The trials of Ascension were, in truth, largely superficial.
The greatest test…Was whether one had truly mastered the most essential thing required at that stage.
That thing was—
The Ultimate Principle of Combat.
"My combat principle."
Standing at the very center of the arena, Kanzaki Rei let a faint aura spread outward.
Spectators had already gathered around the venue. Even in the biting cold, there were plenty of people who loved watching a spectacle.
Whoosh—
Two battle auras expanded simultaneously.
In that instant, everyone present felt an overwhelming thought arise in their minds—
He cannot be defeated.
Heart Unyielding.Infinite Combat Transformation.
Two supreme combat principles fused together.
Before Rei, a training dummy slowly rose from the ground.
Yet Rei remained perfectly still.
He did not move even a single step.
And yet—
Magic erupted forth!
"Magic?"
"Isn't he undergoing a Warrior Ascension right now?"
"Using magic during a warrior's ascension! That's blasphemy against the warrior's doctrine!"
"Multi-class ascensions are already extremely difficult—why is he provoking the doctrine itself?"
"Does he want to suffer Doctrine Backlash?!"
Doctrine Backlash was exceedingly rare.
Most people, after choosing a profession, would at least attempt to follow that profession's doctrine.
Even if they eventually realized the doctrine conflicted with their worldview, they would simply stop pursuing further ascensions.
Even if they continued advancing, they would at least pretend to respect the doctrine.
No one openly spat in its face—especially not during the profession ascension ceremony itself.
Yet Rei was doing exactly that.
Using magic during a warrior's ascension trial was, without question, an act of blatant desecration.
And such blasphemy could easily lead to backlash.
Perhaps he would lose all professional mastery.
Perhaps he might even lose the profession's power entirely.
BOOM!
But the magic struck—
And the training dummy instantly exploded into fragments.
The wind blade he had unleashed transformed into countless overlapping blade shadows.
「Blade Flow — Thousand Cuts (LV: 301)」
Staff Flow.Blade Flow.Bare-Fist Flow.Rage Kick Flow…
These were among the most basic martial skill systems.
If a warrior failed to inherit a superior combat tradition, they could only purchase such foundational skill styles from shops.
Basic though they were, they were still quite effective in real combat.
However, most warriors could only focus their training on one style. Naturally, they would try to choose the best one available.
But Rei?
He mastered them instantly.
He learned a little of everything—and raised every single martial style to LV: 301 proficiency.
At that level, it was fair to say he had transcended the original styles entirely.
More than ten spells swept across the field.
The dummy suddenly displayed countless fist marks, blade wounds, and even kick imprints, as if it had been struck repeatedly by invisible attacks.
Crack!
With a final sharp sound—
The entire training dummy shattered under Rei's combination of martial techniques.
Afterward—
Rei raised one hand.
A bone emitting a black, corrupted aura appeared in his palm.
In the other hand was a scale.
This was the stage where he had to submit proof of combat.
Rei thought for a moment.
He decided to submit two pieces of evidence—
One from a monster he had killed using martial techniques.
And the other from the "Level-6 Nest Sovereign" he had slain by directly extracting its soul.
Although the doctrine only required combat and killing—it did not specify how the enemy had to be killed—
Rei still felt that simply ripping out a soul might not strictly count as combat.
Better to submit the safer proof.
A Level-2 Warrior killing a Level-6 Sovereign-class monster…
That should satisfy the doctrine.
And besides, Rei had experienced plenty of intense battles recently.
He certainly couldn't say his combat experience had been lacking.
The two materials were collected and vanished instantly.
Every time he submitted proof during ascension, Rei couldn't help feeling a pang of pain.
The items he handed over were always his most valuable trophies.
Humm—
As countless motes of light disappeared, Rei felt an extremely satisfying feedback surge through him.
Having gone through many ascensions already, Rei immediately understood—
This had been a perfect ascension.
However—
At the moment the ascension completed…
Rei clearly saw something terrifying.
Countless black, tadpole-like entities began pouring down from the sky.
They rushed toward him like a raging flood!
They tried to burrow into his body.
Judging by the confused expressions of the ordinary spectators around him—
It seemed no one else could see them.
Is high spiritual sensitivity required to perceive them?
At that moment, Lumironi raised a jade-green staff in her hand.
Ting—
A verdant barrier formed around Rei.
Every trace of corruption approaching his body melted away like snow.
"Big Sister Lumironi… were there this many last time?"
Lumironi stared at him.
"You can see them?"
"Yes. This time I can."
"…No. There are far more than before."
"For ordinary early-awakening individuals, there are usually only about a dozen."
Lumironi waved her hand.
A jade-colored spell formation unfolded.
It looked nothing like the magic Rei was familiar with.
When he had first arrived in this world, he might not have noticed the difference.
But now that he deeply understood magical systems—
He immediately realized this was an entirely different framework of power.
Like trying to distinguish Japanese and Korean when you were young—you might not notice the difference at first, but once you understood them, they were clearly separate systems.
Humm—
Two square spell arrays formed above and below, creating a rotating rectangular barrier of light that sealed the entire Ascension Hall.
Every stream of black corruption entering the hall dissolved instantly upon touching the barrier.
Lumironi was unusually serious this time.
Fortunately, the violent surge lasted only about ten seconds.
Soon the strange phenomenon in the sky faded.
The corruption vanished completely.
That felt… dangerous.
Why was there so much contamination?
Lumironi let out a breath of relief.
"Indeed… this is completely different from when you ascended to a Level-3 Mage."
"Big Sister Lumironi… what exactly is this contamination?"
Lumironi replied:
"This is something our Church of Life has been researching."
"But progress has been extremely slow."
"After all, early awakeners like you are now very rare."
"We simply don't have enough samples for proper study."
As she spoke, her gaze lingered on Rei.
To be honest—
Rei would be an ideal research subject.
Perhaps even the best possible one.
But…
How could she ever do such a thing?
"Rei."
"You must protect yourself carefully."
"There are probably many people who have become interested in you now."
Rei nodded seriously.
"I will."
If nothing else—
When it came to protecting himself, Rei treated the matter with absolute seriousness.
A warrior's ascension granted two masteries and one talent.
Each profession provided different rewards after advancing.
Knowledge-type professions often granted specialized information.
Professions like Death Priest might provide necessary professional specializations.
But for a Warrior—
There wasn't much that was strictly required.
The greatest change was that Rei's physical strength increased dramatically, and the limits of his body expanded.
He also gained control over Qi.
Rei felt a stream of energy circulating inside his body.
It was breath.
It was aura.
It was a mysterious force flowing through his entire being.
From this level onward, warriors could learn techniques related to breathing methods, aura manipulation, and battle cries.
Additionally, all the martial skills he had previously learned could now synchronize with his breathing techniques.
Even if his other combat skills did not improve at all—
The moment a warrior advanced from Level 2 to Level 3, their combat power essentially doubled.
「Level-3 Warrior Mastery: Path of Magic-Infused Combat (Exclusive)」→ Martial techniques executed through magic gain increased power, and spell-based martial techniques can incorporate more combat styles.
「Level-3 Warrior Mastery: Dual Combat Principles (Exclusive)」→ When two combat principles are used simultaneously, the effects of both are greatly amplified.
Both masteries perfectly matched Rei's performance during the ascension.
Rei casually flicked his hand.
A fireball shot out—
But it transformed into countless flaming fist imprints!
Now every spell he cast could contain warrior martial techniques.
This—
This was true Magic-Martial Dual Cultivation.
Unfortunately, his attack range was still lacking.
Right now he could reach about 240 kilometers.
That was still far inferior to Luluvi, who at Level 4 could fire arrows over a thousand kilometers.
Rei had long coveted Luluvi's attack range.
If I switched to an Archer profession…
Could my spells extend beyond a thousand kilometers too?
However, this Warrior mastery had not granted additional tolerance toward multiclassing.
This meant the more professions he pursued, the stricter future Warrior ascension requirements would become.
Better to proceed cautiously.
Otherwise, he might eventually reach a point where only his Mage profession could reach high levels.
At least judging from Iz's performance—
A Level-6 Mage was far stronger than a collection of Level-3 professions.
Multiple Level-3 classes still had a clear ceiling.
And finally—
There was the talent.
「Talent Acquired — Injury Recovery (Common) → God-Tier Talent: Absolute War Body」
Effect:• Healing speed increased 10,000ו Body and soul become one; if the body survives, the soul cannot be destroyed• After death, the body will automatically regenerate and resurrect
Rei's eyes widened.
Finally…
Finally, a true survival talent.
He condensed ice at his fingertip into a blade and slashed across his left arm.
Sss—
…Nothing happened.
It didn't even cut.
Right…
His body's toughness had probably already surpassed that of ordinary Level-5 Warriors.
After all, the first warrior talent focused on body refinement.
Day after day he had tempered his body with mana, vitality, and blood energy—constantly breaking past his physical limits.
His body had long since become terrifyingly strong.
But along his journey—
He had never actually been injured.
With Ultimate Perception, enemies rarely even touched him.
So he had never suffered any physical disadvantage.
Even when traveling, he used Flash of Instant Light rather than running.
He barely used his legs at all.
After refining his body for so long, he had only relied on his immense strength.
He had almost forgotten—
His defense was equally monstrous.
So besides super strength and super intelligence…
I also have super defense.
It was just that he usually relied on super perception to escape danger.
Rei glanced at the crowd still watching nearby.
Better not test things here.
"Big Sister Lumironi, let's go."
Lumironi nodded.
Rei transformed into a streak of light using Flash Step.
Lumironi followed with an elegant turn, vanishing instantly.
Behind them remained only the astonished crowd.
Meanwhile, the ascension examiner looked helplessly at the shattered dummy pieces scattered everywhere.
Next step…
Filing a damage report.
Today's loss:• One Prismatic Secret-Iron Training Dummy
After the ascension, Rei visited Lumironi's home.
Compared to the luxurious palace of Iz Parult, Lumironi's home felt far warmer.
Snow still fell outside, but her garden was lush and green.
Lumironi also held the profession Planter.
That was why she constantly collected seeds.
However, traveling year-round made cultivation difficult.
Only when she returned to Knoroya could she truly nurture her plants.
Some of her plants were enormous trees—far too large to grow inside a house.
It was said certain plants could only be cultivated by professional Planters.
The profession itself followed the Doctrine of Growth, which was closely related to the Doctrine of Life.
Lumironi approached a small tree and plucked a blue leaf.
She handed it to Rei.
As soon as Rei held it, a cool sensation spread through his palm.
Then suddenly—
His mind seemed to open.
Ideas and inspirations burst forth rapidly.
"This is the Tree of Enlightenment," Lumironi explained.
"It is said its origin traces back to one of the Seven Divine Trees—the Tree of Wisdom, the source of all spirituality."
"Holding one of its leaves can temporarily activate spiritual awareness."
"But you can only use one leaf per day."
"Using more will actually cause spiritual exhaustion."
Rei nodded, already feeling the surge of mental clarity.
"The conditions required to cultivate this tree are extremely strict. In all of Ruilen, I'm probably the only one capable of growing it."
"I've raised it for two years… and it has produced only a few dozen leaves."
Rei looked at the sparse leaves remaining on the tree.
He couldn't help feeling impressed.
"Big Sister Lumironi… this is far too precious."
"It isn't that precious," she replied with a smile. "I rarely use it myself. The leaves only stimulate spiritual activity—they don't truly increase spirituality."
"For you, they will have the greatest value."
Rei felt genuine gratitude.
"In the future, if I find more ancient seeds, I'll bring them to you."
Lumironi laughed.
"Then I'll look forward to that."
After resting at Lumironi's house for a while, Rei headed to Loynz Magic Academy at noon.
He had already promised Iz to serve as a teacher there for at least two months.
If not for Iz's suggestion, Rei would never have accepted.
There was an old saying:
In your previous life you killed people; in this life you teach pigs.
Rei had mentored plenty of people in his past life.
He understood the truth behind that statement very well.
Doing something yourself was easy.
Teaching others?
That was far harder.
Guided by the map, Rei arrived at Loynz Magic Academy, located not far from the royal palace.
After all, it was the flagship academy of Loren, and the greatest magic academy across the entire Ruilen Continent.
Even many mages from Ruijia dreamed of studying there.
The academy followed an open philosophy:
Anyone from any country could enroll—As long as they met the admission requirements and paid the tuition.
Tuition varied depending on entrance evaluation results.
True geniuses?
The academy might even pay them to enroll.
But genuine incompetents…
They would receive no courtesy.
Mage academies were notorious for their blatant elitism.
They despised fools and worshiped geniuses.
Rei had already put on the faculty robe Iz prepared for him.
It was tailored perfectly.
On his chest was pinned a small badge—
The badge of the Chief Mage.
It symbolized the honor of being Loren's Number-One Mage.
Chief Mage.
The title meant exactly what it sounded like—
The first among all mages of Loren.
As for Fizer…
He already held the position of President of the Ruilen Mage Association, and the association existed across many countries.
He wasn't purely affiliated with Loren—half his influence belonged to Ruijia.
So he had never accepted the Chief Mage title.
Though Rei suspected the real reason was simply that Fizer didn't want the job.
Two Level-6 mages had declined the position—
And it ultimately fell to him.
"Lord Rei."
The cliché situation—"Hey kid, get lost"—did not occur.
The two guards at the gate had already been notified.
They immediately stood straight and saluted.
Rei waved casually and stepped into the academy.
Sweeping his perception across the area, he quickly located Iz's position.
His body flickered—
Transforming into a streak of light before appearing outside Iz's office.
Source energy slipped through the gap beneath the door.
「Source · Spatial Shift」
Flash—
Rei instantly teleported inside.
"Iz. I'm here to fulfill my promise."
"Good."
"That robe suits you."
"Does it?"
Rei glanced down at himself.
"I'm not so sure…"
"You said you wanted to join the Mage Association. I've already contacted Fizer for you."
"He should arrive soon."
"He'll also attend your first lecture."
"So my first class starts today already?"
"Iz, I haven't prepared anything."
Iz tossed him a magic book.
"It's a lecture on Third-Tier Magic: Daylight. Of course, if you want to teach something else, I can arrange it."
Rei caught the book.
He already owned this spellbook.
He had bought it long ago in the City of the Circle and had already mastered the spell.
Now he even possessed the Fourth-Tier Transcendent Spell: Solar Zenith.
"Iz, I should warn you—I've never taught a class before."
"That's fine. You can prepare first… or just improvise."
"If you fail, I'll teach them myself afterward."
Rei looked down at the spellbook.
Fine.
Since he had promised, he might as well do the job properly.
He pulled a chair over and sat down.
Calming his mind, Rei began thinking about how to explain Daylight in a clear and simple way.
As he thought deeper, he began pondering the origins of the spell—
What had the original creator been thinking?
Gradually, he began unraveling its logic.
His thoughts expanded to other light-element spells…
Seeing the focused aura gradually forming around Rei—
Iz smiled faintly.