Once the first step was taken, every following step became easier until his journey was just a walk in the park.
Damien changed the way he viewed the elements.
Instead of considering them separately, he followed the galaxy analogy to give them position.
Light and Darkness created a container. They were the galaxy the rest could reside in.
Fire was the first to populate this newly created space. Since Damien already had it, he could use it as a perfect start.
Unfortunately, adding water now would ruin the balance rather than help it, so he had to wait before he could have another easy step.
Since he started with Fire, next was Earth.
Earth was a word with many meanings, and this element was the smallest of them.
It represented weight, strength, and fortitude, factors Damien had plenty of experience in.
He'd controlled gravity and weight before with Vectors, but he didn't make a connection with the Earth element at those times, so he couldn't quite use these experiences as a baseline.
Instead, the environment was his cue.
No Return Pass was a great place for this.
The ground was densely packed with rock that far exceeded the strength of regular earth. It couldn't be broken through normal means, and even Damien's greatest attacks could only cause crevices that would heal in a few hours at most.
The energy of Earth was extremely prevalent, and for Damien, whose perception was almost Divine, this was the greatest helper he could ask for.
Once he realized its presence there wasn't much to do.
It was as if the second he sensed it, the affinity already became his own.
Out of curiosity, he tried to move on to the next element, Wind, or Air, to see if it could be incorporated properly into the system.
Of the things he needed to comprehend, Wind was the one he was least familiar with.
Rose had a wind affinity, but she hardly ever used it. Unlike Elena, Rose's secondary affinity was useless when her first came into the equation.
Illusions could create wind more powerful than her affinity could, and she could manipulate them any way she wished to.
However, what Damien needed was just a start.
Once again, he made his way down memory lane.
All he did was look at her mana.
The All-Seeing Eyes didn't seem to have developed since Damien hardly used them anymore, but in reality, they'd been growing steadily.
The problem was that his enemies scaled much faster.
When he was put in front of the Rose who was still a 2nd class practitioner, everything was unveiled in full.
He could see the truths within the mana. Runes flowed into his head, translating into knowledge about Wind Laws he'd never encountered before.
This law, focused on speed, dexterity, and sharpness, was like a perfect balancer for the qualities of Earth.
Once he gained this information, it happened like magic.
Two new elements appeared in his repertoire, Earth and Wind as one.
There was nothing else to do.
Metal was easy to extrapolate from his knowledge of Earth and Fire. Wood was even simpler since he'd already mastered its greater form, and the rest was a matter of addition.
The hardest part was maintaining balance and making sure the elements never went out of order.
The rest was finished in a matter of hours, but it took half a day to achieve balance.
When all elements finally reached their proper positions…
Hong!
The whole system shined and an ancient bell struck. It was an event that would've been celebrated grandly by the universe if Damien wasn't in a place so isolated.
Yet, Damien didn't even realize how significant his achievement was.
Huu…
Damien let out a deep breath.
He was hardly conscious during this whole process.
His mind wandered somewhere else and his thoughts became vague. He intuitively moved from element to element and when he came back to reality, there was a fully formed system before him.
Haa…
Huu…
His breaths were loud.
All sound in the background drowned out.
And his mind was pulled into that system.
Every element became a planet of its own. He saw the shadows floating through space, separating into Light and Darkness before rejoining and drifting into the void.
Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Metal, and Wood were the main planets in the system.
Lightning and Ice were more periphery like exoplanets, and faintly…
'It's vague, but there's more.'
He could expand this system.
There was more to be discovered.
The five elements weren't the only things in nature. Because of their influence, many other forces came into being.
At this moment, Damien realized that if he really wanted to, he could seize control over every single one of them.
However…
'I simply have no need to.'
There was now a new affinity in his status, simply titled [Elemental]. This was all the confirmation he needed.
'I'm finished.'
He had to bring the elements up to the comprehension he held for Spacetime and Samsara, but that was a timely process, not something he could do now.
He didn't have the ability to force comprehension yet.
But he could absolutely draw the energy from the surroundings into his body through Devour to exponentially speed up his training.
Damien stood up. He was already thinking about the next step.
But the universe wasn't willing to let him pass over his accomplishment.
Damien just did something hardly anyone in the entire history of the universe had ever been able to do.
In a single day.
If this didn't enhance his Legend, then what would?
Damien's rank naturally increased to the next level.
Because it wasn't just his Legend that was affected, but his Divinity!
Existence and Nonexistence were not universal forces. Therefore, of the things the universe could recognize, Damien had conquered all but the absolute highest level.
The Divinity he was supposed to be building as he made his way through the nine revolutions, even he didn't know the identity of it.
But the universe seemed to have an inkling.
Because it realized just how close he was now.
6th revolution.
Damien was officially a High Commander level expert.
He used 2 years to rush to the top of the universe's power levels.
By the time he left, wouldn't he be a monster?
'Well, that was the goal from the start.'
Damien shook his head and refocused on the environment around him.
The sensation of thousands of minds connected to his own enveloped him, and he regained sight of the battle situation.
'…these numbers are getting out of hand.'
It had only been a day since he stopped counting, but the number already increased by several hundred million.
'Where are they even getting all these goons?'
Damien really never questioned the number of Lesser Nox, attributing it to the Nox's great population, but it couldn't be so simple.
For them to send hundreds of millions or even billions of Lesser Nox to No Return Pass while still having the ability to force the universe's forces into a corner was genuinely insane.
'Another thing added to the list.'
It was getting long now.
He wasn't expecting a five-year sentence that pushed back the Abyss visit that would answer these questions, but now that it was here, he had to wait a few more years before answering them.
Until then…
Damien's eyes narrowed.
'…let's grind.'
