Path to Transcendence

Erek POV

He brought his hand up to the back of his neck, where the blade slammed into his Aegis Shell. Chills ran down his spine, and his blood went cold. If not for that item, he might have lost his head.

Aegis Shell wasn’t exactly unique. It was a pretty popular defensive item that many mages used. While it was expensive, it was extremely effective at protecting against physical attacks. Most crafters worth the money knew how to make one, or at least a decent version of it.

With his skills and specialty in disrupting mana-based attacks, he had a powerful tool should he ever find himself fighting against a warrior or assassin’s blade aiming for his heart.

However, he’d never expected that he would need it against a youth a whole tier below him. While he wasn’t someone who specialized in fighting and had more utility skills than most mages, he was still confident in his ability to hold his own in a fight.

But that confidence was shaken when he was pressured by the young teen. His domain, which he was so proud of, was ineffective. He didn’t know the reason why or how, but somehow his domain washed useless over the teen.

A shell of some kind of aura or soul skill protected the boy. Erek hadn’t known that it was possible to do something like this. It went against every norm and standard he understood about tiers.

A Tier 4 wasn’t supposed to be able to fight against a Tier 5. Everyone understood that simple fact. A Tier 5's domain was such a powerful ability that anyone without one wasn’t able to put up a proper fight.

Yet he was currently experiencing firsthand the breaking of that norm. And it felt humiliating. He held back his annoyance and decided that he needed to fight his teen as if he were a Tier 5. A laughable proposition by any other standards, but he couldn’t afford to hold back anymore.

He needed to start taking things seriously and was forced to use [Umbral Refuge]. It was one of his few legendary skills and one that he was embarrassed to use against someone who wasn’t even a Tier 5.

His domain came roaring back to him, its extended form, which was difficult to detect even by other Tier 5s, no longer as useful. It slammed back, and he used the condensed state to complete the final preparations for the powerful skill. The familiar cloak of darkness and mana blanketed over him, a sense of relief washing over him.

He was now inside the Umbral Plane. With enough focus, one could peer beyond the thin fabric of the dimension to see the other side. And while his ability to interact with the world was more limited, he had the assurance of being safe from any attacks. The only way to get to him was to somehow enter the Umbral Plane themselves.

The separate dimension was weird as usual. The entire plane was void of all colors, a monochrome nightmare for the unaccustomed.

Even the mana felt different. Almost all of it was darkness and other similar types of mana. It was a twisted plane of reality where Umbral Beasts roamed around. It was a dangerous place to be, and only thanks to his training was he able to stay inside for long periods.

The benefit of the [Umbral Refuge] was that he was able to interact with the outside world. By leaving a small connection open, he could launch attacks while safely inside this plane. The only thing he needed to focus on was to hide himself from the Umbral Beasts who roamed around the plan looking for intruders like himself.

However, it was becoming quite frustrating that he still couldn’t take down the teen. No matter what he threw at him, the teen was able to avoid any finishing blows. He was covered in small wounds and blood, but was still going strong.

Not even his disruption skills made a difference. Usually, his disruption skills were extremely effective against anyone who used mana. Multiple of his Concepts were focused on dealing with mana-based attacks. And the teen’s body enhancement skill was mostly fueled by mana.

Yet, nothing worked. It felt like he was slamming against an unbreakable wall. They had a few clashes of willpower, and to his immense astonishment, he fell short. It was like the boy had several skills that gave him absolute control over his internal mana. That was the only explanation why he wasn’t able to rip apart his skills.

He wasn’t even able to disrupt that annoying teleportation skill. Each time he felt like he had trapped the boy, he escaped through his fingers.

He tried various things. He tested his speed, his control of mana, his awareness, everything. But it was like he didn’t have a weakness to exploit. Something that was very, very rare in people, not to mention someone so young.

His awareness was particularly terrifying. Nothing caught him off guard. No matter what angle or what trick, Erek typically used to fool other people’s senses.

Who the fuck was this kid?

He grimaced and continued to empty his mana pool at the young teen. He even began to be more aggressive and use the mana from the Umbral Plane to reinforce his attacks. This was something risky, but he wanted to end this soon.

Yet, that still didn’t work. The boy was slippery and managed to stay alive despite Erek’s best efforts.

He was glad that he hadn’t asked for any reinforcements or contacted anyone else. If they were to see this, he would never live it down. Not to mention how it would look to Caiden.

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He grit his teeth, controlling his frustration, but just as he was about to send another blistering combination of attacks, he felt a thread of mana crawl across his skin. He immediately snapped his head down and saw that the mark he’d been tagged with was flickering with mana.

This stupid mark, he cursed to himself. He still hadn’t managed to erase it from his hand despite his best attempts. He had a feeling that nothing less than cutting off his whole arm would get rid of it. That or he’d need to take half a day to unravel the complicated inscriptions that form it.

Can he find me through it? He asked himself with an anxious flicker in his aura.

He shouldn’t be worried, but he was. He had no idea what kind of other surprises the boy had hidden. He seemed to be taking continuous damage, but Erek sensed an external source of life mana being funneled into his body. It was likely a powerful healing item or maybe even a familiar with healing abilities.

He tried one last time to remove the mark from his hand. He even grabbed some of the umbral energy from the dimension to reinforce his attempt. However, his skill was immediately slapped aside. Not only that, but there wasn’t even an opening for him to try to unwind it.

It was undoubtedly a powerful skill. The profundity and depth that emanated from the inscriptions made him realize that a very high-level concept was attached to the skill. It might already have evolved twice, given the initial strength he felt from it. It certainly wasn’t a Concept that he expected from a Tier 4, nor one so young.

And while it wasn’t the most stealthy tracking skill he’d experienced, it was nigh impossible to remove. He had a feeling that it wasn’t even meant to be a tracking skill. Rather it might be used for something else.

While he was trying to remove the mark, he frowned when he felt the mana coming from it shift in a new direction. Instead of emitting outwards as it had been, it shot straight into his hand and into his body.

It was only at this moment that he realized that the mark was made up of a lot of life mana. He hadn’t been able to detect this before. This life mana started to infuse into him, and an overwhelming sense of relaxation flowed through him.

It was like all of his fatigue and stress faded away. What was going on? Was he getting healed? Was this what the mark was for? Perhaps this was how the boy was healing; he might have been marking himself.

He wasn’t about to complain, though. He let the mana infuse into his body, letting the fatigue wash away.

A very powerful healing ability, he realized, and only then was he able to understand how the boy was able to channel that much mana through his body without it falling apart.

He grinned and kept throwing more attacks at the boy. Erek could follow his opponents’ shadows easily while in the Umbral Plane, and this was no different for the boy.

But his grin slowly morphed into one of confusion. The life mana healing him was still flowing heavily through his body, but this time it felt different. An ominous sensation radiated from the life mana, and Erek, with his decades of experience, immediately sent out a disruptive pulse of mana to wipe it out. He’d already been healed anyway. The disruptive mana unraveled the life mana inside his body, but not all of it. Nor was it able to stop the incoming flood of mana rushing out of the mark.

And good lord, was it a lot of mana. He didn’t even think he could use so much mana without proper preparations.

His danger senses blared so loudly in his mind, and panic set in. He threw out every bit of disruptive mana, and his authority at the mark connected to his wrist. Every ounce of will collapsed on the skill as he desperately tried to rip it apart before it was able to complete what it was trying to do.

But the mark still held firm. It was like throwing sand at a mountain.

And it didn’t take long for him to realize what the boy was trying to do. His skin was the first to be affected. Purple and black tumors started to grow all over his flesh. Small at first, but as more and more life mana infused into his body, they started to grow.

It wasn’t just his skin, either; he could feel his organs being affected, too. They mutated and rotted as life mana twisted them in ugly ways.

He silently screamed out in pain. It was like every nerve of his body was on fire while someone peeled his skin off with a rusty sword. He hated it, but he decided to remove his entire arm of his own volition. He needed to get rid of it before it could continue to hurt him.

He cried out in pain when he removed his arm. But to his panic, it didn't work. The mark wasn't gone. Nor was it even attached to his hand in the first place. The mark was already connected to his true body and his soul.

It was also at that very moment that he realized that the healing skill being channeled through it wasn’t an item or from a familiar. But this was the boy’s own skill. And even more terrifying was its rank.

He knew of the vast difference between legendary and epic skills. Yet, he was certain that whatever was hurting him was a legendary skill. Something no Tier 4 would ever have, nor should they ever be capable of using.

The stress on the mind, body, and soul should have killed anyone who hadn’t undergone their Tier 5 evolution.

The sheer quantity of mana was the other issue. He wasn’t able to clear it out fast enough, and soon enough, his bones were affected. Bone spurs and mutated growths started to explode out every inch of his body, tearing open his skin and blood vessels.

The pain was unbearable. His mind was going blank as the agony consumed him. His meditation skill was unable to protect him from a torturous experience.

With the main so overwhelming, the standard protections he placed around himself to hide from the Umbral Beasts started to unravel. Another spike of panic ran through his spine when he felt one of these beasts respond like a shark smelling blood in the water.

With no other choice, he was forced to cancel [Umbral Refuge] and was spat out of the plane, writhing in pain. He forced himself up, though, and immediately shot toward the young teen. He didn’t have time to mess around and needed to kill him before things got even worse.

However, just as he was within hand’s reach of the teen, it felt like the entire world fell on top of him. An immense surge of energy slammed every side of his body. It wasn’t mana either; his attempts at disrupting it were ineffective. It was something else.

With his body pressed to the ground, he forced his head up to look at the slowly approaching teen. Not a single wound remained on his body, looking as if he’d hadn’t even been touched. The only evidence was the small blood stains on his clothing.

Erek felt a wave of terror when he felt the life mana in his body increase even more. He spasmed in pain as his own body betrayed him. Cancerous growths ran rampant throughout his body, and bone spurs punctured his organs; even his own skull wasn’t safe. Several spikes tore straight into his brain.

In his final moments, he saw the teen crouching beside him, holding what looked like a miniature sun. There was a flash of light as it neared his face and then… nothing.