I spent so much time focused on improving the Doom element that I didn’t even notice my punishment time running out, and now I’m already free from the room and can start pulling the castle out of the abyss.

"Damn it!!!..." I look at this mess of bloody drawings, countless attempts and failures; it’s harder than I’d like to admit, and I couldn’t finish it before my punishment was over.

’470 times... just 30 short... I refuse to leave here until I get those 30...’ I stare at this drawing. It’s become so complex that it already covers the entire room—floor, ceiling, and walls. But using my own blood, I begin dragging a line out of the room.

I need to have the "physical" formula to be able to "record" it, so it can truly show its effects. I just need a branch that increases efficiency by another 30. For now, all branches either reduce the cost, increase the value of the things sacrificed, or boost the power of what I receive in return.

’What can I increase or decrease?...’ I can’t fail now. I failed many times before reaching this result. If I fail now, I’ll have to start over. The situation is so tense that Azraelith and Violet are sitting in a corner, watching in silence.

’I have to get it... just 30 more... I can do it...’ I take a deep breath, lightly scratching something out, deciding to focus on the exchange. The exchange is direct: I offer something, Doom takes that something, and Doom gives me something back.

I can make this part more efficient, even if it’s one of the most irrelevant parts. The faster and more precise the element’s powers are, the better. Besides, I’m exhausted, and my head hurts.

I had to visualize so many forms that it’s already exceeded a few quadrillion—way beyond my normal limit, where I usually see anywhere from millions to billions of something before making a decision. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

’Just a little more...’ I finish the line, and the entire drawing glows. I wait anxiously for the result, but when I see it, it only jumps to 490.

"NO!! YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!! YOU USELESS THING!!!" I scream in frustration, stomping my foot on the floor. The more complex the drawing becomes, the greater the chances of failure and having to restart down another path. Now I’m only 10 short, but those missing 10 could be my ruin.

That crap didn’t work the way I expected; it only gave me 20, not the 30 I needed.

’If this fucking thing fails, I don’t want to try again...’ I’m so exhausted. I need a break, urgently.

"Haaa..." Unfortunately, Violet’s powers don’t work for this. Violet can’t see the future of these "drawings" because, technically, they don’t exist until I invent them in the present.

"Pandora, you can do it! Don’t give up!" Azraelith says to me, while Violet beside her gives a firm nod.

"Yeah... just 10 short... it shouldn’t be too complicated..." I look at the lines that look like a mess on the floor and "pull" another line outward, starting a new branch.

’What can I improve now that’s simple?...’ I’m so nervous my hands are shaking, and I’m panting. But I keep thinking of solutions that could push this to five hundred times the efficiency and refinement.

"..." I try to simplify the connection between the element and magic. Normally, I just use the element to generate an effect, but all the magic I have can be shaped to fit this element.

That being said, spells like [Hell Sniper]—which is a fire spell that forms a small, concentrated beam of flames that moves in a straight line, piercing everything in its path—could become other things.

Since it’s an elemental fire spell, if I use Doom, it will have a different effect. So it would still be a concentrated beam focused on piercing, but with random effects, and maybe it wouldn’t even generate heat.

CRACK

"Ah... shit... no—" A crack appears on the floor, and suddenly the entire room cracks along with the structure where the drawing extends. Then everything glows in a blinding pink color and explodes, blasting the room and the floor apart, sending everything crashing downward along with an irritating screeching sound.

"Urgh..." I plummet to the floor, affected by the blast. Some cracks appear on my arm, but since five months have already passed, my regeneration is back, and my appearance has also returned to its mature version, so my body quickly heals from the damage.

"..." I look at all my destroyed work with a completely empty, frustrated expression. It failed. Now either I start over, or I leave it as is with only 490 refinement.

"...Haaa..." I let out a disappointed sigh. I was only 10 short. It was literally the bare minimum after so much work.

"...Pandora, I finished." Azraelith says out of nowhere.

"?" I look at my older sister in confusion, until she shows me an image using magic.

"...You thief... that’s not cool at all..." In the image is a perfect drawing with many branches. She used most of what I did and created a version that, just from a glance, I can see has seven hundred times the efficiency and refinement.

"It’s a matter of experience, Pandora. I didn’t steal it from you; I just used a little bit of your work. But I’m impressed you even reached 490. I expected you to fail completely at 340."

"..." I bite my lips and open the system to see how my element is categorized if I measure it by refinement. And obviously, the system shows Azraelith’s refinement, which overrides mine because hers is better.

"Seriously, you waited for me to fail so you could finish yours?" I ask, knowing full well how cruel that was of her.

"Yes."

"...Fine... you win." I get up from the floor, growling at her, and extend a hand.

"Of course I won."

"You’d better sleep with one eye open from now on." I say in a "playful" tone, hiding the hatred of not having reached the goal I wanted. Now it doesn’t even matter. What good would it be to try for the missing 10 when she’s already made a much better one? All that’s left for me now is to improve what she’s already created.

"You only beat me because you’re older. Don’t forget that fact, sister." I poke her chest with growing frustration, especially because of her arrogant smile. In the end, my sister is brilliant, strong, and obviously adaptable too, so it makes sense that she can surpass me based on experience.

I underestimated my sister way too much. I saw her as weaker and slightly less capable than me. But in the end, the only area where she falls short compared to me is in how talented she is as a Tenebris Abyssus. However, that determines more about combat than something intellectual like element refinement.

"Shall we test the element now? I’m curious what the Doom element can do now that it’s refined." She asks, extending her hand and squeezing mine. I look at our destroyed room.

"Sure..." I murmur, trying to hide my frustration at having lost. But I suppose that’s just how it is. You can’t win them all, and I know that. I just need to dedicate myself and try harder to surpass her.

’I already understand how it works. With some practice and more attempts, I’ll be able to surpass her... no, just surpassing her isn’t enough! I need to go further—far enough that nothing else can ever catch up to me...’

...

...

...

"Shall we test the element now? I’m curious what the Doom element can do now that it’s refined." I say to Pandora with a smile, while Pandora has a very dark look on her face.

"Sure..." She just accepts, but the look she gives me is really uncomfortable in many ways. Still, I understand her, and I did it on purpose. I knew that if she lost to me, she’d feel even more motivated.

So while Pandora was refining her element, I learned how it worked from her, and then I started creating my own improvement. The system only stores information on the best refinement creation, so Pandora’s would be ignored if I made a better one.

That’s why, while Pandora had to figure out what to do and try new things, I already had over five hundred within the first few days, and I just kept increasing it past five hundred carefully, without letting Pandora notice me.

"Let’s go, sister... and Violet, go talk to Baeh’Wa. Ask her to gather some things I stored in my room since it just collapsed, and I don’t want to lose some things I kept there." Pandora says, grabbing my hand and starting to pull me.

"Okay, Pandora! I’m going! But only this once!!!" Violet yells at both of us as Pandora jumps out the window, taking me with her. She creates a floating platform and starts taking us outside the castle.

"Seven hundred..." Pandora murmurs the improvement number, probably measuring the uses, until she realizes what I realized long ago. Now it’s possible to use the Doom element on basic things without needing basic sacrifices.

"[Doom: Fire a Laser with Rupture effect]" Pandora tries, pointing forward without giving anything to the element. And it happens. A kind of red and black beam fires forward; floating cracks appear in the air as if it had shattered them, while a soft black glow travels across the horizon.

"...You know I’m not happy about this at all, right? I created this element... I expected to be the one to improve it... you said your amplification method was about a hundred and fifty times... so I thought you didn’t know how to make it better."

"You tricked me, and that’s both interesting and annoying at the same time." She says without looking at me, staring at her hand.

"Are you sad?"

"No, why would I be? You made my element better... only I’ll make it even better than that... you’ll see. Soon, I’ll reach a thousand times the efficiency."

"Oh? Then I’ll make it twelve hundred." When I say that, she looks at me as if she’s seeing an enemy, and I just smile at her.

"Perfect then. Let’s see who’s the best at this. Enjoy your paltry experience. Soon, I’ll show you why I’m the best." She really takes the provocation to heart while I just stay quiet, but interested in the tests we’re about to run on the element.