On the Ark.

Lin Ye was taken aback: "Is that even possible?"

“Yes, just like when I awakened the Originium particles in your body, I can also help you arrange the Originium particles in your body,” Mostima said. “From now on, you won’t need to go through the trouble of combining Originium particles to use Originium Arts. Skipping this step will make things much simpler, but there is a drawback: you can only use one type of Originium Arts. Because you can’t mobilize the Originium particles, you can’t create more possibilities.”

This was the first time Lin Ye had heard someone explain Origin Stone Arts so systematically, and he wanted to memorize every word Mostima said. Now, he roughly understood Mostima's meaning, and after a moment's thought, he said, "Using your previous analogy, since there's so little water in my bowl, it's difficult to create many more possibilities, right?"

“That’s true.” Mostima smiled. “Besides, you have far too few Originium particles in your body. If you combine them too frequently, there will be some loss. If you want to replenish them, you’d have to eat Originium raw…”

Lin Ye took a deep breath and said, "Let's forget about that. Since that's the case, I don't have any other choice. Something is better than nothing!"

“In that case…” Mostima moved the clutter aside, then held up two fingers to Lin Ye and said with a smile, “I have two spells, one black and one white, for you to choose from. Which one do you want?”

……

……

Author's note: I haven't found any relevant information about Originium particles, so if it's wrong, just consider it my own interpretation.

By the way, regarding Frostnova, I didn't suddenly decide to write about her because she's gone this time. I laid out Frostnova's storyline months ago, and there's no intention to overturn the original plot for this story. So Frostnova won't appear in this volume either, because this is the Angels' turn, and I'm going to dedicate an entire volume to developing Mostima. This was decided from the beginning and won't change because of Frostnova. I'll devise a different storyline for Frostnova.

Also, I owe +1 chapter, I owe -1 chapter, and I still owe 15 chapters.

Chapter 442 Who exactly is that man to you? (3K)

After half an hour.

Lin Ye and Eyjafjalla have left, and his place has been taken by a red-haired woman.

Mostima smiled at the red-haired woman: "You're really dedicated, Overseer. I thought you had left Lungmen a long time ago."

"Don't try to disgust me with your sarcastic remarks," the red-haired woman said calmly. "It won't work on me."

“Yes, yes, I know it won’t work on someone like you. So, will you accept a bribe?” Mostima said with a smile. “I’ll give you this to eat, and please don’t go and tell on me, okay?”

The red-haired woman glanced at the dessert Mostima was pushing towards her, her lips twitching slightly: "You're trying to bribe me with your leftover buns?"

“What do you mean by leftovers? It’s clearly untouched,” Mostima said.

The red-haired woman sneered twice: "I thought you wouldn't care at all."

What do you mean?

"As the guardian of locks and keys, how could you teach key magic to someone else?" The red-haired woman stared into Mostima's smiling eyes and said slowly, "What are you thinking? Who is that man to you that you would go to such lengths for him?"

Mostima crossed his arms, rested his chin on his hand, tilted his head slightly, and then said with a smile, "If you ask me what he is to me, I really can't say. Just think of him as someone destined to meet you. Isn't this kind of plot common in novels? A powerful sorcerer finds a gifted young man, pulls out a spellbook and says to him, 'Young man, I see you have extraordinary potential'... Okay, okay, let's not joke around anymore. Don't always have that kind of expression. Besides, I don't remember there being any similar rules in this regard."

"You mean, anything that isn't prohibited is allowed?"

"That understanding isn't wrong either."

The red-haired woman said coldly, "Then I'll have to inform the Elders' Council and see what they say."

“They won’t care,” Mostima shrugged. “At most, they’ll send you over to scold me, and you’re already doing that.”

The red-haired woman knew Mostima was right; the Elders wouldn't care too much about this matter, but she cared deeply. She had thought she knew Mostima well enough, but in the past two days, she realized it wasn't. Mostima's actions these past two days made her suspect that she had been replaced without her knowledge, as she was completely different from the Mostima she remembered.

"What is the reason?" the red-haired woman asked slowly. "You've been back in Lungmen for almost a month now, haven't you?"

"It's been more than a month."

“Yes, you’ve been back for a month, but you haven’t seen Exusiai even once.” The red-haired woman stared at Mostima and spoke slowly, “yet you spent two days by this man’s side and even taught him the Key Magic, even though you were unwilling to teach it to Exusiai.”

“Exusiai doesn’t need it,” Mostima said. “She already has the Guardian Gun.”

"It's as if that man didn't exist." The red-haired woman scoffed. "So what exactly did you teach that man? The Lock of Timeless Chaos or the Key of Time?"

“Actually, I wanted to teach him both, but there’s no way, his body can only handle one,” Mostima said with some regret. “So I can only let him choose.”

"Heh, why don't you give him the 'black lock' and the 'white key' together?" the red-haired woman sneered. "And you might as well give him yourself too."

"Hmm...is it just my imagination? You seem a little angry," Mostima said with a smile. "There's no need for that."

The red-haired woman was indeed holding her breath, especially while Mostima maintained her smile.

Yes, Mostima was just that kind of person. He seemed indifferent to everything, uncaring about anything, yet always wore a smile. He seemed incapable of sadness, disappointment, or anger; he only knew how to smile, like an emotionless doll. This was also the red-haired woman's perception of Mostima. However, in the past two days, her perception had been shattered. Mostima was still smiling, but that smile was completely different from before. And the source of all this was a man who had appeared out of nowhere.

This made the red-haired woman feel somewhat complicated. She added, "Although I don't know what your relationship with that man is, he's not simple."

"Hmm?" Mostima was somewhat surprised. "How did you figure that out?"

"Didn't you notice his sword?" the red-haired woman said coldly. "That's no ordinary sword; I sensed divinity in it."

“Divinity…” Mostima pondered for a moment, then smiled, “That’s really impressive.”

"You..." The red-haired woman really didn't know what to say.

"Alright, alright, weren't you curious about which he chose between the 'Lock of Time' and the 'Key of Time'?" Mostima looked at the red-haired woman with a smile. "What do you think he'll choose?"

Although the red-haired woman didn't want to answer Mostima, seeing his "guess, guess" expression, she knew that if she refused, he would probably pester her again. So, after a moment of silence, she said, "'The Key of Time,' I suppose. Don't men all like that kind of powerful energy?"

Mostima laughed again, as if she had guessed that the red-haired woman would say that. Just as she was about to reply, she suddenly sensed something.

Then the two of them turned their heads at the same time and saw another wet, red-haired woman standing next to them.

“Mo, Mostima,” Exusiai said softly, “you’ve really come back.”

……

Inside a room in a building.

Lin Ye stared intently at his hands, as if trying to discern something different.

According to Mostima, the Originium particles within his body have been assembled, and a spell called "Chains of Time" has been inscribed into his body. All he needs to do next is cast this spell; awakening the power contained within the arranged Originium particles is a very simple matter (according to Mostima), something he can do effortlessly.

Even so, Lin Ye, who had been squatting in the toilet for half an hour, still did not feel any special "power".

What's going on? Where are my superpowers? Where are my spells? Where is my fireball spell... oh, not fireball spell.

Why is there nothing here?

In other novels, shouldn't the protagonist who receives this kind of "inheritance" immediately feel a surge of power? Why, after all this time, does he feel nothing except for his stomach aching more and more? Is his Originium adaptability really that low? Mostima has already helped him take ninety-nine steps; is the last step really that difficult?

No, try again.

Lin Ye clenched his fists and exerted force, his cheeks turning red.

"Ha... Ah... Ha..." he roared in a low voice, "It's coming, it's coming, you're about to feel it."

The power is about to be unleashed!

"Huh!" He exclaimed, his eyes widening.

Two minutes later, the sound of the toilet flushing came from the bathroom. Exhausted, Lin Ye walked out of the bathroom, leaning against the wall.

What's going on? This "awakening Originium particles" method Mostima taught him isn't just for laxatives, is it? Aside from the increasing stomach pain, he hasn't felt any special power at all. This isn't what was supposed to be. Could it be that his "L cells" have killed all his remaining Originium particles?

Don't be like that! He finally managed to conjure a fireball… oh, not conjure a fireball. He finally got to use a spell, and he was already fantasizing about how, once he mastered it, he wouldn't have to fight in melee combat anymore, but could be a dashing and elegant mage from the rear. So why is there such a huge gap between fantasy and reality?

When he returned, he specifically sought out Eyjafjalla's techniques for manipulating Originium particles, but there was nothing about Eyjafjalla's advice that he could learn from.

"Ah... I don't know how to manipulate Originium particles either. I'm sorry, senior, it seems like I was born with this skill, so I've never learned it and don't know how to do it." Lin Ye felt a pang in his heart as he thought of Eyjafjalla's stammering words.

Is this the ease and grace of a genius? Skills that ordinary people struggle to master are as simple as breathing for a genius—they don't even know how to explain them to ordinary people. Damn it, this kind of talent is truly enviable. Why doesn't he have it?

If he had such talent and ability, would he need to learn how to leap over waves? Would he need to learn how to forge iron with others? Would he need to... sigh, I won't say anymore, the more I talk about it, the sadder I get.

Lin Ye sat on the bed, pondering once again the spells Mostima had taught him.

For most sorcerers, casting spells relies not only on the Originium particles within their bodies but also on their staffs. Simultaneously harnessing the Originium particles within their bodies and the Originium power of their staffs can amplify the power of spells several times over. However, for someone like Lin Ye, who can't even sense the Originium particles within his body, relying on external aids is even more impossible.

Therefore, even though Mostima had inscribed the spell into his body, he still couldn't achieve the same level as Mostima. So Lin Ye didn't know either; even if he successfully released the spell, it was hard to say whether that level of spell would be usable in actual combat. Nine times out of ten, it would be all show and no substance, but now it wasn't even good enough to be impressive.

Let's try again.

Lin Ye took a deep breath and then slowly closed his eyes.

Then, the water glass next to him began to tremble slightly.

Chapter 443 You still don't understand Mostima (3K)

For the next two days, Lin Ye stayed in his room, engrossed in his studies, without venturing out (partly because the rain hadn't stopped), but he made no progress. Not only could he not successfully unleash the spell, but he didn't even feel any "breakthrough" or experience any reaction whatsoever. This frustrated him. In other novels, the protagonist would definitely achieve a "breakthrough" after such dedicated "seclusion," so why hadn't anything happened to him after two days of "seclusion," except for going to the bathroom more often?

He had originally intended to call Mostima to ask what to do, but then he thought that Mostima had already done everything she could to help him, and it would be too embarrassing if he couldn't handle the last step. So, over the past two days, he picked up his phone countless times, but put it down after a brief hesitation.

For some reason, he didn't really want to disappoint Mostima.

So he decided to rely on himself.

But today was definitely out of the question; he had to go out on errands. First, there was the matter with Penguin Logistics. They'd parted ways in such a strange way that night, and there was still no explanation. Plus, he hadn't received Nightingale's medicine yet, so he had to go there in person. Second, he'd promised Wei Yanwu's daughter, Mu Yue, that he'd go to her house today to take her husky to the vet; he couldn't just stand her up, could he?

Although he really didn't want to go out, because it had been raining for two whole days and showed no signs of stopping.

Lin Ye's room wasn't low; he could see half of Lungmen in the rain just by looking out the window. Staying indoors, it felt quite picturesque, but going outside only brought thoughts of "Holy crap, this is going to kill us!" He didn't know how good Lungmen's waterproofing system was; with this level of torrential rain, and after so many days of downpour, even a slightly weak waterproofing system would have resulted in a complete flood.

So I really don't want to go out in this weather, but there's no other way.

Lin Ye sighed softly, then picked up his things and went out. Before leaving, he greeted the Ranger and Eyjafjalla. The Ranger didn't say anything, but Lin Ye hoped he could give him a ride, as getting a taxi in this weather wasn't easy. The Ranger readily agreed, as it was Rhodes Island's job. As for Eyjafjalla, Lin Ye had assumed she'd be staying in her room all day, but it turned out she was going out that evening too.

"The second phase of the seminar?" Lin Ye was quite surprised after hearing Eyjafjalla's words. "Are we really going to continue the seminar in this weather?"

“Yes.” Eyjafjalla nodded repeatedly. “Today’s seminar is different from the one the day before yesterday. The participants this time have been selected, and Mr. Wei Yanwu will decide on the final investment direction tonight.”

Lin Ye understood Eyjafjalla's meaning; no wonder she seemed so happy. So, the seminar the day before yesterday was just a preliminary test, and this one was the final round? Only scholars and theories approved by Wei Yanwu could participate?

To be honest, while Lin Ye was happy that Eyjafjalla had been recognized, he felt that making an academic conference like this was a bit too much trouble. Especially having to go out in this weather; it seemed Wei Yanwu was very confident in Lungmen's waterproofing system.

The ranger smiled and said to Eyjafjalla, "Congratulations, Eyjafjalla! When is today's seminar?"

"Seven o'clock in the evening!" Eyjafjalla said, "in Lungmen District 20."

"District 20? That's a bit out of the way, but it's alright, I'll take you there." The ranger patted Lin Ye on the shoulder. "I'll be done after I drop this kid off."

"It's alright! You can take your senior first." Eyjafjalla shook her head and said, "If you miss it, I can take a taxi."

"Don't talk nonsense," Lin Ye said with a smile. "Even if I take a taxi, I can't let you take one. Besides, we should make it in time. Maybe I can even ride with Mr. Wei Yanwu. Good luck!"

Eyjafjalla nodded repeatedly, then shook her fist: "I'll do my best! Senpai!"

They're so energetic! They're really young people.

Lin Ye thought to himself, then realized something was amiss.

Wait a minute, it seems Saria told him that Eyjafjalla is already an adult, so logically she shouldn't be that much younger than Lin Ye. Then why does she seem to have such a big difference in style? Eyjafjalla gives off a cute, adorable, and energetic vibe, while he gives off a... well, maybe he's like that too? Hehehe.

Lin Ye was having some strange and silly thoughts, but of course he didn't show it. His face remained serious, after all, he couldn't easily lose the dignity of a senior.