Rivers of the Night

Theron landed on the ground lightly, hardly reacting much to his victory at all.

Mason was right about one thing, he was targeting the shield over and over again in an attempt to break it. But it wasn't to prove a point, he didn't have the care or will to do such a thing. Instead, he was testing to see if his method of dealing with Silver Resonance Ebonstone could be used against Gold Resonance Ebonstone as well.

Ebonstone was a very powerful defensive stone. Usually, the larger it was, the more defensive properties it had. To be used in small little shields like Mason did was actually the worst use case of it—which was probably also why Mason had no choice but to move up to Gold Resonance Ebonstone, otherwise enemies at his level would deal with them too easily.

But ultimately, Ebonstone functioned just like any Mancer or Mana Beast did: it used Mana.

Anything that worked with Mana could be countered with Mana.

Originally, the only method Theron had to deal with it was speed and concentrated power. That was why he had burned himself out slicing that Ebonstone the old man put in front of him.

But after his "lesson" with Dean Pennel, he found another way.

Theron had always thought that the best sign of control was a uniform, placid Mana, one without any variation or change. Smoothness was always what he strove for.

But Dean Pennel had taught him that some variables actually worked to your benefit.

By varying the density of his Mana, Theron could actually use the strengths of the Ebonstone against it. Because Ebonstone always wanted to disperse and spread out the Mana it faced evenly, it could be tricked.

Depending on the density of the Mana it faced, and the size of the Ebonstone, the change in dispersion would also change. If you hit it with a continuous streak of changing flows of Mana, the Ebonstone could be vibrated into a cadence where it was particularly vulnerable, almost like vibrating glass.

Of course, it would never be truly as fragile as glass, but it was enough to disrupt its flow of Mana and cut it in two.

This was why Theron had tapped the armor of the True Knights so many times. But it was also why he had to be more forceful with Mason's Ebonstone. Otherwise, the Gold Resonance Ebonstone would deal with his Mana too easily and that vulnerable state couldn't be reached.

'I think I can make this method even better. Doing it in multiple attacks wastes too much Mana. If I can concentrate all the variation into a single stroke, I'll at most need two attacks to deal with it. If I can reach a new level of control beyond that, I might be able to do it in one…'

Theron bent forward and unceremoniously took Mason's spatial ring. Then he tapped a foot and vanished into the distance.

It wouldn't be a surprise to anyone why he was putting so much effort into studying Ebonstone.

If there came a time he needed to sever the Nightingale Empire at the root, it would do him good to understand the resource they relied the heaviest on.

As for the thought of severing such a long-standing Empire in the first place, he hardly flinched at the thought at all. As far as Theron was concerned, he would do whatever he so needed to for revenge.

If that meant taking down an Empire…

Then that was just what he would do.

**

There was a flash through the air and a figure suddenly came to a stop.

Dean Pennel.

She looked at Mason's headless corpse, her gaze hard to read or understand.

This wasn't the first location she had been to. In fact, the sun was already beginning to peek over the horizon. Maybe there were already a large number of people from the capital wondering what had happened here.

No one would have thought that they should have sent Gold Mancers after a First Silver Resonance Mancer. But… was Theron in the First Resonance?

After he had his breakthrough in her office, she thought that he was breaking into the Second Silver Resonance. But was there really a Second Silver Mancer in the world that could have a breakthrough at such a level?

It felt more like he was breaking into the high-tiers, and not just the Seventh either. But even that was only because the Silver Mana being used was clear. If not, maybe she would have thought he was breaking into Gold Mancy.

"You've left quite a mess…" Dean Pennel said softly.

One would think that the chaos Theron stirred only came from this killing spree alone—something she still wasn't even sure he had done alone. However… the real reason so many were distracted and it had taken so long to get back here was because of what had happened back in the Obsidian Eclipse Sect.

Another one of "Beifong's" secrets had been found. This time there was Tribulation Bloomstone and the method.

Not long after Mason left, his new head maid servant found it. But it was clear that she wasn't nearly as trustworthy as the last one, because knowing Mason was gone, she knew she couldn't miss an opportunity to bring something so valuable back to her family.

Who would have guessed that this matter that should have been known to herself alone was exposed before she could get very far?

It was needless to say that another one of Mason's treasured maids died that day, but the situation led to a butting of heads in the Sect.

The Zhen Grand Duke Clan—Mason's Clan—obviously felt that it was theirs to take.

But the young woman was from a Duke Clan too. Although she wasn't a prominent figure, and a Duke Clan was beneath a Grand Duke Clan, they obviously had enough stake to make a claim themselves as well.

Obviously, the Obsidian Eclipse Sect couldn't just sit idly by and let these Clans take what they had been looking for all this time casually either.

All of a sudden, the warnings the Imperial Clan had sent to these noble families through Theron's trial completely fell on deaf ears.

The tension that Theron had triggered with his assassinations played a pivotal role, almost boiling over.

And then Mason's soul lamp flamed out.