[Spear Harmony ↑ (Zenith+)]
The system's last notification broke him from his trance at last. And when he read the words on the screen, he was stunned.
'Zenith…? Wasn't it supposed to be Masterful first?'
When his eyes followed the logs, he saw the long string of ascension belonging to Spear Harmony.
It appeared that in the last ten years, he became so engrossed in his own world that he did not even notice that he had long reached the goal he set for himself and had far surpassed it.
"..."
He expected to feel joy, or at least a sense of accomplishment, but none of that could be discerned.
Instead, only desolation clawed its way from the depths of his soul.
In an attempt to recall that fleeting sense of triumph that came over him whenever he reached a milestone, he summoned his full status.
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Name/Arrival date: Ashen Hart - 2025/02/11
Sex/Age: Male / 128
Height/Weight: 195 cm / 90 kg
Current condition:Medium circuit permanent damage
Pathway: Step V: Moment Deceiver
Thema: Bellator
Affiliation: Count of the Wrath Domain
Title: Tidewalker
[2. Traits]
—Forged Willpower
—Insightful
—Liminal Dreamer
[3. Physical Level]
Strength: C+ | Endurance: B- | Agility: B-
Perception: C+ | Stamina: B- | Mana: C+
[4. Abilities]
4.1 Innate Powers:
—Beholder's Eyes
—Twin souls
—Mana Authority
—Equivalent Exchange (0)
4.2 Path Skills:
—Lucid Dreamweaving (Masterful+)
—Hollow Resolve (Masterful-)
—Somatic Autonomy (Zenith+)
—Vital Drift (Zenith+)
—HourVault (Zenith+)
—BlindStep (Zenith+)
4.3 Other skills:
—Way of the Spear (Zenith+)
—Incomplete Trinity harmony (Masterful+)
— Spear Harmony (Zenith+)
—Mana-Kissed (Skilled+)
—Clean (Skilled+)
[5. Conceptual powers]
—The concept of Sloth Efficiency (Resonance)
—The concept of Inertia (Resonance)
[6. Cognitive Depth (Thoughts, Mindset, Disposition)]
— Lonely / Endure, Overcome / Indomitable
═══════════════════════════
Ashen seldom bothered to open his full status window; the first portion described only his basic information. He already knew it by heart, so there was no need to.
That was why he never really noticed his age until now.
"I'm actually a hundred and twenty-eight years old…" his face grew distant as he murmured. "I guess there was no need to bother counting the days after all."
His eyes swept away the assortment of skills in which the majority had already reached the Zenith. It was a sight that would drive most insane if they ever saw it.
That was just how absurd it is.
Only the elite of the elite may bring a single skill to Zenith in their lifetime, and most didn't even know the existence of such a mastery, taking the peak of the Masterful stage as the finish line.
And here he was with no less than six of them.
But the longer he looked, the sicker he felt, because each one was a reflection of the years he'd spent trapped in this endless cycle of loneliness and tedium.
His eyes moved past the skills to reach the section describing his cognitive depth.
His disposition, the part said to be almost unchangeable through the life of man, had changed once more, going from determined to Indomitable. While his mindset had adopted the chant that held him together until now.
As for his thoughts… they were always consumed by loneliness, so being described as 'lonely' was only fair.
'What's this, though…?'
Only now did he notice it, but the Forged Willpower trait was faintly flickering on the screen, as if it was about to disappear any second.
Ashen's brows furrowed.
This trait was quite special to him, as it was the only one that accompanied him since the start of his journey.
It was 'Brilliantly Restless' at the very start, but the equivalent exchange took the Brilliant part of it, leaving only the negative side. If he remembered correctly, it was called 'Perpetually Distracted' then.
He had worked himself to the bone in the tutorial phase, pushing through the haze of distractions and excuses to finally evolve it into 'Steadfast' right before he left.
When he joined the Bloodwall army, his relentless training to survive and rush back to Alice had evolved it once more into its current version, 'Forged Willpower.'
He clicked on the flickering words.
════════════════════════
Forged Willpower:
Once skittish and easily swayed, now shaped by steady work and quiet repetition. Progress arrives not as revelation but as accumulation; small, relentless corrections that harden skill and habit until competence becomes second nature.
════════════════════════
He was sure the trait played a big part in his persistence in training his skills to this level, so he really did not want to lose it.
Sigh.
But desires never dictated reality, so what was destined to happen would come to pass despite his wishes. He wasn't even that surprised by it, after all—
"...I guess this is enough."
—He had already decided that he would stop.
"No more training." An old emotion that had been brewing inside him for a century was slowly making itself known. "And… no more shackles."
It was defiance.
"I will bet everything on this last attempt. Today, I either hurl the rock, or it will bury me here."
And to make true to his words, he employed Somatic Autonomy to force his body to completely loosen after five minutes.
If after this time had elapsed and he did not succeed, his only fate would be a gruesome death.
If he succeeded, then loosening for a few moments would be of no consequence.
As to why he took such an irrational and foolish choice, the answer was simple: he wanted to leave no way out for himself.
He was only human, after all. And humans usually never give it their all if a path of retreat is open.
However… if the only path is ahead, and the alternative is definite death… then, humans become capable of miracles.
That is how much they value life and fear death. Ashen was going to use this to push himself further.
But before he could actually go through with his plan, someone interrupted.
"Ash… Are you sure? This is quite reckless," the concerned voice belonged to none other than his dear bundle of joy, the ever cheerful and optimistic Saintess, and the angel of his life, Seraphine.
He looked silently at her ghost, but his stare didn't make her relent. Pressing even more, she added. "Please, won't you reconsider? I'm afraid… I don't want you to die."
Her eyes moistened, "Don't leave me alone… please."
His head lowered, allowing the edges of his hair to cover his eyes. Otherwise, he did not think he could maintain his resolve.
"She's right, you know? What you are doing is completely foolhardy."
That was when another voice followed.
'Alice…'
Clad in her usual futuristic garments, she put her hands in her coat's pockets and looked at him sideways with an exasperated face.
"You've seen Edward's state. I bet he will not hold for much longer anyway." She spoke gently, like she was trying to persuade a stubborn child.
"All you have to do is wait. Maybe in another hundred years, he will die, which will naturally dispel the time dilation. When that happens, we will surely come and free you."
Seraphine's ghost perked up at that, "That's right! All you have to do is wait for us, Ash. You don't have to risk your life!"
A faint smile showed on his lips. 'Another hundred years? But I want to go back as Ashen Hart.'
He shook his head and didn't bother to argue, "No can do, I simply miss you too much to wait a hundred more years. Just wait for me."
"But…"
"Don't you trust me?"
"..."
"..."
Both women fell silent because they indeed trusted him. But that fact alone stripped them of any argument they could use to persuade him.
His head rose, showing the hollowness that had etched in his pupils for so long quietly receding to give way to a searing blaze.
"Trust me… I will definitely come back to you."
The ghosts looked at him with peaceful smiles before slowly dissipating, "They are waiting for you, don't disappoint them."
"...I will not."
⛧
⛧
⛧
"Do it."
The moment he returned to reality, Ashen forced the skill to carry out his suicidal command.
For a brief instant, he felt a faint resistance, as if Somatic Autonomy itself recoiled, protesting in the only way it could, much like a body sending pain through ruined nerves.
But reaching the realm of Zenith had granted him absolute control. Even a skill that placed its host's survival above all else could not refuse him.
And so, it obeyed.
Phewww—
He took a deep breath and let his refined mana seep from both cores, the one in his lower belly and the one in his heart, and wove it into billions of threads.
There wasn't a clever plan. He recognized there are no tricks to play. If he wanted to do it, he had to face it head-on, using everything he had.
When every thread of mana settled in its place all over his body, it was time for the next step: infusing intent into mana.
Endure, Overcome.
The intention that seeped through the mana wasn't mere will for his body to get tougher or stronger… No. It originated from a will that quietly brewed since he decided that enduring wasn't enough anymore.
It was an intent he nursed for eight decades. The intent to overcome!
Naturally, such deep intent could power mana for years to come, but…
'With Somatic Autonomy's last command, I can only make one attempt; If that's the case, I will put everything I have into this one shot.'
He did not need the intent to last for years, nor will he save some of it for another attempt. He compressed all of it into a single minute.
The rags that he still had for clothes wildly fluttered as a translucent aura took hold. His long black hair that reached his lower back followed, and when the golden shine in his eyes intensified, he felt it once more.
Every cell in his body thrummed in unison, linked by threads of mana, fusing him into a single, living entity. Power unlike anything he had felt surged through him, a torrent of raw force that threatened to drown him in its intoxication. But unlike the first time, when ecstasy had almost stolen his mind, he held firm and did not allow himself to lose focus.
Still, it grew harder with every passing second. Mana continued to rise, elevating him higher, demanding more... The quality of his intent was leagues beyond his previous attempts; the difference was palpable.
Ashen felt as if he were flying. Up and up he went, past the familiar horizon, past the limits his mind had once imagined. And when he surpassed them… his body shattered every boundary it had known.
Unable to contain himself anymore, he pushed with everything he had.
"HAAAAAA—"
He always knew that moving the rock would be impossible with his current limit… but if that was the case, all he had to do was break it.
"HAAAAHHH"
His power surged beyond the rock's calculations, beyond even what should have been possible if he poured every drop of mana into himself.
And then… a miracle happened. The immovable object, against all odds, was pushed an inch.
Before he could push further, the rock adapted, instantly recalculating his new limits.
In response, the HourVault unleashed its vast reserves of excess vitality, painstakingly gathered over a century of stillness from vital drift. Somatic Autonomy poured that vitality into his body, frantically repairing the strain of forcibly exceeding every boundary.
The rock's weight returned, heavier than ever against his now-healed form. But Ashen did not care. He healed for only one purpose…
To break his limits once more!
The cycle of breaking through his limits and the rock catching up to him continued like a relentless game of cat and mouse, and amid it, Ashen's motivation transformed.
Chasing freedom…
Wanting to defy his circumstances….
Longing to see his loved ones…
All of it disappeared one by one from his mind.
He didn't care that his life was on the line; he forgot who was responsible for putting him in this position.
In this fleeting moment that would decide his fate, all that remained was the pure desire to overcome this obstacle.
Not for anyone else or for any reason. It was simply a pure wish from the depths of his soul, not tainted with any external element or cause.
'Yes… I want nothing less than to pour out everything I am.'
Once the idea took hold, a hazy light bloomed above him and intertwined on itself to forge an Icon of A spear pinning a wave to the sky.
『Tidebreaker』
It was the title that had long been silent after he acquired it with the feat of surviving an army of billions Narkals.
As if it recognized his singular will to defy this impossible tide that was the weight of the rock, it awakened to lend its power in accordance with its name.
Crack—
The line that defined his new limits shattered once more, pushing him until his hands strained toward full extension. All that remained was to throw it.
But throwing… throwing was a chasm compared to nudging it an inch.
His body healed, then broke past its limits, and then healed once more in an endless cycle of destruction and reconstruction, and yet, even now, he could not muster the force to send the rock flying once and for all.
Worse still… time was slipping through his fingers.
'Time…'
The word jolted through his mind.
He had known from the very beginning that he was attempting the impossible.
He had known it more keenly than anyone else, after a hundred years of relentless oppression. That was why he poured everything into a single minute.
Alas, even the desire of a single will spanning eighty years compressed to a single minute did not seem to be sufficient.
'If that is not enough, then… just squeeze everything until it is!!'
'I don't need a minute. All I need… is a moment.'
Set your soul ablaze—
and burn through this final moment.
"HHHHAAAARRRGH—"
His eyes turned bloodshot, his voice hoarse, and from the corner of his blurry vision, he saw hands.
They were pushing the rock with him, but they were not his own. Those illusory hands, he could recognize without looking at their owner.
The ghost of Alice was pushing alongside him.
Then more appeared, as if drawn by the singular intensity of his will.
One, two, three… Seraphine on one side, Lucia on the other. His mother, his sister, his father, his teacher…
Maybe because every facet of his thoughts was entirely consumed by the goal of overcoming this one obstacle, they were embodied in response to that overwhelming desire in such a way.
And as if they truly alleviated a part of the burden—
A century of Endurance converged…
Ka—BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
…for a single moment of overcoming.
…
…
…
Ashen looked down.
"..."
There it lay… forming a deep crater, buried under the earth… his fallen foe.
It was not on his shoulders, and that meant…
'At last.'
His mind emptied after realization, yet as if guided by something beyond him, his lips moved on their own, shaping a word that spilled forth like a prayer.
"Freedom."
And as though it had been waiting for his acknowledgment, the system responded in a voice that was distinctively more cheerful than its usual robotic, feminine tone, cascading in a flood of announcements that almost sounded celebratory.
[You have gained a Path Skill.]
[You have gained an Extra Skill.]
[Your Trait has Evolved]
…
…
[you catch a glimpse of Slothful Transcendence…]