Adrian looked around.

He was standing in a room with no windows or furniture, just a door at the other end. The room was so large that it couldn’t possibly have existed within the castle’s interior.

Having studied the space element extensively, Adrian understood that this was most likely a kind of dimension.

’This doesn’t make sense.’

Adrian knew that even among the Grade Two fragment relics, a massive strength gap existed. A good example would’ve been The Curse of Nortos and the bracelet on his hand.

Both of them were Grade Two fragment relics. But the rusted nail’s function was not very potent. It couldn’t kill an enemy that was stronger than a certain level, and there was a ridiculous condition that needed to be fulfilled for its effect to activate.

The bracelet, on the other hand, had quite a potent function, even if it was simple.

’But even considering that, isn’t this too much? How can the castle have such abilities? Its power seems incomparable to both of my Grade Two fragment relics.’

Letting out a sigh, Adrian walked up to the door. But as he had expected, it did not open. Even applying force seemed to have no effect, even though the door didn’t seem all that sturdy.

Adrian tilted his head as he stared at the door.

’Why does this room have a door if it’s a dimensional space?’

If the goal was to trap him here, then there was no point in even adding a door, much like how there were absolutely no windows.

Just then, he felt a familiar stinging pain in his arm. It was the same pain that he was used to experiencing during the five years he had spent in the cult.

It was the pain from the bracelet, signaling that he was in danger.

Adrian hurriedly turned around and scanned the room. It was empty, and there was no sign of anything in sight that could threaten him.

But then he saw it.

A formless black substance rose from the ground. Slowly, it began taking on a humanoid shape. Soon, a boy of Adrian’s own height, with hair covering his forehead, was standing there.

It didn’t take long for Adrian to know that the dark being’s form was identical to his own. It also didn’t seem to have any presence. Moments later, it unsheathed the sword at its waist and coated it with starlit black energy.

Adrian narrowed his eyes.

’A copy that can use the space element... does it also have my origin ability and the infinite dimension? Could this be the concept of this dimensional space?’

When he had been studying dimension creation spells in order to create the infinite dimension, Adrian had learned a lot about dimensions. One of the core traits of a dimension was its concept.

All dimensions were built on a set of rules, forming a concept. In that dimension’s space, those rules were like absolute laws.

So a being that took his form and seemingly was equipped with his abilities was most likely part of that set of rules.

The being seemed to be ready to lunge at him any moment, yet seemed to be cautiously waiting for Adrian’s next move.

’Hmm... I need time to think.’

As a precaution against the space element, he covered his entire body in a thick layer of mana first, then made his consciousness fall into the immutable world.

When he opened his eyes, Adrian found himself sitting in a shopping mall, in the seats near the billing area. He quickly increased the time discrepancy of the mind realm using the analog wristwatch.

Standing up, he walked through the empty shopping mall. Stopping in front of racks filled with snacks, he picked up a bag of chips and walked out of the mall. Walking through the empty streets, he began eating from the bag of chips as he started thinking.

’The creature using my abilities seems to be part of the dimension, or it wouldn’t have been able to emerge like that. The question is... why did it emerge?’

Adrian thought back to his actions before the being emerged.

He had walked up to the door and tried to open it.

Adrian’s eyes widened.

He had wondered why there was a door in the room if the intention was to trap him inside.

’If my guess is correct, I need to kill that thing in order to leave the room. The door should open when the being dies. That was probably the concept of the dimensional space.’

Of course, that was nothing but a guess, but it seemed extremely likely.

Having finished the chips, he looked around, walked up to a dustbin by the roadside, and threw the wrapper inside.

Taking a deep breath, he sat down on the road.

’Here it goes.’

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he found himself back in that strange room with the creature wearing his form standing a few meters away, ready to lunge forward at any moment.

Adrian reached for his sword. And the moment he did so, the creature released its mana and covered its entire body with it, the same way Adrian had done.

But the sword Adrian reached for was the magitool weapon Evangeline had created for him.

’Is this thing dumb? Why would I use a space element attack in a fight against a humanoid being when I know that it will be far less effective?’

It seemed that even though the creature shared Adrian’s memories and temperament, it was not that smart.

He took a deep breath.

’I think it’s finally time to test it out.’

He looked at the engraving on his left arm. The engraving for the Tier Three space element teleportation spell, Shift.

Adrian’s biggest flaw was the lack of tricks in his arsenal when facing a humanoid enemy. Having entered the academy, he was aware that he would have to fight in the war because of the curriculum.

He knew that he had to make up for that weakness before the time came.

But until he reached Phase Six, the only space element spell he would have access to would be the shift spell. Instead of wasting his time trying to invent a new spell from scratch, he had decided to somehow make use of the shift spell instead.

Half the idea had come to him because of Evangeline. Thanks to her, he had come to realize the creative ways in which he could use Alisardarc.

The other half of the idea came when he was reminded of the vampire who had saved and healed him. Ralz’s Origin ability allowed him to place an imprint on a location and then teleport there without any cost, no matter how far away he was.

It made Adrian think.

’What if I can develop my own form of imprint that I can use to stabilize the teleportation?’

The reason that the teleportations from the shift spell were so unstable was probably that the creator of the spell had wished to create a lower-tier and less complex teleportation spell that had very little casting time.

So, in favor of casting time, they had sacrificed stability and accuracy of the teleportation.

But all that could be solved by an imprint.

’And this is where Alisardarc came in.’

The black bird had told him long ago that the two of them would technically be considered a single entity instead of two separate beings.

And that was indeed true. Alisardarc’s form was entirely made from his own mana whenever the bird was summoned. This meant that in the technical sense, all of Alisardarc’s incarnations were extensions of Adrian.

This made Alisardarc the perfect imprint.

Getting into a stance with his sword pointed at the enemy, Adrian whispered.

"Alisardarc."

The moment he did, mana gathered above his shoulder and materialized into a black bird.

Turning to it, Adrian said calmly.

"You know what to do, right?"

Without an answer, the black bird began dividing itself, creating several dozen incarnations. Those incarnations began shedding some of their black feathers. Moments later, several dozen black feathers were floating ‌everywhere in the room.

The creature tensed up, as if ready for an attack. At the same time, Adrian channeled his mana into the engraving in his left hand. And as he did, he disappeared from his spot, reappearing right behind the creature with his sword covered in lightning.

He swung his blade, aimed at the creature’s neck. But the creature suddenly turned around, as if expecting all this, raising its sword to block Adrian’s strike.

But just as their swords were about to clash, Adrian disappeared and reappeared behind the creature once again. The swing continued its path and severed the creature’s head cleanly, sending it flying.

Soon, the creature’s body turned back into the formless black substance and dissolved into the floor.

Adrian turned to the door.

As he had expected, the door slowly opened, revealing a hallway beyond.