“Thank you, Father!” Rose’s eyes brimmed with excitement and tears.
She held the legendary greatsword of Paladin Fernandez, attempting to wield it.
But after just two swings, she could no longer lift it.
Undeterred, Rose clenched her small fists and said, “I must work harder. I won’t let Father’s trust in me be in vain!”
“Tonight’s goal is a thousand sword swings before bed. I won’t sleep until I’m done.”
Seeing the seriousness in his daughter’s eyes, Daniel felt a wave of warmth. What a wonderful child.
He knew from the moment he bought the greatsword that Rose, with her current abilities, wouldn’t be able to use it yet.
On the way back, Daniel had already crafted a book specifically tailored to Rose’s constitution. It would enhance her physical strength, speed, and power, while also gradually guiding her in swordsmanship.
Daniel named the book Book of the Ever-Blooming Rose, embedding Rose’s name and his blessings into it.
“Father, did you write this?” Rose asked, astonished as she received the Book of the Ever-Blooming Rose, unable to believe her eyes when she saw the author’s name.
“Yes, my dear Rose.” Daniel patted her head gently. “I hope you will be like a rose—beautiful, but with thorns.”
“Thank you, Father,” Rose said, deeply moved, her heart filled with warmth.
Daniel smiled slightly.
The book to guide her was ready, but Rose’s natural physique was still quite ordinary. Even if she trained hard, at best, she’d reach the level of a Gold Knight.
“But Rose has me as her father,” Daniel thought, recalling the recently acquired Solis Staff.
This top-tier staff, when dismantled, would yield Star Shards and Dust of the Sun—ingredients that, along with a few other materials, could transform a person’s physique.
Owen had originally intended to use it himself.
But after inventorying the Essence of Sky he’d crafted, Daniel realized he had some left over, just enough for Rose.
The decision was made.
“Rose, keep practicing,” Daniel instructed. “The path of a knight is full of hardship and sweat. Talent and persistence are equally important.”
“Yes!” Rose replied, already following the methods outlined in the Book of the Ever-Blooming Rose. Her face was covered in sweat, and her hands were starting to tremble, but her eyes were full of determination, showing no signs of stopping.
Satisfied, Daniel left.
Dismantling the staff here would draw too much attention, especially with the recent assassination attempt and the valuable items he’d purchased. All this would surely attract unwanted eyes.
Daniel wasn’t afraid of anyone, but he didn’t want unnecessary trouble that could harm his beloved students.
A gray whirlwind engulfed Daniel, and he vanished from the academy without a sound.
…
Far off in the desolate plains.
The sky was perpetually overcast, with sunlight never breaking through the thick clouds.
The ground was barren, littered with the bones and decaying corpses of fallen spell beasts.
This was the savage land, the home of the spell beasts.
A team of heavily armed mercenaries scoured the bones below. In this land, spell beasts frequently fought over scarce resources, and humans would often come in search of the remains, knowing that bones, fur, and meat could fetch a high price. If they were lucky enough to dig up a spell beast’s heart, they could become rich overnight, forever changing their fate.
“Zzzzzz!!” A loud crackling sound echoed through the sky.
The mercenary team leader jerked his head up.
Everyone saw it—lightning crackling across the clouds, huge bolts of energy coursing through the sky.
The powerful energy was enough to scatter the clouds, revealing a misty moon and sparse stars.
“What’s going on?” the team leader gasped. “It looks like those stars are about to fall! Do you see this?”
“Captain, stop staring and run!” a team member shouted, dragging him as they bolted forward without looking back.
The team leader finally noticed.
The ground had begun to tremble.
In the distance, a mass of blackness spread like a tide from the stone forest, expanding outward.
“Spell beast rampage!” the team leader inhaled sharply. “Everyone, retreat!”
He couldn’t believe his luck. They had stumbled upon the terrifying stampede of spell beasts, likely triggered by the strange phenomena in the sky.
At that moment, Daniel, who was suspended in midair by the whirlwind, also noticed the stampeding spell beasts in the distance.
“Such violent, bloodthirsty energy,” Daniel murmured, shaking his head. “I thought I’d chosen a remote location, yet here I am, witnessing a spell beast rampage.”
He quickened his pace.
The Solis Staff trembled violently.
“Hurry up!” Daniel grumbled. “I only need a few Star Shards, why’s it taking so long?”
Both lightning and wind were forms of mana. Daniel tapped into the knowledge he’d gained from the library, frantically modifying the flow of mana.
The lightning grew more intense.
It crackled through the clouds, resembling silver trees, a spectacle visible to all creatures across the savage land.
More and more light descended from the sky.
Finally, the light gathered in Daniel’s hands, like fireflies floating in the air. Daniel carefully collected the precious materials into a special crystal vial.
“Not bad, even more than I expected.”
Daniel added a few ingredients and consumed the gathered Star Shards and Dust of the Sun.
His body surged with vitality—flesh, skin, muscles, even his cells—all rapidly strengthening.
His mana core began to spin!
Daniel was pleased. He raised his hand to the sky, chanting an ancient incantation.
The restless lightning finally found its release.
With a sudden motion, the lightning shot toward Daniel’s body.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” The thunderous sounds overwhelmed even the spell beast stampede, and for a moment, the surrounding light distorted.
“I return from the Old Ones, reborn. My will is Order, my body the world!” Daniel chanted the ultimate spell.
This incantation was crafted from thousands of years of magical knowledge, merged with the magical grammar of this world, containing the terrifying Power of Order.
When the lightning finally disappeared, Daniel opened his eyes.
Flashes of lightning danced in them, and his entire body radiated an indescribable power. His mana core had grown immensely strong.
“Tier-sage,” Daniel smiled. “Just one more step to godhood, but… no rush.”
Having just returned from the void, he wanted to enjoy the lively, real world for a while.
After all, he still had his beloved daughter and a bunch of students to care for, and Daniel truly loved the home-like atmosphere of Crossbridge Academy.
No longer needing the whirlwind, Daniel hovered effortlessly.
Around him, within a 500-meter radius, the land was unrecognizable, with massive craters revealing molten lava below, the result of the lightning’s wrath.
Stretching lazily, Daniel smiled.
“Not bad. Finally, I have a body that matches the knowledge in my mind.”
The previous owner of his body had been utterly useless, giving Daniel the frustrating sensation of a baby wielding a Gatling gun.
He glanced at the approaching tide of spell beasts.
The lightning had agitated them further.
They were now more frenzied than ever.
Looking at the massive swarm of spell beasts, Daniel frowned slightly.
“If these spell beasts suddenly appeared in the human world, the destruction would be unimaginable. The entire academy—no, the entire kingdom—could be reduced to ruins.”
“Maybe I should consider revising the academy’s policies to recruit more power. That way, when disaster truly strikes one day, we won’t be completely powerless.”
Just then, Daniel sensed something.
He turned sharply, his mind power sweeping across the land, stretching for thousands of miles to a distant stone forest.
It was a grim, stone-filled expanse covering nearly ten thousand miles, a true land of death.
Daniel’s mind power was idly wandering when suddenly, an enormous surge of mind power shot out from deep within the stone forest, rushing toward him.
This mind power seemed to be one with the entire forest, nearly equal to a fraction of Daniel’s own formidable mind power.
Incredibly powerful!
After countless eons in the Void Library, Daniel’s mind power had reached terrifying levels.
“Someone of this caliber exists in this world?”
When the mind power reached him, Daniel swiftly withdrew his own. He wasn’t ready to deal with the world’s top powers just yet.
“Another time.”
With a shrug, Daniel noted that the sun was already dipping low in the sky. Consuming the Solis Staff had taken far longer than he’d anticipated.
It was time to head back.
…
Far to the north of the stone forest, a multitude of crimson eyes opened. From afar, these eyes formed a massive, singular eye, a gaze so powerful that an ordinary human would go insane just from seeing it.
“Peering into the Divine Realm…”
“Is it friend or foe?”
“Another twist of fate, shrouded in mist…”
“How much longer can we endure…”