Kaelan stands still, watching Raphael fight the remaining half-humanoid spider.
He does not interfere.
"He can handle it," Kaelan thinks calmly.
He lowers his gaze to the creature he has just slain.
With measured precision, he kneels.
Using the tip of his sword, he begins an autopsy.
He cuts through the chest cavity.
The ribcage beneath is structured like a human's, though reinforced with fibrous chitin strands.
He parts it carefully.
Inside, he finds a heart.
Two lungs.
Kidneys.
A liver.
And another unfamiliar organ nestled close to the spine.
A translucent, crystalline sac pulsing faintly.
Even if the thymus gland is present, the organ responsible for producing antibodies against spiritual radiation.
The creature is not a natural evolution.
It is as if someone sutured a human torso onto the lower body of a spider demon.
He exhales softly.
"Half-humanoid spider is too long."
He decides.
"Spiderling."
A painful screech pierces the air.
Kaelan lifts his head.
Rapheal stands several meters away, gravity twisting violently around him.
With a sharp motion of his arm, he compresses space.
The remaining spiderling's body tears apart mid-air.
Limbs separate.
Blood splashes against bark.
Rapheal breathes heavily.
Sweat glistens on his brow.
"What kind of creature is this?" he mutters. "A human or a spider?"
Kaelan rises.
"You may consider it a mixture of both. I will call them spiderlings."
Rapheal repeats quietly, "Spiderling."
He straightens his posture.
"Let's move."
They advance deeper into the artificial forest.
Vines brush against their armour.
Thick spider webs cling between branches.
Kaelan walks forward and abruptly collides with an invisible strand.
Silk sticks across his face.
He calmly removes it.
The darkness is nearly absolute.
Without light, he cannot rely on sight.
His spirit sense spreads low along the ground.
Then,
Soft impacts.
Multiple.
Pointed feet landing around them.
Kaelan stops.
His sword erupts into flame.
Orange fire illuminates the clearing.
Rapheal inhales sharply.
"Oh… Lord."
Dozens.
Scores.
Spiderlings surround them.
Most weaker.
But several radiate strength equal to their own.
The spiderlings screech and charge simultaneously.
Kaelan speaks evenly.
"I am setting the forest on fire."
There is no spiritual energy here.
But the air still contains chemical particles.
He closes his eyes briefly.
Extends his perception not to spirit, but to matter.
He isolates volatile compounds within the air and plant matter.
Accelerates molecular friction.
Ignites reaction points simultaneously.
Small sparks appear across multiple locations.
Then,
Explosions.
Fire erupts outward in bursts.
Flames spread rapidly along vines and dried bark.
The forest ignites in violent succession.
Rapheal reacts instantly.
Gravity warps around them.
A dome forms overhead, shielding them from collapsing branches and firestorm debris.
Flames roar.
Spiderlings shriek in agony.
Some burn instantly.
Others flee into darkness.
Those accustomed to shadow writhe in sudden light.
The fire spreads uncontrollably across the artificial forest.
Within minutes, the entire chamber is engulfed.
Then the vegetation collapses into ash.
As the flames subside, hidden illumination systems activate.
Panels along the ceiling and walls begin glowing.
The vast chamber becomes fully lit.
Ash drifts downward like black snow.
Then Kaelan notices it.
A massive shadow stretched across the floor.
He looks up.
A spiderling ten times larger than the others clings to the ceiling.
Its massive arachnid body spans the width of a building.
From its human upper torso protrude two pairs of arms.
Instead of hands, one pair ends in lances.
The other in serrated pincers.
It's right, crimson eye stares at them with chilling intelligence.
It screeches.
A glob of thick webbing launches toward them.
They leap aside.
The web strikes the ground.
Acid hisses violently, eating through the metal floor.
The giant spiderling drops.
It lands with tremendous force.
The ground trembles.
Then it moves.
Far faster than its size should allow.
Its lance arms swing toward them.
Kaelan backflips smoothly to evade.
Rapheal raises gravity defensively, but one lance clips him.
He is hurled across the chamber.
His body crashes against the wall.
The massive spiderling turns.
Its crimson eye locks onto Kaelan.
The massive spiderling lowers its body slightly, legs spreading wide as if anchoring itself.
Then it lunges.
Kaelan shifts sideways just as one lance-arm pierces the ground where he stood.
Metal flooring splits apart under the impact.
He counters immediately, stepping in close to reduce the reach advantage.
His blade arcs upward, striking against the creature's chitin-plated abdomen.
The impact rings like steel against reinforced armour.
The spiderling rotates with unnatural flexibility, a pincer-arm sweeping toward Kaelan's ribs.
He blocks with the flat of his sword.
The force drives him backwards several steps.
He absorbs it purely with physical strength.
No spiritual energy.
Not yet.
Behind him, Raphael pushes himself up from the cracked wall.
His aura flickers weakly but steadies.
He charges in again.
Gravity compresses briefly around his fists as he strikes at one of the spiderling's rear legs.
The leg buckles slightly but does not break.
The creature retaliates instantly, spinning its massive body and smashing Raphael aside with the blunt base of its lance-arm.
Rapheal skids across the floor.
Kaelan advances again.
He aims not for brute damage but for joints.
Tendons.
Structural weaknesses.
He darts beneath a downward thrust, slices at the connection between humanoid torso and arachnid abdomen.
Black blood sprays.
The spiderling screeches and retaliates with both lance-arms crossing downward.
Kaelan leaps backwards.
The crossed lances carve a deep X into the metal floor.
They continue like this.
Strike.
Dodge.
Counter.
Neither side is yielding.
The spiderling's body has reached Third Stage Transcend.
Its strength surpasses Raphael's.
Its endurance rivals even greater foes.
Kaelan deliberately suppresses his true physical power.
He does not allow his demigod strength to manifest.
He fights as if he were only a Master Alchemist.
Occasionally, when a blow becomes unavoidable, he channels minimal energy into his blade to deflect rather than shatter.
Minutes stretch.
Then an hour.
The spiderling's movements remain ferocious.
Rapheal's grow slower.
Sweat pours down his face.
His breathing grows ragged.
He gathers his remaining fighting energy into one final gravitational compression and leaps upward, striking at the creature's head.
The spiderling anticipates him.
One lance pierces through his defence.
It slams into his chest.
Raphael is launched backwards.
He crashes against the wall again.
A sickening crunch echoes.
His body slides down.
Unconscious.
His fighting energy extinguished.
Silence falls between Kaelan and the spiderling.
The crimson eye focuses entirely on him now.
Kaelan inhales slowly.
With Raphael unconscious, he could end this instantly.
One punch.
One true strike.
He could crush the creature's skull like fragile ceramic.
But he does not.
Instead, he continues.
The pressure of combat sharpens him.
Adrenaline surges.
His thoughts are clear.
As he dodges another thrust and slashes at a foreleg, his mind begins turning inward.
What is an Alchemist?
On Earth, stories of alchemists spoke of turning stone into gold.
Not literal gold.
Transformation.
Matter into something of higher value.
Transformation of substance.
Transformation of state.
He parries another lance and pivots.
If matter can transform,
What of energy?
What of spirit?
His sword clashes again with chitin.
The spiderling's pincer snaps inches from his face.
He ducks and rolls beneath it.
Philosopher's Stone.
The ultimate alchemical object.
He had once conceived of it as something capable of transforming matter into energy and energy into matter.
But that was incomplete.
Matter.
Energy.
Spirit.
Three fundamental aspects.
A Fourth Stage Transcendent merges vitality, matter, with qi or mana, energy, and spirit into true spirit.
A unification.
His blade drives into the spiderling's damaged abdomen.
It howls.
He withdraws and steps back.
Matter into energy.
Energy into spirit.
Spirit into matter.
A cycle.
A unity.
His perception shifts subtly.
A thin veil lifts.
The world around him feels… more integrated.
The spiderling lunges again.
This time, Kaelan steps forward rather than back.
He twists past the lance.
Channels a precise surge, not explosive, not excessive.
Just enough.
His blade pierces through the base of the humanoid's neck.
He rotates the sword sharply.
The massive head tears free from the body.
The creature staggers.
Its legs twitch violently.
Then collapse.
Silence returns.
Hours later,
Kaelan emerges from the dark tunnel.
Rapheal lies unconscious across his shoulder.
His expression is calm.
Rosalyn sees them first.
"Brother!"
She rushes forward.
Kaelan gently transfers Raphael into Rosalyn's arms without a word.
Before anyone can question him about what happened inside the ruin, he turns and walks back toward the dome-shaped building he had previously chosen.
He does not slow.
He does not explain.
Upon entering, he activates the array.
Mist rises and envelops the building, sealing it from outside perception.
Inside, Kaelan sits cross-legged.
His breathing steadies.
He begins absorbing the sparse spiritual energy that lingers within the structure, drawing it in carefully, efficiently.
As he meditates, he contemplates his newly formed Law.
He names it the Law of Particle.
He chose this name because particles exist in matter, in energy, and in spirit.
Even the soul, when examined deeply enough, can be understood as a refined arrangement of particles beyond ordinary perception.
This Law is not merely for advancing to the Fourth Stage Transcend.
He is already standing at its threshold.
He is thinking further, toward Fifth Stage Transcend.
He senses that the Law of Particle will become the bridge to that realm.
First, he adjusts his body according to his Law.
He visualises his body as the Philosopher's Stone.
At the Demigod stage, his physical form already holds the capacity to transform into pure energy.
But he does not.
The world's spiritual energy density is too low.
If he transforms fully into energy form, even for a second, he would lose a portion of his internal energy.
Given the current state of the world, it would take years to recover what is lost.
But he can.
What remains is the transformation between matter and spirit.
Between energy and spirit.
And the reverse.
If he succeeds in harmonising these transformations under his Law of Particle, his body will truly enter Fourth Stage Transcend.
At the same time, each transformation will deepen his comprehension of the Law itself.
Currently, his Law of Particle stands at the first level of the Meteor Stage.
It is stable, but far from complete.
He carefully circulates energy through his body, subtly adjusting the arrangement of particles within his flesh.
His skin, bones, and blood resonate faintly as matter and energy begin responding more fluidly to his will.
After completing a full internal examination and restoring an adequate portion of energy, he opens his eyes.
The mist retracts.
He stands.
When he steps outside, the questions come.
He answers them briefly.
Calmly.
Directly.
Then, without lingering, he turns once more toward the ruin.
This time, he walks with a clear purpose.
He makes his way directly toward the large chamber where the forest once stood.