Absolute Darkness

Anyone who reaches the Ultra Rank, whether mage or knight, stands at the pinnacle of power, even within the great empires—be it the Flicker Empire or the vast Elven Dominion.

In general, small islands like the Silver Flower Isles, desolate and lacking in resources, can only support warriors at the Legendary Rank. In rare cases, a Mythic-ranked individual may emerge, but even that is uncommon. The situation, however, is entirely different on the mainland, where the aura is rich and abundant.

On the mainland, the number of talented individuals suited for knight training is significantly higher. Among those born with talent, many can reach the Silver Knight level, and for some, even attaining the rank of Golden Knight is not out of reach. Legendary Knights are not rare, and Mythic Knights, while formidable, often hold positions such as mayors, governors, or district judges in smaller cities and provinces.

But Ultra Rank is different. Even among the major empires, Ultra-ranked knights are exceedingly rare. They are granted high-ranking positions with ease—governors of vast states, mayors of great cities, and judges overseeing critical districts.

As for Super Rank? Even in the most powerful empires, their numbers are scarce. Each and every one of them is a legend, their names known across the land. They hold great influence, acting as key decision-makers in the empire. Most reside within the capitals, serving as ministers or dedicating themselves to rigorous training, clinging to the faint hope of breaking through to the fabled Extreme Rank.

And then, there are the Extreme-ranked individuals—the true rulers of the empires. Their power stands above all, yet they rarely appear. Most of the time, they remain in deep slumber, seeking to prolong their lifespans. With them in hibernation, the responsibility of ruling the great kingdoms falls to Ultra-ranked mages and Super-ranked knights.

Though Super-ranked knights are stronger in direct combat, Ultra-ranked mages are held in even higher regard. The reason is simple—Ultra-ranked mages can, to some extent, communicate with the Will of the World and even draw upon its power. Without them, crafting high-level formations would be nearly impossible.

As for Super-ranked mages, they are so rare they may as well not exist. In the absence of Extreme-ranked knights, these mages are the undisputed leaders of their factions.

But an Extreme-ranked mage? There has never been one.

...

Edric, now an Ultra-ranked knight, gazed at the endless horizon.

He hovered high in the sky, scanning the ground below, searching for something. Yet, even after days of travel, he had found nothing. His Ultra-ranked vision was a significant improvement, but it wasn't enough.

"I've been heading west for a month, yet I still haven't reached the end!" he sighed. Despite his breakthrough to Ultra Knight, his magic spells remained as they were before. For mobility, he relied on a Mythic-tier flight spell, which meant his speed hadn't improved at all with his advancement.

"This place is massive… it must span millions of miles," he murmured, awed by the sheer vastness of the world.

"Maybe I should run on the ground?" he mused. As a Mythic-ranked mage, his flight speed was limited to Mythic-tier spells, but if he ran, his speed would be much faster.

Yet, he quickly dismissed the thought. "If I run, anything in my path will melt from the friction… besides, flying gives me a wider field of view since I have a higher vantage point. Running on the ground is no good." He shook his head.

"I wish I could use martial techniques…" he thought bitterly.

Mages wield mana, but knights have their own form of energy—called internal energy, martial power, or qi, depending on the region. There was no universal name for it.

Though both mana and internal energy were power sources, they were fundamentally different. Mana was soft, flexible, and could be molded into various forms and elements to cast magic. Internal energy, on the other hand, was sharp, rigid, and violent. It could not be shaped into elements, which meant that while its raw power and lethality were immense, it was practically useless for casting spells.

However, despite its inflexible nature, internal energy could be barely shaped into simple martial techniques.

These martial techniques were closely guarded secrets of the major empires. Even possessing them wasn't enough—actually using them required rigorous training and exceptional talent. Edric had neither the techniques nor the martial arts talent to master them in a short time.

Martial techniques varied in type, from basic flight techniques to Hardening Arts, Energy Blades, Burning Arts, and Freezing Arts. No matter the technique, it had to be simple.

Take the Flying Art, for example. While it was a useful martial technique, it was vastly inferior to magic flight spells. A mage could control the speed, direction, and altitude of a flight spell with pinpoint accuracy. In contrast, the Flying Art only allowed movement in a straight line, at a fixed speed, without the ability to adjust course mid-flight. It was useful, but severely lacking compared to magic.

Yet, despite its limitations, Edric now wished he could use Ultra-ranked flight speed. While an Ultra-ranked Flying Art was still far inferior to an Ultra-ranked flight spell, it was leagues ahead of a Mythic-ranked flight spell.

And in his current predicament, even an imperfect technique was better than nothing.

...

With no better solution, Edric continued flying using his Mythic-tier spell for another five months. Then, at long last, he found something interesting.

"This place… the concentration of dark energy is much higher here!"

Curious, he pulled out a small piece of wood and set it on fire.

The light from the flame struggled to spread, as if trapped in an invisible cage. It barely illuminated his face, even though it was only inches away.

"Mortal light is completely suppressed here," Edric thought.

To test it further, he cast a Silver-ranked spell—[Flashlight].

A bright, silvery glow flared to life in his palm. Yet, instead of cutting through the darkness, the light was stifled, its reach limited. He aimed it toward the ground, but the illumination failed to penetrate, vanishing midway.

"Amazing! The dark energy here is so dense that it even suppresses magical light!" He was astonished.

What was darkness, truly?

Darkness was simply the absence of light. In any confrontation between the two, one side held absolute dominance. It wasn't hard to guess which—light obliterated darkness effortlessly. The very existence of light banished the shadows, whereas no amount of darkness could, in theory, extinguish even the smallest spark. Darkness was defined by the absence of light, and once light appeared, it ceased to exist.

Yet, the world was never that simple.

In extreme cases, when the balance was severely skewed, even the impossible could become reality. Here, the sheer density of dark energy was so overwhelming, so suffocating, that it was darkness suppressing light instead of the other way around.

Intrigued, Edric decided to push the limits. He increased the rank of the spell to Gold.

The struggling silver glow brightened into a radiant golden light, its intensity surging manyfold. The oppressive darkness began to melt away, and at last, the light successfully reached the ground.

"So, the dark elements here can only suppress up to Silver-ranked light," he mused. "Hmm… I should explore further and find the place with the highest concentration of dark energy."

With that thought, he pressed on.