Now that Lidien's thoughts were clearer than before, he wearily smiled at Alva, pushed himself up, and sat into the lotus position, trying to focus his mind on what was happening within him.

Lidien didn't need to tell Alva what to do; she immediately sat beside him—resting while staying alert despite the calmness of the river, disturbed only by the falls.

'Damn that Dragon. My plan to replace my Coreflux with a purer element was destroyed along with my Coreflux being replaced by this Blackhole.'

Like a black hole that absorbed everything, the Black Vortex sent by the Dragon only absorbed Elemental Essence, purifying it much better than what his Coreflux could do. However, this Elemental Verve couldn't be stored.

Thanks to the Fire Rune and Water Rune, the specific Elemental Verve that got purified attached itself to the rune, acting as storage for its element.

Without daring to use his Incite of Blood, he tried to remember the remaining Elemental Runes, drawing the rampant Elemental Verve into Dark, Light, Wind, and Earth one by one.

The task wasn't as hard as when he first drew the Fire Rune, for whenever he drew each of the remaining Runes, the Elemental Verve that was rampaging inside his being grew fewer and fewer, until all the Elemental Essences that were being purified by the Black Vortex had attached themselves to the runes.

This made it balance, as the Six Elements found their place beside the Black Vortex.

Lidien opened his eyes,

and Alva was already burning wood to prepare for the night to come.

Smirking from his success, Lidien tried to stand, but his knees were so weak that he almost stumbled on the gravel as his body now felt so numb.

Alva left the campfire and leapt toward him, supporting him.

"Don't force yourself... you've been sitting for a week now."

Lidien's eyes widened along with his mouth from shock; what felt like a few minutes had been almost a week outside of his thoughts.

'I need to limit my meditation, or I'll die of old age without knowing.'

Alva helped Lidien lie on the leaves and continued to make fire by friction. Seeing her actions, Lidien smiled faintly, a smile that Alva hadn't noticed.

"Thank you..." he whispered, unsure if Alva heard it; he didn't try to repeat it.

***

The night ended so fast as Lidien slept like a log, unmoving.

Alva woke up first, stretched her limbs, and stood, breathing the fresh air of the peaceful, dewy morning that had come.

A week had passed in their location, but no magical beast or people came to chance upon them.

Trusting the unnatural event that had happened in their location, she left to gather food for their remaining hours.

A few minutes passed before Lidien woke up; he didn't immediately sit but stretched his limbs and tried to feel and thump his own legs.

After a few weak thumps that he thought were a massage, he stood up and scanned their surroundings.

Waterfalls came from a height; now, there were no clouds blocking the top of it, and he could clearly see the blue skies.

Like the Rift of the Leaden Blood, Lidien was sure that the Rift was owned by the Dragon, and thanks to accidentally entering it, he was able to study some Runes that also saved his life.

"Shit! It was already a week!"

Without a wait, he stopped his own blood flow and immediately entered his Dreamflow, disregarding his nausea and headache from the abrupt entrance.

"Old man! What are you doing?!"

The Monarch of Blood stood beside a small circular room full of desert sand, and at its center was the Rift's Core, now splitting and suctioning the Endless Spiritual Essences from the Starry Sky without Lidien knowing.

"Why didn't you tell me immediately?!"

Lidien stormed towards the Monarch, who was in a trance analyzing the Rift's Core; it was the first time in his life he had seen it suction essence from the starry sky, since he hadn't dared to prolong his own Rift when he was alive inside his own Dreamflow.

"Why would I disturb your meditation? This doesn't seem to be the critical point yet," the Monarch of Blood said, his hands placed near the Rift's Core, yet he didn't dare touch it.

"Move back, I'll bring it out now."

Lidien pointed his hands at the Rift's Core, using his Suspended Trance he bypassed the Rift's Core suctioning the Essence towards himself and sent it back to it.

As the veil dividing the reality and the Dreamflow became thin, Lidien pulled the Rift's Core outside of it.

Then, as he couldn't take Spiritual Essence from the Starry Sky inside the Dreamflow, the Rift's Core slowly materialized its desert sands, forming a cloud around it.

The cloud crawled on the ground, fast enough to cover Lidien with it.

Letting himself enter the Rift of the Leaden Blood.

The same sunless sky greeted him, followed by the choking heat of the desert sand.

In the center stood the Ancient Castle, unsure if it was owned by Blodmire, or just a memory of him... or, if this Rift was based on another's memories, and Blodmire was just a name the owner devoted to.

Lidien doesn't know, and he didn't care.

What he understood now is that the Rift was his, and his alone.

'To hell with him...'

Lidien walked towards the Ancient Castle, his feet shallowly sinking into the desert sand.

"Lidien!"

A loud shout reverberated in the Rift, and as he looked back, Alva was already kneeling on the ground, her hands reaching out for him.

Panic engulfed Lidien; unless he fully Mastered the Rift of the Leaden Blood, they couldn't leave outside of it. Even taking the Rift's Core below the Ancient Castle would take time and he was sure that it wasn't enough to let Alva live by the rules of the rift.

He ran frantically towards Alva, clawing at the desert sand hoping his four limbs could make it faster against the sands, for a small lapse of his judgement was now jeopardizing her life.

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