Chapter 158: Chapter 158: Beginning of Aether [II]
Equations, energy pathways, and countless variations unfolded within Ulric’s mind as his thoughts accelerated to terrifying speeds.
Streams of calculations intertwined and collapsed repeatedly, only to reconstruct themselves moments later into newer, more refined structures. Circulation routes. Output ratios. Compression thresholds. Instability margins.
Each possibility was simulated relentlessly before being discarded.
At the center of it all lay a single problem.
Energy.
To complete the art, he required a catalyst powerful enough to refine and stabilize the technique during its formation. Under normal circumstances, the solution would have been simple: consume more energy.
Yet Ulric possessed only three drops of aether.
An amount so pitifully small it would vanish the instant refinement began.
Unless...
A faint glint surfaced in his eyes.
What if the aether itself was not consumed?
The thought sounded absurd even to him. Refinement was fundamentally an act of conversion. Energy was always lost during circulation, compression, and restructuring. That was an unavoidable law acknowledged by every researcher and powerhouse alike.
But Ulric’s thoughts did not stop there.
His Limitless Force Refinement Art was unlike ordinary methods. At its core, it was designed to endlessly recycle and refine energy while minimizing waste to the absolute limit. Even in its unrefined state, its efficiency bordered on the unreasonable.
If conventional refinement bled energy away like water through cracks... then his technique could theoretically create a closed cycle.
A self-sustaining refinement loop.
The moment the thought surfaced, countless new equations erupted through his mind. Energy flow vectors shifted. Aether rotation patterns reconstructed themselves. Compression layers folded inward one after another as he began redesigning the structure of the art from its very foundation.
Not refinement through expenditure, but refinement through circulation.
Using the same three drops repeatedly as both catalyst and core.
An impossible concept. At least to everyone else. Yet the more Ulric deduced, the brighter his eyes became.
Because for the first time... the calculations were stabilizing.
***
As he pondered over all this, the concept of time easily slipped from his grasp as he sank deeper into thought. He could almost feel it. He was close to overcoming this hurdle and carving his path to power.
Still, he did not let his thoughts consume him like last time. He doubted it would end well if he unknowingly slipped into a trance. He had learned his lesson.
Besides, he still had other things to do.
Having finally advanced to D-rank, he could continue leveling up now that nothing was stopping him anymore.
His current level stood slightly above 53, thanks to the experience points he had accumulated beforehand, bumping his level up considerably.
But he wanted to push it even higher.
With that thought in mind, he slowly rose to his feet after a long day of meditation before walking to the edge of the wall and... jumping.
He fell freely for hundreds of meters before crashing down with a massive boom, causing fissures to spread across several hundred meters.
Something that would have once been no different from suicide now evoked only slight discomfort.
Which only further accentuated his monstrous strength.
Inhaling sharply, Ulric launched forward.
His form blurred between untraceable bursts of speed and repeated shadow-teleports as he swept beneath the cover of night, turning regular predators into prey while heading deeper into the wastelands.
With no D-rank dungeons around Tempest City, beings who ascended to D-rank had no choice but to hunt monsters within the wastelands if they wished to gain experience.
A far more dangerous feat.
Although dungeons were dangerous, they were controlled to a certain extent. The deeper one ventured, the stronger the monsters encountered. And through repeated runs, one could even use the terrain to their advantage.
But the open wastelands were filled with unpredictable danger. Anything could happen at any moment. Even when people formed teams to hunt monsters, the experience gained was too little, causing their growth to become painfully slow.
That was why most beings who ascended to D-rank within Tempest City almost always stagnated at that realm.
But Ulric was different.
What others avoided or cautiously limited encounters with, he welcomed with open arms.
The stronger the beast, the happier he became.
And in just a few days, his level skyrocketed. He gained multiple levels each day.
Soon, a pattern formed that bled into a rigid schedule.
Meditate. Hunt and level up. Rest. Repeat.
He followed that pattern for several days until, on the night of the fourth day while deep in meditation, something wondrous finally happened as a fit of maniacal laughter burst from his throat.
"Finally!" Ulric growled, a mad grin spreading across his face as he felt a warm stream of energy circulating repeatedly throughout his body.
He had finally done it.
After countless calculations and endless deductions, Ulric had successfully devised a way to circulate aether throughout his body while preserving it entirely during refinement.
Not a single drop would be consumed.
Instead, the aether would endlessly cycle through his body, acting as both the catalyst and foundation for refining his transcendent art.
An impossible concept by conventional standards.
Yet now, it existed.
***
It seemed all the thousands of attribute points he had allocated into mental acuity had not been for nothing.
Ulric smirked as he repeatedly mumbled beneath his breath, waves of excitement surging deep within him.
"An unending perpetual loop of energy."
He paced repeatedly, already running through its endless benefits.
Sure, it did not mean he possessed endless energy. But it was almost close enough.
When ordinary D-rank beings wanted to refine their arts, they had to draw from their elemental energy reserves.
Reserves that were finite.
Which limited every meditation session until their energy naturally recovered. A restriction all beings faced regardless of the size of their reserves.
But Ulric had seemingly overcome that limitation.
With this, he did not even need to meditate anymore.
The energy would continuously flow throughout his body to refine his art.
Whether he was walking, sleeping, or locked in the middle of a life-and-death battle, it would continue refining until his art finally reached its absolute peak, preparing him for the next advancement.
It was amazing. Ulric nodded repeatedly as he struggled to calm himself.
Still, it was not entirely flawless.
The loop would only exist so long as there was aether to circulate. So if he exhausted all of it, the cycle would temporarily stop.
Having predicted this flaw, Ulric had conducted a small experiment to test the nature of aether itself. He had been curious whether it could regenerate after depletion or if it was merely a one-time-use energy source.
If it was the former, he could work with that.
If it was the latter, he would eventually need an entirely different energy source upon which to base his power.
Having a rough understanding of how aether functioned, augmenting attacks and even objects, he had channeled one drop into his scythe.
The weapon had instantly become encapsulated within a cocoon. Yet through their shared connection, he could sense it was advancing, perhaps even evolving.
But that was not what mattered.
The moment the drop was fully consumed, he felt energy slowly stirring within his body to produce another one.
Based on his calculations, it would take roughly a week.
Longer than he had expected.
But he pushed that issue aside along with the countless others that were steadily piling up.
The biggest flaw remained the pitiful quantity of aether itself.
Even if it circulated endlessly, he had a feeling it would take an absurd amount of time before his art finally refined itself to perfection.
Reviewing all this, the excitement flashing within his eyes slowly faded as he clenched his fists in frustration.
Everything circled back to aether.
If he found a way to generate more of it or harvest it from elsewhere, nearly all these problems would solve themselves.
But that was an entirely different equation altogether.
Unable to suppress himself anymore, the energy behind his back rippled violently before a pair of menacing wings erupted outward as his figure streaked into the distance.
He found it strangely soothing to unleash his frustrations upon poor, unsuspecting creatures.
Something the beasts prowling the edges of the wastelands had slowly begun to notice as they grew increasingly wary of his nightly visits.
Many even attempted to hide whenever darkness fell.
Perhaps against ordinary hunters or local powerhouses, such tactics would have worked.
But they barely made any difference to Ulric.
Besides his monstrous senses, he possessed countless other methods.
Crashing violently onto the earth below, Ulric dropped into a crouch before pressing one palm firmly against the fractured ground beneath him.
Instantly, the terrain surrounding him for tens of thousands of meters became crystal clear within his mind as everything unfolded as though he stood directly before it.
Within that range, he sensed countless beasts. Their strength. Their conditions. Their locations.
Sifting through them, he slowly lifted his head.
Then his figure vanished into the distance.
Heading toward the strongest one of them all.
