Eo remained motionless.

  The stone chamber was silent except for the faint echoes of dripping water. His tendril, still trembling from the encounter, slowly retracted. The vial lay on the ground, its contents undisturbed, yet he knew—he had made contact with something beyond his comprehension.

  Something Old.

  Something Fundamental.

  He was not the same as before. The mere glimpse of that entity had rewritten something deep inside him, leaving an imprint on his mind—a lingering question that refused to fade.

  "What was that being?"

  His thoughts surged, trying to form a coherent conclusion.

  The sheer magnitude of its existence was unlike anything in Tangea. Even the Ancient True Dragons—those once-rulers of the world—felt insignificant in comparison. It did not merely exist within reality; it felt as though reality itself bent around it.

  Was it a god?

  No.

  Eo had already analyzed the nature of divine energy—the so-called "Faith Magic" that humans and some creatures wielded. Gods required worship, a medium through which their power manifested. Their existence was tied to belief, to the faith of the masses shaping their divine authority.

  But this being...

  It did not ask for worship. It did not even acknowledge power in the way mortals did.

  It simply was.

  A force of existence itself.

  Eo’s body quivered.

  Not in fear.

  But in excitement.

  He had never encountered something that completely surpassed his understanding.

  Every being he had faced so far—every monster, every wizard, even the remnants of ancient creatures he had dissected—all of them followed a pattern. A logic.

  Even magic itself, despite its mysteries, could be dissected, analyzed, and understood.

  But this?

  This was something beyond patterns. Beyond laws.

  The way it simply existed without constraints—that was power.

  Eo had long since pursued strength, but not for the same reasons as other creatures. He did not seek domination, revenge, or survival. He sought understanding. He devoured knowledge like a starving beast, consuming everything he encountered to expand his perception of the world.

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  And now, he had glimpsed something unattainable—something that stood at the absolute pinnacle of existence.

  And that alone ignited something new inside him.

  Curiosity had always been his nature, but now, it had evolved.

  It was no longer just curiosity.

  It was obsession.

  Eo began reconstructing his thoughts, piecing together everything he had learned.

  If such a being existed, then how did it attain that state?

  He had always followed a strict method of evolution—absorbing knowledge, breaking through his limitations, refining his control over magic, and optimizing his body structure. But was that truly enough?

  That being did not just evolve. It had transcended.

  It had left behind the concept of limitations altogether.

  Did it start as something lesser? Did it once struggle, like him, before reaching that state? Or was it always like that, an entity beyond time, beyond the natural order?

  Eo could not accept that something so powerful simply was.

  There had to be a process.

  A path.

  And if there was a path—then it could be followed.

  Then he could reach it.

  His body pulsed with renewed determination.

  The idea of growth had always been a natural instinct, but this… this was different.

  This was not just a step forward.

  This was the pursuit of the absolute.

  He no longer sought mere evolution. He no longer sought to just be "stronger."

  He wanted to be that.

  To reach a state where existence itself bent to his will.

  To step beyond the boundaries of magic, biology, and time.

  To attain the very concept of transcendence.

  And the first step toward that goal was understanding.

  If such beings existed, then there had to be records. Clues. Fragments of knowledge hidden in the forgotten history of the world.

  The blood he had analyzed—it belonged to something that had a connection to that entity.

  If he could dissect it further, trace its origins, and uncover its secrets, then maybe… just maybe…

  He could take the first step toward the impossible.

  And for the first time in his life, Eo felt the thrill of chasing the unknown.

  His gaze turned toward the frail, malnourished figure chained before him.

  Antru.

  A High Grandmaster Mage—once revered, now reduced to a husk of his former self. His skin, hardened and gnarled like aged bark, bore the weight of centuries, cracked and dry as if the very essence of time had drained the vitality from his body. His limbs, thin but unbroken, twitched subtly with each breath, his frame a fragile monument to endurance.

  Yet, despite his deteriorating state, his eyes remained sharp.

  For over half a year, Antru had been Eo’s subject. His will had never shattered.

  Many before him—mages of status, warriors of renown—had crumbled under Eo’s touch. Their minds, dissected and laid bare, had been picked apart like the delicate threads of a fragile tapestry, unraveling into madness. Some had screamed. Others had begged. But in the end, they had all broken.

  Antru had not.

  Eo found that fascinating.

  He drifted forward, his abyssal form shifting in the dim glow of the underground chamber.

  Antru’s body remained still, but Eo saw the tension in his stance—the way his muscles, weak as they were, subtly coiled in instinctual resistance.

  Even now, the old mage fought back.

  Eo's interest deepened.

  Why?

  What made this man different? What knowledge did he cling to that gave him strength?

  The silence stretched between them, thick and unspoken.

  Then, finally, Eo broke it.

  “…Where did you acquire this blood?”

  His voice was calm, almost curious, yet the weight behind the words was unmistakable.

  Antru remained still, his cracked lips motionless, his mind calculating the cost of his silence.

  Then, he did something unexpected.

  He laughed.

  A hoarse, dry chuckle—barely more than a breath—filled the air, laced with bitter amusement.

  “You…” His voice was thin but carried an edge. “You don’t even know what you’re playing with.”

  Eo tilted his head.

  Was that amusement? Mockery?

  It didn’t matter.

  He would find out soon enough.