Chapter 189: Devorex Metal
"You are here again," Erix raised his eyebrows.
"Yep. I only have one minute here, so listen. You have six months to reach Royal order and exit this Abyss to return to your world. If you fail to return after six months or exactly 180 days, you will miss an important opportunity."
"What opportunity?" Rin asked.
"No idea, but there will be one, so be on time," Tenebria smiled.
She turned to Erix and added, "Rin will tell you some things I told her since our time here is up. I might or might not visit here again, but I want to see you two in the flesh, so hurry up."
Tenebria faintly smiled and added, "And all the best."
Afterward, Rin and Erix blanked out of Limitless Plane and saw the scenery of the cavern before their eyes.
After Rin told Erix about her talk with Tenebria, Erix came to know of some matters regarding her cosmic faction and how they could get to the next stage of their Spiritual Art.
"By the way, how\'s the progress about your source balancing?" Rin asked.
"11.08% done," Erix wryly smiled. "Long way."
"We need the elf that Lilith was talking about," Rin chuckled. She then remembered something and quickly said with shining eyes, "You also got an attribute-concept, right? Show me the details."
"It\'s a bit strange," Erix said as he opened his attribute-concept panel and shared it with her.
[???]
_Type: Attribute-concept
_Description: An attribute concept manifested specifically for Metal elements based on Erix\'s hunger for power and vision.
_Effect: You can create a unique metal called [???] with your mana that can devour other Metals you create to evolve. The limit of evolution is one step higher than the highest Tier of Metal you can create.
_Note: This is your own concept, so please name it appropriately. If the name clashes with other concepts, it will be denied.
"What is this?!" Rin exclaimed, dumbfounded. "No name? And the effect is crazy."
"What happened?" Lilith and Lily curiously arrived beside them.
Reinala glanced there but didn\'t approach them, while Klelia seemed to be in deep meditation on her Serene Spot and didn\'t hear Rin\'s shout.
Meanwhile, Erix shared the attribute-concept\'s details with Lilith and Lily, giving them a shock.
"Interesting. I\'ve heard about this," Lilith smiled with amusement and surprise. "Although many concepts were birthed naturally through some accidents or coincidences, many also birthed with people combining elements, exploring possibilities and doing experiments."
"Erix, you are the latter," Lilith grinned. "Congrats. You created a new attribute concept."
"I want to see its power, but we\'ll have to wait for that," Rin wryly smiled. "Also, what do you want to name this concept?"
"I\'ve thought of one just now. How about…Devorex Metal?
[ Congratulations. The name has been accepted.]
"Not bad," Lilith nodded.
"It got accepted, so I guess I can\'t change it even if I want to," Erix chuckled. "Anyway, I\'ll mess with this concept for a while to see what it is."
"We\'ll go to Howling Tombs the day after tomorrow, so make all the preparations and progress you want to make," Lilith announced. "I\'ll be done preparing food after two hours, so train with that in mind."
"Is it special today?" Rin curiously asked.
"I had to make your stats rise, especially Erix\'s stats since he can\'t kill monsters before his source progresses to at least 20%, so this feast will increase your stats permanently, and I want you two to eat the dishes as soon as they are made."
"It looks like you are going all out in this one."
"Of course, darling," Lilith smiled at Erix.
…
Everyone started training except for Lilith, who went to collect food ingredients.
Erix was experimenting with his Attribute-concept, and the results were good.
He had four Tier-4 Metals in his arsenal of creation, so he created a big Devorex Metal slab worth 1000 Mana and then created small blocks of three Tier-4 metals, each costing 200 mana. He didn\'t use Plazma Star ore, but the other three Tier-4 metals.
The Devorex Metal was quick. It looked pitch black, but once it started devouring the other Tier-4 metal blocks, the transformation started.
Erix keenly observed everything with his Spiritual Mystic Eye for ten seconds before his Devorex Metal stabilized into a piece of dark silver Metal with eccentric, dark blue and black patterns over it.
[Devorex Metal 1.1]—You can change the name.
_Rank: Tier-4.5
_Effects:
—> Defence Structure: A metal structure designed for absolute defense against piercing and blunt forces.
—> Offence Structure: A metal structure designed for slashing-type weapons.
—> Quirks: This Metal contains reactive icy bursts filled with darkness with the power of corrosive freeze. It has high resistance against light element, fire, and wood element.
\'Cool…\' Erix was impressed.
\'Let\'s see the true level of my level 4 Metal affinity,\' Erix grinned as he pointed at the Devorex Metal 1.1.
In the next second, Erix\'s eyes flashed faint golden before the metal slab turned into tiny particles.
Erix\'s eyes shone. His control over Metal was off the charts!
With a twirl of his finger, he designed a structure in his mind while the Devourex Metal 1.1 particles quickly took the shape of it and established themselves into a humanoid.
Erix made this humanoid structure\'s coating like a dragon\'s scale and gave it some designs, making it look like a dragon warrior with two long and thin daggers.
There was no face, as Erix just formed a helmet instead of a head.
\'I can create melee foot soldiers now, but if I tweak a little bit and inscribe formations in them, I might be able to give them simple skills.\'
Erix looked at his first high level of creation using Metal Element and nodded. \'I should create one Melee soldier, and one ranged soldier. Whenever I want to upgrade them or give additions, I can simply modify them.\'
Erix felt that it was a good idea to create some soldiers as guards.
"But later," Erix muttered and stored that Samurai-like metal humanoid, but with long dual daggers, into his Hunter card.
"Devorex Metal 1.1 sounds bad. Hmmm, based on the Metal\'s powers, Umbrost Metal sounds good," Erix casually gave this new Metal a name and then entered meditation on his Serene Spot.
\'Today and tomorrow. Let\'s see if I can make my Space affinity level 2.\'
…
"Alright, time to go. Howling Tombs are dangerous and also life-threatening when you challenge the tombs. Remain cautious."
The group stood before the portal that led to the Howling Tomb.
"Can\'t you unseal me a bit now? We are going to a dangerous place."
"Don\'t worry, I\'ll protect you," Lilith snickered. "You are still useful."
"I wonder if I am ready for Howling Tombs," Klelia muttered as her long bunny ears touched each other in nervousness.
"What I can say is that you have sufficient power to complete the challenge," Lilith said without looking back. "As for how you use your powers to complete the challenges…Well, that\'s entirely up to your capabilities and combat prowess."
"Let\'s go."
Lilith entered first while dragging Reinala, followed by Rin, Erix, Lily, and Klelia.
The group arrived at the ground entrance cave of the mountain, behind a bunch of boulders and vines.
Erix had hidden the portal there to prevent other people from noticing it, though it was still noticed once and was destroyed since it was closed and those people attacked it.
After exiting the portal, the group walked to the far left corner of the huge cave and arrived at the entrance of the Howling Tombs, which was an entrance to another big cave that contained multiple caves, each containing a howling tomb.
Without further ado, everyone walked through the black mist covering the entrance and entered inside.