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Chapter 78 - Year of Frost: Grasping the Divine

The frozen wind had softened into a gentle hum across the northern plains. Ashura Bellet sat cross-legged atop a jagged ice plateau, his black halo faintly pulsating above him, amethyst sparks dancing along his shoulders. The battlefield of named monsters lay behind him, frozen bodies and shattered frost marking the lessons he had just endured. But today's trial wasn't a fight of strength—it was one of mind, soul, and spirit.

"Divinity…" he muttered, eyes closed, letting the icy air bite at his skin. "What is it… really? How do I hold it, command it, bend it to my will?"

His system flickered silently, watching, noting, and providing feedback—but offering no solutions. Divinity wasn't something the system could hand over. This was experience, perception, and comprehension.

Ashura inhaled deeply, the air crisp and sharp, each breath a sharp blade through his lungs. He reached out—not with his arms, but with his senses. Slowly, deliberately, he extended his awareness beyond the flesh.

He felt the faint pulse of the Frosthorn mountains, the subtle heartbeat of the ice and stone. He sensed the residual energy of Cryovore and Skarvok, each still faintly echoing with life force. The divine spark of the gods lingered in the northern horizon, faint but undeniable, like whispers in the cold.

"So… this is it. Divinity isn't just raw power. It's presence, influence… a harmony of your soul with the world."

He moved his hands through the air, drawing invisible patterns, imagining black lightning crackling in unison with amethyst veins, visualizing currents and flows of energy, how it could interact with a living being, a battlefield, or even a god's essence.

Rising to his feet, Ashura stretched, letting Transcendent Wrath flare faintly around him, the black halo flaring in response. Every step he took left a trace of energy along the icy surface, but the focus was not destruction—it was precision, balance, and control.

He began practicing martial forms, drawing from memory of all prior battles:

Shadow Strike Series – fluid strikes enhanced by amethyst lightning, combining speed and telegraph-less movement.

Black Halo Guard – using Transcendent Wrath as both offensive and defensive augmentation, manipulating space and energy around his black halo.

Elemental Infusion – testing synergy with frost, letting the frigid air amplify the voltage of his strikes, integrating elemental manipulation into martial movements.

Each movement, each strike, each step was an experiment, a refinement of the battle-honed body into a living conduit of divine and mortal power.

"Every strike I make must reflect my will… every motion must hold the potential to alter life or death. I can't waste energy. I can't falter."

He slammed his sword into the ice, the impact sending waves of black and purple lightning through the frozen plateau. The shards scattered, but the flow of energy was under perfect control, a subtle dance of destruction and harmony.

Ashura closed his eyes once more, letting the residual essence of Transcendent Wrath and his Amethyst Lightning intertwine in his mind.

Divine power was more than raw energy. It was perception, patience, and the ability to influence everything around you. Authority wasn't a weapon—it was a bridge. The connection between himself and the Nameless God, between wraiths and him, between elemental forces and his strikes, was the very essence of control. Even mortal instinct had to be disciplined; only then could he bend a divine spark to his will without consuming himself.

"It's not something to take… it's something you earn, something you understand… something you integrate."

He opened his eyes. Snowflakes danced in the faint wind, illuminated by the faint amethyst-black glow surrounding him. A cold clarity filled him—the culmination of months of relentless training, named monsters, near-death experiences, and battles in the God's Ruin.

"I understand you better now… but not fully. That will take time… and trials."

Ashura sheathed his sword and began walking across the frozen plains, each step purposeful. His muscles were honed, his body attuned to both elemental synergy and martial precision, and his mind sharpened by understanding the very essence of divine power.

He pulled out his system interface, reviewing stats, new abilities, and the progress of Transcendent Wrath Level 2:

[SYSTEM]

Level: 116 → 118

Strength: 550 → 560

Speed: 540 → 555

Endurance: 570 → 580

Intelligence: 600 → 615

Willpower: 590 → 605

Transcendent Wrath: Level 2 → Mastery Progress 20%

Abilities: Frost-Black Surge Mastery, Elemental Infusion Training, Martial Precision

"Frosthorn isn't done with me… and I'm far from done with it."

He allowed Erevos, his High Marshal Wraith, to materialize, the wraith's shadowy form mirroring his aura.

"High Marshal, watch closely. The next named monsters… we will see how far this understanding can take us."

Ashura's footsteps left faint scorch marks across the ice, faint purple-black lightning trailing behind him like a herald of war. A year in Frosthorn had changed him—not just his strength, but his understanding, his precision, and his grasp of divine essence.

The monsters that lurked in this frozen land were powerful—but Ashura was no longer merely a fighter. He was a master of his body, his lightning, his authority, and the raw flow of divinity itself.

And Frosthorn had yet to show its full fury.

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