Defiance of the Fall

Five days had passed since the last name on the hitlist had been struck , and things were calming down . An unusually large batch of arrivals had appeared two days prior . These newcomers had been stuck in the waiting room where Zac first met Null until the lockdown ended . The job of dealing with agents of the First Heaven had been pushed onto the Undead Empire , and so far , none of the newcomers appeared suspicious .

The same thing we’ve been doing , - Zac said . - Gather Mana and opportunities so we can break through . -

Good , - Ogras said , springing to his feet . - Feels like I’ve been stuck in house arrest . We’re heading out . -

We? - Zac asked .

Not you , - Ogras said , then turned to Catheya . - The goblin has calculated another event . Should be a good one , and a lot of people are still busy trying to break into the empty vaults in the Stand of Saeward . -

Zac looked over with interest , only to be met with two tepid stares .

Don’t even think about it , - Ogras spat . - Who knows what kind of catastrophe you’ll attract? Let us make some money in peace . Go play somewhere else . -

You better stay out of our way . - Catheya laughed then kissed his cheek . - See you in a bit . -

They were gone the next second , leaving Zac alone in his mansion .

Whatever , - Zac muttered as he walked into his study . - I guess I can sit one out . -

Truth be told , he didn’t mind . He had a lot on his plate , and his short stint in the Stand of Saeward added a significant boost of Mana . He’d killed fifteen people in his battle with Valsa , adding 3 , 000 Mana in those few hours . Then on his way out , he’d killed one and defeated three , cementing having earned more than most months , even without a quest to supplement his income .

Zac spent the next hour standing in front of the huge simulation array , his mind churning as he looked at the intricate paths of his blueprint . At a nearby desk , he took out a stack of notes covered with various thoughts , ideas , and plans he’d come up with since he started studying his blueprint in earnest , along with the Warstone] .

Hours turned to days while Zac studied every aspect of the Conflict-attuned Supreme treasure , using everything he’d learned during his blueprint studies and the insights awarded from Cosmic Forge] . Its energy signature was analyzed , as were the truths locked within , and new pages were added to the stack one after another .

Other treasures joined the Warstone] : the Void Engine] , the Calamity Core] , and even the Hollow Core] . Zac studied what happened when their auras interacted , and he breathed in relief . The items couldn’t be considered perfectly compatible , but they had no irreconcilable clashes . In other words , he’d gathered all the materials he needed .

His blueprint was also ready , having received some upgrades over the past years . Almost nothing was left on his checklist . His breakthrough was drawing closer , and even his momentum stirred , pushing him forward .

He still had some things to accomplish inside the Perennial Vastness . There was also the process itself to worry about . He’d already come up with a general idea on how to form his Cosmic Core when inventing his blueprint , but even Ultom hadn’t been able to provide him with an exact solution .

After all , he hadn’t known what materials would be used for the nucleus back then . Zac couldn’t just cram these items together inside the Hollow Core] and hope for the best . He needed to consider their specific properties and the best way to extract , refine , and fuse them . That was the only way he’d create anything better than a Low-quality core . The only way he’d form a core at all , really .

Finding Cosmic Forge] had opened his eyes to all kinds of new possibilities , and he would be a fool not to take those into account . He wasn’t planning on using the technique on his Cosmic Core , but how it fused the essence of different materials was absolutely ingenious .

The biggest problem for mortals when it came to Core Formation , was the need for a large number of treasures and materials to use as a foundation . It made the cores heterogenous and poisoned them with external Daos . Just like infusing Cosmic Cycles into equipment with Cosmic Forge] , you had to ensure the fodder fit . Picking the wrong essences or fusing them in the wrong order prevented you from adding more than a couple of layers to a piece of equipment .

That was well and fine when practicing on a training axe . He couldn’t be so flippant when it came to his core . The cost of failure was either death or a broken core . With a foundation as heavy as his own , Zac feared it’d be the former . The amount of energy in the treasures he’d use was enough to blow him up ten times over . And even if he survived , there was no way he’d be able to make another attempt in time for Ultom .