Ascent(II)

During each stage, Amon would have to take five steps where everyone else would only take one before they could form their aether marks.

It would make his speed of cultivation much slower, but it would give him power beyond his wildest dreams.

His first step would be of the True Golden Path, the second from the Life and Death Path, while the last three would be of the Warlock Path—the Beast, Arcane, and Martial Paths.

Currently, having just completed the first step, though he still had four more steps to go before he could form his aether marks and breakthrough, he felt incomparably powerful.

'Strange, my innate aether feels much stronger than what I've seen other people display early on…if I had to guess, it most likely has to do with my gift of Growth.'

[Or maybe the transformation you underwent while being the core of the Sun of Flesh.]

'True. Maybe.'

He waved his hand, and his aether gathered atop his palm, seemingly acting as a gravitational field as neutral aether naturally began to flow around it.

He gathered it into a sphere, and with a thought, his stable aether became chaotic.

He flicked his wrist and sent it flying into the distance.

BANG! BOOOM!

WHOOOSH!

Violent winds whipped about as Amon's chaotic beam of aether imploded, leaving the ground trembling and the air turbulent.

His long white hair gently moved along these harsh winds, and his deep, swirling pupils of emerald and amethyst gazed at this all with a calm and composed face.

Normally, after this step, he'd have to spend time polishing his control over his own Inner Aether, but he didn't feel like that was necessary.

His control over Neutral Aether was already as close to perfection as it could be, and with the endless amount of theory he had in his mind, he didn't feel like it was necessary to waste time doing so.

It was his own innate aether. An extension of himself. Why learn to use it when he could use it instinctively?

'Do you mind running a scan on my body?' he asked. 'I'm curious as to what changes I truly underwent and how exactly my gift allowed me to overcome death.'

'My affinity and control over aether have always been high, but now it feels…primal. I feel like it's almost comparable to that of the legendary dragons I've learned about.'

'It's like I can see, smell, feel, and hear aether. I almost feel like its ruler. It's a very intoxicating feeling, though I don't mind it.'

[Hm, it'll most likely take a few days, but I'm not sure, actually. As you cultivate, your Growth gift continues to tweak and morph your body to constantly push you to the fullest potential and boundary of perfection. By the time I get an analysis done, with your speed of cultivation, your body may have become a totally new monster.]

[Do you still want me to?]

'Yeah, I'm sure that at some point you'll be able to have a sort of permanent monitoring system for my vitals, so until then, we'll just have to use outdated info. I just want to know what's happening so I don't commit any mistakes while cultivating.'

[Alright then, I'll get to it.]

With a nod, Amon stood up, stretching his body as he truly felt the changes he'd undergone.

'Alright, I'll cultivate to the peak of the second step, then go find the gate before I ascend in one fell swoop to the peak of the Awakener Tier.' His gaze sharpened. 'But for that, I'll need to find some undead.'

'And some clothes.'

***

At neck-breaking speeds, Amon ran through the grand cave he was in, searching for any undead he could find.

The second step was called [Necros and Genesis Bloom], and it was, in a way, an extension of the first.

By killing and consuming other undead, Amon had to mutate his body and form Genesis and Necros Cells, a special duo of cells that would naturally produce both life and death aether, but also allow him to store more of his innate aether.

There were ten tiers of completion, each referring to ten percent of the formed cells that matched his already present amount. This essentially meant that by the end of this, he'd have three times more cells and three times more aether to use.

Beyond producing aether and storing it, these cells would also greatly heighten his physical abilities, outside of the scope of what stats would measure since they only referred to aether marks.

'Thank God.'

In a random corner of this grand cave, Amon saw a hole that led to an underground network. Within this maze, he found thousands upon thousands of undead, all led by one queen undead.

Amon found it strange. Never had he heard of undead having such a modus operandi, but this didn't matter to him as he jumped in the hole and began his slaughter.

As his body moved to slaughter and devour any and all undead in his path, his thoughts swirled.

'The third prince, so far, has shown me he's beyond anything I could've ever fathomed. It's to the point where he either managed to somehow predict I'd survive long enough to face Amelia a second time, or that he had direct contact with her or the man of stone so they could prepare this trap for me.'

'He lowered my guard by hiding my chains during the first trial; then in the maze trial, he further shattered my defenses by feigning weakness and allowing me to think he was a mere cripple that relied on daddy's money.'

'Now, the question is…did he manage to predict my gift would save me from this ploy? I'm sure he knew I was being primed as a vessel—wait…'

His gaze narrowed.

'He's been preparing me to be the first warlock's vessel since he met me…maybe he even managed to predict my arrival here, and he may even be involved in the oddities of my quest…'

'So do I assume that he, himself, is the First Warlock or do I assume that…'

His expression darkened.

'…he's a figure on par with them.'