Ascension 1

Under the blazing sunlight, two young souls stood at a safe distance apart, their swords gleaming in the sunlight as they locked eyes. The girl, with her exceptional skills and years of training, moved with the grace of experience. The boy, though far less skilled, puts up a valiant effort.

He tried to anticipate the girl's moves, defending himself as best he could, but her techniques were simply too advanced for him to match. Every moment the girl made was strategic, calculated, and executed flawlessly. Her golden hair cascaded behind her as she leapt and spun, displaying impressive agility.

Each time the boy tried to retaliate, his attacks were met with swift parries and counterattacks. With every clash of swords, the sound of metal reverberated through the air, a testament to their focus and determination.

As the fight wore on, the girl's superiority became more apparent. She had mastered the art of timing, distance, and body mechanics and with each strike, she was finding openings in the boy's defense, gradually wearing him down.

Eventually, the girl executed a brilliant maneuver, disarming the boy and leaving him defenseless. Grabbing the opportunity, she swiftly landed a decisive kick and brought the fight to an end, making him fly in the empty air. 

The boy collapsed to the ground, once again looking up at the clear blue sky with dirt and blood on his face.

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Name: Damian Sunblade Lv.25

Rank: Mundane

Affinity: Water, Space-time

STR: 30

DEF: 30

INT: 72

AGI: 30

DEX: 30

CHA: 19

LUC: 3

Blessings: Godless

Skills: 

[Beginner Tree Climbing Lv.2] 

[Truthseeker Lv.9] 

[Scholar Lv.9] 

[Beginner Swordsman Lv.9] 

[The Runic Serf Lv.9] 

[Ascension Rank 1 (Temporary)]

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For two years, despite their daily battles, Damian had never even once managed to land a hit on the genius girl.

"Exceptional as always, my lady," a middle-aged man said, clapping.

"Enough with that. What is it?" the girl replied coldly.

Damina, however, didn't pay any attention to the sulking Thomas and also looked at him with curiosity in his eyes. He stood up to his feet with a bit of a struggle and went to them.

"The Baron has set the date, A week from now, you will leave for Drakmor to undergo your Ascension and receive your blessings."

For the first time, Lucian finally had a change in her usually stoic face—Excitement? Happiness? Damian could never tell. It was a feat worthy of feeling happy, Ascension at the age of nine. She was probably the youngest ever to do something like that in the entire north of the Kingdom. She was truly deserving of the title 'The Northern Ice Blade'. 

"And you will also be accompanying us, Master Damian."

"Huh? What? Why me?"

Damian blurted out without thinking much, drawing glares from both Lucian and Thomas. Why did he need to go for her ascension? Of course, she was his fiancé on paper, but her family had always kept him hidden from the noble gatherings. Besides, ascension was a very personal matter, not a public event. 

She would simply receive an Ascension Stone at the church and use it to clear her ascension trial. Rank up, receive a blessing from her patron god and that's all. However, the trial happened in a person's mind, not something that needed an audience.

"After the Ascension, both of you are to remain in Drakmor with Marques Whitestone, who will be your new swordsmanship teacher."

Damian wanted to curse out loud but he suppressed his emotions. He was looking forward to continuing his runic research and now he would have to pack everything and leave for another place to live. 

"Ah… fine… As you wish," he could only sigh and agree.

With that, Damian returned to his room after freshening up and just lay down on the bed while staring at the ceiling. 

'I guess this is where I call it quits,' he thought.

This was the only option left for him now. Damian had to leave this place. Two years under the Baron's roof were more than enough. While the Marquis might be Baron's friend, he couldn't just keep betting his future on half-baked promises anymore. If he went with them, all he could get was more sword training, in the city, hunting for monsters or buying materials for just a hobby was definitely not gonna fly. So all his Runic research would have to stop altogether.

"Well, if I am really doing this, I might as well go all out!"

Damian had already reached level 25. Not just that, his crazy research had also pushed all three of his skills to Lv.9. Even his Swordsmanship had hit Lv.9 after countless hours of training with Lucian.

In truth, his Swordsmanship had only reached Lv.7 with his regular training. But for the past 6 months, he had been putting extra hours into the sword training, thereby giving him the last two levels. As for why he was in such a hurry? There was actually a very good reason for that.

Once he reached Lv.9 in all three of his skills [Truthseeker], [Scholar] and [The Runic Serf], a new feature was unlocked on his status screen: a new temporary skill.

[Ascension Rank 1 (Temporary): Pass the trial and ascend towards the peak of existence. (Trial#01: Activate to enter.)]

For some unknown reason, he had been given the ability to ascend without needing any kind of Ascension Stone. So if he was really going to run away on this trip, he had to seize this power.

Standing tall, Damian drew out the short sword he had stolen when no one was watching. Along with a bundle of parchment covered in all kinds of runes and a huge apparatus filled with monster blood and three quills, he felt ready. 

Damian knew that trials happened in the astral world, a place within a person's mind and he probably wouldn't be able to carry any items with him. But this was still an untested method of ascending, so he needed to be prepared just in case.

"Activate [Ascension Rank 1]."

As soon as the words left Damian's mouth, his vision gradually darkened until he could see nothing but darkness around him. Suddenly, a splashing sound echoed, and he felt as if he was becoming weightless. But then he realized that he was drowning. 

He tried to swim upward, but it was as if some kind of force was pulling him deeper. In a few seconds which felt like years without being able to breathe, he finally landed somewhere only to see blinding lights which forced him to shut his eyes.

After staying on the ground and panting for a minute or two, Damian slowly opened his eyes. It took a while for his vision to adjust, but soon, he recognized what place he was in.

He was back in his dorm room at the University. Everything looked exactly the same as the day he had departed Earth—even the bedsheets were the same as he remembered before going to sleep that night. 

He glanced out of the window and was greeted by millions of twinkling stars. Either this was really the next gen wallpaper, or he really was in a weird part of empty space. His mind struggled to comprehend what was before his eyes. Just then, a familiar sound came from behind—his old computer booting up. 

"What the hell? Aren't astral plains supposed to be in castles, dungeons or wide-open green fields and stuff? I guess there really isn't anything left of old Damian in me, that's why all of this is based on my own memories."

Damian walked over to the computer and sat in his old, squeaky chair. The screen finally finished loading, displaying a picture of his seven-year-old self with his name written below it. Beneath it were five images of him wearing different funny outfits and wielding various weapons, and written beneath each were the five classes.

The Pugilist, in which he was flexing his biceps, was greyed out, so he couldn't select it. But the other four classes were still available.