Passerby Villain In A Wizard World

'A butterfly?'

The beautiful wing extending from the void inside the cocoon was similar to the one he saw on the Honeyfang Butterfly before.

So, his guess was indeed reasonable.

'A butterfly emerging from the cocoon, huh?'

'Seems logical.'

Ian thought, but honestly, he was a little disappointed. After all, it was human nature to seek thrills and surprises everywhere.

So, the anticipated outcome wasn't always a good outcome, at least that's what his heart thought.

"It would have been cool if it were a dragon. Or since I already have one, maybe a phoenix or other mythical creatures?"

Ian murmured, brimming with ideas.

Well, although he seemed disappointed, that wasn't actually the case, as he knew that this creature was no butterfly he was familiar with.

Just as Ian was thinking random things, he saw a beautiful wing emerge from the discarded cocoon.

Along with it came a low hum that resonated with his mental power, causing his almost broken Consciousness Platform to stabilize.

Also, the weight of the Anchor suddenly vanished from his consciousness, freeing up his Life Core in the process.

So, Ian controlled the Life Core that had withdrawn its elemental chains from the platform, taking it in his soul hand.

"Swish!"

However, this time something magical happened as the Life Core didn't rest on his hand like he thought, but instead entered his soul body directly, settling in the place where the dantian would have been.

Since he was currently sitting at the center of his Consciousness Platform, his form appeared as a transparent body with a colorful sphere at his stomach, rotating slowly.

"Hmm?"

Ian was caught off guard by such a weird reaction from his Life Core.

"Whish...."

However, before he could think further, the cocoon at his side finally disappeared.

And just as he thought, in its place appeared a beautiful, colorful butterfly noticeably smaller than he had thought, flapping its wings that shimmered with an almost ethereal grace.

"Odd!"

However, what Ian noticed wasn't its beauty, nor its ethereal grace, but its very existence.

"Why do I feel like it is real?"

This was a bizarre thought Ian had that even he felt weird. However, he was indeed having such a feeling.

"Flap..."

As if to prove him right, the butterfly that was hovering above his platform suddenly flapped its ethereal wings.

Then, to the astonishment of Ian, it suddenly appeared right next to Ian as if teleported.

It was instantaneous.

"What the..."

Although this was a soul body, Ian still reacted instinctively, stood up trying to dodge the nearing butterfly, only for him to see it disappear from his vision with another flap of its wing.

"Where did it go?"

Ian mumbled incoherently as he didn't even have time to see it clearly before it suddenly disappeared from his vision with two flaps of its wing.

However, he realized where it went when he felt his body suddenly stop in its tracks, motionless.

Even his perception of the soul suddenly stopped, making him disabled just like he was when he awakened the Ethereal Form for the first time.

'Damn, it is inside my head.'

Now Ian knew where it went as it was inside his soul head just like the Life Core in his dantian.

It was such a strange sensation, as his soul body existed within his consciousness, which was itself contained inside the mind of his physical body.

Now, his vision and Life Core resided within his soul body.

Fortunately, although everything was bizarre, Ian didn't feel anything different except that he was immobile.

And just when he was trying to control his body, suddenly, he felt two mysterious words drilling into his mind as if they had always been a part of his existence.

<Oath!>

...

<Wrath!>

...

Those words not only appeared in his soul but also reverberated inside his Consciousness Platform as if trying to make their existence known.

As soon as Ian heard those two words, he suddenly came out of his trance and felt his soul body beginning to change.

Moreover, his rotating Life Core suddenly released all its streaks across his entire soul body, wrapping it up.

As each streak began to move, they twisted and changed shape, one by one, beginning to form a complex structure around his body, unlike the chains from before.

First, the translucent streaks wove around his entire body, mapping every part and directly covering him in a ghostly inner armor.

Ian felt it glowing softly and almost felt like it was alive.

Then, the black streaks moved on their own and wrapped around his entire body beautifully like a shadow, ultimately turning into a flowing ethereal robe.

After that, the red streak sprang forth directly, appearing in his hand and turning into a gigantic fiery sword.

Fiery prongs of flames resembling Ignysyl's danced along its edge with extreme power that Ian could feel from just a look.

Then, the green streaks slid over his arms and legs like a vine wrapping around his limbs as if supporting a pillar and turned into gauntlets and greaves.

Although it looked like they were made up of soft leaves, they were sharp and silent.

And finally, the blue streak directly shot towards the sky and came down in full force, landing on his soul's head and shoulder.

Then, not surprisingly, they wrapped around his head and shoulders and became a stormy helm and mantle glowing with blue light.

Although it might seem long, it didn't take long for the entire process to finish.

At the end, Ian looked like a knight made from fire, water, shadow, and light. It was surreal, yet a mesmerizing transformation brought forth by his Life Core, although it looked colorless now.

"What the..."

"What is this? Am I turning into a full-fledged knight with armor?"

Ian felt so shocked by the sudden transformation that he didn't know what to say.

Even his soul body shook a little by such a ridiculous development.

Although he knew those streaks on his Life Core were related to an element, he never thought they could transform like this.

"I can even change them as I want."

Ian mumbled while changing the fiery sword into various shapes and even using other elements, shifting effortlessly. All in all, he felt he was in control of every aspect of this magnificent armor.

"It seems quite powerful!"

Ian could feel the extreme power hidden in this Knight Armor.

He could sense that, just like when he used those streaks individually in his Ethereal Form, he could use those properties directly from this armor too.

So, the power wasn't only physical but elemental too.

'It just... takes too much power.'

However, although it was powerful, it also required an astronomically huge amount of energy.

Even now, when he was using this form only in his soul state, he was already overwhelmed.

Those streaks covering his soul body were already beginning to flicker and lose shape.

So, he didn't know if he could even transform into this full form while in his physical body.

"Probably not. The elemental power in the streaks isn't enough. I need more power."

Ian shook his head immediately after seeing the armor on his soul body crumble. It had only managed to hold for half an incense's time.

Fortunately, they didn't disappear but directly drilled into his Life Core, occupying their assigned place silently.

But now Ian could feel that if he wanted, he could immediately use that form anytime.

Even he felt it was possible to partially manifest specific parts of the armor on his body, although it would cost him a lot.

"Nice timing, I now have another trump card. But... this is the change brought by the Life Core. What about that butterfly?"

Ian didn't dwell much on this issue but was a little excited.

Then he suddenly thought about the two words drilled into his mind inexplicably after that butterfly mysteriously entered his soul.

'Oath, and Wrath just like Veil and Shroud.'

With these two words in addition, Ian was now in possession of four bloodline spells.

'Veil and Shroud gave me the ability to become Ethereal and impermeable, Wrath gave me the ability to turn elemental streaks into heavy armor for fighting. Then, what is the use of Oath?'

Ian thought and began to analyze.

'Oath... as if a contract? Like Primal Bond?'

Ian was confused. He knew the meaning of the Oath, but didn't know how it worked.

He even tried to use the Veilstrider Meditation Method but to no avail. Because he found out that without a body, only using a soul, he couldn't even meditate.

So, there was no way he could sense the butterfly that had just disappeared.

"Forget it. It is time to return to my body, otherwise, I might really die like this."

After not finding anything noteworthy, Ian put it aside for now, intending to return to his body.

This time, he used his First Ring Spell, Soul Siphon, to pull his soul while using his translucent form to make it appear in his consciousness.

Now, all he had to do was use the same power to return his soul to his body, which was lying limp outside.

Moreover, due to the promotion, it seemed quite easy to do so.

When Ian thought about returning, his soul body suddenly disappeared from his Consciousness Platform and appeared in his body inside the tower.