When Vicente reached the formation's core with one hand, he didn't hesitate to concentrate his mana in his right hand and squeezed the cracked sphere as hard as he could.

Feeling everything that had just happened from inside Vicente's consciousness, Torne held back from saying anything during the battle.

Fights between magical beings happened at high speed. Any disturbance could negatively affect both the attacking and defending sides.

Comments and advice weren't interesting during an important move like Vicente's had been a few moments ago.

If this hadn't been the decisive moment of the fight, Torne wouldn't have been able to hold back. Seeing Vicente activate the Domain of one of his elements, the old ghost was naturally excited by his master's talent and potential.

What was Domain? It was a state of elemental understanding in which one could sense one's surroundings almost perfectly!

Within its realm, a magical being would be practically omniscient!

To reach such a high level of understanding that one could activate the realm was something challenging to achieve, something that only happened to those with high talents or high levels.

There weren't many people with high talents, so most Domain users were old monsters.

That's why Torne was surprised and could hardly keep his mouth shut when he felt Vicente in that state.

'He even saw a Lightning Heart!' Torne thought silently in the cocoon where he was recovering.

A Lightning Heart, or rather an Elemental Heart, was the natural way in which the elements were encountered in heaven and earth.

Almost every element would be available all over the world. In some places, like a volcano, some elements more connected to the essence of the volcano would be more concentrated in that area, but there would still be other elements.

But extreme places like volcanoes, where there would be a higher concentration of a specific type of element, were rare. Most of the world had a little bit of every element in more or less 'similar' proportions.

However, some elements could be considered opposites. For example, how could there be light and darkness in the same place?

Because of this problem, the elements in the sky and on the earth gathered into small elemental condensation nuclei, where only related elements were concentrated.

These small elemental nuclei were called Elemental Hearts.

When one used Domain-type abilities, the Elemental Hearts showed themselves to these magical beings and became part of their powers and field of perception.

Because of this characteristic, someone who used Domain could use these Elemental Hearts in many different ways, from using them against enemies in battle to meditation for their own benefit!

Torne was extremely pleased to feel all this in these last few seconds, seeing the great potential Vicente had in his first magical form.

As he thought, the core of the Nine Demon Formation exploded in his master's right hand.

As Vicente destroyed the thing with his hands, he saw the barrier of the enemy formation disappear as it lost its magical foundation.

The demon cracked as Vicente's streams of lightning held it, then exploded into many fragments of crystallized mana.

"Free at last," Vice muttered as he saw his surroundings return to normal.

Looking at the two enemy corpses, he quickly gathered the belongings of the dead while scanning the surroundings.

'Master, congratulations on awakening the Lightning Domain. With this ability, you'll be able to advance your understanding of this element faster, and you'll also have an extra advantage in battle.' Torne said in his master's mind.

'Domain? So that was a Domain?' Vice asked, already knowing what Domain was but having no idea what this ability looked like.

'Yes. The Domain can be considered an advanced form of elemental mastery or understanding. A magical being can awaken it in many different ways. But it usually requires great talent or great experience.

The master's talent is high, and you used your abilities to the fullest in this battle. That must have given you this opportunity.

During high-level battles, our senses can more easily reach their maximum potential due to the preservative properties of living beings and Magic Gems. That's why it's common for masters to encourage their students to take on life-threatening challenges.' Torne said in his master's mind.

"Hmm." Vicente understood it, but he was glad to be able to use the Domain in such an important moment.

'Anyway, it's time to move on. I want to see who the hell ordered this formation to be used against me.' Vicente commented to Torne as he finished collecting the enemy's belongings and felt the battle on the surface of the ruins of The Vile Altar.

'If I'm not mistaken, those two Acolytes belonged to the group of one of the two Mages coming towards us." Torne said, sensing the enemy's movements better than Vicente.

Six Mages were now fighting at the entrance to the ruins of The Vile Altar while two individuals were moving in Vicente's direction.

'The master can take revenge on them now. Now that we've broken out of that formation, you can use the defensive formation I gave you. What do you think about taking down two Mages easily?' Torne suggested to Vicente.

'Good. Tell me what to do.' Vicente said, knowing that Torne knew the structures and traps of The Vile Altar better than he did.

Though he had his own experiences and ways of dealing with situations like this, Vice was open to learning and listening to the advice of beings more experienced than himself.

With more than 2,000 years of experience and knowledge of the ruins of The Vile Altar, Torne was able to make the situation much easier for Vicente.

'Master, go this way...' The old ghost showed Vicente the way, quickly moving the young man toward the main trap of the area.

...

Meanwhile, inside the ruins, two Low-level Mages ran side by side, heading toward where the Nine Demon Formation had been active until a few seconds ago.

"It looks like your offensive formation was a bit unreliable, old demon Kaleb," Arthur commented to the temporary ally he and his group had made a few moments ago.

While Vicente fought the enemy formation, the men of the royal army had formed a temporary alliance with the members of the Faceless Ones faction.

As much as the army soldiers and the underworld members had differences, both sides wanted to kill Vicente and take the 3rd-stage herb. Meanwhile, Kohen and Levi's group wanted Vice on their side, which could be problematic for those others.

Even if Vicente agreed to subordinate himself to Levi's group, it wouldn't stop him from acting against the others who tried to rob him today.

Besides, it was too risky to offend the Congregation of Revelations. Since they had different goals than Levi's group, the best thing for their good would be to ally themselves and deal with the group without leaving any survivors behind!

So, while Tyson had stayed behind with Alex and Peter to deal with Levi's group, Arthur and Kaleb moved on to Vicente to take what they wanted!

"Tsk! Let's see how that damned Cesar survived our formation!" Kaleb said as he sensed Vice's direction.