Chapter 9: Strange Phenomenon

"That... That... What the fuck?"

Day tried to move, but with her body connected to Rufus', she could only feel a great sense of desolation.

Her mind, once filled with racing and ambitious thoughts, now ground to a halt.

As she fell, her eyes turned towards Liam. Seeing the enemy who had dealt her a mortal blow, horror etched itself on her face.

She couldn't comprehend how he was still alive.

"Liam!"

Those were her last words as the black-haired young man approached, a smile on his youthful face. For the first time, he displayed that emotion to Day.

"You did this to yourself, Day."

Liam kneeled beside her as her body slowly ceased to move, her strength to speak completely gone. There was still a flicker of consciousness in her eyes. Taking the opportunity, Liam said goodbye.

"I didn't think our next meeting would end so quickly, but that's fine, too. In the next life, don't be so quick to betray complete strangers. Don't be an idiot again and—"

He paused, noticing the light in Day's eyes had extinguished.

Liam wasn't used to this kind of situation. By taking revenge, he felt a sense of relief in his heart, but he couldn't express everything that was on his mind.

"Sigh... It doesn't matter. You're already dead. I think I've done the world a favor by avenging what happened earlier."

Liam stood up, certain that the two Spirit Masters were dead and wouldn't be a problem for him.

Seeing no sign of demons or beasts nearby, he turned his focus to the waterfall not far from the bodies, where the opportunity that Day had guided him to lay.

Before moving on, he picked up Day and Rufus' bags, feeling his stomach rumble once again.

'Dried meat, seeds, water and fruit. It's a good thing those two didn't consume everything they had!'

Liam devoured half of the food left in Day's and Rufus' bags while counting his other gains. Besides the food, he found three daggers, an axe, two bows with several arrows, some plants, a stone that looked like a diamond, and a strange vial that he couldn't open.

After eating his fill, he made his way to the waterfall, noticing more and more of what it was capable of as he got closer.

'In order to reach the other side and get the special resource available here, one must first pass through this waterfall... However, it's not as simple as it looks.'

He picked up a fallen tree branch from the banks of the lake in front of the waterfall and threw it against the waterfall. The moment the branch hit the wall of water, it shattered.

Seeing that he was right, Liam approached carefully, testing the water first on one of his legs while strengthening his body with mana. When he saw he could bear the weight of the water, he sat down under the waterfall, closing his eyes and accepting the painful massage provided by the falling water.

He began to meditate, feeling the mana entering his body more easily than when he was in the hot spring a few days ago.

Liam cultivated under the waterfall for the next three hours, feeling improvements in his constitution, even if he didn't make significant progress.

At the end of his cultivation, he advanced down the waterfall and reached the other side of the water, where there was a small cave about 2 meters above his position.

Setting his eyes on a bluish gem embedded in the wall and shining brightly, Liam knew it would help him immensely. He climbed the wall behind the waterfall, reaching for the precious resource.

As soon as he touched it, he felt a sharp pain on his fingertip, retracting his hand instantly.

'That...'

This was no ordinary pain. It felt as if his entire nervous system had screamed in agony. His eyes fluttered, and the hairs on his arm stood on end. His body stopped obeying him as he fell towards the small lake below.

Amid his fall and pain, his vision blurred, but not before he noticed the glow of the crystal disappearing.

'This place...'

His mind transported him to a misty lake where the demon incubus lay. Suddenly, the demon woke up, taking a fighting stance.

The level of the 'water' in the lake rose, and a blue glow emerged from its depths, rising until it floated beneath the clouds like a bright star. Strange symbols formed lines in the air, enveloping the glowing patch.

'What is that?'

Liam felt an immense power emanating from the thing, while strange symbols, forming lines in the air, condensed here and there, enveloping the patch of space where the blue glow had settled.

"I don't know either."

Hearing that voice, Liam looked at the demon in shock. For the first time since their strange relationship began, the demon had spoken.

"This... Can you talk to me? Demon! You need to change your behavior. I could die if you don't help me!"

Liam seized the opportunity to pressure the creature, unsure if he would get another chance.

The demon didn't respond to Liam's plea, maintaining its guard because of the frightening aura of the glowing thing.

"Human, never tell anyone about this thing you've gained. Make no mistake, treasures are curses unless you know how to use them. Understand what it's all about in secret. Don't come to me until you've got something."

Just as suddenly as he had awakened, the demon went back to sleep, ignoring Liam's exclamations.

The young man clenched his fists in frustration. There was nothing he could do to force more information from the incubus.

Knowing nothing about the strange item he had touched, he too could only keep his many questions to himself as he gradually returned his consciousness to reality.

Seeing himself sinking into the small lake, he swam to the surface. He spotted the waterfall, now devoid of the mystical phenomenon that had made it so intriguing.

'I seem to have totally absorbed that thing... But I don't know what it's for. Is it a good thing, or a problem like the demon said?'

He stopped pondering as he focused on his cultivation, realizing he had advanced to the 7-Star of the first realm thanks to the strange phenomenon from moments ago.

...

For the next eleven days, Liam traveled from his previous position, growing braver as he moved around the Eternal Doom Island.

He still knew nothing about the crystal that had invaded his mental space, nor had he been able to speak to the demon again despite his attempts. During those days, he meditated, hunted, ate, rested, and moved.

He encountered a few demons, having to run away on one occasion and fighting two creatures on different occasions. Fortunately, most of the creatures on the Eternal Doom Island were weaker than him.

His last opponent, a 6-Star Spirit Apprentice Demon, had been tough to defeat without the help of his spirit, which he honestly didn't think would help him much either, given the characteristics of an incubus.

Fortunately, he was strong enough to fend for himself on the island and didn't regret it too much.

Waking up this morning in the cave he had found the night before, Liam ate the rest of the fruits he had, before preparing to move on in search of opportunities.

As he opened the stone path he had improvised to protect himself, he came across the jungle and the daylight, breathing in the pure forest air, the only positive side of this place full of malice.

But just as he was enjoying the moment before leaving to continue his journey, Liam narrowed his eyes at the sight of three armed people staring at him menacingly: two men and a woman.

His instincts kicked in. The moment the two men lunged at him from different directions, he swiftly moved his hands to the daggers in his bag.

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