LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 271: Ryun
Advancement
The Void always made Ryun feel as if he was detached from everything else. As if nothing else existed but him, and in a way, in this place, that was true. The Void plane was a realm absent of everything. Inside of it, he pulled in the Void Essence into his core—his will leveraged against the Void itself. The pressure of it was… uncomfortable. The tier nine Void was not something that one could take in lightly. It was anathema to the existence of everything, to Ryun himself being inside of it. It wanted him gone, it wanted everything gone. He had always known that, at least somewhat. But it was his conversations with Vryull that had really put things into perspective, how much one’s own understanding, commitment, and belief, mattered.
Since then, his draw in rate had increased even more when he focused his will on it. It was an instinctive knowledge of the Void, of believing that it belonged with him. He was certain that he wouldn’t be able to do the same with any other type of Essence but the Void. But that was all that he needed.
He had spent time here every day of their trip since they hit the mainland. Their groups speed across the land was swift, but not nearly as fast as they had been on the ships. He could catch up with far greater ease. He needed this, before they reached their destination. They would be walking into an Empire of people at war that will expect something from them. Ryun had given his word that he would help, but he was also going there for another reason, another promise made. He needed as much power as he could gain before he stepped there, because nothing and no one would prevent him from accomplishing what he wanted to.
So he pulled the Essence in, pushing beyond what his core could hold. This was the last of his cycles, or at least the last that he was going to do. His core perk allowed him to get greater benefits, if he waited, if he took more time, cycled again and again. But… life was not about such perfection, life forced one to make choices and take what was offered. He had come to the point where taking any more time would be a risk. Getting to Evolved as soon as possible was his current goal. It would be harder to cycle and gain benefits of his core, it would take more Essence per cycle, but in the end the power that another Realm would give him was more than worth it.
He kept pulling in the Void, keeping track of how long he had stayed inside the plane internally. He had overdrawn his core, gained some extra benefits but on the whole it was only increasing his core size a little bit. Finally, he decided that it was enough.
He pushed himself out of the Void plane, slowly getting through the other tiers until finally he was out in the sky, high above the ground. He shaped a step for himself and slowly put his clothes and items back on, then he headed down at an angle that led him West in the direction where the group went.
He kept up a swift pace, jumping from step to step, accelerating as he made gravity’s pull on him lessen. He had to get lower for it to be more effective, as the gravity increased the higher one went, but he was still far above everything on the ground. He kept soaring through the air at an angle until his senses reached the ground and then he just kept moving, scanning as he went. It took him about an hour to find them as they were preparing to make a camp, and he quickly dropped to the ground to join them.
He saw the Empire’s people look at him with barely concealed sneers, they of course didn’t approve. There was a reason why they hadn’t used an airship to reach the Empire. They wanted to prevent the enemy patrols from seeing them. Ryun didn’t particularly care for their opinion, though he did understand it. In the end he weighed the risks against his own need. He alone was a small target to notice, an entire airship was something entirely different.
“You were supposed to be back an hour ago.”
Ryun tilted his head, what he said was true, he had stayed a bit longer than he planned, but this was his last trip. He felt that it was fine. “I was delayed,” Ryun told him simply.
The man narrowed his eyes, obviously angry. “You realize that with each trip, you put all of us, the mission, and my Empire at risk?” He asked in a calm tone that contrasted his angry eyes.
He was right, of course. Their group had been attacked by monsters several times, but… with so many powerful people it wasn’t really a big problem. The enemy patrols had been a greater concern, but they hadn’t encountered one as they drew closer to the Empire.
“I do understand,” Ryun answered. “You misunderstand the reasons why I do this. It is for us, for the mission, and for your Empire that I do it. I’ve already wasted enough time on this trip, time that I could’ve used to grow stronger. And it is that strength that you and every person in your Empire will rely on. I understand your anger, your fears, but I want you to remember, that my lands and people are not in the direct way of this enemy, they are not threatened by them now. I am here to help you of my own free will.”
The man didn’t respond, which made Ryun respect his control. A moment later he turned and walked away, and Ryun did the same.
“You shouldn’t antagonize him that much,” Eratemus said, the others from his group watched in silence.
“It is not that I am trying to antagonize him, I just don’t care about him, I don’t know him. Regardless, it doesn’t matter, today is the last time that he will be able to complain about this.”
“You are planning on advancing?” Eratemus asked. The others all perked up at that. Even Zach’s expression changed, though he just narrowed his eyes.
Ryun hadn’t kept the reason why he went every day to the Void from them, there was no reason to.
“I do,” Ryun said.
Eratemus tilted his head. “You’ve found the Evolved inspiration?”
“I did,” Ryun said.
“It is impressive for one so young,” Eratemus told him.
“I wouldn’t know,” Ryun shrugged. “I don’t look at others and compare myself, not anymore. I am who I am, and I walk my own path.”
“The Evolved Realm is the first step toward the peak of Cultivator’s powers. It will make you far more powerful than you already are, depending on the choices you make, of course. The only advice I can give is that you should think about what fits you more than what you think will be more powerful.”
Ryun absorbed the advice for a few moments, then nodded his head.
The undead nodded his head back, and then turned and walked away. The others returned to their tasks, finishing up the camp.
About ten minutes later, Ryun found a place a bit away from the camp, and he took a seat on a stone boulder lying on its side. Erdania and Selia stood in front of him, only looking slightly uncomfortable. Further away, were two skeletons, sent by Eratemus to keep guard, though Ryun suspected that the necromancer could also look through their eyes.
He was as ready as he could be, but he still didn’t trigger his advancement. Instead, he looked at Erdania and Selia.
“How long have the two of you been in the Evolved Realm?” He asked them.
They exchanged looks, and then Selia answered for them. “Almost a hundred years.”
Ryun nodded his head. “I’m told that Evolved Realm Cultivators are rare.”
“What is rare?” Erdania shrugged. “The Great Sects have at least a dozen Evolved Cultivators each, some more even. On the whole of Cultivators in the world? Well, then yes, there is not many who had managed to achieve this Realm.”
“I’ve heard little about it,” Ryun started. “What is it like? What does it grant?”
Selia crossed her arms across her chest as she thought about it. “It is… I guess power? Every stage grants you a way to manifest power in a different way. I guess that it is a reflection of who you are inside.”
“Hm… no, it is a choice,” Erdania corrected.
Selia blinked and looked at her, Ryun through their bond could tell that she was surprised.
“What do you mean?” Selia asked her.
“I guess that you didn’t have anything as drastic as I did,” Erdania said slowly. “The choice of the perks was… telling for me. I assume that for you all the choices were close to what you wanted, what you needed. For me, it was… a choice, there is no other way to explain it.”
Ryun wondered what she meant, though he would soon find out. But that all led him to another question.
“What does power mean to you?” Ryun asked them. “Why do you advance?”
Selia looked at Erdania then back to Ryun. “The answer to that question changed a lot over the years, just two-three years ago it was completely different. I was… I had believed that I needed power in order to protect my sect and help it survive. Now… I no longer have the sect, only the people that followed me after it was taken. Now, I guess that it is for me, for us, to be strong enough that I would never lose anything else that I love.”
Ryun nodded and then turned to Erdania, for her answer.
She took a few moments to answer.
“I was raised to fight, and to advance from the moment I was… from my earliest memories. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t pushed to grow stronger, to learn and push myself. When I was a child, that was all that I knew. Just pain, instructions, more pain, torment. You want to know what power means to me? I am not like Selia, I have only ever wanted the power to be strong enough so that no one else could hurt me again. That is why I advance, that is all.”
Selia had a sad look on her face as she looked at Erdania. He could tell that she hadn’t expected Erdania to say that, and that she felt guilty. Ryun didn’t delve deeper; their relationship was not yet at a point where him using their bond in that way was acceptable to him. Especially not when she didn’t yet have the same mastery of it.
“Thank you for telling me,” Ryun said. He had already told them why he advanced, but hearing their reasons gave him more points to consider. He had trouble connecting to others, seeing their point of view. The things that they wanted; he could at least understand.
With that he focused on his core filled with the Void Essence, and he triggered his advancement. It started as all other advancements to the next Realm did. His Qi shifted, churned, and turned into something more. His core grew, the Qi quality rose. In one moment he felt as if his whole body was washed with it, as if he had become a part of the Void itself. And then the sensations passed, and he had two notifications in the corner of his eye. He glanced at Selia and Erdania, standing next to him, watching him and over him. It was the first moment where he felt like their presence there was right. They were already in the Evolved Realm, this was him catching up. And… their relationship was growing slowly, but today was the first time when he felt like this could be something more. He had wanted this for a long time, someone to grow with, someone who could understand. He just hadn’t expected it to be more than one.
He gave them a small smile, that for some reason startled them, but then he pulled his notifications to his eyes.
Congratulations, you have reached Early Evolved Realm Stage on the Path of the Final End!
Reward—Evolved Form perk! You have stepped into the Realm of the Evolved, as such you now begin to manifest the power of your inner self and soul. You may choose in which way that power manifests.
Aspect Mastery
Master your Aspect and improve it to tier 9
+150 to all stats, 500 000 Greater Essence
His Qi had improved to the final tier. He could feel it, inside his core. The same sensation that he felt in the last tier of the Void, he could now feel inside of himself. It was… gratifying in a way, to know that his dedication to understanding his Qi, his pushing himself in the Void, had led to this.
Then, he glanced at his choices for the perk.
Evolved Form:World Ender—Nightmare of All (Path Perk)
Assume your Evolved form, that of the World Ender. Your body starts to emit an aura of blood to all around you, suffocating them in it. Using any other type of offensive aura while in the Evolved form increases their effectiveness by 1000% and no longer have any restrictions on who they can affect. While in this form, every kill you make grants you 10 to all stats for the duration of the form. +20% to intelligence and +20% to strength. All in your path, tremble.
Evolved Form: Wolf of the End—True Death of All (Path Perk)
Assume your Evolved form, that of the Wolf of the End. Your body turns into a giant wolf made out of your Qi aspects, your form gaining the properties of the Qi used (Current-Void—N/A: everything you touch will start to disintegrate|Gain +20% to wisdom). Gain +100% to all stats and your ability to sense death increases by 200%. All techniques cost 60% less and you gain +50% to technique speed. +20% to endurance and +20% to strength. You will see the end of all.
Evolved Form: Encompassing Void—Emptiness of All (Path Perk)
Assume your Evolved form, that of the Encompassing Void. Your body turns into a giant sphere made out of the Void. You are unable to move or use any powers. You will generate Void Qi at a rate of 100x of your Qi regeneration. Everything in a large radius around you will be drawn to the sphere and disintegrated. An aura spreads around you that will deal 50x your wisdom in damage over 5 seconds. The more things the Void consumes the larger the sphere will grow, increasing the range of draw and aura. While in this form you are immune to all types of attacks. +20% to intelligence and +20% to wisdom. Nothing escapes the Void.
Oh how he would like to chose the World Ender perk. It would play into his way of fighting against many at once. Make his auras more effective, though he wondered if it would work on his Eternal Hunter: Reaper. Perhaps yes, but just as well perhaps not. It was… more of an utility aura, and he didn’t know if it counted as offensive one. Still, just making his Reaper’s Aura stronger and removing the tier of power restriction would help him. If he could hit an army with it, with every kill he would grow stronger.
But he remembered Eratemus’s advice, and Erdania’s. This was a choice. He dismissed the Void one. He… it didn’t fit him. Which left his choice between the Wolf of the End and the World Ender. It was a choice of who he used to be and who he was now.
“Tough choice?” Erdania asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Ryun glanced up at her, and then shook his head. “Not really,” he said, and he knew that it wasn’t. The first perk was powerful and had a big potential when he was fighting an army, but he wouldn’t always be fighting armies. The second was more rounded, a boost that would work in any situation. And if he was reading it right, it would gain more if he gained another Aspect. Plus, he would improve it eventually with his second path.
He reached out and made his choice.