“You! You!” Jormungandr’s face flushed with anger.
After so many years, no one had ever dared to speak to her this way, yet this boy kept offending her time and again.
It infuriated her to the point where her serpent-like fangs protruded; she felt like she could bite this ungrateful human to death!
However, when she saw Luca’s eyes, cold as frost, she ultimately decided to keep her mouth shut.
“I’ll settle the score with you later!” Jormungandr huffed.
It wasn’t that she was afraid of Luca; she just felt that interrupting him at this moment was quite uncouth.
Luca shifted his gaze back and continued refining the high-level materials in front of him.
Although Jormungandr was desperate to rid herself of him, her words held a kernel of truth.
Given his current abilities, extracting Superclass materials was indeed quite challenging.
But Luca wasn’t without his methods.
For instance, he could use secret techniques to gradually extract the materials and refine them little by little.
Though the speed was slow, it would at least allow him to complete the refining process.
So what troubled Luca the most wasn’t the material extraction.
It was figuring out what kind of magic runes to draw.
Each Demonic Rune Mage had unique magic runes, and their power entirely depended on the mage’s understanding of elemental forces during the rune-drawing process.
This meant that some magic runes, even if successfully drawn, might not unleash even a tenth of their potential.
That was something Luca absolutely could not accept.
He had struggled immensely to finally obtain the materials from the Hydra.
If he failed to unleash the full power of the magic runes, he suspected he might just collapse in the bathroom and cry.
After pondering for a long time, a spark of inspiration suddenly flashed in Luca’s mind.
“Ice-type magic runes, huh…” His eyes narrowed slightly as he thought of a more suitable magic rune.
Or rather, an elemental rune.
In his past life, after breaking through to the Transcendent level, he had visited a frozen space on the extraterritorial battlefield, locked away by the Frost Goddess.
This was the very area that Sophia had frozen with her life after becoming the Frost Goddess.
Although he had nearly died there, Luca had not left empty-handed.
He had witnessed the power beyond the Transcendent, the laws of ice, and the pathway to becoming a deity!
With his current abilities and understanding, he certainly couldn’t grasp such profound laws.
But he felt confident that he could replicate and simplify those law runes to create his own magic runes.
Of course, he would have to bear the cost of failure.
This gamble was never something Luca enjoyed; the uncertainty was too great.
However, after much deliberation, he gritted his teeth and decided to give it a shot.
This was the only high-level ice power he remembered, and even if it didn’t work out, he had to try.
If he failed, he could always resort to a standard drawing method.
But if he succeeded, even just capturing a hint of the ice law’s power would be a huge win!
Yet, now was not the time for such thoughts; the priority was to extract the materials first.
Luca refocused his mind and began to concentrate fully on the extraction process.
As time ticked by, several high-level materials were gradually refined under his careful hands.
Soon, only one remained.
The Hydra’s heart floated in midair, emanating a radiant blue glow.
Sweat poured from Luca’s forehead as he felt the effort intensify.
Drawing magic runes required long periods of concentration, and the mental strain for cross-level rune crafting increased exponentially.
Luca’s ability to endure came entirely from the incredible willpower he had honed in his past life; otherwise, an ordinary person would have long since collapsed.
“Does this guy’s secret technique ever run out?!” Jormungandr was utterly astonished.
Thinking back to the various methods Luca had employed in the mental space, Jormungandr couldn’t comprehend how this mere teenager could wield so many high-level secret techniques, some of which she had never even encountered.
At this critical moment, Luca ignored Jormungandr.
A swirl of ghostly blue magic energy surged from his hands.
Before long, the Hydra’s heart was completely refined.
Multiple energies converged and intertwined in the air, gradually transforming into a shimmering white energy orb.
The temperature in the training room dropped again.
Sweat on Luca’s skin froze, leaving a layer of frost on his eyebrows and hair.
Yet, his heart remained fervent.
“Whether it works or not depends on what comes next!” Luca murmured to himself, his eyes shining brightly.
He slowly closed his eyes, calming his mind.
He concentrated on recalling the law runes he had seen in that frozen region.
He focused intently on the ultimate chill that could freeze space!
At the same time, in Luca’s mental world, three beams of light representing Perception, talent, and luck radiated an intense golden glow, illuminating his mental space to an incredible brightness!
Soon, an ancient and intricate silver rune gradually became clearer in his mind.
Luca’s breathing grew heavy, and his heart burned with fervor.
He sensed the terrifying power contained within!
It was a law of power capable of freezing life, space, and even time!
In his past life, Luca had been a warrior, so he could only grasp the surface of such powers and couldn’t delve into the deepest mysteries of the laws; his understanding of this magical force was not profound.
But in this life, he was a mage. Thanks to some insights from his previous life, Luca could now barely comprehend just how astonishingly powerful Sophia had become.
What kind of opportunity had she seized to break through to such a level in just a few short years?
A flicker of doubt crossed Luca’s mind but vanished just as quickly.
Under his control, strands of energy began to converge toward him like tendrils, wrapping around Luca until he was completely encased, forming a white cocoon that emitted a soft, white glow as if it were breathing.
“That magic rune just now felt oddly familiar…” Jormungandr wondered, but she couldn’t quite recall what it was. Perhaps she had only seen it once before; after pondering for a long time and coming up empty, she decided not to dwell on it further.
After the initial shock, Jormungandr gradually calmed down. She fiddled with a glowing stone in her hand while sitting at the table in the training room, her delicate white legs swaying slightly beneath her elegant black skirt.
“Should I add something to it?” She gazed at the white cocoon in front of her, a thoughtful expression crossing her purple eyes.
Now that Luca was immobile, her mind buzzed with countless ways to take advantage of the situation and control him.
If she succeeded, she could threaten this human to release her and regain her freedom…
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, it spread like a web within her heart.
Jormungandr narrowed her eyes, feeling a surge of excitement.
But just as she prepared to act, a cold, emotionless voice suddenly exploded in her mind!
“Not a bad idea; you can give it a try.” Luca’s voice was calm, yet it struck Jormungandr like a bolt of lightning, freezing her in place.
“You can actually hear my thoughts?” Shock flooded her eyes.
What kind of twisted contract had this guy used on her?!
Before she could ponder further, an unbearable sharp pain surged through her head!
It felt as if someone were driving a sharp object into her brain, twisting it violently. The tearing sensation from her very soul made Jormungandr’s face turn pale, as if her head might split open!
Ah, ah, ah!!
She clutched her head, letting out a piercing scream, her expression contorted in agony as she rolled on the floor in pain.
It hurt! It hurt too much! The pain even drove Jormungandr to consider self-termination!
This torment, penetrating her very soul, was a hundred times worse than the agony of her flesh being torn apart!
The screams in the training room continued for half an hour before finally subsiding.
Jormungandr lay helplessly on the ground, her long white hair a tangled mess, her gaze blank and her face streaked with unshed tears, as if she had been violated.
“Letting you live is already my greatest mercy. I don’t want to waste too much time and energy on you, so you better not cause me any trouble. You wouldn’t want to know what the consequences would be,” Luca’s voice echoed in her ear again.
His tone remained emotionless, a calmness that sent chills down Jormungandr’s spine.
She knew he meant every word.
To Luca, she was nothing more than a disposable object.
If he found her troublesome or useless, a single thought could erase her from this world.
“I understand, Master!” A look of humiliation flashed in Jormungandr’s eyes. She swore that if she regained her freedom, she would repay this man’s inflicted pain a hundredfold!
As she silently vowed revenge, Jormungandr suddenly recalled that this human seemed able to hear her thoughts.
Panic surged within her, and she quickly clarified, “Master, I was just joking! How could I ever retaliate against you? I can’t even love you enough…”
A few breaths passed.
Fortunately, there was no response echoing in her mind, allowing her to relax slightly and sneak another glare at the giant cocoon.
…
What Jormungandr didn’t know was that Luca was no longer in the game.
In the real world, in his bedroom.
Luca was being roused by Sini and Donald.
He removed the gaming headset and immediately spotted the million-dollar check in Sini’s hand.
“Luca, where did you get this check?” Sini, holding a broom, looked incredibly serious, even a bit anxious, her hand trembling as she gripped the check.
She had initially thought it was one of Luca’s pranks and nearly tossed it in the trash, believing it to be fake.
If Donald hadn’t suggested checking it.
She would have never believed that this million-dollar check was, in fact, real!