As one of the loyal servants of the headmistress — a miracle I didn't burst into laughter as I thought that particular nugget — I stood in front of her door obediently, not making any sound, waiting for the exact time of the meeting to arrive.

Like the previous meeting, the door opened on its own in the prearranged meeting time, accurate to the second, revealing the dark stairs adorned with silver runes, inviting me to climb.

The more I learned about her, the more I realized just how inflexible she was. Or maybe sheltered was the better option. Trying to devour the Divine Spark without the interference of the system, evidence showed that she was essentially in self-exile, her attempts to hide her nature limiting the number of people she could honestly communicate.

Even if she had supporters other than Titania, they were clearly not around.

She was strong, there was no doubt about that. I still remembered the scary flow of her mana, enough to make her a dangerous threat even without the addition of the Divine Spark she had under her control, which was a spectacular amount.

However, that great potential was clearly wasted by her inflexibility. The only reason she was able to stick around was the great web of mystery that she drew around herself, but the actions of Zokras, the Crown Princess, and Eternals suggested that even that aura of mystery had been cracking from the perspective of their opponents.

She was so lucky that I suddenly appeared, helping her to sell the impression she had other weapons she had been hiding. Still, that didn't change the fact that she was squandering all her power and knowledge with a politically-inept mind and a horribly direct approach.

Unfortunately, her political astuteness wasn't my only problem.

Unlike the previous times, I enjoyed the metaphorical weight of the darkness settling on my presence, weakening the connection between me and the system. The more my trust toward the system dwindled, the more I appreciated the presence of the wards that could limit its interference without blocking the power it granted.

Too bad those wards required a unique Divine Spark to power them. I didn't know whether only the Darkness Spark could do so, or there were some other Sparks that was a viable solution, but there was no doubt that the Light Spark — the only other spark I could access at the moment — was a horrible substitute for doing so.

Trying to use the light to create concealment would be like trying to make a fireplace out of tinder, not only useless, but explosively dangerous.

I continued to climb, the chorus getting louder and the silver runes shining brighter with each step. I wasn't impressed with them the first time, and the repeated exposure hardly helped me to develop a sense of awe I lacked.

Luckily, my acting skills once again came to the rescue, adding all the amazement and worship I wasn't feeling to my expression.

The room was once again decorated appropriately, with crystal pillars surrounding the crystal platform, and the headmistress once again dressed in her silver and gold armor, as well as her white robe, her glorious wings on the first display.

I was fortunate that she couldn't read minds. I doubted she would appreciate my fantasies about the alternative ways of using those glorious wings.

[Divine Spark Identified! Please absorb it to continue to support the operations of the System]

The system notification didn't come as a surprise, especially since my last visit already showed that even the wards weren't enough to suppress that aspect of the system.

Nor it was able to suppress the sudden sense of hunger inside of me, forcing me to go forward and devour as much as Spark as I could manage.

This time, it was much easier to notice the foreign nature of that sensation.

I knelt in front of her like a loyal knight, and she put her hand on my head. This time, she didn't bother asking about whether I was ready or not before letting her mana flow into my body, wilder than the last time.

I just grunted my teeth, accepting the flow of her sharp power. This time, I was prepared for the merciless deluge, easily isolating particles of Light Sparks from her mana.

Maybe it was the transformation my body had gone through during the previous time, but despite her mana containing more Spark, it hurt even less, my body getting stronger with each passing second.

Her mana flowed through my fake soul space, but this time, aware of the impact it needed to resist, I had built it much stronger, easily handling the flood of mana, while using the previous diversion trick to steal more Divine Spark.

With her choice to send a stronger flow, her control was even more limited, allowing me to steal more and more of the Divine Spark. Compared to the previous times, it was maybe ten times faster, meaning, if the headmistress maintained the transference process for roughly the same time, I would get ten times more Divine Spark.

And I had no intention of letting the system devour all of it.

My growing distrust was the main reason for such a decision. With my growing distrust towards the system, the last thing I wanted was to transfer all of it to the System, thus abandoning the initiative.

So, I split the Spark I managed to steal into three categories. The first, and the smallest, category, I isolated for the system to devour. About as equal to the previous time, a tenth of the total. Ironically, I didn't even plan the system to devour all of it at once, but fed to in quarters, to better understand the rate of conversion into experience.

Or whether it had any actual link in between in the first place, like I was starting to suspect!

The second piece, about double the size of the one that would be devoured, was safely packed into my fake soul space, converted into her equivalent of a Companion Node, to prove the headmistress her efforts were not in vain.

Her choice to use a much more intense mana flow was certainly a curious decision, the one that needed to be assessed. But regardless of her reasoning, if I didn't show her her strategy was yielding tangible benefits, she might not repeat such an action again.

However, the biggest part of the power I managed to acquire, almost three-quarters of it, was wrapped in several layers of my mana, in complicated wards I had created based on the workings of the Crown Princess' spear, to be absorbed directly into my body.

It was an important step for my search for power, even if the resulting power was much less than the System. Because, despite everything, the system was clearly an external source of power.

I had already discovered a way to block the System from empowering — already tested on a fun way against Oeyne — its hosts, and if I could do that, there was no reason to believe the Organization couldn't do the same. And I didn't want to go back to being the Mule.

I would rather die.

Luckily, the empowerment of the Divine Spark gave me a more palatable alternative. Unlike the system, distributing its power from a center, it literally infused into every fiber of my physical body.

Yes, it empowered me much less than the System, taking a great more deal of effort to pull successfully, but still, compared to the alternative of utter powerlessness…

A little work was certainly more preferable, even if it was committing the sin of wasting Divine Spark in the process.

Pun intended.

The transfer continued, while I split my attention between trying to suppress the unfamiliar sense in front of me, trying to force me to devour all the Divine Spark I could manage, no doubt forced by the System, and maintaining the balance of the complicated mana structure I was using to steal Divine Spark from the mana flow.

A long while later, she finally stopped with the transfer. Her mana probe followed instantly, checking my soul space to the development of the Light Node, a smile appearing on her face as she checked the effectiveness of her new method, though exhaustion was clear as well.

It was a subtle thing, but it confirmed that, for some reason, she was in a hurry. Because she had chosen to apply a more intense method — one that was riskier for me, and more exhausting for her — despite not knowing for sure that it would work.

Unless there was a need to do so, it was a bad move.

I wondered what was her reason, because, from her perspective, everything should have been going excellently. The Zokras was defeated, and while two towns were destroyed in the process, most of the civilians managed to escape, turning what could be a huge crisis into a casual event.

Which meant, there was yet another thing that was pushing her to hurry up.

I hoped it was something related to the Crown Princess, because otherwise, it would mean we were facing a true crisis.

"Go and wait for me in the office," she said, trying to sound impervious, but I could hear the exhaustion in her tone, further confirming the importance of the issue she was facing, at least from her perspective.

Important enough to put her extra effort to strengthen me.

"As you wish," I said as I stood up, though, despite my somber tone, I made sure to replicate the stiff movements of a nobleman in the process, trying to sell her the impression of a royal knight.

She nodded in appreciation, and I left the room, ready for a difficult discussion.

—

[Level: 31 Experience: 493210 / 496000

Strength: 46 Charisma: 63

Precision: 40 Perception: 42

Agility: 40 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 39 Intelligence: 49

Endurance: 39 Wisdom: 51

HP: 6324 / 6324 Mana: 7750 / 7750 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Arcana [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [100/100]

Expert Speech [75/75]

Expert Craft [75/75]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 22/26]

[Helga - Level 22/26]