Endless Ascension
Episode 11 – The Stillness That Bleeds
The arena resets again.
Sand. Smooth walls. The smell of burning still clings to my skin, a reminder of the Ash Tyrant's death.
The System's voice is quieter this time, like it knows what waits beyond this pause.
[Day Three Complete]
[Rest Period: 2 Hours]
[Warning: Enemy interference outside official intervals expected.]
So. Even my rest won't be mine.
The Weight of Silence
I drop to one knee. The sand shifts under me like water. My chest heaves with each breath, ribs still cracked from Kael's cleaver, burns still raw across my arms.
But the pain doesn't bother me. Pain reminds me I'm alive. Pain is proof I've killed and not yet been killed.
I stare at the stars in my hands. They're alive now — Infernal Halos burning off them, spectral copies flickering into existence unbidden before fading again. Their runes hum like whispers, some celestial, some demonic, all calling for more blood.
I close my eyes. I hear them. Not words, but hunger.
The Whisper of Watchers
Their voices reach me without warning, not spoken aloud, but woven into the marrow of my bones.
"You climb too fast."
"You threaten the order."
"Break him before the Gates open."
Images flood my head — corpses of gods, cities turned to dust, rivers of blood pouring into black voids. Are they memories? Prophecies? Warnings? I don't know.
I grit my teeth and force the whispers out. They don't get to decide my climb.
⸻
The First Interference
It comes not from the gates, but from the ceiling.
A crack in reality. A fissure splitting wide. From it, a creature of pure void sludge drips into the arena — shapeless, eyeless, a shifting mass of blades and tendrils.
The System doesn't tag it. No level. No name. No rules.
I spin my stars.
"Fine. I'll name you corpse."
The first tendril lashes. I slice it off in a spray of black ichor, only for three more to sprout in its place. The creature moves like water, flowing across the floor, reforming faster than my detonations can shred it.
But I've fought worse.
I hurl both stars into its center mass, split them into twenty spectral copies mid-flight, and ignite them all at once. The arena shakes with the explosion. The void mass screeches before collapsing into a twitching puddle.
It doesn't rise again.
[Level Up] → 151 → 156] (+5 levels)
*[Skill Unlocked] → Void Reaver: 20% increased damage against entities of undefined classification.]
The System did register it — reluctantly. Even outside the rules, my climb continues.
The Second Interference
I don't have long before the next one comes.
This time, shadows stretch across the sand like ink. From them step three figures in ragged cloaks. No faces. No weapons I can see.
The System warns me.
[Mental Assault Detected.]
Suddenly I'm not in the arena. I'm back in the forge — the day I was made. I see the Fighting Gods and Goddesses shaping me from bone and fire. I hear their laughter. I hear their verdict.
"A weapon, not a son. A blade, not a soul. He exists to bleed until he breaks."
For a moment, I falter. For a moment, I almost believe them.
Then I remember the silence after Kharvos died. The look in Kael's eyes when he realized his god-forged armor wasn't enough.
I remember the fear. Their fear.
The illusion breaks like glass. The cloaked figures stumble back, exposed. My stars slice their throats before they can vanish again.
[Level Up] → 156 → 161] (+5 levels)
*[Weapon Upgrade] → Tier 18 Visual Mod – Mindflame: Stars glow with psychic fire, disrupting illusions and mind control.]
Now their tricks won't work.
The Hour Between
For the first time, I sit. Not because I'm weak. Because I choose to.
The System doesn't stop humming, the Watchers don't stop whispering, but the stars in my hands steady. The runes burn brighter, clearer. The Infernal Halos pulse in rhythm with my breathing.
I run my thumb across the edge of one star. It cuts me without effort, blood dripping into the sand. The rune flares, absorbing it.
The whisper changes. Not hunger. Not rage. But promise.
I don't know what I'll become if I keep climbing. Demon. Celestial. Machine. Or something worse. But I know one thing — I'll never stop.
The Last Test Before Day Four
The gates rumble again. Not the usual metallic grind — something sharper. Like teeth grinding bone.
From the darkness step five hunters. Humanoid. Armored. Each one bearing trophies on their belts — skulls, fangs, claws from creatures across countless worlds.
The System whispers their names as one.
[Opponents: LVL 180 – The Collector's Hunters]
They fan out, circling me like wolves. No words. No hesitation. Only the kill.
One lunges first — a spear aimed at my heart. I catch it with a star, shatter the weapon, and ignite the hunter into red mist.
The others close in together. Their teamwork is seamless — blades crossing, attacks layered. For a moment, they press me back, cuts opening across my arms and chest.
I bare my teeth and answer with my own storm.
Both stars split into storms of spectral copies, thirty blades weaving a cage of light around me. The Rune Afterimages scorch everything they touch, the Infernal Halos burning close-range flesh, the Thunder Etch chaining arcs of lightning through their armor.
One by one they fall, detonations tearing limbs from torsos, skulls from spines.
The last hunter drops to his knees. His mask breaks, revealing eyes filled not with rage… but recognition.
"You're the one they fear."
"They should."
I ignite the star against his skull.
[Level Up] → 161 → 166] (+5 levels)
*[Skill Unlocked] → Predator's Claim: Killing blows against humanoid hunters restore a portion of stamina.]
The hunters' corpses vanish. The gates close.
The Breath Before War
The System confirms.
[Rest Period Ends in 20 Minutes]
[Day Four Incoming: Factional Warfare Detected]
I rise slowly, stars glowing brighter than ever. Their runes burn with fire, lightning, shadow, and mindflame, a chorus of every kill I've made.
I look up at the stands where the Watchers hide. I know they see me. I know they're afraid.
I raise one star, let it split into ten copies that hang in the air like a crown of blades.
"You should be afraid."
Because Day Four isn't their trap.
It's my hunt.
⸻
Level: 166
Dual Throwing Stars – Tier 18 (God-Tier, Mindflame Halo active)