something , nobody knows for sure what it was , it could be that only two people held the highest power or a natural disaster we never knew what happened "
Ikuta knew it was his father who made them go poof " First the immortal alchemist disappeared and the great dungeon where the core resided was gone forever "
Every student felt the mystery of how it had disappeared " Now we will talk about the age of recovery which is when elves and dwarves start to develop their homes "
" Teacher , why didn't they make homes before ? " " Because the dwarves and elves were too traditional and respected their benefactors too much only after letting go of it did they actually start to build their homes and learn the craft they have now , the reason for elves to start doing this was that they had hunted all the animals to extinction and Yggdrasil had to force her fruits into their mouths "
" So why do some elves eat plants if they used to eat meat ? " " Because the digestive system they needed was lost during the age of recovery , but now vegan elves are becoming rare as elves grew eating more meat " " But what about the dwarves why did they abandon their old culture ? "
" Because the world was angry at them for not digging inside to discover their gifts , eventually the dwarves learned how to use fire to mke weapons out of molten metal , it's also why dwarves have a fire and earth affinity due to their heritage " " then what happened to the humans and beastkins at that age ? "
" They build their own towns , tribes , cities and kingdoms , without their former leaders they had to lead themselves which wasn't too hard because of their past rulers " Ikuta starts using the cultist to make use of the funds he earned .
' Did they run into some problems ? ' he was wondering why all the things he had been buying in the black market to improve the cult's power were going so smoothly ' I did tell them where they are but aren't they doing it so quickly ? '
The cultist continues to buy wares for Ikuta while he hears some rumors " Who do you think is gonna get the world tree seed ? " ' Yggdrasil ? ' he wonders if that is why his father has been away ' What did dad talk about when he was buying things ? ' he tries to recall what his father said about Yggdrasil .
" If you want to grow a plant I can just undo the denied yggdrasil seed for you although it will be hard to grow it is the world tree for a reason " he recalled he never actually planted anything when he was doing the gardening ' Yggdrasil what kind of tree was it ? ' He checks with the cultist to get info about the seed .
The Yggdrasil seed was obtained by a mysterious seller . Their name was hidden due to the great value of the seed ' so vague it might be Dad he did say that he could do it , I don't have to care since I don't need it but is that where dad planned to sell it I don't think he would actually sell it though , are we going to lose money because of all the merch I have been buying ? '
He knew if he asked Louis about it he wouldn't get a good answer because like a responsible adult , he would say things to not worry Ikuta a child who has not learned to manage his finances yet .
' I don't know but just in case I will investigate the mysterious seller ' he made Cultist move everywhere leaving dark eyes to look out for the mysterious buyer .
' Alright this one works ' " This is a imitation of the Pandora's box " he made a fake by refining the spell the cultist originally had with Duchess's help " Would you like to participate in the auction ? "
" Yes , I do want to watch " Ryela finds out that a cultist is around " As expected he does want it " ' They probably think I want it ' Ryela paid attention to the cultist's reaction waiting to outbid the world tree .
' You have my thanks for helping us get rid of a major threat however getting something like this isn't for you kid ' Ryela was surprised to see the Pandora's box on display .
" To the customer 358 can anyone outbid them ? " Ryela was surprised that Ikuta was trying to raise the price while his father completely ignored the box he was trying to sell .
' so he does want it ' Ryela doesn't plan to do anything now and watched the box get sold " Now to the final item the Yggdrasil seed " Before anyone could say a word Ikuta's father yelled out a price " Outstanding the seed is sold " Ryela was surprised that Ikuta didn't do a single thing .
' it's not like anyone could afford to go beyond that price ' Ikuta leaves and Ryela followed him " Were you planning to get that seed ? " Ikuta turned to her " no " " Then why did you ask for so much money ? " " That was just some funds for the cult not for the seed "
" Why ? With that seed you could bless yourself with the affinity of nature " " I could but I never planned to get that moreover the stranger I told you about got it I wouldn't even get it even if the seed was real " Ryela's curiosity got the better of her and asked .
" Why can't you tell me who this stranger is ? " " It's forbidden knowledge " " you used that term before too , don't think you can get away with holding back information for using that "
Ikuta remained silent and heard footsteps " Okay then I'll tell you one thing " As Ikuta whispered the words to Ryela , his father's puppet walked past them to claim their purchase .
" One with many names , the gods call it Ragnarok , the alchemist calls it death , the core calls it the disaster , the saintess calls it the withering , the defender calls it the abyss , the adventurer calls it the danger , the blacksmith calls it the destruction , The duchess calls it true darkness , but everyone can call it the D̶̹̂̈͑e̴̱̾͝n̴̜̿̐i̵͖͂͋e̴̢͂̀r̶̻̣̠̉̎ "
Ryela's eyes saw a dark figure and felt the world shake upon hearing the word " Mmmhhh " Ikuta forced her mouth to avoid uttering more words " Hmm ? " " Sorry she's a little nauseous she's not used to seeing people get sold " I hope she doesn't act like a hero "
" She won't " Ikuta takes Ryela away from them " Are you okay ? " " So this is the forbidden knowledge you have ? " Ikuta nodded " That's why do not look into him , gods fear him enough "
Ryela wonders what would happen if they had acknowledged her awareness " If they are what you call him why hasn't he done anything ? " " I don't know but as long as you don't show that you can see them you will be fine , now as for what he does with the Yggdrasil seed you can figure it out yourself , if I speak more about him the world may wake up into a nightmare "
Ryela thinks about the withering that the saintess calls him " Alright then " Ikuta went inside passing his father's puppet without a problem and went to the buyer to claim the money .
' The same person who made the fake seed ? ' " I'm really glad I'm able to get this " The seller said giving Ikuta the money they owed and he watched the seller hide the imitation pandora .
' I need to know how it was made ' he wants to trace them and felt Louis call out to him " Ikuta ? " Ikuta was surprised that he stop using the puppets and they continued operating with prior commands " here some snacks for you " " oh sorry I was too busy thinking .
' that was really scary I immersed in the puppet spell too much ' Ikuta felt like he was playing a horror game and got frightened when a door opened " The class ended already we didn't have magic practice so the whole afternoon was just talking about history I already know most of it "
" Then you can go up and put the clothes and merch on their shelves " Ikuta nodded and went up stairs " And for training , you don't have to do it , it's raining right now and we don't want you destroying the house "
" Okay " Ikuta thinks of his training not wanting to lose his strength ' Should I train there then ? ' he knows that Claire and Louis don't check his room if he locks it and he quickly goes to display everything .
' I can use the Midnight mansion to train but how ? ' " There is a training ground inside , some members of the family goes there to train with majins that help however you will have to use the seeing dark eye "
He was glad that there was one ' But with my mana pool will it be enough ? ' " Yes in fact you are still missing some mana derived from darkness " ' It is hard to get more darkness if I do that ' he looks at the book and starts to read it .
' This can work , but this technique is hard ' the technique that teaches about how to derive mana from darkness was meant to teach the user how to acknowledge the omnipresent darkness that was hidden by the light .
' I'm having a hard time doing this but it did say I can see the darkness with the dark eye , the essence of the spell was to be able to see the darkness that light has occupied ' he wondered what the darkness would look like .
He still has to figure out what kind of form he gives the darkness ' It doesn't matter the form can be molded into anything darkness is just what people call the lack of light so it's more like it only has a shape but no matter and form '
" That sounds like water though " he placed the last merch and looks at the display lights thinking all about what the darkness means ' the shape of darkness can be anything but that sounds like a liquid . '
He thinks about the three states of matter ' It's not a solid , liquid or gas it's just space ' he goes thinking about the expansion of space and the name of dark energy that expands it ' no no no , dark energy isn't even close to darkness but the idea that darkness expanding '
" Yes the expansion of void is also accompanied by the expansion of darkness " ' Oh that's nice but how can I find it ? ' " In space where there is the least matter you can find a few spots were void expands "
' that's not helpful but what would happen if I derive darkness then ? ' " Nothing happens it's why you can get an infinite amount of mana from darkness because it is unlike fire has to follow the rules of energy "
' But it also makes the use of darkness harder right ? ' " Yes " Ikuta knew that the mysteries of darkness couldn't be more mysterious than his father's existence , the denier that everyone had many names of , with power that indiscriminately denies any existence including its holder .
He checks outside to see that it's still raining ' It's so boring honestly ' he finds a message Ezio sent "Do you wanna play ?" "Are you sure what about your cousins ?" "It's fine they wanted play the same game because they learned that you also play the game"
"Why do they want to play the game with me ?" "Because I told you named yourself "Bare minimum" in your Dark Souls accounts" "Oh yeah the name was very popular" "Didn't you stream the gameplay before ?"
"I did but it was only one time and then I never did it again because I nearly did something illegal that time" "Didn't you say you were 5 when you played that game ?" "I did so what are you going to with your cousins ?"
"They're asking if you can help them kill a boss" "Individually ?" "No they just want loot" "Okay Just send me the request" "They're also asking if you can stream the game" "How many things do they want me to do ?"
"Uhm they're asking if you can play until dinner" "Well I don't have to do any exercise so I guess I can play until then" Ikuta plays with them while Claire claims the package his father sent " Ikuta your dad sent gifts over . "
" Oh thanks I'll check it later I'm playing with my friends " " I'll leave it in here then " Claire left a box on a table .
The cultist followed Ikuta's order stalking the seller who wore a robe and continued to change their appearance through unknown means . The seller walked into a dead end and manifested an entrance to the wall .
The cultist quickly melded into the darkness and followed the seller's shadow seeing old crumbling brick walls at the sides and moss that creeps through the wall and the smell of water .
The seller arrived at the room and took out Pandora's box " With this I'll be able to free you " they took out Pandora's box and opened it . The box takes away all the chains that restrained a dragon and the hood over the high elf's face was blown back .
" Come on work " she pleaded hoping the fake copy would work taking away all the chains , and by the time everything she had expected to go into the box entered she shut it and sighed with a smile " It worked " her eyes fueled with hope watched the dragon's form .
Nothing stood in the way of seeing the dragon " Come on please wake up " she waited and as her wait got longer she realized it was a little too long " Is it still missing ? " She opened the box and took hold of the suffering the dragon had " It's only this much I'll be able to take it " she told herself .
All the seals that kept the dragon in place and weakened its power was taken by the high elf . She felt her life force disappear losing the blessing and decreasing her total lifespan .
She closed the box and took a deep breath feeling the weight of the magic chains that burdened the dragon ' I lost many years in my life but with this Pandora's box I'll be able to take it '
Once again she opened the box to get the rest of the suffering that Pandora agrees is suffering . But what came was a dark power , it flew through the fake box and hit her soul denying her soul's existence . She falls on the spot and her lifeless body is left on the ground .
Ikuta learns of this from the report at dinner ' That dragon does look familiar ' " It's the defender that elf is the last high elf " ' So that's why she had it but if that's right how those she make it then ? ' " elves like dwarves have a part of the world in them the dwarves have the earth while the elves have the tree . "
" So that's why they could pass it off as a Yggdrasil seed , did she use that to get the funds to get the Pandora's box ? " " The box is capable of taking away any kind of magic that the user calls suffering " " Ikuta you will have to wake up early tomorrow for your exercise "
" I know " ' Maybe her plan failed because Dad's power couldn't be contained that easily ' he thinks about the location of the cultist and starts others to use the dark flame to have the cultist watch over the dragon and also find a spell to preserve the body of the elf .
Ikuta had the cultist make a lookout for an ice spell ' Maybe I can ask her ' "I want to ask if there is any way there are any ice affinities I can get" ' What does he want an ice affinity for ? ' "May I ask why ?" "Forbidden knowledge" she was mad but knew what he was dealing with .
"Why not climb the mountain ?" "So none" " You can try the moon stone " ' There's something like that ? ' " there are two kinds the one that bathed on sunlight and the other that bathed in the darkness I created " ' that sounds neat but it sounds familiar '
He remembers the cartoon he had watched ' So I'll have to get it somehow ' he thinks about the duchess ' Will that work ? ' " yes you are able to use it but you will need my memories to dig deeper " Ikuta thinks about the potential consequences of that happening .
" You can see my memories through a form of dream you only need a single vision to be able to do it " ' I know I'll get the memory first but I need to learn how to even extract the moonstone I can't possibly use it ' he thinks about the blacksmith ' Maybe I can but I also need a fire affinity '
He wondered if this would even be useful ' I do have to survive the denying of soul eventually may as well investigate and learn more about it so far only the high elf , the dragon , the duchess is the ones I'm close to so I'll eventually find a way to surviving it , Afterall dad is still alive '
He went to sleep and dreams of the duchess's memories " This is the perfect place to make that spell , it has a great space of darkness and it's always the spot that never gets sunlight " the duchess draws a spell and Ikuta experiences the thought process behind it ' So this is what it is all about '
He patiently listens to the spell and how it was created " So that's how it works " he watched the duchess destroy the noble family she built and the members turning to faceless dolls .
As the dark fire burned the mansion and sent it to the moon ' Do I even have to go to the moon after all the dark flame is what Duchess yes to transport the mansion to the moon . I could just get it from the moon . '
" Not possible you still have to form a spell on the moon to derive mana from the cold space " Ikuta wonders if he should abandon freezing the high elf's body to preserve it " Are there other alternatives to preserving a high elf's body ? " He waits for an answer from the duchess " leaving it "
He was shocked to earn that sort of answer " I could do that ? " " Yes , high elves take a long time to fully rot because the world tree is no longer around however freezing will make it last longer " " Is there a way to do that ? " " There is a spell in my grimoire that can do that "
Ikuta thinks that he never asked the duchess how to preserve it and only asked how to get an ice affinity . He sighed and learned the spell from the duchess after she broke one down . A cultist cast the spell encasing the elf in a dark crystal hiding her from the world .
" The problem with the duchess is that she only answers questions but at least I checked next time I have to be careful about asking her what I want " he thinks about the box that his father sent him .
' It might be the seed but having the world part of it might not be enough I better get something to analyze how she got it but in the end , I still need to use mind magic or soul ? '
There wasn't a real way for him to do that only with the black market ' But with all the crimes you can do in the black market surely there are magic close to it right ? '
He figured that could be a possibility and his only insurance was the forbidden knowledge that he had and the duchess's puppet spell .
' Either way , I'll have to be careful now that the news got out that a new cult leader took control , but it's not like they knew it was a puppet spell , but some may think that how it happened should be a form of mind control '
Ikuta knew this would attract some characters especially those who had already lived a long time considering that an elf had intentionally gone to sell Yggdrasil seed likely had more plans to get Pandora's box .
' They'll know a thing or two maybe they might know more about Dad but isn't he supposed a kind of forbidden knowledge '
He had no choice and decided to have a proper rest hoping tomorrow's training would compensate for his lack of training today ' I still need ... to train ... zzz ' He fell asleep leaving the cult to operate on prior orders .
Inside the room where the dragon was inside , the cultist picked up the fake pandora's box and used it to collect all the seals that the elf personally took in so that she could free the defender of its burdens .
Excluding the denier of soul , all that sealed the dragon was shut into the box . They left the box inside the room and switched members to guard the room while in Ikuta's room , a soul inside the seed opened her eyes inside the dark box .
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