Chapter 127: The Concept of Space

Valerian’s body fell through the portal that opened underneath him. Since he was in his room, he didn’t have his guard up, so he wasn’t able to react before the portal swallowed him.

His body impacted a wooden floor, and he looked around, confused.

’Wait, what happened?’

The scenery of his dark room and the sound of Seraphine sleeping next to him disappeared and was replaced by the office of Sylas Starlight.

It looked the same as the last time he was here, only this time Sylas didn’t just randomly pop up beside him, but he was leaning against his table, looking at him with a grin.

That grin annoyed Valerian the instant he saw it, and he stood up with a deep sigh.

"You and Ravena really have no sense of privacy."

Speaking of the devil, Ravena was also in the office, sitting on the couch to the side with her legs crossed and leaning back, relaxed into the soft fabric.

"Hehe."

Sylas giggled as he pushed himself off the table and walked toward Valerian with his hands behind his back.

"Ravi told me that you have been making great progress, and that you are close to forming your sword. All you need is one little..."

Standing in front of Valerian, he flicked his forehead with his fingers.

"...push."

Valerian could have never guessed that the great Sylas Starlight, creator and principal of the greatest academy on the planet, and the strongest being alive, could be so damn annoying.

"And you want to give me that push?"

He let the annoyance clearly show through his voice. Maybe on another day he wouldn’t have been so cold or harsh, but he was just kidnapped from his room, right before he wanted to lie down next to Seraphine. So yes, he was massively annoyed right now.

"Who, me? No, frail old me couldn’t possibly push the Last Celestial around."

Panic surged in Valerian’s chest when Sylas just so casually mentioned the Celestials, and his eyes snapped to Ravena. But she didn’t look confused by what Sylas had said; she looked more like she didn’t even hear him say it.

When she felt Valerian look at her, she turned to him with confusion.

"Is something wrong?"

By her lack of reaction, Valerian concluded that Sylas had used some type of magic to prevent her from hearing about the Celestials. His feelings about the topic were a bit mixed; while he felt great pride in being one, he also didn’t want to shout to the world that he was one while he was still so weak. If the angels and demons were able to defeat the combined power of the Celestials, Cosmic Dragons, and Phoenixes, then he had no business interacting with them currently.

"No, it’s nothing."

Ravena was a bit confused, but she didn’t press him, and Valerian turned back to the grinning Sylas.

"Then how do you plan to ’push’ me?"

Sylas clapped his hands with a bright grin.

"By sending you away, obviously!"

Looking at the smiling demi-god, Valerian didn’t know how to feel. If Sylas had something planned, then it would certainly not be anything normal.

"And where would I be sent?"

The elf turned around and walked back a few meters with a light step.

"Valerian, what do you think about space?"

Slightly caught off guard by the sudden change in topic, Valerian thought about it for a second.

"You mean the magic, or outer space?"

Now Sylas turned thoughtful for a second and pondered the question.

"Normally I would say magic, but for you I’m gonna say both."

"I like space magic. Casting it feels good, and I love the versatility it brings. And outer space... I don’t know, I have never been there, but I guess I feel a connection to the cosmos."

Sylas nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

"There exist two types of magic in our universe: Elemental and Conceptual."

Valerian wasn’t expecting a lecture right now, but learning something about magic from Sylas Starlight? Yeah, no one would turn that down.

"Elemental magic is what is the most common. Think of what fills this world: Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water are the most common, but elemental magic extends far further than just them. There are affinities out there that haven’t graced this planet yet and only exist among other civilizations."

"Conceptual magic, on the other hand, is everything that the world is built upon. Space, Time, Void, Gravity, Fate, Aether, and even affinities like Density or Sword fall under the conceptual tree."

This information wasn’t new to Valerian, but he was extremely curious where Sylas wanted to take this.

"I want to focus on Space for now. Did you know that you don’t have an affinity for the Element of space?"

Valerian looked at him, slightly confused.

"Yeah, didn’t you just say that space isn’t an elemental affinity?"

"No, no, that’s not what I mean. Everyone else that you will meet in your life has an affinity for the ’Element’ of space. It’s a simple affinity that allows them to curve, impact, and bend the existing fabric of space. But you..."

Sylas pointed his finger at Valerian with a wide grin.

"...you have an affinity for the ’Concept’ that is space. Think of it as a fire mage fighting against a being that embodies the concept of heat and flames. It’s just in a completely different league."

Valerian still wasn’t sure where the principal wanted to go with this, so he just listened, but the information about his space affinity was something that didn’t come as a full surprise, as he had always felt a deeper connection to space than to his other affinities.

"But you, the being that embodies the concept of space, are, and I say this with much love, horrible at using it. Tell me, when is the last time you actually used it for more than just teleporting?"

Now that he thought about it, he was using space almost solely for teleporting around, and not for its reality-bending abilities.

"Maybe a few months ago..."

"SEE! That’s utterly pathetic! Every run-of-the-mill space mage uses it more than you do, and that’s what we are going to change now."

For the first time, Valerian saw the grin disappear from the elf’s face as he seemed... offended? That Valerian wasn’t using space enough.

"Okay, but what does that have to do with the push you wanted to give me for the sword?"

Tying back to the reason Ravena was here, who had just been watching them talk the entire time, Valerian wanted to steer the attention away from the whole space topic.

"Well, we can connect these two, actually. I will make sure that you don’t bring shame to your family name, and that you get the sword you want and need."

Valerian’s expression fell for a moment.

’Why is he talking about my family name?’

For some reason, hearing Sylas mention his family name created a reaction in his body that made him want to shut the elf up.

"Don’t look at me like that, I’m only doing this for the good of all."

Sylas held out his hand as a silver light began to cover it, and the mana in the atmosphere reacted to him.

"I will send you to another dimension, and the rules are very simple: Escape it. You can’t use any of your other affinities or your [Unique Skill]. You have to deepen your understanding of space to do this. There is no time limit. Oh, and try not to get eaten."

The mana around Valerian exploded as he felt a pulling force originate not from a single direction, but from the very coordinates he was occupying.

’I wanted to at least tell Seraphine that I’m gone for a bit...’

Lamenting that he couldn’t say goodbye, Valerian prepared himself to enter the dimension when Sylas spoke up again.

"But I can’t have you cheat in there, so I will seal away your other affinities."

Valerian’s head snapped in his direction.

’If he seals my affinities, won’t my body become weaker since it’s powered by the stars formed by them after the synchronization?’

"I don’t think that’s neces-"

„Valerian von Astrea. Child of Mana.

Quench the Cosmic Fire. Ground the Void Lightning.

Collapse the Event Horizon; shatter the Absolute Zero.

Snuff out the Genesis Spark.

Your domain falls silent.

Sealed beneath the name of Sylas..."

The pulling force increased and Valerian could feel his strength disappear as the stars within him were snuffed out one by one. But for some strange reason, he didn’t pay attention to that. He couldn’t. All the attention in the world was on the next words that left Sylas’s mouth.

*

"v̴̨̢̛̗̳͕̠̪̙̟͕̖̟͔̻̜̞͙̗̱̥̭̙͍͊̌̀͐̍͋͗̌̀̔̊̊̓̌̽́͛̚͝ǫ̶̡̧̛̛̤̝̩̳̖̗̟̮̗̫͙̼̤̱͍̪̘͍͓̘͕͕͊̓́̋̏̓̄̎͌͑̑͌͑̋̎͆̌̾̈̚͝n̷̨̧̧̛̘̲͉͕̖̜̘̦̣̯̬̳̥̪͕̗̖̞̥͍̅̊͋̄̈́́̉̈́̀͂̌̍́͗̀̐̾̾̋̈́̃͐̚͘͠ ̶̡̨̡̡̛̝̠̫̯̰̺͖̼̪̩̺̗̟͍̜̝̼̞͖͙̩̲̟̆̌͆̈̈́̄͂̔̆̔̋͐̃͂͛̄́͘A̷̢̧̛̛̛̤̩̪̮̝̬̦̜̞̝̣̤̩͇͈̙̘̼͔̓̑̈́͂͆̀̋̓͋̆̀͑̄̄̓̇̒͘̕̚͝s̵̨̢̡̧̛̛̤͚̯͔͎͕͎̗̣̖̥̰̭̜̟̰͍̝͈͖̥͔͐́͗̎̍̀̏͛̽̆͗̔́̑͌̀̄͗̚͝t̶̡̧̧̛̛̛̤͚̝̗̪̖̤̘̜̩̦̞͍͎̼͎̝̩͙̦̓̒̍̒̾̅̉̍̋̈́͂̍̅̍́͂̏̍͗̈́̓̒̾͘̚͘͝r̵̛̛̤̟̬̰͚̥̜͔̙̲͙̥̟̺̤̬̙̘͓̝͓͐̈́̈́̊͒̋̊̌͋̽̈́͋̈̄̆̈́̏̚̚͜ͅe̷̡̧̨̛̛̛̛̤̞̖̺̰̩͔͓̗̜̗͎̣͈͍̲̯̤͙̦͂̇̓́́̎̓̒͆̎̓̒͋̍́̑̽́͗̕̚͘̚͘͜͝a̸̢̡̧̛̛̛̛̤̗̗̝̯̖̫͎͍̱̙̘̥͖̤̝͇̲̩̞̼̓̋̑͋̈́̎̒́̑́͗̄̋̓̾̈́̀̈́̓̑̀̌͘̕̚͘͠"

*

A buzzing sound rang in Valerian’s ears as he heard that last part, and he was pulled out of this world and transported into the separate dimension.

A/N: I’m sure there have been some of you that got bored by the slice-of-life stuff that has been happening in the recent Chapters, but it was something that had to be done for the relationship to work.

But now a new kind of arc begins where it’s just Valerian and space magic!

So I hope you are going to enjoy this!