"Welcome, new companion!"
A scorching ray of light suddenly emerged from the darkness of the void, and Raylin felt as though he were gazing upon a blazing core of earth-fire.
"This is the Mother of the Earth's Core! The strongest among us!" Inosete introduced from the side.
As the voice spoke, several other powerful wills descended solemnly.
"This is the Necromancer Knight!" "This is the Lord of the Abyss!"
Numerous eighth-level beings—some drawn directly from ancient legends and myths, others Raylin had never heard of before—began to reveal their forms.
"Greetings, everyone!"
Raylin returned the greeting. Behind him, the colossal illusory form of a Targaryen Winged Serpent materialized, the power of Devouring swirling endlessly around him.
"An interesting fellow! He actually commands the power of Devouring!"
"That path is terribly difficult. Do you remember that Bubble Teapot from 320,000 years ago? He seemed to walk the same road..."
"A descendant of the Ten Thousand Serpents, yet he broke through his shackles? Congratulations!"
The various beings either conversed among themselves or actively extended their goodwill. The mere transmission of their wills would have been enough to cause sixth-level Radiant Sun beings to explode on the spot.
"Silence!"
At the Mother of the Earth's Core's command, all the wills fell silent at once.
"First, let us welcome Leilin Farell! Our newest companion!" It was clear that the Mother of the Earth's Core was indeed the strongest here, with the numerous Law-level beings all subtly deferring to her.
"The contract has been prepared! You may review it first!"
An ordinary clay tablet flew out from the core of the earth and landed before Raylin's eyes. Upon it, a contract was inscribed in the language of Laws.
Raylin examined it. The terms were quite broad—they stipulated that as a member of the Wizard World, he must actively defend the entire Wizard World against foreign invasion.
In return, he would have the opportunity to spend several years every century comprehending the power of Laws here, as well as to absorb the world's primal force.
"The world's primal force is finite. Even beings of Laws cannot take from the world without limit, for that would inevitably lead to the destruction of everything... Even we cannot draw upon the world's power without restraint—there must be limits!"
The Mother of the Earth's Core explained to Raylin.
"I have no objections!" Raylin was well aware of these principles. He nodded, and a black imprint of a Targaryen Winged Serpent appeared at the end of the clay tablet.
Crack! The clay tablet shattered at once, seemingly drawing the attention of the World's Will, and strands of strange power poured down from above.
"With the great Will of the Wizards as witness, I declare! The contract is complete!"
The Mother of the Earth's voice carried a solemn weight, while the numerous presences surrounding her joined in with enthusiastic cries:
"Welcome, boy!" "It's been so long since new blood joined us after the Ancient War!"
It was clear that only after the contract was signed did these beings truly regard Leilin Farell as one of their own.
After some exchanges, Leilin first took in the world rules revealed by the Earth's Core and absorbed a portion of the primal force before finally departing under Enoshite's guidance.
"Rest assured, my friend!"
At their parting, Enoshite proved to be both warm and hospitable. "I will help you find a method to solve the control problems that arise from splitting the true spirit in two!"
"Then I'll be counting on you!"
Leilin nodded gratefully.
Such advanced soul techniques — even with his research capabilities and the Chip's assistance — could take an indefinite amount of time to successfully develop. The only option was to have other rule-level existences help search for them.
"Actually... ordinary soul clones should be more than sufficient for our use. Why attempt the far more dangerous true spirit splitting?"
Enoshite bit her lip and began to persuade him.
"I know! Clones are indeed very useful, but the connection with the main body must never be severed. There are still significant flaws..."
Leilin replied.
Clones like the Eye of Judgment or the Filth Bird from before — Leilin could certainly create those now.
Perhaps they couldn't really be called clones at all, but were merely projections of power.
As a rule-level existence, Leilin was well aware of the weaknesses of such projections: "Once the connection is severed, these projections become completely useless! And they can't be re-manipulated either..."
"Alright! I will get this done. Through the Library of Wisdom passed down in my family's lineage, I'm confident we'll have results within three hundred years!"