CH: Gate of Ascension

During the bustling night city of Paris, thousands of people were gathered around a towering structure with countless lights decorating it.

The tower was easy to see from no matter where you were in the city, as long as you could get high enough to view over the buildings that were also lit up.

Even at night, Paris was a beautiful city. The Eiffel Tower, which was the main focus of every person around it also exemplified that beauty.

Down, near the base of the tower, hundreds of people were entering and leaving the lift and stairway. At night, they allowed people to visit and scale the tower all the way to the top to enjoy the view of Paris' nightlife.

Among the crowds was an impeccably handsome young man with violet eyes and a very tall and sturdy build. With his long, smooth black hair, many women couldn't take their eyes off him when he walked past. Many couples got into arguments that night, leading to many breakups.

The young man boarded the lift of the Eiffel Tower with many other people and rose to the top. Along the way, many young women on the lift with the man approached him and started a conversation.

He always smiled at them and engaged in small talk, but the girls sensed he wasn't interested so they eventually left him alone.

A level below the top, the lift stopped and the doors opened to let inhabitants leave. As they left, many looked for the handsome young man again but were left confused because he seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Rylen, who was now at the highest level of the tower, peered out over the city. His gaze was melancholy and empty. Rylen didn't know how to feel about Earth. It never really did him any favors and neither did the people living on it. All except for one person. But she wasn't here anymore.

The only connection Rylen had with this planet was through his aunt. But now that connection is gone, leaving Rylen with nothing left to care about here.

Leaning on the railing, covered in black tendrils, he looked down at the thousands of people directly below or around the tower.

Rylen wondered how they would react if they knew this tower was a beacon that opened a gate to another dimension.

"Heh," he laughed at his own joke.

'Guess I should get going.'

Rylen left the railing and walked directly through many people until he reached a pillar that supported the higher levels of the tower that wasn't accessible to the general public. Several black tendrils shot out and grabbed the rungs of the steel bars and pulled Rylen up.

Once he was at the very peak of the Eiffel Tower, Rylen stepped onto the air and stood suspended there. He took one last look around and then a small, circular device appeared in his hand from black mist.

Rylen looked into the sky and pointed the device upward.

*WHOSSH*

A bright, blue beam of light shot out from the device and pierced through the clouds. Unbeknownst to the people on and around the tower, except for the Awakened, the Eiffel Tower also began to glow a bright light blue just like the beam from the device in Rylen's hands.

*CRACk*

Cracks began to break apart the fabric of reality in the sky above the tower. Beyond the cracks was a mix of different colors. Rylen could feel a strange enmity with that energy in the crack.

*SHATtER*

The cracks completely shattered the sky and a perfectly spherical portal opened hundreds of feet above the tower.

"How are regular Awakened supposed to get up there?" Rylen asked even though he had seen this process many times through Vincent's memories. In the continental leader's memories, the Awakened that were deemed worthy to ascend were flung upward by many other awakened. A very weird process, but Rylen didn't judge.

"Bye-bye, Earth," Rylen said as he glanced down toward the surface. "I hope we never meet again… Because if we do, that means I haven't completed my mission."

Now that the gate had formed, the bright beam from the device in Rylen's hands dissipated. He stored the artifact in his abyssal storage and bent his knees, preparing to launch himself. Even though he was suspended in the air, he could still propel himself like he was on the ground.

*BOOM*

Rylen launched himself toward the portal with unprecedented speed that even surprised him. He wasn't used to the strength that came with harvesting a lot of Awakened.

The man with darkness completely covering him and violet eyes piercing through the heavens passed through the portal, which immediately closed behind him.

…

Once Rylen's consciousness returned to him, he surveyed his surroundings. Only complete darkness surrounded him.

Even in the midst of nothing, Rylen smiled. He could feel it all around him. This energy was very familiar.

The Abyss.

"We meet again, Rylen. I did not expect to see you this soon," said a voice that sounded like the culmination of a thousand whispers.

Hearing this voice again, Rylen's smile widened. He could sense this being all around him. Its presence was very comforting to him.

"It's good to see you again, too," Rylen greeted, respectfully. "May I know your name?"

"I have many names. You can call me Asthaad, however. That is what I am most comfortable with."

"Asthaad…" Rylen said, contemplating the name. "I like it."

"Good," Asthaad said, satisfied. "Now that you have passed through one of the many gates to Exousia, you can finally begin."

"Begin what?" Rylen asked, curious.

"The portal you passed through is officially known as the Gate of Ascension. Beings at the peak of the Awakened stage, when passing through the gate, go through a breakthrough to the next stage so they can travel to Exousia."

"I'm going to break through?" Rylen asked. He had some information on the Gate of Ascension from Vincent, but it was mostly obscure things Vincent had learned from the higher beings that contacted him and gave him orders.

"Yes, but unlike any other being, you are now an abyssal being separate from reality. That is why you did not have to pass a trial to break through and gain access to Exousia."

"Good, saves me some time," Rylen replied nonchalantly.

"Yes, the trial is very grueling and challenging to overcome. But you get a free pass. All you have to do is break through to the next stage and you will be sent to Exousia."

"So what do I need to do to break through?"

Asthaad chuckled. "Do you even need to ask?"

Rylen also chuckled. "Yeah, I guess not."

Rylen closed his eyes and used the tendrils that surrounded him to reach out around him. This method was a lot more efficient than just using his mind. Instead of Asthaad forming that initial connection that is very minuscule, Rylen could now absorb everything around him a lot faster and in a much bigger volume.

Just like when he uses Harvest, he can feel a very powerful energy entering his body. But unlike before, this energy was a lot more refreshing. It felt as if he was getting a warm massage from all angles.

The shroud entered his mind and his body at once but he didn't feel any pain. All he could feel was endless power. Rylen could feel his strength increasing by many folds and the shroud within him doing the same. His mind was sharpened and his affinity with the Abyss was increased until he felt like it was an extension of himself.

As Asthaad watched Rylen break through, a proud smile showed on his face that was hidden within the Abyss. He had chosen his heir very carefully and scoured many universes for someone who could understand his powers. Rylen was the perfect candidate. That emptiness inside of your soul, the absence of anything. It was perfect.

Asthaad was sad his heir had to lose someone important to him. But it only made him more in tune with his abilities and the Abyss itself. Now that Rylen was truly empty and devoid of anything, Asthaad was sure that he would get to see the Abyss rise to its former glory. The path Rylen on was perfect for this to happen and Asthaad couldn't wait to see what Rylen would accomplish in the future.

…

One's perception of time was meaningless in the Abyss, so when Rylen finally opened his eyes, he had no idea how much time had passed. It could have been 15 minutes or even 15 years.

But Rylen wasn't worried about that. He could feel it. He had broken through a barrier in his soul. Something that was holding him back from true power.

Rylen slowly looked around the Abyss. It was still as dark as it was when he arrived. The shroud's power wasn't any less than that time either. But suddenly the abundant energy in the surroundings shifted. Rylen's eyes shined a brilliant violet and every particle of the shroud converged at one point: him.

The shroud reacted to his call and every bit of energy around him, which had barely depleted since he arrived all converged and was assimilated with his body and mind.

No, that wasn't right. Rylen could feel a difference between now and previously. Now, Rylen felt a different kind of power. He felt as if his very existence was gaining power. Like his being was solidifying itself and growing stronger.

It was his soul. He could feel it. Rylen could feel his soul. It was a bizarre sensation that he had never even imagined before. Rylen could feel his own presence within and around himself. Like an aura that was an extension, no, like it was his very being itself. His own body was just a vessel that carried this aura.

As he absorbed more and more of the shroud around him, completely sucking the space dry, the aura around him increased in size until Rylen couldn't even estimate how large it was.

Once the final speck of shroud entered Rylen's body and merged with his soul, he could feel the aura around him shift just like the abyssal shroud.

Within a split second, the aura around him shrunk and only stopped when it was within the confines of Rylen's physical body.

"Congratulations on breaking through to the Ascendant stage," Asthaad suddenly said. "But your level of power is different. A lot different. An abyssal being past the Awakened stage is connected to the true Abyss through their soul. This means that they have access to boundless energy. There is no end to the Abyss, unlike with tangible reality. This means that if your soul is strong enough, you can access unlimited power. Currently, at the Ascendent stage, your soul can handle everything you just absorbed but nothing more than that. Compared to an Ascendant from reality, your powers are like heaven and Earth. I would say that you can match a Peak Transcendant stage in terms of raw power. But with unique abilities and unpredictability on your side, I would say even defeating a Base Etheral stage being isn't impossible."

Rylen thought about Asthaad's words. "I guess that means I'm strong. I don't really know how strong Transcendent or Ethereals are."

"You'll know soon enough," Asthaad said. "Now that you have broken through, the only thing left is to send you to Exousia."

"This is going to be fun," Rylen said with malevolent eyes.

"No one knows anything about the Abyss, Rylen. Even the strongest beings of reality, the Primordials don't know. Use that to your advantage. Your power is unfathomable. Don't show your true power unless you are sure there will be no witnesses. If you have to, make sure you are strong enough to face the consequences. Someone like you isn't feasible by anyone. You are an anomaly. I wish you luck, Rylen. The next time I will see you is when you break through to the Transcendent stage."

"I understand, Asthaad," Rylen responded with a respectful nod. "I'm ready."

As soon as he said so, blinding white light exploded around him.

Once the light dimmed, he opened his eyes.

Rylen was in a dark hall that had an immense height. In front of him was an incredibly tall gate made of smooth grey stone. It gave off an unbreakable vibe. All around Rylen, thousands of beings walked toward the gate. Some of the beings around him were humans, but the majority were from races he had only seen in fiction.

After his dazed thoughts subsided, Rylen looked past the gate. Outside, he could see a path to a city. A city that Rylen had no idea how to describe.

There were countless buildings reaching higher than the clouds allowed him to see. Some architecture was from modern human civilization, but the majority looked more like the typical fantasy buildings like stone and wood with a gothic flare.

Flying in between these buildings and in the sky around the city, Rylen saw thousands of flying beasts, ships, and people all moving through and around each other in harmonic chaos.

"So this is Exousia…" Rylen muttered to himself. "Too bad it isn't going to be around much longer."