Chapter 79: The Castle Of Light, A Very Disturbing Seed Domain

The [Shell Of Dread] slowly formed on Leo’s body, replacing the injuries while connecting itself to his spine and bones.

Leo moved freely within the dreadful armor and grinned, revealing triangular teeth. "I’ll see those damn monsters try me now."

He still didn’t dismiss the [Grinning Mist], as the ring-like Vestige remained wrapped around all ten of his fingers. He had already come to the conclusion that the monsters here were memories of a past battle connected to the owner of the illusion — their teacher, Miss Krystal. So, Characteristics of Vestiges most likely wouldn’t work properly on them since they were merely illusions.

That also explained why the two creatures he killed started with "Memory Of."

The voice that had whispered to him earlier was probably also part of the illusion created by the Aura System and not the real Aura System itself.

What truly surprised him, however, was the ability to create an illusion based on memories. If anything, it was an extremely terrifying ability.

Yet, he still didn’t fully believe it belonged entirely to her and assumed the school itself had something to do with it. Only someone within the Sagittarius Rank definitely be capable of pulling off something of this scale alone.

And besides, what would a Sagittarius be doing teaching students inside an academy instead of making history for Primoria across other regions and realms?

Leo moved through the forest with controlled steps and focus. He was no longer treating the situation like a simple test, because everything he had seen so far pointed toward something structured and deliberate rather than random illusion work.

He had a feeling this place was far more dangerous than how Krystal had introduced it.

Thinking about how the illusion might have been created, his mind drifted to his Seed Domain. He had literally forgotten about checking his Seed Domain all this while.

He still did not even know what it looked like.

Leo exhaled slowly and stood still in the middle of the forest, letting his awareness settle for a moment before making his decision. The Seed Domain was something he had avoided long enough, and if he kept delaying it, he would only be stepping into situations without understanding the foundation of his own power. He lowered his gaze slightly and raised his hand, then summoned [Widow’s Thread].

A thin string appeared instantly around his wrist, pale and almost invisible against the darkness of the forest, tightening gently as it locked itself in place. Leo felt a strange shift in his mind, like part of him was stepping back while another part remained aware in a distant way.

The Vestige was a rare type and had only one characteristic, a Unique Characteristic called [Waking Dusk].

The Vestige’s characteristic activated immediately, pulling him into a state where he was both conscious and unconscious at the same time, aware of everything but unable to physically react.

Although he was unable to physically react, it was useful as it gave him enough time to exit the state before anything worse could happen.

His body slowly became still, while his consciousness sank inward toward the deeper layer of his Core where the Seed Domain was waiting. The forest around him faded from direct control, but a faint thread of awareness still remained through [Widow’s Thread], silently anchoring him to reality as his mind dropped fully into the unknown space inside him.

When his consciousness finally stabilized, he found himself standing in a place that was not a place in the normal sense. There was no ground that felt solid, yet he was still standing.

There was no sky, but light existed everywhere at once, soft and broken in uneven layers. The space felt incomplete, as if something had been created but never finished, left in a dormant state waiting for purpose or instruction.

There were three embers — golden, white, and silver — shrouded in light, representing his Divine, Living, and Skill Seeds respectively.

Above these three embers was a colourless Core much larger than them. He frowned, noticing his Aura Core. It was meant to have its own special colour, which was the color an individual’s aura manifests, like Caius’s purple aura or Louis’s blue aura.

’Still a lot of mysteries about the Bastard path, huh?’

Leo looked around slowly, noticing scattered shapes floating in the distance. He looked at them closely and recognized one of them as something large resembling a ship.

"Aquarius?"

How had it manifested itself in his Seed Domain?

Others were faint outlines of places and beings he had seen before, but they were blurred and unstable, as if they were only memories that had not fully formed into reality.

One of them, which he recognized by chance, resembled the Tide of Seas and its inhabitants.

"What the—"

Between them all were thin threads of light connecting nothing properly, drifting without structure or direction.

Seed Domains were meant to be the manifestation of one’s Branch, not memories of what an Aura Farmer had experienced.

So somehow, the memories of the Seek were able to manifest within his Seed Domain.

"This damn Bastard path. I hate mysteries. I hate not knowing things."

With a slight frown, he turned to where his Vestiges were and saw different shapes lying in shining orbs. Only [Yielding Spine], [Grinning Mist], [Widow’s Thread], and [Shell Of Dread] were missing.

Vestiges were mostly created by humans, while the ones gifted by the Aura System were granted after one completed a rank or slew a formidable foe. The latter was rare.

The entire domain felt like a dormant structure built from light, weapons, and memories, but none of them were complete enough to form anything usable. Even the places he recognized were fragmented, like echoes of experiences rather than full records.

A faint pressure moved through the space again, reacting to his thoughts. A broken piece of a familiar hall formed briefly in front of him before collapsing into light, followed by the faint outline of a blade that could not hold its shape. Leo watched it carefully, realizing the domain was not stable yet.

Then a deep scowl appeared on his face. Each section of the Seed Domain felt arranged and connected, as if it followed an order he had yet to understand. As if confirming his suspicion, he moved to the center of the chaotic view and studied everything intently.

Then, at the far end, his sight caught a door made entirely of light. At first it looked like a shining dot, but as he got closer it formed fully into a door.

With a gulp, he opened it, and bright light immediately assaulted his eyes. He ignored it and stepped through.

Afterwards, he found himself in a place where reality merged with illusions and time was visibly distorted. He turned back, and what stood before him was no longer just a door.

"You have to be kidding me."

A large castle that composed the world itself stood in front of him. The castle was made of light, alive and prideful. It loomed over him like a conceptual spectator.

It was the Castle of Light.