Chapter 125: An Incomplete White Circle

Another tried beating its wings harder, only for its body to sink as well. Then more followed, one after another, until even some of the stronger Wyverns were struggling to remain in the air.

Zishan’s eyes widened.

’What the hell...?’

The Sound Mana carried Ernest’s voice through them. It pressed against their bodies, disrupted their movement, and forced them downward regardless of how hard they tried to resist.

Even the Wyvern Lord was affected.

Its wings spread wider as it fought against the pressure, but its enormous body continued sinking little by little while Ernest remained above it.

Zishan stared at him. ’He really just said one word...’

He had already known that Ernest possessed Sound Mana, but seeing it used like this was completely different from what Zishan imagined. There had been no deafening roar or massive sound wave exploding across the area. Ernest had simply spoken, and his Mana carried that word through the bodies of everything he wanted affected.

Their wings, muscles and even the Mana they were using to keep themselves airborne had all been disturbed by it. ’So the voice is only the medium...’

The actual pressure came from the Sound Mana carried along with it.

Zishan looked toward Ernest again before making a mental note that felt extremely important. ’I really don’t want Crown Marshal Ernest telling me to plummet.’

A shadow suddenly passed over him.

He felt another presence enter Frostbound Dominion’s range almost at the same time, and Zishan moved just before the Level 273 Wyvern slammed into the ground where he had been standing. The creature twisted around after missing him, though the Frost accumulated around one of its wings had never completely disappeared.

Zishan noticed that at once.

He pushed more Ice Mana into the same area, causing the Frost to spread deeper around the joint before activating Gravitic Anchor against that side of the creature’s body. The Wyvern tried turning toward him, only for the combined weight and stiffness of its wing to drag its balance away.

Zishan used the opening.

Thunderwake flooded his nerves and muscles with Lightning Mana as he rushed forward, increasing his acceleration enough for him to cross the distance before the Wyvern could correct itself. Pale-blue electricity followed his movement while he struck the already damaged area near its shoulder and continued past rather than remaining within reach.

The scales around the impact cracked.

The Wyvern roared and swung one claw after him, but Zishan had already left an electrical wake across the path he had taken.

Its claw missed. Then, its leg crossed the wake.

Zishan triggered it.

Lightning discharged across the creature’s lower body, making its muscles seize for a moment and giving him enough time to use Rift Steps before the Wyvern could retaliate.

He reappeared farther away, though the Mana circulating inside his body suddenly felt heavier again.

The First Ascent.

Watching Elinox and Ernest had distracted him for a while, but the process had never stopped.

[Stage One: Gather – 94%]

Zishan’s attention shifted inward while he kept watching the Wyverns around him.

Almost everything he had accumulated before Level 100 was now being drawn toward the same place within his soul. His Mana Affinities remained distinct from one another, yet Fire, Wind, Shadow, Life, Lightning, Gravity, Poison and the newly acquired Ice were all becoming part of the same growing foundation.

The influence of his Insatiable Warbody was there as well. Zishan could not sense it in the same way he felt Mana, but the changes it had already produced throughout his body were being gathered together with everything else he had developed.

His Stats, Skills, Mana Capacity and even the comprehension he had gained through Perfected Glimpse were all being pulled into that foundation.

’Damn... there’s a lot more in there than I thought.’

Then, another roar came from his left.

The Level 224 Wyvern had returned.

Mana gathered inside its mouth before it released another blast toward him, though Zishan did not try stopping the attack with brute force. Ice Mana surged upward and formed a thick wall at an angle between them.

The blast struck.

Most of the wall shattered on impact, sending pieces of ice flying across the field, but its angle pushed part of the attack away from Zishan and redirected it into the ground.

He moved through the scattered ice using Rift Steps.

The Wyvern barely managed to turn its head before Zishan appeared beside it and forced Gravity Mana against one side of its body. Its footing slipped across the frozen ground, causing the creature to stumble while its tail swept toward him in retaliation.

Zishan pulled away before it could connect.

[Stage One: Gather – 97%]

’It’s progressing while I’m fighting...’

He could feel it much more clearly now.

The foundation inside his soul was becoming denser with every passing moment, and the pressure surrounding it had changed from the strange pulling sensation he felt earlier into something more concentrated.

The Gather stage was approaching its end.

Another Wyvern entered Frostbound Dominion from behind, and Zishan shifted his body before it could catch him unaware. Ice spread across the ground beneath its landing path, forcing its claws to slip when it tried coming down on him.

Zishan took advantage of the mistake and increased Gravity around the creature before moving farther away.

[Stage One: Gather – 100%]

[Stage One: Gather Completed]

[Stage Two: Imprint]

[First Ascent Imprint Reinforcement Activated]

His attention was drawn inward again as the gathered foundation inside his soul reacted.

Something had started appearing around it.

Zishan almost thought he was imagining it at first because he could not physically see anything. It existed somewhere inside his soul, yet he could somehow sense its outline as clearly as he could feel the Mana moving throughout his body.

’Is that the Imprint?’

[The Host’s First Ascent Imprint is beginning to form.]

Zishan avoided another attack before looking inward again.

He had expected an Ascent Imprint to be something complicated. Maybe it would resemble a weapon, an animal, a rune, or whatever represented the path somebody had taken before reaching their First Ascent.

His did not look like any of those.

A faint white line was slowly forming around the gathered foundation within his soul.

It curved and continued curving.

Zishan waited for some kind of symbol to appear within it, but the outline only continued moving until he could finally understand what it was becoming.

A circle.

’That’s it?’

The circle was not complete yet, though enough of it had formed for Zishan to notice something else.

It was entirely white.

There were no patterns inside it or different colors representing his Mana Affinities. Even with everything that had been gathered into his foundation, the Imprint forming around it looked strangely blank.

Zishan frowned while Frostbound Dominion spread toward two more Wyverns approaching him. Ice began forming across their legs and wings, forcing both creatures to adjust their movements while he divided his attention between the battlefield and what was happening within his soul.

’System, are other people’s Ascent Imprints like this too?’

[No, Host.]

Zishan’s brows rose.

The incomplete white circle continued forming around his gathered foundation.

[Because the Host has no limits, every Ascent Imprint formed by the Host will have the color white.]

Zishan’s expression became strange.

[For an Ascent Imprint, white signifies that it is blank.]