I ignored Amity while I thought about what the Goddess of Darkness said to me, even closing my eyes as I thought. While I knew I would probably have to kill people again, emotionally accepting it was a different matter.

Magic was so easy to do, creating something deadly was as easy as thinking about inputting the code on [Magical Programming Language] and casting it. Even while my emotions were eating me up inside, a tiny part of me felt disconnected from their deaths. It wasn't the knowledge about the time loops that would erase it, that was another, more prominent part, no. What I was feeling was the start of a desensitization to killing. If left unchecked, I would fall into a pit, with no true way to ever come back.

"Hey, you listening?" I felt Amity shake my head side to side.

"Sorry," I said. "There's just a lot on my head right now. Could I be alone for a minute, please?'

"Ok, sure," she shrugged. "I'm gonna look around the city. Probably visit the dungeon here."

Amity walked and left through the door. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing thoughts down for a moment. This wasn't something that I would be able to come to terms with in just a loop or two. I've read enough stories online to know this is something that takes years to fully unpack.

"I need some fresh air," I said to myself and exited my room, making my way to the outside of the inn and ignoring the screams of the people I passed on my way there.

Once in the street, I noticed the city's shield was down as the magical storm had been dispersed by Amity earlier. I took the opportunity to open my wings and flapped them, jumping with them to help build up momentum. It was a workout to gain enough lift from a standstill, considering my status were still affected by soul burn.

I spent ten minutes going straight up, until my wings were starting to sore from the constant use. Looking down, the city was much, much smaller. I didn't know how high up I was, and I didn't care to know. All I cared about was that being in the air, this high up, was refreshing in a way I never actually felt until now.

Using [Spatial Manipulation], I removed gravity around me. Using magic was easier for me than keeping myself flying by constantly flapping my wings. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The wind was cold on my scales, and I could feel a stream of elementally charged magicules flowing with it.

I opened my eyes, seeing the distant horizon illuminated by the pale light of the two full moons. Right there, I felt like all my worries were nothing but a speck of dust in the face of the planet. I didn't know how long dragons lived, if it was anything like the myths back on Earth, then I would live for thousands of years. I could afford to go slow, but maybe not. I knew Amity and Farahio lived for at least a thousand years, but they were both elves, and my friends were humans. If nothing changed, then they would live to around 100 years.

I never really thought about it, but I would probably outlive my friends, my family, everyone I ever cared. I guess it's true what the internet said about immortality being a curse and whatnot, not that I ever believed it. It's one of those things you never really consider until it smacks you on the face.

Closing my eyes again, I decided to put these thoughts away for the time being. I still had at least 80 years before I had to think about it.

Opening my eyes again, I released my hold on gravity and felt it reassess itself on my body, pulling me down rapidly. I adjusted my wings and turned my free fall into a controlled glide as I circled the air. From the time I spent going straight upwards, going down took about five times longer. During my descent, I made up my mind about a few things.

The first one was that I would be helping Karol and the other prisoners escape those cells where they were being detained. The second one was that I would face Jack. It was time that I made myself clear to him that I was not a mimic, and that he would not be killing me, not anymore, anyway. For that, I would continue training against bloodlust, and I would at least harm him. The fight between him and Karol and me showed me he would back off if he took enough damage.

As I approached the ground, I saw a light coming from the city lord's mansion. Following the light, I landed in a garden on the back of the mansion. I saw the lord with a small retinue of servants and guards. His face was neutral, with a small smile on his face.

"Oh, sir dragon," he started. "What gives us the honors? Would you be, perhaps, with the Witch of Pride? I've been informed by the guards that there were reports of a dragon flying upwards from one of the residential districts."

I watched him, noting that everything he did was done with elegance. I also knew that there was no way the reports he told me said 'dragon' in them. I was sure they said something about or a wyvern or a monster in them, but of course, he wouldn't say that to my face, not when they think the dragon in question came with the walking disaster called Amity.

"Something like that," I finally answer him after a couple seconds of silence. "Would you mind lending me some of your guards?"

"May I inquire the reason for?" He asked.

"I guess you could call it 'pest control,' " I shrugged. "Don't worry, thought. This will benefit you more than it does me."

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"In that case, I would be glad to be of service." Theodric, the city's lord, said.

As I waited for him to gather the guards I requested, [Knowledge Library] had finally finished downloading the information necessary and directly put it in my brain.

[Origin Magic is not, in fact, magic in the traditional sense. It is the very concept of creation made manifest through the soul. It is a primordial function that allows a being to touch the foundational energy from which the universe itself was born. This force lies beneath all layers of reality and cannot be controlled by normal spells, runes, or skills. To wield Origin Magic is to temporarily become part of the System itself, controlling the flow of magicules, matter, and energy across all existence. To use Origin Magic requires the acknowledgment of at least one of the seven Greater Gods, as only they have the Authority to wield it. The act of invoking Origin Magic can have devastating effects on the user's soul, depending on the scale of energy drawn and how disconnected the user is from the System at the moment of activation. To use Origin Magic is to rewrite reality itself.]

[ Proficiency points have reached the threshold. [Unique] skill [Knowledge Library] has reached level 4 ]

That gave me pause. I really wasn't expecting "Origin Magic" to be something that big. Sure, Amity is looking for me because of it, but I wasn't really giving it that much thought. And apparently this is what Amity was allowed to give me from that Athor guy, meaning there is even more about it than I know. I also didn't know how lucky I was. If the part of "devastating effects on the user's soul" is accurate, then I received way less damage than I should, but why?

My mind went over to [Knowledge Library]. The skill only gave me information on things I asked, but where was that information coming from? My guess was that it was from the universe itself, but what if that was not the case, or at least, not the whole thing? I couldn't remember much when I used Origin Magic back then, but I remember I felt one skill activating before my consciousness slipped.

"What skill was activated when I used Origin Magic?" If I couldn't remember, then I would ask the only thing that would give me an answer.

[Denaru Theris's [Unique] skill [Knowledge Library] was activated during Denaru Theris's use of Origin Magic]

I was right. The information Amity gave me tells Origin Magic can be devastating depending on how disconnected from the System the user is, but what if the user in question have a skill that is directly connected to the System?

I know I had called it useless a lot of times, and felt anger towards it for not having the information that I needed, but now I had to thank it for saving my life. I had no idea how lucky I've been to have it.

The information also gave me a solid idea as to how I managed to use Origin Magic in the first place. Of course, I had the necessary acknowledgment of at least two Gods at the time, and I had cast a spell thinking about the creation of the universe, the same type of energy that Origin Magic is.

"More reason to just use my skill instead of trying their methods," I sighed.

"What was that?" I heard Theodric approaching.

"Oh, I said it out loud?" I mumbled. "It was nothing, please ignore it."

"...Right…" He stopped a couple of meters away from me, following him were about a dozen or so of soldiers wearing full armor. "These are our elite soldiers, I hope they will be sufficient for your demands, sir dragon."

I looked them over. Each one was giving off a very powerful presence. They were easily stronger than me, I had no doubts about that.

"They will do fine," I said. "I am aware of a problem with a criminal organization in this city. That every time you try to invade their base, they're already gone and have made another. Am I right?"

Theodric's face darkened.

"Yes," he said through gritted teeth. "Unfortunately, you are right. They have a couple of mind mages that can detect our moves and act before we arrive."

I activated [Spatial Manipulation] and [Mathematical Cortex] together. Using the skill still gave me a headache from the soul burn, but it wasn't something I couldn't handle.

I pushed space in the direction of the coordinates I calculated until I tore it open, creating a portal right inside the criminal's cells.

"This is their current base of operations," I said to them. "You may cross this portal and arrive right where they keep their prisoners."

Theodric eyed the portal, then me, then the portal again, and finally settled on me. "I see. You had said this would favor me more than you, I understand the reason now.

"Soldiers!" He shouted towards the soldiers, and they all straightened their backs and hit their right hands over their chests. "This is finally the chance to purge our city from the criminal scum that taints our beautiful city. We will be in debt to this noble dragon for this gift he has given us. Do not bring shame on our name, go through the portal and kill this evil at its root, do not allow a single one of them to escape!"

All of the soldiers shouted and moved in unison through the portal. After every soldier entered the portal, Theodric turned towards me once again.

"I don't know how I could thank you for this, sir dragon." He said.

"It's nothing," I responded. "Let's just say that they angered me enough that I offered you the chance to deal with them yourself."

"I see, in that case, let me express my gratitude for providing us to clean this taint on our beautiful city. While I don't personally know what you would like, we have various items that could be of interest to you."

"I will have to refuse," I said. I was already feeling Jack's skill in the area. I didn't know how long I would have in this loop, considering Amity was already here and I had made contact with her. Maybe she could smack him into the next city? Or maybe he could talk her away. "I have some other business that I will have to attend."

"Very well," Theodric said, bowing to me. "In that case, don't let me keep you here any longer."

With that, I closed the portal and jumped into flight, flying a few dozen meters until I was in the middle of the city itself. My presence caused a few commotions from the inhabitants, but I ignored them.

I sat on the ground and waited. It took nearly four hours before I felt the exact same bloodlust that had made me freeze every single time before. I was still affected by it, of course, but now I could at least move.

"You're finally here," I said, and then turned towards Jack, who looked at me with hate in his eyes.

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