Chapter 110: Power Stages [1]

The enormous white doors opened.

Inside was more than the outside had prepared them for.

White marble, everywhere. The floor was polished so completely that their reflections moved beneath their boots like a second group walking underneath the first.

The walls carried the same stone up to towering ceilings held by pillars that were wider at the base than most rooms at Astral Academy. Pale sunlight poured through tall windows and scattered across the marble in a way that made the whole corridor glow without obvious source.

Every footstep echoed.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Leon walked with his mouth slightly open.

Roselle nudged him. He glanced at her.

"You feel it too?" he whispered.

"Yeah," she said, dropping her voice.

Along the sides of the corridor stood figures. They looked human at first, but every single one had white hair and stood completely still. A heavy, silent pressure hung around them, making it clear they were far more powerful than normal people.

As the cadets passed, several Primordials turned to look at them. The reactions varied. A few looked with something like mild curiosity. Most looked indifferent. Some turned away immediately, as if the sight of humans in this corridor was faintly irritating.

Leon frowned at the ones who looked away. "Why are they looking at us like that?"

Alden already knew.

’We are walking through their home,’ Claire thought, mirroring the exact realization striking Alden beside her as a Primordial glanced briefly at their group before looking away.

To these beings, the cadets were mere dwellers from the lower world, brought inside by tests of merit rather than birthright. It was not hatred that filled the silence, but something colder. It was the complete indifference of a race that viewed itself on an entirely different plane of existence.

"I feel heavy," Roselle said quietly, not to anyone in particular.

"Me too," Leon said. "And I don’t think it’s the altitude."

He was right. The further they walked, the more Primordials they passed. With each one, the air got marginally harder to move through. None of them were doing it intentionally. They weren’t releasing mana, weren’t issuing any kind of pressure deliberately. They were simply standing there, existing, and their existence alone was enough to make breathing take slightly more effort than it should.

Alden clenched his hand at his side.

This is what the gap actually feels like.

The hall Alarion led them to had four people already waiting inside.

All four wore the same white and crimson uniforms. Two boys, two girls. Human, clearly, by the way they stood and the way the altitude had affected them the same way it was affecting the Astral cadets.

Claire looked at them. ’They must be cadets from Calyndor.’

Alden studied them quickly, he didn’t recognize any of them from his original notes. ’Another thing this world had changed.’

"Stop it, Adrian!"

The yellow-haired girl spun around and glared at the boy beside her. Her expression was the specific expression of someone who has said stop it several times already today.

The boy, Adrian, dropped his grin and held both hands up. "I wasn’t even—"

He saw Alarion come through the door and his voice stopped. Then his eyes moved past Alarion.

His eyes landed on Roselle and Claire, taking in the contrast of rose and chestnut hair.

His gaze stayed locked on them.

For several long seconds, he simply stood there staring, his jaw dropping open slightly.

’What beauties...’

Alarion walked to the center of the room as if none of this had happened.

"Now that everyone is here," he said, turning to face the assembled cadets, "we begin."

The room quieted completely.

He raised one hand. The marble wall behind him shimmered once, and then bright glowing text appeared across the surface.

POWER STAGES OF APOTHESIS

Stage I: Conductor (White Core)

Stage II: Harmonist (Yellow Core)

Stage III: Resonant (Blue Core)

Stage IV: Virtuoso (Green Core)

Stage V: Luminary (Orange Core)

Stage VI: Arcanist (Red Core)

Stage VII: Ascendant (Purple Core)

Stage VIII: Arcanaeum (Black Core)

Alarion gestured toward the first three lines. "Stages I through III represent the foundation period. The point where mana is first consciously sensed and developed alongside your Class. For most, this is everything the lower academies cover."

He moved his hand to the next section. "Stage IV, Virtuoso, and Stage V, Luminary, are where real development begins. At Stage IV, your physical output and mana control exceed what is considered normal." He paused. "Stage IV is approximately equivalent to what your ranking system calls A-Rank."

Roselle’s breath caught slightly.

’If just Stage IV is A-Rank. Then Stage VIII is...’

"Stage VI," Alarion continued, "represents the average baseline of a Primordial. Let’s say if humans reach this level, it means they push past the natural limits of their race. And you all know them as Spires.’

Leon swallowed.

"Stage VII, Ascendant, is a significant leap beyond that." Alarion’s voice stayed level. "And Stage VIII, Arcanaeum, is the highest recognized stage in the current system. Those who reach it stand above nearly everything in the world below."

Alden stared at the black text at the bottom of the list.

’So the distance from where I am to the top is still... enormous.’

Leon raised his hand. "Sir Alarion. What Stage are you at?"

Alarion raised his right hand.

"I am an Ascendant."

Purple light gathered in his palm. Slowly, naturally, the way water gathers before it pours.

The air became something else.

The pressure simply arrived and it was everywhere at once and it was wrong in the way things are wrong when they’re far beyond your frame of reference. The floor felt further away. The air felt thicker. Breathing required a conscious decision.

THUD.

Nicholas went to one knee. Roselle’s hand shot out and found the nearest pillar. Leon’s palms hit the marble as his legs folded under him. Claire’s jaw locked as she forced herself to stay standing and almost managed it. The cadets from Calyndor crumpled without ceremony.

Alden’s knee hit the stone hard.

’What.’

He gritted his teeth and tried to raise his head. His neck disagreed with this plan. The pressure pressed on everything evenly.

’That’s insane. That small amount is insane.’

Then the purple light vanished.

The pressure disappeared instantly.

Everyone sagged. Leon gasped. Roselle leaned against the pillar she had grabbed and breathed. Nicholas pushed himself back to his feet with one hand against the floor.

Alarion looked faintly apologetic. "Ah. I forgot." He lowered his arm. "Your bodies are much less durable than what my natural mana output is calibrated for. I was suppressing almost completely during the journey. That was a very small release."

Leon stared up at him from the floor. "A small... release?"

"Yes."

Leon stayed on the floor for another second. ’That is genuinely terrifying, just how strong is this old guy.’

"I thought I was going to pass out," Roselle gasped, leaning heavily on Claire, who was barely holding herself up.

Nicholas had gotten fully upright and extended a hand downward without looking. "Here."

Alden looked at it. Then at Nicholas.

He took it. Nicholas pulled him to his feet in one clean motion.

Neither of them said anything. They didn’t need to. A year ago, Nicholas had looked at Alden in a dormitory hallway and seen someone suspicious. What he was looking at now was different. And both of them knew it.

Alarion addressed the room again, his tone returning to its usual calm. "Show me your mana. All of you. I need to verify your core stages."

____________

Stats Reminder for readers....

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STATUS

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Name: Alden

Class: Undefined

Skill: Soul Rendering

Skill Rank: SSS+

Level: 40

EXP: 78,930 / 83,000

Power Combat: 374

Rank: B

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SOUL LIBRARY

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Beast: Wolf

Soul Fragments: 50

Blueprint Progress: 99%

Beast: Giant Spider

Soul Fragments: 35

Blueprint Progress: 96%

Beast: Owl

Soul Fragments: 100

Blueprint Progress: 100%

Beast: Firefly

Soul Fragments: 73

Blueprint Progress: 97%

Beast: Dragon

Soul Fragments: 23

Blueprint Progress: 63%

Beast: Polar Bear

Soul Fragments: 39

Blueprint Progress: 73%

Beast: Thunder Ape

Soul Fragments: 49

Blueprint Progress: 69%

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SOUL BEASTS

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Beast name: Pyrion

Rank: B

Beast name: Glacius

Rank: A

Beast name: Flamestone

Rank: A

[Name Unavailable]

Species: Dragon

Rank: S

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Soul Rendering [37.5%]

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◆ Soul Extraction

◆ Soul Library

◆ Soul Forge

??? [Locked] [Yet to be unlocked]

??? [Locked] [Yet to be unlocked]

??? [Locked] [Yet to be unlocked]

??? [Locked] [Yet to be unlocked]

??? [Locked] [Yet to be unlocked]

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