Chapter 780: Concept Consolidation

He slid underneath an invisible wave of kinetic energy. The death aura was impossible to dodge, and so he ripped it apart preemptively before it could harm him. He then sent a pulse of kinetic energy through his legs; he jumped up, and as the troll's large arm tried to bash into him, he teleported a foot in front of it. It was like he phased right through the arm.

It was the kind of finesse he wouldn’t have dared a few days ago, but in the middle of this fight, it felt as easy as breathing. He ignored the notification he heard in the back of his head.

He detonated a prepared blast of void energy against the kinetic blast heading toward him. It was just enough to counteract the force, and when he was a foot from the beast’s face, he thrust his shortsword forward, aiming for its eye.

A layer of aura and kinetic energy intercepted the sword. But he had already wrapped it in void energy. Purple veins laced through the white-and-blue construct, and it emitted a dangerous feeling.

However, the barrier of kinetic energy and death aura wasn’t to be underestimated. It pulled on his mana in a way that he had never experienced before. The void energy got sucked away by this barrier and ripped apart as if drawn into a whirlpool of destruction.

He even noticed the blade itself was affected by this phenomenon and was struggling slightly to hold itself together. Though it was holding firm for the time being. He supposed that a legendary skill wasn’t to be underestimated either.

That said, the sword didn’t pierce the troll’s eye. It bounced off the eye as if it were made of adamantium. The only thing he could say confidently was that the troll didn’t like it either way. He figured it was like someone poking it in the eye with a loaf of bread.

It let out an annoyed roar and attempted to squish him again. All of its aura and kinetic energy crashed down on his back. The barrier he shielded himself with held firm, though, and he kicked the approaching arm. Even more void energy pulsed outward, and he tried to envision piercing and sharpness in his blow.

It worked somewhat better than he expected. The force of the blow flung the arm back, and though it shot him back as well, he didn’t mind. Instead, he collected all of the momentum into his body, further reinforcing his body and [Lord of the Dying Sun].

Then he teleported above the monster. Its gaze snapped immediately up to him. A field of aura surrounded it, which it used to detect his movements. He didn’t particularly mind, though.

As he fell, he accelerated with additional pulses of kinetic energy. He focused the void energy around him into a sharpened spear tip. The purple light manifested into a pale purple barrier, and a darker, more condensed light radiated from his sword.

The troll didn’t even bother to move. It stood firm as it shot out a blast of its death mana at him. The cone of void energy absorbed the blast, but it was clearly not enough, and it quickly collapsed.

However, it did enough. The blast's force weakened, and his aura lanced through the rest of it without issue. The monster shot out its fist at him; an alarming amount of kinetic energy and death mana flowed through its skin.

Black veins appeared over its body, and the ground underneath it exploded. But Julius remained undeterred; he used the same trick as before, and just as the fist was about to hit him, he phased right through it.

With no other impediments, he smashed into the barrier protecting its body. Just like before, he felt the aura try to consume his void energy. But he had already made some adjustments this time around. His void energy was not only compressed, but woven into a tight braid, much like his mana constructs. He also made sure to infuse his Will Concept and willpower to its limit.

There was a real correlation between space magic and willpower. That was undeniable. It was how he managed to get the void skills in the first place.

Not to mention, if weaving mana and willpower into his constructs worked for his other skills, why couldn’t it work for his void energy?

Sure enough, he was right. The aura had a much harder time destroying it, so when the sword and the barrier met, the sword won this time.

The troll managed to shift its head at the last moment, but his sword still slid through and pierced its neck. He made sure to infuse his Authority and his concepts into the strike. He watched with bated breath as the sword plunged deeper. Once it got through the initial layer of protection, it was like there was less resistance. His spatial energy parted its flesh like butter, and he watched as it sank all the way up the hilt. He felt the force of his nosedive reverberate through his entire body, but [Lord of the Dying Sun] and [Field of the Shattered Will] absorbed it, repurposing and increasing his own momentum.

Not the original source! This chapter was copied here from the author's official page with no approval from them.

So when the troll's hand tried to squeeze him like a balloon, he exploded that kinetic energy, mixing in some void energy as well. That latter part was more of a spur-of-the-moment type of thing and ended up tearing out a chunk of his own arm, but other than that he was alright.

He quickly teleported away and, as his arm healed, watched the troll. To his immense surprise, this troll seemed to have a healing ability. Who would have guessed?

That wasn’t to say he was unhappy with the situation. In fact, it was for the best. During that last attack, he actually managed to connect the final piece he’d been searching for these past few days. The piece that, in hindsight, seemed so obvious.

His soul shook, and he felt it start to open up to the more profound nature of the universe. He recognized the feeling, and though he didn't want to run away from such an amazing partner, he didn’t want to miss this opportunity either.

He let out a soft sigh and quickly teleported away. He wanted to make it known that he wasn’t retreating. Rather, it was him who was giving the monster a break. He’d be back for it.

He quickly appeared back on the wall separating the two districts. To his intrigue, the monster didn’t seem to follow him. It tried for a bit, but the second he left the field where it stood, it seemed to magically lose all interest in him and went back to where it had been resting.

He noted it down for future investigation, but chose to ignore it for the time being and instead grasped the threads of his soul, which were already fading. He wasn’t about to miss this flash of enlightenment. Not after all of the work he put in.

He sat down and set up a few barriers to protect himself from any annoying monsters who might try to disturb him. He also noticed that Drasil came out of his own volition and stood guard.

With his hands crossed over his tiny chest and a severe scowl, Drasil might have been the most adorable bodyguard ever.

Mentally snapshotting the moment for future review, he focused and closed his eyes. With [Calm Before Ruin] sharpening his mind to a razor’s edge, he let the waves of inspiration wash over him. It was like a flowing river of soul energy, and he let both his mind and soul latch onto it immediately. His soul exploded in response.

Funnily enough, he could tell that his third soul evolution actually made it a bit harder to fall into this so-called river. He assumed the added weight made things more complicated, but it wasn’t enough to stop him, and he was dragged in after a few more moments.

He suddenly appeared in his own soul space, and the first thing he noticed was the giant pulsating orb that represented his Space Concept. He didn’t know whether to worry, though, because the orb was cracking across its surface. He had no idea if this was good or bad yet.

Still, he leaned toward the former. The cracks were deep purple, so dark they almost seemed black. The orb kept absorbing more and more energy from his soul. It seemed his powerful soul was fueling this phenomenon.

He could already feel some tiredness within his soul as the orb continued to pulsate more and more aggressively. He didn’t let this deter him, though, and let his intent guide the process as best as he could.

He directed what sort of concept embodied him and his soul. What kind he wanted and what suited him. Surprisingly, that was the easy part. He’d done it enough times that shaping the orb with his intent wasn’t as difficult as it once had been.

He let out a slight grunt, though, when the orb was still being fed energy. He honestly thought it would have been done by now, but it wasn’t.

Something else was required. Something else that he needed to do.

But he didn’t know what that was. He delved a little deeper into his soul to see if he could find an answer, and to his relief, it didn’t take very long. It was extremely subtle, and he could barely detect it, but he managed to see a thin string attached to the orb of the Space Concept.

And when he traced the string back to its origin, he spotted what looked like his Will Concept softly pulsing as well. Curious, he carefully reinforced this thread and flooded more of his soul energy into it.

The result was instantaneous. His entire soul lit up like a christmas tree, and the orb of both Concepts erupted into a symphony of lights and soul energy. He was overwhelmed by the sheer force of it. But he was also in awe when the motes of light suddenly surged back together and condensed into a single orb.

Only then did he get the notification.

Notice: Detecting resonance…

Evaluating…

Evolution path recognized.

Appraising requirements…

Previous acquisition of a Concept of Space detected.

Compatible Concept available for consolidation…

Would you like to subsume Concept of Will: Inexorable Resolve?

He accepted the notification without any hesitation. While he would miss having his Concept of Will, it had already been integrated pretty heavily into his Authority at this point. Probably more than most of his other concepts.

Not to mention that he could open a slot for another Concept if he wanted to.

Analyzing synergistic evolution pathways…

Notice: Several conditions have been satisfied.

Evidence of advanced utilization met.

Soul requirement… satisfied.

Comprehension requirement… satisfied.

Concept requirement… satisfied.

Congratulations. You have evolved your Concept of Space: Chaotic Space into the Concept of Space: Everlasting Void.

He opened his eyes and cackled loudly. This was exactly what he’d been looking for.