The Endless Night Ends

Edric calculated mythic spells for five years.

During those five years, the sun never rose—it was as if night was the only thing that existed. The world around him remained eerily still. No monsters, no voices, no storms—just an endless expanse of trees beneath a sky of perpetual darkness.

In this undisturbed silence, Edric devoted himself entirely to his craft. With unwavering focus, he combined his vast array of skills with his innate mythic magic talent to design his first mythic spell.

He named it [Visible Teleportation].

This spell allowed a mythic being to teleport themselves or others to any visible target area. And because Edric was a Mythic Knight, his eyesight far surpassed that of ordinary beings—he could see for hundreds of miles with ease, making the 'visible target' limitation virtually nonexistent.

By flying higher, his range of teleportation increased even further. Darkness posed no obstacle either, as his eyes could pierce through the night just as easily as daylight. In short, his range was not typically limited by the visibility of the target.

However, despite the vast range, [Visible Teleportation] had one major limitation—the mana cost. The farther the distance, the greater the mana consumption.

Through testing, Edric discovered that he could teleport up to 2,000 miles comfortably. If he pushed himself to the limit, he could reach 5,000 miles, but that would drain his mana completely, leaving him vulnerable if attacked.

Out of all his weapons and equipment, only those stored in his System Inventory remained. The ones inside his space rings were lost, with no way to retrieve them. Fortunately, his Mythic Lance was safely stored in the system space, ensuring that even as a knight, he retained top-tier mythic combat strength. But his most powerful trump cards were still his mythic spells—he could not afford to exhaust his mana carelessly.

Over the course of five years, Edric created an average of one mythic spell per month, resulting in a total of 58 mythic spells.

His arsenal covered every area of battle:

Offensive Spells: [Fireball], [Freeze], [Poison], [Dimensional Slash], [Explode], [Counterattack], and more. Defensive Spells: [Golden Shield], [Mana Shield], [Repelling Armor], [Harden], and [Increase Resistance]. Utility Spells: [Heal], [Increase Agility], [Slow], [Disrupt], [Dispel], and more.

With this arsenal, Edric estimated his combat ability to be at the absolute peak of the Mythic rank. Defeating other Mythic Knights would be no challenge.

"Alright… time to finally figure out where I am."

Now that his preparations were complete, he no longer feared Mythic-ranked enemies. Only Ultra-tier beings could pose a real threat—but with [Super Knight Boost], he felt confident in his safety.

He ascended into the sky and activated [Space Observation]. Seeing no immediate danger, he cast [Visible Teleportation].

It only took 25 seconds.

Ordinarily, teleportation spells required long casting times, but Edric had many skills that enhanced his spellcasting speed. His mythic talent and years of relentless training had honed the spell to near perfection.

The scenery shifted slightly beneath him—yet it was still nothing but endless trees.

Checking his mana pool, he descended to recover. Teleporting 2,000 kilometers consumed 40% of his mana, and it would take four hours to fully replenish.

Once his mana was restored, he soared into the sky once more and teleported in the same direction.

Edric couldn't determine north or south, but as a Mythic Knight, his instincts were unparalleled. He knew exactly which way to go. There would be no getting lost.

And so, he continued his journey—toward the unknown.

For an entire month, Edric relentlessly teleported, again and again—each jump spanning 2,000 miles.

Despite covering such vast distances, his speed of 2,000 miles per four hours was actually slow for a Mythic Mage. If he simply used [Fly], he could travel far faster. The advantage of teleportation, however, was its instantaneous nature.

For long-distance travel, flying was often the better choice—it consumed far less mana. Yet, Edric chose to persist with teleportation for two key reasons:

First, he wanted to use this time to train his teleportation spell, refining his casting speed to make it even faster.

Second, flying carried risks. If hostile creatures or unknown forces lurked in this mysterious land, they could ambush him mid-air.

In general, flying was faster, but teleportation was safer. Of course, there were exceptions—certain places where space was unstable or fluctuating, where teleportation might become dangerous. But in most locations, where space was stable, teleportation was almost completely risk-free.

Few spells and formations could interfere with teleportation. Edric himself knew the [Disrupt] spell, which could destabilize space and hinder teleportation magic. However, his teleportation was Mythic-level, meaning that lower-ranked disruptions had little to no effect. Only an Ultra-rank mage wielding an Ultra-level spell could pose a true threat.

But if an Ultra-rank mage were to attack…

It wouldn't matter if he was flying or teleporting—it would be a disaster either way.

Edric also considered the possibility of space traps or destabilizing formations that could interfere with his movement. But the chances of encountering such things were minimal.

Maintaining space traps required enormous energy, and no rational mage would waste resources placing them in an uninhabited, endless dark forest,

Additionally, space-disturbing formations were even more energy-intensive. They were typically reserved for highly strategic locations, such as the headquarters of powerful magic academies, to block teleportation—certainly not placed in an uninhabited forest.

The only real danger was the possibility of naturally occurring space disruptions. But so far, the spatial stability in this region was perfect.

To be absolutely certain, Edric always cast [Space Observation] before teleporting, ensuring there were no hidden risks.

So far, there had been no problems.

...

After 35 days, Edric finally saw signs of life.

At first, only small animals appeared, scattered across the vast landscape. But as the days passed, the wilderness grew livelier.

Then, on the 45th day, he saw the sun again.

"I have no idea where I am, but this is definitely not some island," he thought. "This must be the mainland—maybe somewhere within the Flicker Continent!"

No island could be this enormous. Over the past month, he had traveled hundreds of thousands of miles—a mind-boggling distance. On Earth, even the entire diameter of the planet was far less than that.

Now that he had left the eternal night behind, Edric stopped teleporting and switched to flying.

...

For another ten days, he flew across vast landscapes until, finally, he saw his first settlement.

The town was built beside a river, surrounded by stone walls and modest buildings. At first glance, it seemed like a normal human settlement—except for one detail.

The residents had pointed ears, slender frames, and were noticeably shorter than the average human.

"Elves!"

Edric's eyes narrowed. "I'm definitely not anywhere near the Flicker Empire… There shouldn't be Elves within Flicker's borders!"

Fortunately, his [Disguise] skill would solve that problem.

With it, he could blend in perfectly—nobody would be able to detect his true identity.

He opened the skill's details:

...

[Disguise] (Purple Rank)

Allows the user to transform into a target as long as they are not higher than Extreme Rank. The target's rank cannot exceed the user's rank. Grants full inheritance of the target's memories, abilities, and power. The disguise can only be detected by Absolute-rank beings or keen-sensed Extreme-rank individuals. Once disguised, the original target disappears from the world and will only return once the disguise is broken. Cooldown: Once per week. Maximum Duration: 1,000 years per disguise. Limitations: Can perfectly copy Super-rank and below, but struggles with Extreme-rank. Does not work on Absolute-rank beings.

...

"This skill is ridiculously powerful!"

Not only could he become another person, but he would inherit their strength and memories.

It was the perfect disguise.

Flying over the settlement, Edric carefully scanned the town, searching for a suitable target.

Then, after a few minutes, he found one.

"Hmm… that's a good starting point."

Without hesitation, he activated [Disguise] on his target…