Ethan looked up at the celestial body hurtling downward, nearly forgetting to blink for several seconds. He already knew that the Chaos Domain was a Forbidden Spell, and he had prepared himself for the fact that a skill after Limitless Amplification could never have an ordinary scale. But knowing it from a description and witnessing it firsthand were two completely different things.
"Does it really get this big?"
The red point of light overhead had become a colossal mass, growing larger at a speed that made it impossible to judge the distance. The air around it was compressed and heated until it glowed, forming a layer of raging fire that engulfed its surface. From the ground, it looked like a red sun falling straight onto the island.
Daylight was quickly swallowed by the red glow. The layers of clouds around the falling body's trajectory were torn apart, the temperature in the air rose with every passing moment, and the mana throughout the area fluctuated so violently that Ethan could sense it even without actively opening the Null Zone. Only seconds ago, this place had been a forest filled with the cries of monsters. Now, all eight Frost Venom Frogs in front of him had flattened themselves against the ground, their survival instincts making them completely forget about the human standing nearby.
Ethan tightened his grip on the Staff of Truth.
He had originally planned to use this test to determine just how powerful the Chaos Domain was.
It seemed the answer had far exceeded his expectations.
At the same time, in another part of Stormtide Reach, a series of monitoring devices all turned red at once.
The Stormtide Reach Anomaly Monitoring Center was responsible for tracking the portal network, mana density, the activity of exploration zones, and signs of Elemental Calamities throughout the region. Under normal circumstances, the main screen displayed hundreds of different fluctuations from monsters, dungeons, exploration teams, and natural phenomena. Readings exceeding the threshold were not unusual in a dangerous frontier realm like Stormtide Reach.
But this time was completely different.
A technician monitoring the sensor panel suddenly shot to his feet. The graphs in front of him climbed almost straight up, with one warning layer after another being breached within seconds.
"Director Brooks, we have a problem. All the sensor stations in the southern sector just hit the maximum warning threshold at the same time."
His words immediately made everyone around him turn.
Nathan Brooks was holding a cup of coffee. He had worked in anomaly monitoring for more than ten years—long enough not to overreact simply because of an unusual alert—but when he saw the main screen, he set the cup down at once and strode toward the control console.
"Give me the raw data."
The technician transferred all the graphs to the large screen. A colossal mana source was erupting on an island in an exploration zone, and its intensity continued to rise even though the system had reached the safe measurement limit. It wasn't just one type of sensor reacting. The mana fluctuation meters, elemental density sensors, and spatial distortion monitoring systems were all recording changes simultaneously.
Nathan studied the graphs for several seconds, his expression growing more serious by the moment.
"Check for equipment failure."
"Already checked twice. All the independent stations returned identical results."
A young employee standing nearby swallowed hard. "Could it be an attack, Director?"
Nathan turned to look at him. "Don't scare yourself without evidence. If a hostile force could send something like this through the entire surveillance network and past our outposts without leaving a trace, we'd have a much bigger problem than sitting here measuring mana."
He immediately turned back to the screen. Staying calm didn't mean taking the situation lightly. Regardless of whether the source was an awakened person, an Elemental Calamity, or an unidentified phenomenon, the current fluctuation was enough to force the entire emergency response system into action.
"Determine the exact coordinates. Lock in data from every observation satellite and sensor station around the area. And connect me to Warren."
The line was established in less than a minute.
A man's voice came through the speaker. "Elliot Warren here. What's happening in Stormtide Reach?"
Nathan got straight to the point. "We've just detected an enormous mana fluctuation on an island in the south. The sensor network has reached its warning limit."
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Nathan continued, "Based on the fluctuation pattern, I suspect artificial magical activity. The energy signature is equivalent to a strategic Forbidden Spell."
"A Forbidden Spell?"
Elliot's voice immediately changed. "Are you sure about that assessment?"
"I'm sure."
"Effects on this scale usually only appear when someone of Supreme Rank intervenes. Is anyone of that level currently authorized to operate in the Stormtide Reach area?"
Nathan glanced at the technician in charge of the records. The man immediately shook his head.
"No one on the activity schedule." Nathan paused briefly before continuing. "And I need to make one more thing clear. Judging solely by the mana intensity, the source may even be approaching the level normally seen from someone of Saint Rank."
This time, Elliot didn't answer immediately.
Nathan understood why.
Awakened individuals who reached those Ranks were already exceedingly rare. Someone capable of generating a Forbidden Spell-scale mana fluctuation without appearing on any activity schedule was even less something they could afford to ignore.
At last, Elliot spoke. "Place all of Stormtide Reach under emergency response status. Raise the alert level at the outposts near the epicenter, temporarily suspend portal routes entering the danger zone, and continue identifying the source. Do not approach until we know exactly what we're dealing with."
"Understood."
Nathan ended the call and turned back to the screen. He didn't know who—or what—was at the center of that fluctuation. If it was an awakened member of their own side using a skill under legitimate circumstances, the issue could still be handled through an investigation and an assessment of the consequences.
If not, the situation would be far more serious.
On the island, Ethan had no idea that he had just turned Stormtide Reach's entire monitoring network red.
The celestial body had arrived.
The first moment of impact was unlike any explosion Ethan had ever heard. Light flooded his vision before the sound arrived, forcing him to raise an arm and shield his eyes on instinct. Almost immediately afterward, the ground beneath his feet shook violently as a shockwave carrying tremendous heat and pressure swept across the forest.
The trees near the impact center didn't even have time to fall. They were burned by the heat, then crushed beneath the expanding current of air. Earth and stone were blasted upward in layers, the ice armor on the Frost Venom Frogs shattering in the very first instant. Their bodies vanished amid the flames before they could let out another cry.
Ethan felt the Cloak of Truth react at once. The magical shield surrounding him blazed beneath the pressure, continuously absorbing the incoming heat, debris, and force. His body, held steady by Limitless Amplification, kept him standing amid the violent tremors. But even the sensation transmitted through the shield was enough for Ethan to understand that if an ordinary awakened person had been standing here, the result would hardly require any speculation.
The explosion continued to spread.
The entire island shook like a mass of matter being torn apart from within. Enormous cracks ripped through the strata, widening into deep ravines before splitting the island into four massive sections. Trees, earth, stone, and seawater were swept into the hot air current, while the dungeon structures and pocket realms anchored to the local mana network began destabilizing in waves.
Some low-level dungeons collapsed almost immediately. The more stable spatial regions held out for a few seconds longer, but once the mana network of the entire island was destroyed, they disintegrated one after another. Even the strongest Platinum-Rank dungeon ever recorded on the island could not escape the effects.
For the entire ecosystem here, it was a catastrophe.
For Ethan, it had all begun with a single activation of the Chaos Domain.
As the light before his eyes faded, he slowly lowered his arm. His vision had not yet fully recovered when a stream of notifications appeared in rapid succession.
「Target eliminated.」
「Experience gained.」
「Target eliminated.」
「Experience gained.」
The notifications appeared so quickly that Ethan couldn't read them all. Monsters across a vast area had just been swept away by Meteor Shower, and the experience from the targets confirmed by the system continuously poured into his Profession Profile.
His level began rising almost immediately.
Level 2.
Level 3.
Level 5.
Level 8.
In an unbelievably short span of time, the number stopped at Level 10.
Ethan waited a few more seconds, but it didn't rise any further. The experience notifications also stopped converting into level progression as they had before.
He looked at the status line and nodded slightly.
"Just like the textbook says."
Level 10 was his current limit. To enter the next level bracket, Ethan had to complete the advancement requirement for the Life Priest, and that requirement was still the same.
Elemental Origin.
Until he completed his advancement, killing any number of additional monsters could not directly push his level past this barrier.
Ethan had been one of the students with the best theoretical grades at Lakefront High School. He had learned this knowledge long ago, but verifying it himself still felt completely different.
Even so, he wasn't too concerned about the wasted experience right now.
Gaining levels had never been the true purpose of this trip.
When the experience notifications ended, another stream of information began to appear. The monsters killed across the wide area had generated a large quantity of system loot, and the ownership-confirmation mechanism was gathering eligible items at the killer's collection point.
Equipment appeared one piece at a time in front of Ethan.
There were weapons, armor, accessories, and many other items he didn't need to inspect immediately. Without the loot-convergence mechanism, finding all this equipment on an island just torn into four sections by Meteor Shower would have been practically impossible.
Ethan wasn't picky. He collected every system item he could carry, planning to sort through them later.
Amid the pile of loot, one item made him stop.
A skill book.
Ethan immediately picked it up.
Equipment could appear regularly when hunting monsters, but skill books were far rarer. Even skills with ordinary effects were highly valuable on the market, while skills useful to multiple professions often ended up in a situation where buyers existed but sellers were nearly impossible to find.
He focused his awareness on the book.
「Name: Silent Incantation」
「Type: Skill Book」
「Grade: Intermediate」
「Effect: After learning this skill, the user can complete a skill's verbal incantation within their consciousness without speaking aloud. The skill's other casting requirements remain unchanged.」
Ethan read the description again.
"Without speaking aloud?"
This wasn't a skill for direct combat, but its practical value was extremely high. For spellcasters who needed verbal incantations, it could conceal the preparation process and greatly reduce the chance of an opponent accurately identifying the skill being constructed. Some professions specializing in ambushes could also benefit if their skills required verbal preparation.
Ethan had just experienced that weakness firsthand.
To deploy the Chaos Domain, he had to complete a sequence of incantations. Although the preparation time wasn't especially long, in a real battle, every second was enough for an opponent to react, break line of sight, or directly find a way to interrupt the spell.
Silent Incantation was already useful.
But in Ethan's hands, a skill book that hadn't undergone Limitless Amplification clearly hadn't reached its final form.
He placed his hand on the book.
"Amplify."
The familiar interface immediately responded.
「Target ownership confirmed.」
「Beginning Limitless Amplification.」
The process ended almost immediately.
「Limitless Amplification complete.」
Ethan checked the book again.
「Name: Thoughtcast」
「Type: Skill Book」
「Evolved from: Silent Incantation」
「Effect: For compatible skills, the user can eliminate verbal incantations and preparatory movements used solely to construct the spell structure. An activating thought can directly send the skill into its release phase.」
「Limitations: Does not eliminate mana costs, cooldowns, environmental conditions, mandatory catalysts, or requirements that are inherently irreplaceable.」
A red line appeared directly beneath it.
「Classification: Forbidden Spell」
Ethan stared at the description.
Thoughtcast itself had no ability to inflict damage. It didn't create fire, lightning, or any other destructive phenomenon. But the moment he imagined combining it with the skills he currently possessed, the reason it had been classified as a Forbidden Spell became immediately clear.
The Chaos Domain he had just used required a sequence of incantations.
After learning this skill, that preparation could disappear.
A Forbidden Spell that would normally leave others time to notice and react could be sent directly into its release phase with nothing but an activating thought.
Ethan silently stared at the book in his hand for several more seconds.
Once again, Limitless Amplification had done more than simply turn a small effect into a larger number.
It had erased one of the clearest weaknesses in the process of casting magic.