Lightning rained down from the sky, its flashes of lightning suddenly like the setting sun.
Everyone closed their eyes; it was too blinding.
Facing this, Sofia, standing nearby, waved her hand. All the dazzling light emanating outwards, under her control, transformed into countless lines of concentrated light, shooting up into the sky.
Though they didn't know why they could see again, everyone looked toward the center.
A dramatic roar of thunder followed.
The pouring lightning fell directly on Alka, the center figure. Their Lightning Tower immediately buckled under the weight of such a powerful force.
After all, it was a mechanical device from centuries ago. Faced with such a torrential downpour, it instantly broke and began to smoke.
Its surface was practically covered in lightning, constantly darting around. It was clearly no longer strong enough to absorb all the lightning.
Alka took the lightning head-on, unfazed, as if it hadn't struck him at all.
Bolts of lightning descended one after another.
Buildings surrounding the Lightning Tower shattered and exploded under the lightning, but thankfully, everyone in the area had already evacuated.
The dark clouds gathered, and the lightning cascading from the center grew denser and denser.
Alka's figure flickered, finally emerging from the intervening layer of space.
He revealed his true self.
It turned out he'd been trapped in the intervening layer the entire time, so it was as if all the attacks hadn't hit him.
He'd been like this from the start; the only problem with this skill was that it couldn't be used in between attacks.
The moment he emerged, the concentrated lightning poured down once more, though this time, it wasn't as concentrated as before.
The moment he descended, a rift in space opened, and all the lightning poured into the small world. This caused the open World Gate to break.
‐‐The World Gate Alka had opened earlier had already been closed by the violent lightning element.
‐‐Now all he could do was wait for the elemental forces within the dark clouds overhead to release their full energy. At least until the violent lightning elements were no longer enough to affect the surrounding space.
‐‐The Crystal Dragon Beast continued to fly around, its crystal wings fluttering. The dark clouds were gathering ever thicker, now converging within a kilometer.
‐‐The purple card floating beside Alka, under his control, was already directing the lightning elements overhead to forcibly calm the overactive ones.
‐‐The attack was growing weaker.
‐‐When only a slight increase in strength remained, Alka's moment to strike had arrived.
‐‐With a flick of his hand, a massive spatial rift instantly opened.
‐‐Like a mouth.
The moment the rift opened, the dragon beast exerted its might, and a vast mass of dark clouds began to condense once more. Then, under its control, they flew into space.
Alka also arrived directly at the center of the spatial rift, controlling the lightning and luring it.
Since they had just consumed a large amount of lightning energy, they were able to easily guide it to the entrance this time.
Then the rift advanced, perfectly enveloping the lightning element and its dark clouds within the small world. Alka also took the opportunity to swallow the entire Lightning Tower below, engulfing it within the small world.
Watching the dark clouds dissipate and feeling the active lightning element cooling down around them, the surrounding council members and the civilians in the distance all smiled with relief.
Alka looked down at the holes created by the lightning and the various damaged buildings.
He pointed downwards, and under his control, the Earth Card caused the ground to begin to wriggle.
All the holes were repaired, and the damaged buildings were filled up again under his control. Although it still looked a bit different than before, it was much better than the shattered, ruined environment.
‐‐After completing all this, Alka landed beside Sofia and the others. The dragon beast also transformed into a point of light in the air, transforming into Urulius and Jason and landing.
‐‐The old councilor, supported by a cane, hurried over eagerly.
‐‐He directly shook Alka's hand, shaking it up and down. "Thank you, thank you."
‐‐Alka smiled and patted the back of the old man's hand.
‐‐"You should have a lot of things to do right now, so I won't bother you."
‐‐As he spoke, he glanced behind them. While the buildings were still there, Alka wouldn't let the furniture inside be left in such a state.
‐‐So, these houses were reduced to empty shells.
‐‐Everything was in ruins, and it would take some time for things to recover.
With that, Alka waved to his companions and began to leave.
He politely declined the councilor and priest's requests to stay.
As they passed through the crowd, they automatically made way for them, cheering and thanking them.
Alka and the others smiled, quickly crossed to the harbor, boarded the Voice of Dawn, and departed.
They had no intention of staying here any longer than a night.
The destination had been set. The island with the Trial Tower was about a day's sail from the City of Power.
At the speed of the Voice of Dawn, it should be within half a day.
As soon as he reached the deck,
Alka immediately controlled the Lightning Card to float beside him. Then, the Lightning Card generated an attraction for the Lightning Element, and a long stream of Lightning Element began to burst out of Alka's body.
These were the overactive Lightning Element that had recently settled within his body during the attack. His entire body felt as if it were paralyzed.
Only after all the lightning elements were absorbed did Alka let out a long sigh.
He stretched himself: "Yeah, much better."
Then he turned to Sofia, smiled, and said, "I'll leave this place to you for now. I'll go in."
He nodded at this.
After all, after absorbing the dark clouds, he hadn't had time to make any adjustments.
He walked directly through the spatial gate and entered the small world.
The place he had come from was a desert, which was relatively marginal within the entire small world.
This was a piece of terrain that Alka had specially adjusted and created.
It now served as the territory for these dark clouds and lightning elements.
Both these lightning elements and the dark clouds that enveloped them had already departed from the natural world.
Even if the surrounding environment changed, they would not easily disappear.
In the sky, without Urulius's control, the dark clouds, which had previously concentrated within a kilometer, immediately spread outward.
However, it was clear that the spread this time was not very wide.
Even the surface of the dark cloud no longer had the flickering, electric light.
And at the chin of the dark cloud, Alka had placed the once damaged Lightning Gathering Tower.
He suddenly realized that this object helped to activate and gather the surrounding lightning elements.
Simply put, although its aging structure could no longer carry much weight, it still instinctively gathered the active elements around it.
This prevented the lightning elements from floating freely.
Seeing that the thundercloud had arrived in his world, Alka controlled the surrounding environment and began to carefully examine it. "Hmm...it's quite depleted."
The lightning element within had been depleted significantly by the recent attack, but fundamentally, the part Alka cared about most remained intact.
After a moment's thought, he drew a gap in the space above the dark cloud, connecting it to the outside.
The lightning card flew over, enlarging into a seal-like symbol that was imprinted on the surface of the gap. Then, a large amount of magic power was drawn from the gap.
The barrier formed by the lightning element isolated the power of other elements, allowing only lightning to pass through quickly and converting ordinary magic power into lightning.
The influx of lightning immediately enlivened the dark cloud, which began to devour it like a meal.
Alka's figure disappeared from the spot, only to reappear moments later.
By this time, a book had appeared in his hand. The handwriting on its surface revealed the title: "Elemental Cultivation."
He was reading the chapter on the element of lightning.
Although he had studied it before, Alka was afraid he might have missed a detail, so he began to read it again.
He read and learned.
He planned to cultivate the lightning elemental tribe within this dark cloud and make them his capable forces.
There was a certain difference between normal elemental life and the half-elemental life of the Stonehoof tribe.
The Stonehoof tribe, appearing in the outside world through a contract, were truly dead when they died. Only a core remained, and after resurrection, they were new life.
Because their tribe was small, Alka rarely allowed them to participate in battle, except when they could play a significant role.
Under normal circumstances, Alka usually allowed them to carry out some construction work.
But they also had advantages over normal elementals.
The advantage is that half-elementals are more intelligent than normal elementals, possessing their own habits and customs, and capable of forming civilizations.
Only by forming a civilization can one's tribe grow and prosper.
Normal elemental beings, having come to the outside world through a contract, simply return to their former location and regenerate energy even after death.
They are also more user-friendly than half-elemental beings.
The disadvantage, of course, is that they must reach a certain level before they can develop their own personalities.
Otherwise, they are like wild beasts or animals with a certain level of intelligence, not much different.
They are essentially incapable of forming a civilization; a tribe is the limit.
Having finally found an elemental embryo, Alka had to carefully adjust it to make the resulting thunder elemental more suitable for him.
He studied and controlled it at the same time.
Outside, the Voice of Dawn was galloping across the ocean. Soon, as the Voice of Dawn neared its destination, information from outside reached it.
Alka finally controlled his movements with a sense of unease.
However, Alka didn't retract either the crack or the lightning element card stuck to it. He simply vanished from the spot and reappeared outside.
It was already night outside.
But no one rested, instead standing on the deck.
Through the lights gathered on the bow of the Voice of Dawn, they could already see the island in the distance.
The towering black shadow atop the island indicated that their destination was not far away.
"I've suddenly thought of something," Simon said, standing by the boat's edge, gazing at the island's shadow in the distance.
At this, everyone nearby turned their heads to look at him.
"Tell me, if you place the tower within your small world, will the tower's connection with the outside world and the Trial Temple still be maintained?
Will the Trial Instructors still be able to enter the tower?"
Hearing this question, Alka couldn't help but ponder, for he hadn't really considered it.
He shook his head helplessly.
"I don't know. We'll know only after we test it."
It all depends on the connection between the Trial Temple and the Trial Tower.
After all, although Alka's small world is an independent dimension, it's actually extremely closely connected to the outside world.
It practically glides alongside the outside world, which is why it's so easy to open a door and enter the small world.
As long as their connection can even slightly cross space, it should be easy to operate the Trial Tower within the small world.
Thinking this way, the Voice of Dawn had already reached the shore and found a stable place to rest.
Everyone jumped down one by one.
As they arrived, they saw a group of men pointing weapons at them, their expressions filled with vigilance.
In the pitch-black night,
The people of the archipelago shone their lights.
First, they checked the ship behind them. Seeing the pattern on it, they silently sheathed their weapons.
"Are you the gentlemen of the Compass Eye?"
Leading the group was a guard captain wearing slightly steampunk-style armor.
In his hand was a blade resembling a chain saw.
As he approached, Alka nodded.
"Sir, please demonstrate your ability to prove your identity," the guard captain said.
At these words, Alka's body shone with a faint golden light.
Sensing the strong aura of the Virgin Mary, Alka's identity as a saint was already evident. The captain of the guards finally nodded.
"Please forgive me, sirs. This is a necessary inspection."
Alka nodded, unconcerned. It was as it should be.
"Then please follow me, sirs."
With that, the captain and his team led Alka and the others towards the center of the island.
They could see the same abandoned ruins of houses around them, the architectural style identical to the ones they had seen on Trial Island, with not much difference.
At the point where they had just entered, they could see two temporary camps. These were probably where they were resting. They walked through them and soon arrived at the base of the tower.
There was clearly no mechanical device like the triangle to guide them here.
After arriving, the guards leaned back slightly, signaling Alka and the others to proceed as they pleased.
Alka looked at the Trial Tower before them. Its exterior looked exactly the same as they had seen before. It was only the exterior, slightly worn, perhaps due to age.
He inspected it and approached to confirm that there was no difference.
The Earth Plate appeared around him.
Under Alka's control, cracks appeared in the ground, and the soldiers took a few steps back.
The cracks spread, forming a circle, and the surrounding area began to shake like an earthquake.
Then the entire tower, along with a large piece of earth, flew up.
As it soared, a circular crack appeared below, and the entire tower fell into it.
Alka followed, flying in. Under his control, the tower was firmly embedded in the small world.
After the installation was complete, he inspected it again, confirming that there were no problems, and then he came out.
"Then our duty is accomplished," the captain of the guard said from the side.
Alka nodded. "Thank you for your guarding."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, both parties departed.
The guards had already begun packing up inside the tent, while Alka and his companions boarded the Dawn Promise and headed towards the front.
Fang continued on his journey.
The entire process took little time, less than an hour.
The ship set sail.
Everyone on the deck watched Alka.
"I'll go in and give it a try."
With that, Alka entered the small world. The gate to the outside remained open.
Everyone else entered curiously and saw the Trial Tower standing tall in the wasteland.
Alka watched.
After a moment's thought, he stepped onto the teleportation platform and entered.
This time, he entered directly into the entrance rest area. There was a door in front of him that could be pushed open.
Pushing the door open, he entered and reached the first floor.
However, the first floor transformed into a place resembling a training arena.
The instructor who had trained him before appeared before him.
"It seems you've already started taking action."
Looking at the instructor before him, Alka nodded. "Yes, I'm already collecting information."
"The problem is that three towers control his power and are unwilling to hand over the Trial Tower. Do you know the current situation of these three towers?"
"Which three?" the instructor asked.
Alka directly gave some information about the three towers, and the instructor, recalling them, already had a certain idea.
"I'm sorry, we don't know what the situation is like outside the towers. Even the people who handled our training didn't tell us much, and only occasionally chatted about the surrounding environment."
Hearing this, Alka simply nodded.
"Well, if there are still people who meet the requirements for training after these three towers, please tell them directly that I'm already gathering them.
If possible, I hope they can peacefully hand over control of the tower to me.
I can also ensure they can use the Trial Tower normally after all 12 towers are gathered. I'll also tell them about the new features that will be available after the gathering."
Under normal circumstances, the instructor would definitely not mention this; after all, this was the rule of the Trial Tower.
The instructor nodded, indicating no problem.
If they still refused, Alka had no choice but to use force.