Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

A soft breeze blew over the now-melancholic ruins of the Pristine Wild-Spirits’ hiding place.

Priam spent some time gathering all the bodies in one place.

Luvinah knelt beside the large hole where they were, whispering one last goodbye. When she finished, Priam buried them deep in that land that, for so long, had been the only safe place they had ever known.

Guilt crushed him. Although it had not been his intention, the massacre had been the price of his intervention.

He had never felt so deeply sunk in melancholy. He had been sick and a slave in his past lives, but even in those dark times, there had always been a thread of hope.

On Earth, Bruno had been there. In the other world, the hope of the system had encouraged him to endure.

But these beings... they were born in fear, grew up in hunger, and died in brutality. There had been no comfort for them. Only a tragic end.

Luvinah remained motionless before the large grave.

No tears fell.

No expression of pain tore across her face.

That silence made Priam even more uneasy.

”Luvinah,” Priam called, his voice low, but carrying a new determination. ”Look at me.”

He waited until the light in her eyes fixed on his. ”You won’t be alone. I have a home, a father, a mother, and a family. I’ll take you with me, and they’ll take proper care of you. I promise I’ll give you everything you want, and I’ll help you become a Mage. In the future, I’ll take you to others of your race... then you can rebuild everything...”

His voice began to fail, until he stopped.

He expected a reaction — maybe relief, or the fear of someone who had finally found a safe harbor. But Luvinah’s face remained a blank page, adorned only by a serenity that disturbed him.

The little Primordial Wild-Spirit did not look away; it was as if she was memorizing the lines of his expression.

[Loyalty of an ally has evolved!]

[Luvinah Caeldori] | Loyalty: Unshakable (UP)]

[+750 GP]

Priam glanced at the green screen, without caring in the slightest.

”Your kindness is a strange light in this world, Big Brother Priam,” she began, and her voice did not have the tone of a child. ”I spent my days praying for the Goddess to show us that we were not just fuel for the greed of others. But I thought I would die without an answer.”

She gave a sad smile, but one deeply at peace, ignoring his offer of protection as if it belonged to a future she would not live in.

”Hearing your words now... is like receiving the warmth of the sun after an eternity in the dark. The Goddess was generous to me after all,” she whispered, closing her eyes for a brief moment. ”Because, at the very end of my life, I discovered that there was still someone capable of offering a home to someone who has nothing.”

Priam felt a tightness in his chest, but something in her words struck him like lightning.

’End of my life?!’

With a start, he moved closer and touched Luvinah’s head.

”!”

Priam turned pale when he touched her.

He did not feel the vibrant pulse of life, but the terror of a mirage dissolving under his touch. Luvinah was not just losing energy; it was as if her very essence was being washed away by invisible rain, becoming transparent and diluted.

Her three vital sources, which should have been the pillars of her existence, were withering like petals thrown into fire, disappearing at a devastating speed.

Her small and fragile body began to lean backward, losing its support, while that serene smile remained fixed, like a mask of peace amid the disaster.

”Luvinah!!”

She was limp in his arms; the temperature of her skin dropped with every second.

”What... what is happening?!”

Desperate, he took out the Wood Spirit Essence he had received from Murima. The elder had said the item had a mystical regenerative power, capable of fully restoring a life.

”Big Brother...”

Luvinah’s voice was an almost imperceptible thread. She looked at Priam tenderly. ”The essence... won’t work. It only heals those who are not of my race... don’t waste it.”

”What did you do to yourself?” he asked, his voice choked.

She moved her lips slowly. ”I did it myself... before I was captured. It’s a self-destruction method that only Primordials can use. It temporarily seals my core by deceiving... then... after it’s activated, it can’t be stopped.”

”I have something else!” Priam shouted, focusing his mind on the spatial ring.

He took out the two most powerful healing herbs he had.

’Synthesize!’

In one second, he activated the system and created a new power rune.

[Extreme Yang Purification Rune]

[Capable of nourishing the body with high-level Yang, as well as purifying dark poisons. Or, ironically, it can act as a poison by removing the target’s Yin.]

From what Priam had felt, her suicide method corrupted the lineage, turning that very energy of the body into a lethal poison. That rune was his only and best bet.

An intense white light flowed through Priam’s arm and entered Luvinah’s chest.

Silence.

Five seconds passed.

”!”

Priam’s eyes trembled.

All the power of the rune, that white light that should have purified everything, only served to stabilize Luvinah for one brief breath.

”No...”

Right after that, life began to drain from her again, even faster.

Despair struck him like never before. He could feel her temperature falling through his hands.

”Big Brother...”

That tiny, fragile voice pulled him out of his stupor.

”I knew... you definitely wouldn’t discard me. One day, you will become someone important and powerful. You are my savior.”

Luvinah coughed, a dry sound that broke Priam’s heart.

”Everything was my fault... please... don’t cry... I don’t want to become a burden to you...”

Priam felt as if a giant hammer had struck his soul.

His entire body trembled uncontrollably.

’There has to be a solution!’

’Quick, think! Think of something to save her!!’

His mind was in chaos, thinking desperately.

”Big Brother, it’s all... right...”

Priam’s chest felt so heavy that air no longer entered. Luvinah took a deep breath, gathering every drop of strength left in her small body, and weakly raised her arm.

”Thank you, Big Brother. This is... the only way... I can repay you...”

Her clenched fist slowly opened in front of Priam’s chest. A multicolored and ethereal light flowed from her fingers, sinking directly into his soul.

It was the Primordial Pristine Core.

It fused perfectly with Priam.

”!”

His eyes widened, feeling something leave his Nexus Seed very quickly.

At that moment, still confused, he felt Luvinah tremble strangely.

When he focused on her, the light in her eyes began to slowly fade.

A low, indecipherable murmur left her lips.

Her pale white hand lost its strength and began to fall.

Luvinah’s face still carried a tender smile, even as her eyelids closed...

”Luvinah... no... NO!!”

Priam released the most anguished scream of his life. He fell to his knees, holding her tightly against his chest, but the weight in his arms suddenly disappeared.

A flash of silver light emanated from Luvinah’s body. She did not leave a corpse behind; instead, her body seemed to dissolve, transforming into something that looked like a little silver star.

That point of silver light was carried by the wind, floating like a delicate snowflake toward the soil where the tribe was buried. The moment the light touched the earth, everything changed.

Where there had once been red, disturbed soil, there now appeared a mantle of translucent and immaculate crystals. They spread quickly, covering the ruins and the trees with a layer that looked like platinum frost.

Although it had the appearance of an eternal winter, there was no cold. Priam felt the touch of that ”ice” on his hands, but it was mild, almost warm.

The bloodstains that marked the entire ground were transmuted into small scarlet gemstones, embedded beneath the silver seal, like rubies protected by divine glass.

The air, once heavy and metallic, became so clear that each breath Priam took seemed to purify his own lungs.

The hiding place, once completely stained with blood, was completely transformed. Now it looked like a world taken over by an immaculate silver glow — a silent and beautiful sanctuary that seemed frozen in time.

”...”

Priam remained there kneeling, motionless in the center of that sea of shining crystals. The silver and immaculate mantle continued to silently expand around him, wrapping him in a welcoming softness, as if Luvinah’s very essence was giving him one last, silent hug.

She remained motionless.

His soul seemed to break completely.

Without him having the strength to react or read, green windows appeared in front of him...

Then another...

Another...

He only noticed that the numbers were going up, but he did not care about anything, immersed in that visceral and devastating pain.