Chapter 189: Construction of the Source Melting Furnace Begins

Chapter 189: Chapter 189: Construction of the Source Melting Furnace Begins

During this time, Lance had been single-mindedly focused on honing his various Combat Skills.

However, in these three days, aside from the fixed meal times, he hadn’t seen even a shadow of Ella.

That Wolf Girl had locked herself tightly in the first-floor guest room, in a state of complete self-isolation.

Being unilaterally and mercilessly crushed by a peer who hadn’t even chosen a Profession, not even finding the slightest chance to fight back during the battle—this defeat had shattered her proud self-esteem to pieces.

Now, she spent her days hiding under the covers, hugging her big tail and having a major existential crisis.

She even began to seriously wonder if all the praise she’d received from the elders in her clan was just a lie concocted by her aunt and the others to spare her feelings.

’Maybe I’m not a genius at all, just a little good-for-nothing who only knows how to talk big.’

But while the little Wolf Lady was trapped in her room, mired in self-doubt, Lance, up in the attic, had reached his body’s absolute peak condition over these few days.

After three days of non-stop, intense training, he had forcefully pushed the Skill Level of all his Skills to the critical threshold for advancement.

Now, the muscles all over his body were lean and solid. Just standing there quietly, he exuded the sharp aura of a drawn blade.

Today was the day of the Profession ceremony.

Rein had already cleared out a space amidst the clutter piled up in the attic.

Lance, bare-chested, sat cross-legged in the center of the cleared space with a calm expression.

Rein held a crude brush, dipped in a red pigment that gave off a strange smell, and was painting circles of complex ritualistic Techniques on the wooden floor around Lance.

And at the very center of these connected Techniques stood a brass mirror, half a man’s height.

After patiently painting the last symbol, Rein put down the brush and turned to pick up a small porcelain bowl filled with a cyan powder.

The old soldier dipped his finger into the pigment and, with great solemnity, drew an inverted triangle on Lance’s broad back.

In mysticism, the inverted triangle is a totem that symbolizes subversion and rebellion.

This symbolism perfectly matched the core authority of the hidden deity, Divine Chaos.

After he finished painting, Rein pulled a worn coin from his coat pocket and placed it in Lance’s palm.

Lance looked down.

It was a specially made brass coin, its front and back engraved with the exact same pattern of thorns.

A two-headed coin represents cheating in any gamble.

Rein backed away to the edge of the Techniques and asked softly,

"Lance, close your eyes and focus. Can you feel the call of the Professions?"

Lance slowly closed his eyes, focused for a moment, and then nodded with certainty.

In truth, this strange sensation wasn’t something that had just appeared today; it had been there for a long time.

It was as if his consciousness could pierce the limits of his physical body and sense a place very high and far away.

In that darkness, countless stars were constantly calling to him in a silent language.

Within that sea of stars, the light of two stars shone the brightest and clearest.

Lance knew very well that one of them was the [Swordsman].

And the other, which radiated a cold, silvery-white light, was the very one he longed for: the [Pale Guard].

In a world with Extraordinary Power, knowing the lore of a Profession was itself a kind of power that could bend the rules.

It was precisely because Lance knew the detailed requirements for these two Professions that the bridge of Knowledge allowed these two stars to shine so brightly for him.

However, besides these two, he could also vaguely sense many other dim, twinkling stars around them.

Those were Professions for which he didn’t know the specific prerequisites, but because his own potential was so great, they were also faintly resonating with him.

If he wanted to, he could reach out with his consciousness right now, grab one of those stars, and forcibly initiate his Profession.

’But I’d have to be crazy to gamble on luck. Isn’t a Heroic Profession more appealing?’

By choosing to perform a specific Profession ceremony for a certain deity at this moment, he could receive a precious gift from that god in addition to communicating with the star.

Rein glanced up at the small skylight in the attic.

A brilliant sunbeam was shining straight in. It was now high noon, not a second off.

This was the official time for the believers of Yusinitian to hold their Profession ceremonies in churches.

But what other Ordinary people certainly didn’t know was that this moment of greatest light was also the best time for the ritual to call upon Chaos, the one who hid in the shadows of justice.

"The time has come."

Rein stomped his oak cane firmly on the floor, producing a dull thud. "Begin the Profession confirmation."

Lance’s Telekinesis precisely locked onto the silver star representing the Pale Guard in the dark sea of stars.

He began to proactively build a bridge of communication in his mind.

As the star began to slowly fall toward his position, Lance opened his mouth and recited the special prayer he had long since memorized.

"Praise the reflection behind the scales, the uncrowned lord who teases fate."

"Today, with absurdity as my fire and rebellion as my fuel, I complete my Profession here and ignite my Source Melting Furnace."

"May the world’s common sense be overturned and remade at my feet."

The moment the words left his lips, Lance’s eyes shot open.

He raised his right hand and forcefully tossed the brass coin from his palm—the one symbolizing cheating—toward the brass mirror before him.

But the coin didn’t bounce off the mirror’s surface as one would expect.

The surface of the brass mirror rippled strangely, like water struck by a stone.

The coin sank unimpeded into the depths of the mirror, disappearing completely from the physical world.

The fact that the coin hadn’t bounced back was a clear sign that Chaos, behind the scenes, had heard his prayer and responded to his Profession ceremony.

And at that very moment, the intangible star representing the [Pale Guard], carrying a vast amount of Profession information, smashed deep into Lance’s body.

[A deity’s gaze has been detected... Profession officially beginning]

BOOM!

Lance clearly heard a shattering sound from within his body.

It was as if some invisible shackle binding his soul had been completely broken. An unprecedented feeling of lightness instantly flooded his entire being—the exhilarating experience of a bodily cage being thrown open.

[...Source Melting Furnace construction initiated]

Immediately after, the Ethereal Energy Pool at Lance’s Sun Wheel began to collapse violently.

The free-roaming Ether Energy in the surrounding air swarmed into his body through his pores like sharks smelling blood.

A massive ROAR erupted in Lance’s left chest cavity.

A Source Melting Furnace, radiating a mysterious fluorescent glow, fully formed in the place of his heart.

The Ether Energy flowing within was no longer in its previous transparent, colorless state. It had been completely transformed by the power of his Professional Traits.

It finally coalesced into a mass of silvery-white cold fire, burning quietly in the Melting Furnace.

This was the fundamental energy mutation brought about by the Pale Guard Profession.

[Source Melting Furnace has stabilized... generating personal Source Material entries]

Before Lance could even get used to this new Power that filled his entire body, a high, majestic roar of a Giant Dragon seemed to echo in his ears.

Immediately after, a domineering, crimson flame was seemingly ripped by force from the very depths of his bloodline.

This crimson fire flowed directly through his thick blood vessels and into the newborn Melting Furnace in his heart.

The crimson flames and the silvery-white cold fire intertwined fiercely before slowly fusing, forming a strange equilibrium.

This was the core mystery of a Profession’s power.