Chapter 171: Lost Power

"Lady Darkness, you can no longer sense me, can you?"

Wang Yu looked at the avatar of the Lady of Night sitting beside Avia and asked.

"Indeed. The spiritual realm I once traversed has vanished. I have no way to confirm your location through the previous methods; your spiritual space is now beyond my perception."

The avatar of the Lady of Night nodded, confirming that she could no longer sense him. It was clear that Wang Yu could no longer draw power from her as he once had; the arts of the Night were now beyond his reach.

Sighing, Wang Yu turned his consciousness inward. He opened his eyes within his own spiritual space. The vast, crystalline lake that once stretched to the horizon was gone, replaced by endless darkness and a deathly silence. All that remained was the old, weathered door frame that stood alone.

He looked up toward what should have been a sky filled with stars, but there was nothing there. Neither the madness of the Void nor the projections of that Void within the minds of wizards could be felt any longer.

He stared into the surrounding gloom, attempting to perceive something. Avia was meditating beside him in the physical world. Back when he possessed the key, he could have seen the spiritual palaces of other wizards above that lake, even influencing them to a degree.

But now, even though the girl was less than two meters away, he could not see her spiritual palace—that grand castle which dwarfed his own crumbling frame.

Everything around him had dissolved into nothingness. Within his spiritual space, he was now truly alone.

"It seems that all my methods of utilizing Void energy, including communication with the Void itself, relied entirely on that key Roland left behind. Without it, I have no connection to the Void whatsoever. 'Utterly devoid of wizarding talent'—is that what I am?"

Wang Yu stood in the silent void of his mind. His connection was severed. From the moment he shattered the key with his fist, he had lost all his power as a wizard.

The Blood-Burning Drive, which required the synergy of three forces, was unusable. The Rampage, which relied solely on Void energy, was also gone. The blow to his strength was far from trivial.

The Tree of the Night Sky, representing the Lady’s power, was beyond his reach and control. With the loss of her divine arts and the difficulty of calling upon her for sanctuary, this journey to the Great Library seemed to have brought him nothing but a series of debilitating losses.

"The only consolation is that I did not anchor my foundation in the Void. My foundation remains."

He clenched his fist, looking at the muscular arm manifested within his spiritual space. His training as a knight had never faltered. Though his strength had plummeted, it was not beyond repair, given time.

"However... if I am no longer a wizard, what is this spiritual space? And what of this 'Ripple' ability?"

Wang Yu quickly cast aside the irritation born of his weakened state, turning his mind to new, intriguing questions.

If he had lost his wizarding powers, why did this dark, silent space still exist?

Wasn't this exclusive to wizards? Mages did not enter such spaces through meditation, and knights—those rough-hewn warriors—had no concept of meditation at all.

According to existing theory, a spiritual space was the projection of a wizard's mental power into the Void. Without being a wizard, one could strengthen the soul or expand mental capacity, but one could not enter one's own spiritual space.

So, what was this pitch-black, yet undeniably real, space? He patted the old door frame standing in the darkness. He didn't know what it was, but the Ripple ability seemed to have originated from it.

This was not like the key. This belonged to him. Or rather, he sensed that this door frame was, in essence, himself.

"Does this space exist because of you?"

He stared at the frame for a long time, muttering to himself. He rubbed his chin, finding no answers. The uniqueness he had brought from Earth remained a mystery. Since he couldn't fathom it, he would have to let time provide the answer.

"Regardless, I am truly unlucky. Without wizarding powers, my strength is down to seventy percent. And since I can't speak directly to the Lady of Night, I suppose I can step down as the incompetent Archbishop of the Nightfall Church."

With a wry shrug, Wang Yu exited his spiritual space. He would ponder that mystery later; for now, he intended to study the only thing he might have gained from the Great Library.

"I don't know why the library considered this the closest thing to an Inner Potential knight technique, but it must have its merits. I shall test it thoroughly."

Material Sword-Shaping. It was a unique application of battle aura that differed slightly from standard knight techniques, one he had fully read and successfully executed in the library. It was the only tangible gain from this trip.

"A peculiar way to manipulate battle aura. I never imagined it could be used this way."

Following the memory of the technique, he structured his aura into the required matrix and, using the Ripple, pressed it onto the wooden table before him.

The aura seeped into the wood. Despite the small amount, the matrix structure produced a strange effect. Even though he had tested it with his own blood in the library, the sensation of reshaping the wood without resistance was marvelous.

Within seconds, a longsword—identical in shape and size to a standard issue blade—formed from the material of the table. Wang Yu picked up the brown sword, feeling its properties.

It was lighter than a metal sword, and the edge was remarkably sharp; even his toughened skin as a novice formal knight felt a sting when touching it.

He flexed the blade. The hardness was unexpectedly high, comparable to iron, though the resilience seemed slightly lacking.

He increased his grip, his muscles bulging. With a sharp "snap"—a sound quite different from that of metal—the blade broke in two in his hand.

"It is usable, but inferior to a forged metal sword. However, it seems to retain some unique characteristics of the material—this wooden sword is much lighter."

Wang Yu pondered the broken pieces.

"But to give wood the hardness of metal... this changes the very material structure. It is different from the Blood-Rage knight technique, which merely shapes blood."

Material Sword-Shaping was deeper. The Blood-Rage technique used aura as a skeleton; once the aura faded, the blood returned to its natural state. But this technique fundamentally altered the material. The wood possessed strength beyond its nature.

Even without aura, the altered structure remained. The broken "wooden sword" on the table did not vanish.

"It is indeed like an Inner Potential—those unreasonable powers that, like sorcery, directly influence reality. Or like spells with destructive force. Material Sword-Shaping has shadows of that. Battle aura itself is quite wondrous..."

He realized that battle aura was more than just a strength enhancer; when structured into specific matrices, it revealed hidden properties.

On a whim, he tried the technique again, this time targeting the air. He structured his aura and, carried by the Ripple, infused it into the air beside him, attempting to shape the gas into a sword.

"Hm? Failed."

He felt a strange solidity near his palm, like a hilt. But as he tried to grip it, the aura collapsed, losing its carrier. The half-formed "air hilt" dissipated.

"Too hasty. I haven't mastered the basics, yet I try to shape substances harder than wood. Failure is expected."

Shaping solids was easiest, liquids next, while gases and abstract concepts were the most difficult.

"I wonder if I could shape fire, Void energy, or mana into a sword. If so, this ability is truly tyrannical—it has the rule-bending nature of an Inner Potential. I hope it helps me awaken my own soon; it might compensate for the strength I've lost."

As he thought, he picked up the broken wooden sword and pressed it back into the cavity in the table, instinctively trying to use his wizarding power to fill the gap.

Only when his mental energy flickered, failing to summon even a wisp of Void energy, did he remember his loss.

He gave a wry, helpless smile. Without his wizarding powers, simple tasks had become cumbersome.

Soon, however, the Ripple he kept active sensed a fluctuation of Void energy. Under its influence, the sword pieces merged back into the table.

He looked up at Avia. As expected, she had helped him restore the table.

"Thanks for the help!" Wang Yu gave a thumbs-up.

Avia smiled, then looked at him earnestly. "Wang Yu, I think we should go out for a walk, see the scenery, or wander the capital like we did before. We should relax."

Wang Yu blinked, surprised. He understood her intent—was she worried he would be depressed by his loss of power?

He felt it unnecessary. He was not one to dwell on misfortune; his mindset was resilient. Despair had no place in his heart.

"Is that really necessary?" Wang Yu replied with a faint smile.

"No, regardless—even if we don't go out, a good meal is necessary. Consider it a request, please?"

The girl’s attitude was unexpectedly firm. Wang Yu looked at her, his heart stirring slightly.

"Very well. As you wish."