Strongest Mage with the Lust system

Chapter 863: Ancient Golden Skeleton

“Fuck!”

Max let out a frustrated roar while feeling a little helpless inside.

Upon trying to sense Rima, he found out that while he could tell she was still alive, he couldn’t sense her rough direction. This situation was almost similar to Leticia and Belen’s.

Thinking about it for a bit, he realized a month had already passed and she had already left the Minor Realm.

“Am I stuck here now?” He murmured, staring at the circular sky above. He then shook his head, “No. This shouldn’t be the case. Since this realm belongs to the Beast Emperor Hall, they probably don’t use it just for the recruitment trials.”

This made his mood a little better but thinking how Rima must be feeling, thinking he had fallen in here, he felt as if someone was squeezing his heart.

“Please be alright until I return, Rima.” He spoke while staring at the sky.

Then, he glanced at the Tower and the Beast Storage Bag.¹ Without the Nascent Energy, the Tower was currently inoperable but… with the boost given by the Law Comprehension and the traces of Fire Energy in his bloodline, he felt he could try to expel the foreign energies from the Golden Python’s body to expedite its healing process.

However, thinking for a moment, he decided to break through the mortal boundary and enter the Spirit Realm first.

At that time, his mana would be more robust and the chances of expelling the foreign energies would increase and in case he suffered a backlash, he could deal with it with more ease.

Not hesitating any longer, he walked out of the cave and jumped into the magma.

Previously, he had only gone 30 feet deep. While the Fire Mana at this depth was more than pure and abundant enough, he decided to dive deeper because it would be easier to break through if he had access to purer mana.

30 feet…

40 feet…

45 feet…

50 feet…

After he reached the depth of 50 feet, he hit his limit as even with the [ Whisperer of the Fire Law ], he could barely endure the heat.

Deciding not to reach for more than he could endure, he began cultivating there.

Two days later, he finished refilling his mana core and was ready to break through.

’Let’s do it.’ Since he was in a very suitable place for a breakthrough, had converted his mana core into a pure Elemental One, his mana was robust enough and he had also comprehended a Law, he was as ready as one could to break through.

Therefore, he no longer hesitated.

He mobilized all the mana in his mana core and began sensing the invisible shackles of the mortal boundary that restricted him to the mortal realm. Maybe because he met all the requirements for a breakthrough, it didn’t take him too long to sense the shackles.

Just as he was about to use up all his mana to shatter them in one blow…

Shua!

He felt his surroundings change and the excited mana in his mana core, on the verge of exploding had inexplicably calmed down—his breakthrough was halted.

But to his surprise, he didn’t feel the realm shackles become stronger like he had heard they would if he couldn’t break through in one go.

[You shouldn’t break through just yet, young friend.]

After calming down, he had just opened his eyes and was about to scan the unfamiliar place he suddenly found himself in when the voice echoed in his ear.

’Mm?’

The sudden voice didn’t startle Max because since he was taken away somewhere, there was definitely someone behind it. However, his pupils constricted slightly when he saw the source of the voice—a golden, humanoid skeleton.

When looked more closely, he noticed that there were countless fine cracks running through each and every one of its bones—it looked to be on the verge of shattering but at the same time, Max felt as if it would remain the same for eternity.

’This is a… Supreme Mage?’

Max inhaled a deep breath, slowly stood up and bowed slightly, “Greetings, senior.”

[Calm and unruffled, very admirable.] The voice echoed in his ears once again.

Max shook his head, calmly saying, “There is nothing to admire about, senior. The only reason I’m calm is because I know if you want to harm me, I won’t be able to resist in the slightest. And if you don’t want to harm me, well, then there is nothing to be flustered about.”

Once he finished speaking, his eyes narrowed because… he hadn’t planned to say this out loud but something had compelled him to speak his mind.

[Please don’t mind it, young friend. There is a very powerful seal stopping me from reading your memories, so I have no other option if I want to find out what kind of a person you are and whether you are worthy to invest my remaining little time in.]

“Oh? There is a seal?” Max exclaimed, already realizing it must be the system’s doing.

However…

“What’s the use of placing a seal on my memories when people can sense your presence in my soul?” He smiled bitterly.

[Haha, so it’s really that Soul Artifact’s doing.] The voice laughed before continuing, [But you are wrong, young friend. If there wasn’t this seal on your memories, anyone with some decent mind controlling abilities could turn you into their slave. So, at least you don’t need to worry about someone messing with your head.]

Max sucked in a cold breath upon hearing this. At the same time, he felt even more grateful to the system.

[Alright. I have a few questions I want to ask you to determine whether I should help you. But before that, can you tell me what’s the situation of the outside world?] The voice asked.

Even though the skeleton didn’t have any apparent ill intentions towards him—he wouldn’t be able to sense them since the skeleton was on a completely different level—and wanted to help him, which, given how powerful it was, should be a life-changing opportunity, he didn’t like it because the skeleton didn’t even bother to ask whether he was willing or not.

“Yeah, no problem.” Max nodded and began telling him everything he knew.

After he was done speaking, the voice didn’t speak for a while before it sighed, [So, no one capable enough to destroy those devils born in these tens of thousands of years? Is there really no hope?]

Max’s eyes flickered when he heard this and he asked, “Senior, can you tell me about these devils? And why did that war happen?”

Initially, while he was curious, he hadn’t planned to dig into these old secrets, mostly because he wasn’t qualified to, but also because he wasn’t interested because he felt there was no use in knowing.

However, as he grew stronger and became the victim of the Human and Demon war that had its origins in the Great War of the past, he realized whether he wanted to or not, if he continued to become stronger, he would be embroiled in certain matters. So, it was better for him to be prepared. Hence, his curiosity.