[Soul Abilities]
The reflection’s lips moved as it dissolved back into floating glyphs:
Soul Abilities: [Fire Palm], [Lightning Space], [Nightstalker’s Sight]
Ability: [Fire Palm]
Ability Rank: 1
Ability Type: Active
Ability Description: Wreathes the palm in roaring cinders. Pouring soul energy into the flames intensifies their heat and amplifies the force of the strike.
Ability Burden: The flame knows no master.
Ability: [Lightning Space]
Ability Rank: 1
Ability Type: Active
Ability Description: Pulls the user into a soundless domain where time and body grind to a crawl, while the mind races like lightning.
Ability Burden: The quiet storm bites relentlessly. Forcing oneself to move through the slowed world brings agonizing pain.
Ability: [Nightstalker’s Sight]
Ability Rank: 1
Ability Type: Passive
Ability Description: Grants crystal-clear vision within the deepest shadows. Stirs unbidden the moment true darkness falls.
Ability Burden: To own the darkness is to despise the light. Even the smallest spark sears the eyes.
Ash scanned the records, his eyes lingering on the newest addition.
’So it’s a night-vision ability.’
Looking at the burden, it seemed unpleasant, but compared to the excruciating pain of [Lightning Space] or the agonizing burn of [Fire Palm], it seemed almost tame. So long as he only activated it in pitch-black environments, he wouldn’t have to worry about the drawback.
Still, the ability didn’t synergize well with his [Fire Palm] ability. But as an Awakened, Ash could only invoke one ability at a time anyway. Higher stages allowed an Ascended to channel multiple abilities simultaneously, but since Ash had zero intention of advancing, this drawback was completely irrelevant.
"Finally, a decent ability."
Ash looked up at the Dark Core.
"You might actually be my favorite one here."
The reflection reappeared on the black water, its voice echoing through the expanse:
[The Dark Core is pleased by your comment.]
Ash let out a long sigh. It was time to return. He took one final look at the motionless figure staring back at him. Looking at it closely, Ash noticed the copy looked remarkably healthy and fit, in stark contrast to his own bruised, malnourished, and exhausted physical body.
"You’re still ugly," Ash scoffed.
Closing his eyes, Ash braced for the transition.
*
*
*
The sound of gentle, rhythmic waves faded into absolute nothingness. When Ash opened his eyes, the dark ocean was gone. He was sitting on the cold stone floor beside a towering, crooked iron gate.
Sitting directly across from him with his legs crossed was Max. His older brother was busy typing on a translucent blue hologram hovering above his wrist, his fingers flying across the digital interface.
Ash blinked, bewildered.
’Mm... Why are we still breathing?’
There was no logical way they should have survived that encounter. The surrounding area was eerily silent. Judging by the weathered, ancient architecture of the massive iron gate behind them, they appeared to be at the entrance of a forgotten citadel built by the long-dead civilization that had once ruled this world.
A metallic scraping sound shattered the silence. Ash instinctively whipped his head toward the noise. He instantly froze, his breath catching in his throat.
’What the hell...?’
There were hundreds of them. Thousands, perhaps, their grotesque forms disappearing into the thick, unnatural fog.
A massive horde of creatures stood frozen just beyond an invisible perimeter, their eyes locked directly onto Ash and Max. Up close, Ash could finally see what these monsters looked like. Some were massive, while many were roughly human-sized, with vaguely human features. But calling them human was far too generous.
Their bodies were wildly distorted, with limbs and other features jutting out from places they shouldn’t have been. Extra arms sprouted from their shoulders, torsos, and even their jaws. Unnervingly, most of them were human hands. Countless pale, twisted fingers twitched restlessly from their backs and chests.
Looking closer, Ash saw that the horde wasn’t made entirely of humanoids. Beast-like creatures were mixed into the crowd, their bodies so corrupted by human flesh seemingly grafted onto them that they looked like twisted chimeras.
And towering above them all, partially shrouded by the fog, stood several titanic humanoids that dwarfed the monstrosities below. Ash recognized one of them immediately. It was the colossal entity that had tried to crush them with its hand earlier.
’Yeah... we’re definitely not going back that way.’
One of the smaller beasts took a tentative step forward, but the moment its foot crossed the invisible boundary, it recoiled violently, thrashing back into the crowd as if it had stepped on hot iron.
Ash narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, I’m surprised you didn’t wake up with a gasp as usual. Did that woman in red finally decide to leave you?"
Ash turned his head to see Max looking at him with a smile.
He shook his head.
"I wasn’t asleep."
Max turned back to his holographic interface as he spoke calmly.
"Ah... I see you were running out of soul energy."
Ash nodded. He turned to look back at the horde.
Max turned to him, then followed his gaze.
"It’s the Dominion Aura."
It finally clicked. Ash had completely forgotten about the Dominion Aura. He turned his head back toward his brother, then back to the frozen army.
Ash could hear the faint tapping of Max’s fingers against the holographic interface as he spoke calmly.
"Judging by their mutated bodies, those are Chaos creatures... Isn’t that strange? We always assumed Chaos entities were strictly isolated to Varagos, yet somehow here they are, infesting an uncharted planet. I suppose we know far less about our galaxy than we thought."
Ash frowned, rubbing his sore neck.
"Wait... Is this planet anywhere near Varagos?"
Max nodded.
"Relatively close. It’s easily one of the most anomalous celestial bodies I’ve ever analyzed. It doesn’t possess a planetary core, yet its gravitational pull is perfectly stable. It has no standard atmosphere, only this dense fog, yet we can somehow breathe without suffocating."
Max suddenly winced, his shoulders tensing as a sharp gasp escaped his lips.
Ash’s eyes widened.
"Hey... Max, what’s wrong?!"
Then he remembered: the Dominion Aura.
A Dominion Aura is an aura unlocked only when an Ascended reaches the Third Stage, the stage of Manifestation. At this stage, an Ascended becomes known as a Manifested. They can project a suffocating, terrifying aura of pure killing intent that crushes the spirit of anything with a lower Vessel Tier, forcing weaker lifeforms into absolute submission.
For a Dominion Aura to exert enough pressure to cause physical pain to Max, who was Tier 2, the entity projecting it had to be at least Tier 4. That explained why the horde outside didn’t dare cross the boundary line.
That left Ash with an unsettling question.
’Why don’t I feel it?’
Some of the beasts out there looked vastly stronger than him, yet even they were trembling under the pressure. Why was he completely unaffected?
As if reading his thoughts, Max let out a strained breath.
"You’re wondering why you don’t feel the pressure, aren’t you?"
Ash nodded.
"It’s simple math, really," Max said, still not looking up from his hologram.
"A Dominion Aura only takes hold if the gap between the source and the target is at least two full tiers. Since you’re Tier 5, I came to the conclusion that whatever’s out there is at most Tier 6, likely lower. That puts you just below the threshold, safely outside its reach. I’m Tier 2, so I don’t have that luxury."
He winced again, shoulders tensing before he forced himself to relax.
Ash turned back to the creatures.
"Yeah. Most of those things outside look terrifyingly strong. Are they really that low-tier?"
Max nodded.
"Vessel Tier dictates physical capacity, yes, but that doesn’t mean every species is physically equal. An ant isn’t going to overpower a human simply because you somehow gave it the same Vessel Tier. The same principle applies to us. From what I’ve studied, humans are technically among the physically weakest species in known space. We have no natural armor or innate physical weapons. Our only saving grace is high intelligence and core adaptability."
Ash sighed, crossing his arms.
" You can skip the biology lesson. I already know all that."
Max looked at him in mild surprise.
"Oh, you do? Huh. Your lecturers always told me you skipped your academy theory classes, so I assumed I needed to break it down."
He pointed a finger toward the fog, gesturing to the massive silhouettes looming in the distance.
"Those colossal ones look terrifying because they are. Despite their size, they’re likely only Tier 3 or 4. Now imagine encountering a creature like that at Tier 5 or 6."
Ash couldn’t even imagine what a creature that size could do at a higher Vessel Tier, but he knew it would be catastrophic.
Max continued, his tone turning serious.
"I can’t pinpoint the exact tier of whatever entity is projecting this Dominion Aura, but I know for a fact it isn’t Tier 7. Otherwise, your body would have collapsed instantly just by standing in its territory. Still... We’re looking at something between Tier 4 and Tier 6, likely at least a Manifested... possibly higher."
Cold dread settled in Ash’s stomach. He couldn’t feel the field’s pressure, but the knowledge that a powerful entity was lurking somewhere nearby was far more nerve-wracking than the mindless army standing outside.
Still, seeing how calm Max remained helped Ash keep his composure. Max was a brilliant strategist; if they were in immediate danger of being eaten, his brother would be the first to act. Besides, Max wouldn’t have infiltrated an Apex-controlled world without backing from his organization. The rest of his team had to be nearby. Max was probably already contacting them for help.
Ash looked back at his brother, who had returned to rapidly typing on his holographic interface. With the horde temporarily held back, Ash figured it was the perfect time to get some answers before help arrived.
Letting out a heavy, exhausted sigh, Ash spoke.
"So... Max. What are you guys actually doing here?"