Chapter 1174: Shrinking The Ocean Every path has an end, and Rowan knew he would get to this one if he continued pulling on its strings. This was a mystery that had persisted for countless Minor Eras and who knew how many Major ones, he could not simply know everything within a short frame of time. Understanding that he could not begin to get the answers he wanted by just staring at the copy of the crystal, Rowan entered his Hollow Forge and began to investigate the Aetherium Crystal itself, and he found out that his soul senses could not penetrate the shell of the crystal, so he could not tell what the three roving streams of power inside the crystal were. He needed his eyes, he needed his dimensional body, he needed Knowledge Well to understand reality from another perspective while his soul senses tackled it from the other end, Rowan would simply have to make do with what he had for now, and create a quick hypothesis before he focused on other pressing matters. If his hypothesis was correct, then this meant that the green color was a third form of Aura, and it was one that was not mixed with the two present abundantly inside Doom Star. Rowan knew that he needed to find out what this green Aura was before it was too late since he knew there was the presence of a third party in this conflict, who had always chosen to remain in the shadows, the best thing he could do was to understand their powers before they knew he saw the entirety of the board. 'No time to sit and think about the unknown, I just need to keep moving forward. Everything will be revealed in time. Hmmm, time, funny that I have you running in my veins. Now let's see how far I can push you.' Palming the Aetherium inside his Hollow Forge, Rowan's soul eyes brightened as the dials inside them representing his Time Bloodline began to subtly vibrate, and for a brief moment, he wondered if he would be capable of something of this nature because it was not just a matter of complexity, but of power. Aetherium was simply too powerful to be toyed with as he intended to, especially since he was sure that the Aetherium Crystal he had just created was very potent. In the creation of this Aetherium Crystal, there were many moments during the refinement process when he could have stopped and conceived a lesser variant of Aetherium, but he observed that he could still keep pouring more of the ocean into the spark he was kindling and he continued this process until he created something truly spectacular. Rowan wondered if Primordials used Aetherium as their source of energy, and if they did, how did this Aetherium unit he had refined compare to theirs? Disregarding any feelings of shortcoming in his head, the first dial in his eyes moved and the unit of Aetherium he was holding in his hand, doubled. He grinned, this power was ridiculous and he was beginning to grow fond of it. Rowan's soul vibrated, and a loud shriek emerged from his Hollow Forge as if it was a piece of metal being placed under tremendous stress, he took a second to analyze the damages incurred to his Chamber and he shook his head in annoyance and a bit of worry. The damage was considerable, but he could take it... he had to. The second dial in his eyes moved and the two Aetherium Crystals became four, his soul body began to flicker like a faulty light bulb and before he had time to think about it for long, he made the third dial move and the four Aetherium units instantly became eight! There was silence inside his Hollow Forge for a short while, the calm before the storm, it was as if the Chamber was in disbelief that he had been so daring to not only repeat the process three times but also increase the load it would bear, without any further promoting, the Hollow Forge gave a loud groan and it began to shatter to pieces, those pieces further disintegrating until there was nothing left. Rowan's soul began to shake itself to pieces but he did not care much. He was already healing from the effects of stretching his soul far past its limits, and despite the unreasonable pain he was undergoing, it was nothing before the eight units of Aetherium he was holding in his hands. He had gathered the entirety of the power inside a universe before, and they could not fill up a single percent of the power present inside one of the Aetherium Crystals he was holding. During the battle in the universe when the Third Prince wielded Aetherium bolts against him, it had severely destabilized him, but now he realized that those could be merely compared to sparks flying off a grand flame. In his hands were the real deal, and they were infinitely more potent than anything the Third Prince could ever dream of wielding. His shattered Hollow Forge would be remade as soon as his soul was fully healed, but he knew that even if he became fully healed, he could not simply double his Aetherium units to sixteen, the load would be too heavy for his soul. His soul might be extremely powerful, but such a burden was better carried out by his dimensional flesh, because his soul was suited for a different kind of task, not for creating Aetherium, and if not for the endless stream of soul energy being constantly funneled into his soul, he would have taken tens of millions of years to heal from the damages he had done to it. Besides, although he knew that the enemies he would be facing in the future would be powerful, he thought that the eight units of Aetherium should be sufficient for this oncoming battle. He did not know how long it took for a higher dimensional being to create a single unit of Aetherium, but he knew that it must take a long time, and from the Aetherium bolts wielded by the Third Prince, there must be various levels to the processing of Aetherium, and this single crystal he held should be among the peak forms of Aetherium. From touching the crystals he became aware of the various methods he could utilize in controlling this Aetherium Crystal, in this form it was just potential power that could be shaped if the Will of the user was strong enough. At the moment he was not aware of its unique capabilities until he unleashed them, but because this Aetherium Crystal was associated with Aura, Rowan concluded that it must be related to the soul, and if this was the case, that would make this Aetherium Crystal one of the most valuable ones in all of reality. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺 Just like Aether, there were various forms of Aetherium, with each of them having their strengths and weaknesses. He was not aware, but across the entirety of Doom Star, the endless ocean shrank by a very minute fraction when he created the eight Aetherium Crystals-the raw material for this process had to come from somewhere-it was a fraction so small that even an Ascendant Sun would not notice, but someone did, and their multiple eyes narrowed in suspicion.