Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

Priam tore through the Azure Forest at full speed, following a precise route. He knew exactly where he needed to go, because he had discovered something very interesting in Dioma’s memories.

The reason Dioma had returned to the forest entrance earlier was precisely to get reinforcements.

After six hours of high-speed travel, Priam reached the top of a hill and finally saw his destination.

Before him, carved into the heart of the forest, stretched a colossal basin fifty kilometers in diameter. The place looked like a deep abyss, surrounded by steep cliffs that dropped straight down, as sharp as if they had been carved by a giant’s axe.

From above, the terrain looked like a perfectly circular pit, with a single narrow passage serving as its entrance.

That entrance, however, was in ruins. The ground was devastated, covered with debris and piles of fresh earth—unmistakable signs of a brutal and recent confrontation.

Cautiously, Priam advanced through the ravine. As he crossed the passage and entered the abyss, he was surprised. Lush trees with violet hues rose all around, emitting a distinct aura and creating a sort of second natural forest within the Azure Forest.

*BANG!*

A muffled boom echoed in the distance. Already protected by his Divine Concealment, Priam silently slipped toward the sound.

A little farther ahead, a familiar figure entered his field of vision: it was Mikhella.

The girl was frantically swinging her spear at a dense swarm of golden creatures the size of fists. With every thrust, a resonant metallic crack cut through the air.

Priam watched in silence. Mikhella’s power was enough to crush mountains with ease, yet her attacks only sent the creatures flying without managing to destroy them.

’Steel and Rock Devouring Dragonflies...’ Priam immediately recognized the species of Heavenly Beast, remembering the stories he had heard from the Impure Beasts.

The name was similar to something from Earth, but these creatures were completely different.

Those Dragonflies had gleaming golden wings and were extremely dangerous. A single adult Dragonfly could kill a Level 11 Beast thanks to its terrifying teeth. When gathered in swarms, they could easily exterminate Level 13 Beasts.

They fed exclusively on metallic ores and extremely hard rocks. Their bodies were harder and more resistant than tempered steel, making them practically immune to external impacts. To make matters worse, they lived in colonies of hundreds or even thousands, dominating entire mineral deposits until the last bit of resources had been exhausted.

Intrigued by why Mikhella would risk herself so much against that colony, Priam raised his gaze. Near the entrance of a distant cave, he spotted a small tree sapling.

His heart leaped in his chest.

’A Sacred Energy-infused Scaled Fruit!’ Priam exclaimed internally, overwhelmed by a wave of excitement.

He had never seen that fruit up close, but the energy fluctuation inside it was unmistakable. To the Mages of his world, any energy capable of nourishing the Jade Core and making it purer and stronger was called Sacred—precisely because it was absurdly rare and had incredible effects.

Even the greatest alchemists in the world considered it nearly impossible to create anything similar. Historically, there were records of only half a dozen discoveries of such treasures containing Sacred Energy, yet that had already been enough to trigger devastating wars in the Divine Plane.

That was because any Mage or Sage could absorb it and suddenly increase their internal power by a huge amount. Everyone desperately wanted it, making the demand enormous.

Of course, many other Sacred materials had certainly been discovered over time, but nobody publicized them for obvious reasons.

Priam took a deep breath, forcing his excitement down so he could analyze the situation clearly. The tree itself was about one meter tall and was covered in more than ten peculiar fruits, each covered in scale-like patterns.

The sapling itself was already an invaluable treasure! If he could take it back to his world and get it to thrive, he’d have a continuous source of those fruits in the future. The survival rate of plants from other worlds was low, but it was definitely worth trying.

About the size of small plums, several of the fruits already sported gleaming scales of a vivid golden hue—a clear sign of perfect ripeness.

Priam was burning with the urge to rush over and harvest everything at once, but he kept his composure. The plant was growing directly above the mouth of the cave, from which endless swarms of Dragonflies poured out, attacking Mikhella with blind fury.

Several other Mages’ lifeless bodies lay near the tree.

Mikhella was fighting alone now, but she was still in complete control of the situation. Since the plant was right in the creatures’ territory, she avoided unleashing devastating area attacks so she wouldn’t damage the fruits. She limited herself to batting the Dragonflies away one by one with the shaft of her spear, sending them crashing into the rocky cliff to knock them unconscious on impact.

Hundreds of them had already piled up unconscious at the base of the cliff. It was a slow and terribly exhausting method, but a surgical one.

Priam simply waited, watching from the shadows.

...

Two hours later, the endless stream of insects finally stopped. The entire colony lay knocked out on the ground.

Mikhella let out a heavy sigh, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

When she looked around and realized Dioma hadn’t returned, a victorious smile appeared on her face. She would collect everything herself. Then she could negotiate the fruit on her own terms—after all, she was the one who had done all the hard work.

Those creatures were lethal; a single bite would cause fucking unbearable pain. Hours of maintaining razor-sharp focus had mentally exhausted her. However, the moment she looked at the Sacred Energy-infused Scaled Fruit tree, all her fatigue simply vanished.

Approaching the plant, which grew inside a rocky crevice resembling a natural flowerpot, Mikhella reached out, her eyes shining.

"That was a hell of a lot of work..." she muttered with a faint smile.

A calm, serene voice sounded directly behind her ear:

"I agree. But it was worth waiting this long."

Mikhella spun around on pure reflex, but it was already too late.

*POW!*

A black branch cut through the air and slammed brutally into her cheek, sending her spinning through the air like a projectile.

Without hesitating for even a second and without the slightest bit of mercy, Priam stored the sapling and the entire rocky "pot" directly inside his Ring of Life. As long as he fed the plant some natural energy from time to time, it would remain perfectly healthy until the end of the journey.

"PRIAM!!!"

Mikhella regained her balance in midair and landed heavily on the ground.

When she saw Priam shamelessly storing the tree away, her fury exploded to astronomical levels. Her eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets, her hair stood on end, and her gaze spewed pure fire. Hours of backbreaking work stolen at the very last second!

"Oh? No need to get worked up," Priam said with a magnanimous, aggrieved aura. "I ran into Dioma on the way, and he promised me this tree and its fruits as a token of our deep friendship. I was the one who had to patiently wait for you to harvest everything for me... my time is valuable, you know? I’m the one who should be angry about how slow you were."

"HAND OVER THE TREE!" Mikhella roared.

Her aura exploded with overwhelming force, making her long hair float as if she were possessed by a demon.

The pressure caused the surrounding atmosphere to freeze. Mikhella’s spear shot toward Priam in a deadly thrust.

Priam dropped his playful smile. With extreme casualness, he clenched his fist and punched straight into the tip of the blade.

*BOOM!*

The entire ground cracked, sending gigantic chunks of stone flying into the air. The surrounding forest was swept away by a colossal shockwave.

"You took a beating from my general, and now you wanna come here and act all tough with me?" Priam’s voice was cold and indifferent, making Mikhella’s face twist. "How about this: get on your knees and kill yourself. Then I’ll let you go to reincarnation without suffering."

*BOOM!*

Mikhella attacked again with a furious barrage of thrusts, but Priam blocked every single strike with his bare fists. He didn’t retreat even a single inch. To make matters worse, the girl’s freezing power and mist from her Water element had absolutely no effect on him.

With a calm movement, Priam deflected the spearhead to the side and took firm steps forward, closing the distance.

Mikhella desperately retreated, trying to regain some distance.

Priam didn’t pursue her. He simply stared at her without emotion.

Killing her there would be child’s play, but he didn’t want that. Her memories were worth the effort of capturing her alive.

After all... from Dioma’s memories, Priam had obtained all the techniques and Magic Arts that the branch had offered him. Even though Priam had won the bet against the 4th Branch before, and Shione would already benefit greatly in the future, it would never be the same as what the Elder Leader’s daughter had received.

So now, this Mage herself was the greatest treasure for Priam.

He stared at her in silence. His eyes gleamed with the hungry intensity of an apex predator staring at a succulent piece of meat on a plate.

Mikhella swallowed hard, feeling an icy chill run up her spine. Even so, she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"Hmph! What arrogance!" Mikhella raised her spear, forcing her aura higher as the surrounding space trembled. "I forged my reputation over mountains of Sorcerer corpses! My fame comes from real combat! You think I’m like those weaklings from the 11th Branch? You’re dying today! But look around—the scenery is beautiful enough to be your grave. Consider yourself lucky!"

Priam gave a crooked smile. Internally, a peculiar thought crossed his mind.

’Killing and looting is way too profitable...’

He knew he couldn’t turn this into a habit, or he risked becoming corrupted in the future and going around robbing people over every little thing.

But against scum like her right now? He would show absolutely no mercy.

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