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Chapter 250: The Shell's Devouring and Replenishment
🕑 Added 2024-09-26 05:31:40 +0000 UTCThe reason it's named the Decompose Profundity is said to be because it contains the secret of the earth's ability to break down all things. In this way, it bears a resemblance to the Devouring Profundity of the Dark element.
As for Gravity Space, as the name suggests, according to Mozassi, it involves the manipulation of another fundamental power of Earth elements. It allows for mastery over force fields, enabling the user to control gravity, repulsion, and other related forces with great precision.
After flipping through the books left behind by Mozassi, Rhett decided to take the remaining volumes with him to read later.
It was time to get back to business!
Rhett left the study and began searching every room on the second floor, combing through every corner meticulously.
Finally, in a storage room, he discovered a hidden door in the wall. Opening it, he found a narrow space about seven cubic meters in size.
The space was filled with dusty objects, indicating they had been stored for many years.
Rhett summoned the wind element to blow away the dust covering the items. Before him stood a rectangular metal box about the size of a refrigerator. The surface was coated with a dark gold layer, with complex, twisted patterns etched into it.
If it weren't for the ravages of time, which had worn away its vibrant colors and left it with numerous mottled dents, Rhett believed this metal box would have been quite pleasing to the eye when it was first crafted.
However, at this moment, it appeared not only old and worn, but Rhett also sensed that the alchemical formations on it were severely deteriorated, with the energy within them barely detectable.
Narrowing his eyes, Rhett pondered, "It seems that keeping the merman bloodline fresh has consumed a significant amount of energy over the past few thousand years. If it remains sealed any longer, within decades or maybe a century, the merman bloodline inside might lose its vitality..."
After careful inspection, Rhett confirmed that the alchemical formation had no traps or mechanisms. The opening method was not particularly secure. Simply by infusing it with elemental energy, the metal box began to emit a faint glow. Then, with a loud click, an internal mechanism was triggered, and the lid folded open.
Suddenly, Rhett frowned.
He caught a whiff of a faintly fishy scent of blood wafting from the open lid.
Inside, he saw that the blood was a deep purple, thick and viscous, like a pool of deadly poison.
And as if sensing the presence of the merman bloodline, the shell that had been dormant in Rhett's possession suddenly began to tremble, like a bloodthirsty demon revealing its deep hunger for the merman bloodline!
Holding the shell in his hand, Rhett’s eyes showed a trace of caution. To be safe, he decided to perform a Real Simulation to avoid any potential danger.
With a thought, Rhett activated the system.
"Would you like to initiate a Real Simulation? Each simulation for one day will consume 1 point of Fate Value."
"Yes, simulate one day."
Buzz
A ripple appeared before his eyes.
Entering the simulation, Rhett decisively dropped the shell into the box, keeping his eyes fixed on the merman bloodline, watching for any changes.
As soon as the shell touched the purple liquid, a powerful suction force was immediately generated. The purple merman bloodline was uncontrollably drawn into the shell, creating a counterclockwise vortex.
The blood swirled and churned as if being drawn into a bottomless pit, causing the liquid level in the box to steadily drop. The colorful shell greedily absorbed the merman bloodline, trembling slightly as if in an excited murmur.
Rhett’s gaze pierced through the blood, focusing on the shell. Its vibrant colors gradually dimmed as it absorbed the merman bloodline.
Soon after, the water level had dropped significantly, and the colors of the shell had completely faded, transforming into a deep black.
Rhett quietly observed, and because he was in a simulation, he felt no fear of the unknown changes, only curiosity about what would happen next.
Time passed slowly.
Eventually, the merman bloodline was entirely absorbed by the shell, leaving the box completely dry.
The result was a shell that had turned jet black, drastically different from its original appearance.
Witnessing the entire process and equipped with the foreknowledge from the simulation, Rhett couldn't help but feel that this was an evil object.
Taking the shell out of the box, Rhett held it in his palm, feeling its cold surface.
Gazing at the now-black shell—the remnant of a merman artifact—Rhett sensed a powerful devouring force within.
If an ordinary person were to touch it, they would likely be quickly overwhelmed by the suction force, their life force rapidly drained.
Rhett, however, could resist its pull due to his strength as an Archmage.
It indeed seemed malevolent...
Sensing the constant devouring force emanating from the shell, Rhett frowned slightly. "This artifact remnant is peculiar. It seems that only a merman can control or deactivate it. Without a merman to manage it, it remains in a state of uncontrolled devouring until its energy is depleted. In other words, without merman control, it can't be 'closed.'"
Rhett had already tried to probe the shell, but there seemed to be a natural barrier within that resisted his attempts. After a careful assessment, he could only determine that maintaining the devouring state slowly consumed the merman bloodline's energy.
Perhaps the devouring would only cease once the merman bloodline was completely exhausted?
Pondering this, Rhett quickly headed downstairs to a certain storage room. One of the square floorboards in the corner covered what Rhett, as an Earth Mage, could sense was a hollow structure beneath—likely a basement.
Prying open the floorboard, Rhett, infused with the wind element, gently leaped down.
The basement was dimly lit and filled with various clutter and barrels of alcohol, giving off a faint smell of fermentation.
Rhett extended his mental senses, detecting faint movements in a corner.
"Squeak, squeak."
At that moment, several gray mice were scurrying around in the darkness, searching for food. Their noses twitched as they detected an unfamiliar scent.
As they instinctively tried to flee, it was already too late. Their bodies were struck down as if slapped by an invisible hand, falling unconscious to the ground.
Seeing this, Rhett quickly approached. His mental strength had now reached a level where it could exert force comparable to a physical punch, much stronger than when he first became an Archmage. Knocking out a few ordinary mice was effortless.
With a wave of his hand, the six mice floated in the air, slowly drifting toward Rhett.
More accurately, they were drifting toward the black shell in Rhett's hand.
Holding the shell in his palm, Rhett resisted its devouring force while watching the mice inch closer until they made contact…
He stared intently.
Without a sound, it was as if the shell was a black hole, and as soon as the mice touched it, they were absorbed and vanished instantly, like snow melting in the sun.
Rhett’s pupils contracted at this sight. He became even more wary of the black shell and resolved never to use it in the real world.
If he ever needed to use it, it would only be in simulations.
After all, this was an artifact, and even though it was just a fragment, it could still harbor unknown properties that might be unleashed under certain conditions, potentially causing disasters. While there were no such incidents in the simulation, that didn't mean the trajectory in reality wouldn't diverge, leading to unforeseen outcomes.
Rhett also noticed that the devouring force during the mice's absorption was slightly stronger than during its normal state. Although the difference was minor, he speculated that it might be because the mice were ordinary creatures that didn’t require much devouring power. Additionally, Rhett sensed that as the mice were consumed, the energy within the shell also depleted faster.
"Hmm, it seems that energy balance is at play here. The devouring force isn’t generated out of nothing. Now it’s clear that the merman bloodline serves as fuel. The more it devours, the greater the consumption."
As Rhett pondered this, the shell's brief period of inactivity ended. It began to tremble lightly, like the lid of a boiling pot, and with each tremor, a wisp of purple mist wafted from the shell.
This wisp of purple mist was extremely sparse, but Rhett sensed the pure energy within it, and even his body felt a deep-seated desire to absorb the mist, as if it were a potent elixir.
Narrowing his eyes, Rhett realized that this pure purple mist might be the very substance that greatly benefited mermen. Having already learned from the simulation that other species would suffer severe side effects from it, he wasn’t afraid to experiment here. In fact, he was curious about the specific benefits this mist could provide.
With a slight inhale, Rhett drew the wisp of purple mist into his nostrils.
Immediately, he experienced a brief moment of euphoria, as the purple mist seemed to permeate every corner of his body, from his cells to his bones, from head to toe, leaving nothing untouched. Both his mental power and physical attributes seemed to undergo a slight enhancement.
This discovery made Rhett's eyes light up with joy.
But just as quickly, the euphoria faded, leaving behind no trace of satisfaction. Instead, a twisting pain spread from deep within his body, without any identifiable source.
Rhett’s expression changed as he endured the pain, trying to understand the changes within him. He realized that while the purple mist enhanced his body, it was also damaging the essence of his life force. He speculated that for a merman, this effect would be beneficial, but as a human, this influence didn’t lead to any transformation into a merman; instead, it was warping and destroying his life essence.
This was a power from a much higher plane, unstoppable. Rhett felt an indescribable pain deep within his body and soul.
His face contorted as he fought against the pain, enduring it alone until, after several minutes, the effects finally began to fade.
Wiping two beads of cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, Rhett looked down at the black shell. After releasing the purple mist, it had returned to its original state, once again emitting a chaotic devouring force.
Moreover, he keenly noticed that the shell's black color was fading at an extremely slow pace. He surmised that once the energy within it was depleted, the devouring force would cease, and the shell would revert to its original colorful state.
After some thought, Rhett stored the shell in his space ring. Though maintaining the devouring force would consume energy, it was far less than what would be wasted during the actual devouring process. Therefore, this minor loss was unavoidable and not worth worrying about.
The most important thing was that the bulk of the devouring happened in the simulation, so Rhett wasn't concerned about the merman bloodline running out. In reality, the shell would still last for a long time.
At least, the simulation showed that by mid-next year, the energy hadn't been exhausted, which meant it could last for several more years, giving Rhett plenty of time to make use of it!
With this realization, Rhett's eyes gleamed with determination. "In that case, the Dark Mountain Range would be an excellent place to put this to good use..."
With that, he decided to end the simulation.
A ripple spread before his eyes.
Rhett returned to reality.
"Real Simulation complete. Please select one attribute to retain."
"One: Physique."
"Two: Combat Aura."
"Three: Mental Power."
"I choose Mental Power!"
With the end of the simulation, the side effects from absorbing the purple mist disappeared completely, while the enhancement to Rhett's mental power was indeed retained.
Since only one attribute could be chosen, Rhett regretted losing the physical enhancement but was still content with his choice.
He speculated that if the artifact could be controlled, it might be possible to make better use of it, perhaps even finely tuning the devouring and enhancement process, as well as controlling the on-off switch for the devouring force.
However, in its current state as an unclaimed artifact, it operated purely on instinct, and the enhancements it provided were indiscriminate. For Rhett, this meant some unavoidable waste.
Fortunately, his need for physical enhancement wasn't particularly high, so this loss was acceptable.
The alchemical metal box also seemed valuable enough to study, and Rhett decided to bring it back to the Alchemy Tower rather than waste it. He stored it in his space ring.
Over the next period, Rhett continued to search Loda's home.
Apart from the books he had already found, there was nothing else of significant value. After all, with Loda having a space ring, any other precious items would have likely been stored there.
Having completed his tasks, Rhett leisurely enjoyed a cold beer in Loda's home, spending time meditating to pass the time.
As night fell, Rhett quietly left Loda's house. He headed to the outskirts of the town, where he mounted Fire Grid and began his journey home.
Dark Eagle City, Green Manor.
The summer sun hung high over Dark Rock Castle, its rays pouring down, making the entire manor bloom with vibrant flowers. The verdant trees on the green lawns echoed with the sounds of cicadas.
It was a relaxing afternoon, and the butler Sweta and the cook Maru had left the castle.
In a cluster of flowers, the two stood side by side, less than a meter apart, clipping the hedges with large shears.
Although this wasn’t part of their regular duties, they had arranged it earlier, and Sweta had informed the gardener Rachel in advance.
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