CHAPTER 149.

The hydra breathed.

Amber was on the ground panting, and she looked up, seeing the incoming starry breath. Her core was akin to a small flame; like one coming from a small matchstick. Almost non-existent and threatening to snuff out at any moment. The once mighty blue fire now looked like it was dying, and she couldn’t understand why.

Her Essence was being forcefully suppressed in the face of overwhelming power, and she didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t one of those moments where she could just willpower her way through. Not to say she wasn’t trying; she couldn’t die here after all. But no matter what she did, she could barely keep herself from falling completely onto the ground.

Amber was in a kneeling position as she saw the breath of the hydra approaching, and she couldn’t help but grit her teeth. She didn’t understand why this being could suddenly suppress her Essence; she didn’t understand why she couldn’t even use any more System skills, but that didn’t matter.

Instead, she looked for a way out and⁠— Accursed Strength ended.

She collapsed on the ground as all her strength left her, and as she looked up she saw the breath before her and she cursed.

“Fuck.”

She didn’t want to die like this, she truly didn’t want to, and if she survived she was going to make sure the hydra paid the price. So, Amber closed her eyes and braced herself.

But the pain she expected never came.

Amber blinked as she saw a golden light covering her. And then, she saw the pendant around her neck shining with that same color. It was the pendant Asil had given her, and that wasn’t everything it was doing.

For it also reignited her core as Amber felt herself regain the control she had lost over her Essence. And with it, the cooldowns to her skills had reset.

[You have received a greater blessing: all ailments have been removed.]

It was a simple notification, but one that was self explanatory. The necklace that Asil had given her carried the blessing of a Primordial Spirit, one that had been given to Asil yet had ultimately landed on her hands. Of course, Amber was well aware that the spirit responsible for the blessing wasn’t any of her friends; it wasn’t Val’leri, or Ax’thra, and much less Sid’fril. So whoever was responsible for it had her utmost gratitude.

“It’s not over yet…” Amber took a deep breath as she stood up amidst the breath of stars.

While she would have loved to have survived this with her own strength, this time she just wasn’t strong enough, and it just went to show how much farther she had to go. But that didn’t matter right now, all that mattered right now was that she was alive.

Amber took a moment to gather herself as the aura surrounding her started to flicker. It wasn’t going to last much longer, but it had already done enough; it had already saved her life. Now, all she had to do was win this fight.

She took a deep breath and placed her hand softly on her chest, and then used Accursed Reignition, shocking herself with curses and more strength, but that wasn’t all⁠— Amber grunted in pain as a hole opened in her chest.

This time she had used the Curse of Disintegration on herself, granting herself even more strength.

“Again.”

She reset the cooldown on the skill and re-used it as she coughed up blood, her strength immediately rose. Her body tried to mend the self-inflicted injury but it was slow. However, that didn’t matter.

Amber stabbed herself with Cursewelder as her spilled blood immediately melted into the surrounding starry breath, and with it, she felt a feeling of exhilaration. She did it three more times as the aura surrounding her became faint and then, she flared God’s Physique to the fullest; with her core being gone and now having a single blue flame, it reached new heights. Of course, she reached for it to take it in and become more, but it wasn’t responding yet. And it wouldn’t respond for some time.

Because she had yet to fully understand what her powers should be ⁠— as Ax’thra had said ⁠— but that soon would come, for she had an idea already. However, right now, there was one thing she was certain of.

Her Essence was free.

And while she wanted to be a warrior, one that fought in the frontlines, she was more importantly Amber⁠— and she liked pushing her limits more than anything else.

And so, she used her last self-enhancement skill, deciding to forget about any reservations she had.

“Accursed Strength.”

She immediately burned its week-long cooldown twice.

All that mattered right now was winning.

The barrier shattered and Amber jumped up towards the hydra who sneered with at least half of its heads.

“It’s futile.”

Amber, of course, ignored it and simply raised her fist as the hydra whipped its massive tail towards her at lightning speeds. She grinned and unleashed all of her skill.

“Exertion.”

And she punched⁠ the tail.

In a single moment, she sent the hydra flying away as its tail went flying, splattering with blood as she grinned. For a moment she felt like fainting, but her nucleus ⁠— the flame within her ⁠— stirred as she regained all her energy.

My Essence is free, Amber thought. And maybe just maybe, I can do more.

The hydra screeched in anger.

“Useless!”

It turned as many of its cores shone, and its injury immediately healed as it landed with a spin, locking its dozens of eyes onto her. It was a gaze filled with hatred, but Amber in response simply raised her hand into the air.

Right now, there was no way for her to match the hydra’s strength, even with all of this it was barely enough. All she had going for her was that she was immune to the hydra’s oppressive control over Essence, but Amber tried to not pay it any mind. Instead, she focused on one of its many cores and stared.

Cores weren’t physical manifestations; they weren’t things you could physically reach, but if she could somehow cripple the hydra, if she could interfere with it in some way…

The battle was as good as over.

But unfortunately, all she could manage with her meager understanding was…

She gripped and a myriad of cuts exploded on the hydra, consuming what would’ve normally been all of her Essence reserves and some more. Blood splattered into the cosmic sea of stars that surrounded them as the hydra grunted.

That said, Amber felt that this power was what her being wanted; the ability to interfere with the hydra’s Essence in some form. And while she was still unsure about the specifics, she knew that this was what she needed for her ascension.

She just had to figure it out. Somehow.

“You…”

Her core was shining brighter now, and its overflowing Essence almost felt limitless; though she didn’t know if she was taking the right path. It almost felt wrong.

“Enough!”

A loud roar echoed as all of its maws shone in a bright white light, and Amber blinked, feeling danger. Then her eyes went wide as the hydra breathed in all directions, firing white lasers of death that were reminiscent of the Abyssal Briroar’s attack. But it wasn’t just one laser, but dozens of them that left trails of explosions.

In a single moment, she found herself running for her life as she was blasted from room to room from the shockwaves. The area itself wasn’t spared, as the ceiling fell everywhere, as some parts of the ground caved in and everything turned into a white canvas.

* * *

Frei blinked, startled awake by a small rumble, one that was growing louder by the second. And soon, other people inside the camp began to notice it as she heard mutters outside of her shared tent with Aveline.

“Just what is going on.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“An earthquake?”

“Ridiculous, quakes don’t happen ‘round here, must be demons.”

Frei went out and immediately looked around, and it wasn’t long before her eyes fixated on the Fallen Tower, it was shaking. It was very subtle but it was happening, many others hadn’t noticed it, but soon some picked on her gaze and also looked.

“Just what is⁠— what?”

Her eyes went wide as the rumble got louder and the tower began to sink. Everyone paused, and a loud bang echoed across the area as a loud destruction underground resounded for everyone to hear, and the tower shook for a moment before it went down by a few meters into the earth.

And as the ravaging phenomenon continued to echo underground, Frei couldn’t help but blink; uncomprehending of what she was seeing. And many other people gasped.

“Someone please tell me I’m dreaming…”

“Stars, this can’t be happening!”

“By the gods, it’s sinking…”

And finally, she said out loud what she was thinking.

“What the fuck…”

* * *

Amber ran as her bones were constantly broken and reformed, at this point she didn’t even know what was happening, all she focused on was on evading the danger and where was the safest spot. Everything else was a white mess, and yet from within it, she could see the shining cores of the hydra.

She knew where it was; far away but it was there, unmoving and laying waste to the land, and this was an opportunity for her. An opportunity for her to stop the attack and maybe even hurt the hydra in a meaningful way. Of course, she still didn’t understand how to hurt its cores. Or interfere with its Essence in some form. However, Amber was sure that once she understood it, she would be able to undergo ascension.

It’s just a matter of time, Amber thought.

But even now, she could still do one thing; inflict severe pain upon the hydra. She reached into the air, summoning Arkara’s Staff and creating a bow of blue flames, as she immediately made three black arrows; this time it was almost instant as her fingers threatened to melt right off. Her Essence output immediately went as high as it could go, and she fired off the black arrows as they turned into an Essence skill.

Primordial Bolt of Disintegration⁠—

They broke through the vast white canvas, like a black object that absorbed all light, and in a single moment they hit the hydra as a loud screech echoed. Numerous explosions resounded as the monster stumbled and the white slightly faded, which was when Amber took her opportunity to rush.

She used two teleports of Quick Dash before resetting the skill and doing it again; in less than a second she was before the hydra, already stabbing her massive sword into its chest as she screamed.

“Battery!”

She blew a hole through the hydra’s chest as it reeled back in anger.

“You⁠—”

Abyssal Blast.

The hydra exploded.

Organs and blood went flying as Amber saw the floating light of one of its cores, and her brain compelled her to reach for it, for it would help her greatly. And so, she did; she reached for it with her covered Essence hand, and for a moment she felt something. Something that made her eyes go wide.

This is⁠—

“⁠—wench!”

With a blast of energy she went flying away as she lost track of her surroundings before a sharp pain and the feeling of all her bones cracking brought her back to reality. She fell onto an unharmed and new floor, and as she looked ahead all she saw was ruination. There were smoking white flames, and the impossibly large space where they were fighting. The hydra was nothing but a small speck in the distance.

The scale of this battle was truly ridiculous, but Amber felt different, because her gut feeling had been right; she had gotten so-ever-closer to what she needed to ascend. Touching the hydra’s core had helped her get a feel for what she wanted to learn, even if it was abstract for now. However, she was sure that if she kept doing it, it would just be a matter of time before she attained her Ascension.

And once that happened, the battle would be as good as over.

Her whole body was throbbing in pain, but she felt more motivated than ever. Now, a question was; would feeling her own core allow her to enlighten herself?

Amber reached into her chest and⁠— dug through her flesh, feeling the spot where her core would be, but she felt nothing even with her Essence. Well, aside from a supernatural warmth that she was quite certain wouldn’t help her. At that she frowned as she saw the hydra regenerating in the distance.

So I guess I’ll have to figure it out by injuring the hydra over and over again. There was no other alternative available.

It was… difficult. But at the same time, it didn’t seem impossible. Amber took a deep breath and spoke to herself.

“Let’s do it again, then.”

In an instant, she reached the hydra using the same technique as before using Quick Dash consecutively, and she was immediately met with an angry shout.

“Agh—”

But this time Amber didn’t do anything fancy as she simply raised her fist and pushed Primordial Exertion to the limit and punched into the hydra’s chest. She immediately blew a hole through it with an explosion of blood, the fire within her rocked as she reached to touch one of the cores of the hydra, and for a moment she felt it as a physical thing; she also felt the Essence surrounding it and even affected it, even if slightly. All while she took that knowledge and absorbed it.

“Ugh, just die!”

The hydra screeched and regenerated as it tried to push her away yet again, but Amber dodged with another use of Quick Dash and immediately punched again; once more using exertion to the limit as this time she almost collapsed right then and there. But just like before, her Essence flared and stabilized her enough for her to get a sense of the hydra’s core.

And this time it felt different.

I’m getting closer…

She was beginning to get an idea of how to interfere with the hydra’s Essence, just a few more times and Amber was sure that she would succeed. And that was enough for her to go all out.

In just a few moments, Amber found herself punching and dodging the hydra, landing devastating injuries as she progressively felt worse and worse physically. All because she exerted herself beyond any limits she had. Not even her core was saving her, but she was also extremely close to figuring it out; the secret to her Ascension. At this point she felt herself actually interacting with the cores of the hydra slightly which seemed to make it angrier and angrier.

And as Amber slid back from the angry hydra, she knew that she was close.

Just one more time.

She dodged, she was now a panting mess as she raised her trembling fist. Her eyes were bleeding, her ears, her nose, her mouth; she was suffering from internal hemorrhage as her body went past whatever primordial human limits it had. But she knew she had to do it. At this point even the flame within her was flickering irregularly, as if it was being constantly disturbed; as if it was threatening to give out at any second, but even then Amber pushed herself.

Primordial Exertion⁠— and she punched.

She blew another hole through the hydra as the monster screeched, and she reached for its core and as she felt it her eyes narrowed.

This is it⁠—

Then, she was blasted by the hydra as her consciousness faded.

It happened instantly. Then, Amber awoke with a jolt of pain as she screamed; the hydra was tearing into her sides with one of its mouths. Then, it breathed a stream of poisonous acid onto her as it kept on holding her.

Amber struggled, but with a flick of her hand and using all of the Essence at her disposal, she decapitated the head holding her via Wind Cleave and Fulminating Slash. Amber went flying and barely got out of the way as the hydra tried to shoot other kinds of projectiles at her. And while she kept dodging, she also stumbled from her injuries.

I barely got to feel it, she inwardly grimaced. But, I got it…

Now, all she had to do was think. She had to process her discovery, and once she did, everything would change.

“Fuck.”

Amber cursed and the hydra teleported next to her as it breathed white flames upon her, and she found herself screaming. It hurt. She kept trying to dodge the hydra, but this time it felt relentless, it was as if it had realized this was its opportunity; that she couldn’t keep this up anymore, but Amber didn’t want to admit that.

It’s not giving me rest… At this point, all she needed was a breather, but it didn’t seem possible.

She screamed, raising Arkara’s Staff and slamming it as lightning blasted the hydra, hoping to get it away from her.

Storm of Destruction.

“Extinguish⁠.”

And with a blast of red, the lightning was gone as the hydra immediately impaled her with a hail of ice spears. Amber grunted as she destroyed the spears with the Curse of Disintegration, getting rid of them as the hydra did another attack of acid, making her curse.

Amber ran away and the hydra⁠— it stopped chasing. She found herself panting as the hydra raised its many maws in the air. Its cores shining like precious glittering jewels as a multicolored light began to emanate from within the heads. And all she felt was danger, one that made her pale.

This was it; this attack was going to end her, and end everything in her surroundings. She had to think. Now.

“You don’t understand it do you?” it asked. “The difference in stratas, between you and me. You merely have a primitive understanding of Essence, meanwhile I was born in it; molded by it.”

One of the hydra heads smirked.

“You never stood a chance.”

Amber ignored all of that and instead looked within herself one last time; at the flaming nucleus within her, at the almost dying fire now. What was once a large blaze was now the size of an ember.

She remembered the feeling of touching the hydra’s cores so many times; how it felt trying to disrupt its Essence and interact with it. And how she tried to extinguish it numerous times; except⁠— that was impossible. She was now painfully aware of that; in order to extinguish Essence like that, the difference between the cores must be several advancements.

And considering she was several advancements below the hydra in that regard, it was an impossibility. Yet she didn’t give up, even with the impending doom, even with the fact that she was about to die. Because there was still something that she could do.

One last thing. Amber breathed.

“No last words?” the hydra asked as the room began to turn white.

Perhaps I can’t extinguish its Essence, but I can still disrupt it.

Amber reached for her core.

“Farewell, insect.”

The hydra lowered its maws, breathing upon her as the flame within her adhered to her very being, wisping wildly as it regained its previous vigor, turning into a fiery blaze. And something within her changed; her understanding of Essence changed, and along with it, her being also began to change.

The world surrounding her turned into a multi-colored hell and Amber grinned.

This is it⁠—

She slashed sending a wave of Essence and the attack fell apart. All of the sparkling colors exploded, disappearing into the air as if they were nothing but fireworks.

In the end, the power I wanted was a lot more straightforward than I ever imagined. Amber cackled before she threw up a mouthful of blood, all while her opponent reeled in shock.

“What did you do?!”

At last, she had done it.

She had finally started the process that was her ascension.