Villainess X Villain: They are obsessed with each other!-Chapter 8 -: 7 This time it will be time path.

Julius stretched his arms and legs. He was in the training grounds of his private mansion.

A faint smile touched his lips.

"Let us start with the training," he murmured.

Then he slowly sat down in the lotus position.

He closed his eyes and focused. His mind turned inward. He guided his awareness from his throat down to his navel.

Inside his body, there was something that normal humans did not have.

It was like a thin pipe made of bone, connecting his throat to his navel. Only those who awakened through a mana stone could have it.

This was....

"A core..." Julius muttered.

Cores were both a filter and a reservoir of power. They purified raw mana and stored it for later use.

There were five stages of development: Mana Core, Arcane Core, Spirit Core, Void Core, and the final stage, the Infinite Core.

His core glowed dark blue.

Dark blue meant he had reached the arcane core.

"And this body is also at the peak of the Compression stage," he murmured as he recalled the system of this world.

In this world, there is an energy called mana.

It is a neutral energy. It moves through everything, just like electricity. It has no will of its own. It only follows rules.

To use mana, a person must awaken their core with a mana stone. Without that, mana cannot be controlled.

After awakening, the person enters the Mana Core stage.

This is called bodily ascension. It means the body itself changes and becomes able to hold mana.

After that comes mental ascension.

Mental ascension has two main stages: Flow and Compression.

Flow is when a person learns to move mana smoothly inside the body. They guide it like water through clear paths.

Compression is when they learn to press that mana tightly, making it denser and stronger.

Both Flow and Compression are divided into four small realms: Early, Intermediate, High, and Peak.

After reaching the limit of mental ascension, the Bodily Ascension steps into the Spirit core stage.

At that point, mental ascension no longer stays the same. It changes into Soul Ascension.

Before reaching the Spirit Core stage, everything depended on talent and resources.

No matter how hard someone worked, without talent and proper support, they would hit a wall.

Talents were divided into four ranks: S, A, B, and C.

S was the highest.

In this world, only a select few had S-rank talent.

Julius and Rosalina were one of those few geniuses.

Talent was judged by three things: how well someone could understand mana, how strong their natural affinity was, and how well their core could refine mana.

"My core can refine sixty percent," Julius murmured.

He slowly breathed in a small amount of mana from the air.

The moment it entered his body, his core reacted.

Sixty percent of that mana was purified and absorbed.

The remaining forty percent was pushed out of his body through his pores and breath.

No waste. No delay.

He kept breathing in small amounts.

Refine. Discard. Compress.

Store.

Again and again.

His core grew denser as he pressed the refined mana tighter and tighter inside it.

The Mana Core and Arcane Core stages were the foundation stages. During these stages, one had to learn the Infinite Theorems.

Infinite Theorems were also called spell formulas.

Those who used them were called Infinite Casters, though most people simply said spell casters.

Most spell casters stayed in the Mana Core and Arcane Core stages. Even reaching the peak of those stages was enough to be called great.

But everything changed after reaching the Spirit Core.

At that point, a person had to choose a path.

A true path.

"Space..." Julius muttered under his breath.

A cold look appeared in his eyes.

"I don’t know why he was so foolish," he said with a quiet snort. "He was inspired by me, yet he was so dumb! Tsk! Tsk!."

"If he had chosen the Time Path instead and paired it with his all-seeing eyes, he would have been far more terrifying," Julius murmured, irritation flashing in his eyes.

In the original novel, the previous Julius had chosen the Space Path, even though he had a clear advantage in Time.

What frustrated him most was the reason behind that decision.

That version of Julius had been inspired by his real-world self.

And yet... he still made such a foolish choice.

"Space path is powerful."

"But time... time would be even more terrifying when paired with these cheat eyes." He said with a gloomy voice.

Julius slowly opened his eyes.

"This time, I will choose the Time path."

He paused.

"And after reaching the Void core stage..."

A slow smile formed on his face. He did not finish the sentence.

Some thoughts were better left unspoken.

Outside, the sun was setting. Yellow light spread across the training ground before slowly fading away.

Alfred stepped forward from the corner where he had been waiting. He held out a water flask with both hands.

Julius took it and drank a few mouthfuls.

"Haa..."

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I’m close to reaching the Spirit Core," he said calmly. "Tell Father I will visit him after I break through."

Alfred bowed his head.

"As you wish, my lord."