I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1398  The Long Awaited Reunion

The Red Mine was more than an ordinary location to Northern. In fact, he held some sentimental value to it, and Northern always believed he wasn't a sentimental person. But whenever he came to the Red Mine, he couldn't help looking around and remembering just how gruesome this place had been for him when he had no idea what this life was all about and underestimated everything the world had been preparing in stock for him.

The crimson glow of the crystals hadn't changed. That same bloodied light that used to make him feel like the mountain itself was watching, waiting for him to collapse.

Northern had a love-hate relationship with the Red Mine. In as much as it reminded him of those days of suffering and how hard he actually needed to try to survive, it also reminded him of how much he fell short of expectations and how truly deluded he was despite being an adult.

He had deluded himself so much just to believe he never existed before and didn't have a life where he was cheated like a child, only to come to this one and let history repeat itself, that too with someone so young and inexperienced.

'Pathetic little me…'

But then, he was here again with that said person, absolutely no animosity towards her, and about to show her the reason why she had had to suffer so much for a long time.

'I think I am a magnificently forgiving person, look at me. I'm so proud of myself.'

Northern suppressed a grin while Raven's cool and calm voice made its debut since they came to his Soul Plane.

"So this is what a Soul Plane looks like."

Northern frowned slightly.

"Come to think of it, I have never inquired. I guess I just always thought that everyone has a Soul Plane. Wait, yes, of course they do."

Northern was sure of this because a Soul Plane was one of the major factors that made it possible to become a Luminary. The manifestation of Luminaries was soul world, and that didn't just spawn out of the blue.

Raven, however, shook her head.

"I do not have one…"

Northern was so shocked he stopped walking and looked at her.

"What?"

"I guess it's a flaw that comes with the nature of my talents. I have two talents, both of which are EX ranks. When I became a Drifter, I had to watch something inside me be destroyed, because the nature of my talents were two opposites that could never coexist."

She looked down slightly.

"Truth be said, I'm very scared of using my darkness talent and only use it to augment my sword styles. It's very terrifying and disadvantageous to someone who was a pillar of hope."

Northern placed his hand on his chin, rubbing it gently, a fondly curious light in his eyes.

'Two EX-rank talents that are fundamentally opposed… and one of them ate the other's foundation just to exist.'

He let the implications settle.

"Now, this certainly is interesting. It will be very much harder to become a Luminary than you thought."

He reconsidered and added:

"No, actually, I think it may be impossible for you to ever become a Luminary."

Raven's brows knitted together and a grim darkness shadowed her face.

"What do you mean?"

Northern, as much as he wanted to impart in her the knowledge of becoming a Luminary that his teacher had passed to him, felt reluctant to. Simply because the knowledge was too costly.

Raizel died to discover that knowledge.

And Rughsbourgh had to venture into years of slaughtering monsters because he had no idea about it. Of course, at some point on the path to becoming a Luminary, he would have confronted that reality and then realized how much easier it would have been if he knew all of this.

The sad thing now was that Northern most likely didn't need this knowledge to ascend. He needed it to master his abilities as a Luminary, certainly. But the system, Aoi, would do the rest.

'Which makes it all the more valuable to someone who doesn't have what I have.'

Now, to every other person whom the knowledge would benefit, he was very reluctant to give. It came to him at a great cost, so he wasn't just going to let it go.

"In order to tell you what I mean, I have to give you knowledge that cost me a man's life to have. I don't intend for you to have it for free. For one, we don't even have that kind of relationship. Let's be honest with ourselves."

Raven replied in a straight tone.

"What do you want?"

Northern smiled.

"Now is not the time. Now, you have a family reunion ahead of you."

Raven's expression shifted to confusion as he said that, but before she could say anything, Northern continued walking and she had to follow.

The mines of the mountain had changed from what Northern remembered. Before, there were sections, and each prisoner was confined to one and made to harvest the red crystals, which Northern had now renamed Rethium and was slowly circulating on the market thanks to Hao.

Northern had destroyed those partition barricades and instead made the entire mine above the mountains a vast expanse of seemingly endless Rethium deposits. It looked like multiple crimson corals were growing across the mountain with no single tree in sight.

Plus, there was another mine inside the mountain.

That was the one Northern and Raven were heading towards.

They entered a cavern expanse where crimson stalactites poured light that flooded the space in deep red. The narrow passage opened into a wider chamber beyond the Rethium mines that hung at almost every corner and angle, even odd ones, like the mountain's insides had crystallized into something alive.

The expanse they stopped at was a flood of the crystals. Here in the caves, there were even larger formations, the kind that no matter how many times one's axe swung, they didn't leave a scratch. Instead, the crystal retaliated, sending a wave of bloodlust that severely wounded the miner across their body.

Even for a Paragon like the Patriarch of the Kageyama clan, these crystals were not easy to handle.

The man was propped against an outcropped stone, his dark hair fallen over his face. His upper body was bare and made ugly by a myriad of red scars that covered it.

He was not the only one in the expanse. There was another, much more fierce and larger man, but his back was turned towards the entrance so all that could be seen of him was his broad back and short white hair.

As Northern and Raven entered the expanse, the Patriarch of the Kageyama clan spread his lips, his darkened and bloody teeth showing.

"My perfection… have you come to pay your respects to me?"

Raven froze as she saw who it was. Her eyes trembled and she turned to Northern with pure indignation.