Though his vision turning dark had definitely caught him off-guard, the young man did not take long to realize the current situation he was in, taking in a few deep breaths to compose himself. Having experienced a similar situation earlier, Valyr knew that he would have to have a clear mind to make the most out of it.

After all, he had awakened the Intent Seed of Shadow Energy thanks to it.

Whoosh!

Surprisingly, instead of starting off at the part where a dark sphere at the center of the void burst to form Shadow Energy, the scene before him began at the part where the dark sphere had already burst, the entire void inundated with the existence of dense Shadow Energy. Once again, he was introduced to the concepts regarding Shadow Energy that had eluded his mind before, prompting him to feel like his understanding behind the energy was gradually increasing.

However, before he could truly savor the feeling he was currently immersed in, a sudden sensation crept up within his body, asking him to open his eyes to view the scene that was about to appear. Faintly wondering whether the sensation had come from, Valyr still went ahead and opened his eyes, expecting nothing much to have changed regarding the current sensation.

Yet, before thoughts under the same vein began to form in his mind, the young man looked at the current sight before him with a slack jaw, noticing that light blue tendrils that emanated a familiar energy began to form around the fringes of the boundless void.

“Mana…” muttered Valyr, slightly frowning once he noticed that the tendrils of mana had broken through and entered the void filled to the brim with Shadow Energy. However, rather than making the Shadow Energy within the void impure with its existence, the tendrils of mana instead fused with the Shadow Energy within its vicinity, accentuating the properties of the dark energy even further.

Bearing witness to such a phenomenon, Valyr felt like multiple concepts had been unlocked in his mind all at once as the gears in his mind undoubtedly turned at breakneck speeds. Within seconds, he had gained hundreds of new ideas on how to connect his own mana and Shadow Energy into one entity, giving the two energies the opportunity to form a synergistic effect between one another.

With these thoughts lingering in his mind, it did not take long for the same feeling he had gotten from awakening his Intent Seed to envelop his entire body once more. Though, unlike before, the connection between him and the world had grown a bit deeper, causing him to feel a hint of excitement as he had a hunch on what had actually happened.

Widening his eyes as much as it could go, the young man committed the current sight before him to memory, hoping to make use of it in the future when he needed to ponder over his Intent Seed even further.

Unfortunately, before he could grasp any additional concepts from the sight before him, he had been returned to the trial grounds beyond his own volition, which prompted to let out a faint sigh in disappointment.

‘Well, such an experience is already hard to come by.’ Briefly shrugging his shoulders as he decided to not mull over the situation too much, Valyr closed his eyes for a bit to consolidate all of the information he had obtained from the vision the Gates of Enlightenment had shown.

“Alright, time to look at the notifications I got.” Once he felt like he had eked out every piece of information he possibly could from the vision he had seen, only then did the young man open his eyes once more, commanding the system to bring up his notifications just as the disembodied voice resounded throughout the area.

‘A path leading to the knowledge repository of your choosing has been opened,’ said the voice. ‘Feel free to traverse it at your own leisure.’

Nodding in response to the voice’s words, Valyr swiftly returned his attention to the notification screen before him. Reading through the notifications he had received one by one, the smile on his face grew larger and larger, eventually turning into an incredibly wide grin.

Ding!

Your understanding of Shadow Energy has reached a culmination point. The world has taken notice of this, allowing you to borrow another portion of its nigh-infinite power.

Your Intent Seed of Shadow Energy has ascended to the First Stage.

“Though it would’ve been nice if the Gates of Enlightenment had chosen to unlock and upgrade all of the Early Middle Age advancements to max level, I can’t really complain about this one.” Seeing that his Intent Seed had gotten one step closer to becoming a fully-fledged Intent, Valyr let out a peal of boisterous laughter.

You have comprehended a great number of concepts surrounding mana and Shadow Energy, specifically the boundlessness of both mana and Shadow Energy. Because of this, the property of Energy awakened by your Shadow Energy has been upgraded to Boundless. 𝗈𝑽𝐞𝐥xt.𝗇𝓔t

You have comprehended a great number of concepts surrounding mana and Shadow Energy, specifically the great compatibility that exists between mana and Shadow Energy. Because of this, the active skill ‘Shadow Serpent Combat Style’ has evolved to ‘Arcane Shadow Serpent Combat Style’.

‘I should really take some time to look at those properties my Shadow Energy awakened… whatever those may be.’ Though he was unsure whether or not the first notification was good news or not, the second one undoubtedly brought him great joy. After all, from what the name of the evolved skill implied, it seemed like it would be a better fit for his Shadow Serpent Manalancer subclass, allowing him to make greater use of the perks associated with the subclass.

You have completed the quest: Gates of Enlightenment’ Trial (2).

You have gained access to the Gates of Enlightenment.

You have gained access to the 1st level of the Gates of Enlightenment’s Blacksmith Knowledge Repository.

You have received a new quest: Gates of Enlightenment’ Trial (3).

‘I guess the first reward from completing this quest might be affected by the increased authority I received from completing the second quest,’ thought Valyr to himself, slightly unsure. ‘Though, I still feel like it would also affect the floors I can access within the knowledge repository.’

‘I’ll save the quest I gained for later.’ With the thought in mind, Valyr moved onto the final series of notifications he had received, with the last few notifications causing a slight smile to creep up onto his lips.

You have completed the quest: The First Forger.

Your authority within the Gates of Enlightenment has increased by one level.

You have gained the opportunity to access the First Forger’s memories. Would you like to access them?

You have gained in-depth information regarding the Gates of Enlightenment’s structure or goals. Would you like to view this information?

“I’ll access the First Forger’s memories.” Feeling that it was the main reason why the Gates of Enlightenment emphasized a lot on strength and willpower, it was no surprise that the young man chose to delve deeper regarding the First Forger before taking a look at the knowledge repository he had gained access to.

Within seconds, his mind was filled to the brim with great amounts of information, only for him to fall on his back soon after as his consciousness gradually drifted off into another space.