For a moment, Eiseldawn stood still with his hands raised. Then the golden lines from the golden tree spilled into the clearing, seeping deep into the soil, each one shaping itself into large patterns that crawled and spread across the whole clearing. Within a heartbeat, a large circle soon formed, with three smaller circles within, each placed at the edge of a three sided construct. Aster stared as the markings filled the available space, turning what was once a clear field into a gleaming array.

But it didn't end there.

As the strange mutterings of his master continued to drone on, the ground shook and split with tremors that spread throughout the groove. From each of the smaller circles, large grey bowls of stone rose from the ground, accompanied by a rectangular platform that rose from the center of the array. Aster found his attention gripped by the feat of magic taking place before him. When the shakings finally stopped, the clearing was left with stone constructs forged from the ground itself, all etched and connected by intricate markings, their glow fluctuating in waves of spilled light. To his senses, the array felt powerful and yet contained, the outer circle serving to seal its energy within.

Once everything was done, Eiseldawn lowered his hands.

"It is done." He looked around with a hint of pride. "This is where the ritual will take place. All that is left are the three components required to raise the one into an ascendant."

Aster gawked at the array. "What is this ritual?" He had to ask. At first, he thought he had an idea of what he was getting himself into but it looked like this was much more than any kind of altered meditation he had ever tried.

Eiseldawn beamed as he spread his hands wide. "What stands before is the Ritual of Ascendance, also known as the Ascendant Ritual. Just as I was bestowed the opportunity by the Forefather, I now give it to you."

He slowly began to walk towards the platform in the middle, his archaic-yet-still-young face trapped in a time long past. "All those years ago, when the Forefather first gave me a chance to alter my fate, I admit I was hesitant. He told me what we were about to do was dangerous and frankly admitted that while this ritual was as much an opportunity for me, it was also a chance for him to test and see if it would work on weaker beings just as it does on higher ones. At the end of the day, though, he gave me the same choice I gave you and so per tradition, I would now begin to explain exactly what you are about to go through."

His fingers lightly trailed the stony surface of the platform.

"In a short form, the Ascendant Ritual is meant for those who are truly ready to do anything to rise to greater heights. Those willing to go through with it will find their potential deepened, their bodies transformed, and their affinity for magic raised to a new degree. But most importantly, it would sharpen their minds, making it indispensable in seeking the enlightenment required to breakthrough to higher orders."

He turned towards the outer circle. "As an arcane practice, the ascendant ritual was built on the Three Principles of the Cosmos. A few like to call it the Three Firmaments of Magic but I digress."

He gestured towards the first bowl on his right.

"From the body, our breath rises."

He then motioned towards the bowl that faced the golden tree.

"From the soul, our will birthed."

He finished with the last bowl on the right.

"From Mana, our desired manifested."

He fully circled back to Aster.

"It would do well for you to remember this. There are a lot more nuances that go through the three pillars, but for now, all you need to know is that it's through these pillars that the mages, witches, and heralds are born."

He went over to the bowl placed on the right and pulled some kind of delicate flower with vivid red and pink petals out of the thin air. Its rich, heavy fragrance soon spread all over the meadow until it was quickly sealed within the bowl. Just a whiff was enough to liven Aster's body. He didn't even get a chance to ask what it was before he got his answer.

"Here, on the pillar of the body, shall lie the Vitalis flower, so that no matter what may come, your body would be brought back even at the brink of death."

Walking on the next bowl, this one facing the golden, Eiseldawn raised his hand and one of the golden leaves detached from a nearby branch, landing directly onto his outstretched palm.

"Here, on the pillar of soul, shall lie a leaf from the soul tree of life. One that would act as an anchor for your soul, to make sure that no matter what happens, your soul is still tethered to the body."

Eisel then strolled towards the last bowl and pulled out a familiar cube, one that glinted in the spreading darkness.

"On the last bowl, the pillar of Mana, shall lie a starite stone, one that was on the cusp of turning into a tesseract, a treasure that would serve well to further deepen your astral affinity."

Even through the distance, Aster could still feel the remnant of the telltale connection he had shared with the stone during the last meditation. With increasing dread, he watched his master describe each of the components to him but it wasn't until he finished that he forced himself to calm down. From the start to the end, it was very clear that the ritual was specifically tailored for him. Now all he had to do was wait and do his part.

After Eisel placed the gleaming stone on the last bowl, the array snapped into a cohesive whole. He then turned towards Aster with a hint of schadenfreude.

"With that placed, the ritual is complete. But before we start, you should probably know about the price this ritual will exact on you."

For a moment, Aster felt his blood freeze but he stiffly nodded. That was the other thing that his master had made very obvious to him since they first met. Every new strength has a cost.

"What...price should I pay?"

Eiseldawn stared at him with his golden, flickering eyes until he sighed. "In all honesty, I would have much preferred to hide this from you but the ritual itself demands it. The ascension cannot be fully achieved without the true will of the wielder, so listen well, child."

Eiseldawn wandered to the center of the array, slowly circling the middle platform.

"While the ascendant ritual would raise one to a higher state, it wouldn't be able to do so without exacting a price. Just like the Forefather who did this for me, I have also tried to mitigate its limitations but there is only so much I can do, even with the available priceless treasures at hand."

He roughly gestured at the 3 bowls.

"Nevertheless, the price of ascension comes in two folds. The first one lies in the life force you possess. What you might not have known is that each mage, witch, or herald can vastly increase their lifespans when they breakthrough to higher orders. What the ascendant ritual will do is demand half the life force you naturally possess and then take away half the life force you would have obtained if you had advanced naturally."

When he heard that, Aster reeled back in shock.

"But...wouldn't that mean I would age twice as fast? Why would anyone want to go through such a thing?" he sputtered.

Eiseldawn raised his hand to stem further questions. "I'm not finished, child. To put this into perspective, a mortal can live up to 80 years if they are lucky, while a mage can live twice as long if he gets strong enough. The ritual will only demand half your life span as you are right now, as you can still be considered a mortal barely into his first step to magic. And then, as you further breakthrough, you would only get to enjoy half the benefits that other mages enjoy, while making your path to sainthood infinitely easier. That is what makes this ritual worth it. In addition, you would only have to ascend to sainthood before your life force ends to completely finish the debt."

Aster did a quick count in his head.

"That would mean...the ritual will only leave me with 40 years to begin with, and as I get stronger, I will only get to enjoy at most another 40 years of life compared to other mages?!!"

Eiseldawn smirked in response.

"Why do you think I was known as a commoner who reached sainthood in just under 100 years? The Forefather was a lot of things but he never held back on a promise. The priceless chance to elevate my talent was what made me go through with it in the end. But this is only the first half of the price the ritual toils. The other part is the one you should really be wary of."

He took a deep breath before he continued.

"This is the part where I sometimes wish the Forefather hadn't warned me about it, as at times, the anticipation of it can be worse than the real experience. Since the ritual would have to transform your body inside out, the suffering you will undergo through the process will be unlike anything that you have ever come across."

Aster puffed his chest. "I'm familiar with pain. It can't be any worse than everything I have gone through."

Eiseldawn couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you trying to compare the ritual to the altered meditations me and your father had made you go through? Child, this would be the worst pain you have ever gone through. Worse, you cannot even allow yourself to blackout, as there is a part of the ritual where a mental component is required...no needed. At the time, you will feel like cursing your luck. No, you would be willing to kill me if you had the strength," he chuckled, "but this is the rite of passage you have to go through. As have I, so have you."

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His ethereal robe fluttered as he floated towards him, his golden eyes intense, almost challenging him.

"What would it be, child? After finally learning what the ritual entails, would you still want to go through with it?"

His face pale yet determined, Aster stared at his master, standing in front of a ritual that promised to change his life. He didn't hesitate any longer.

"I do."

Eiseldawn smiled a predatory smile as he beckoned with his hand. "Then step right onto the platform and we shall begin. Remember, follow my instructions exactly as I tell you to and I will make sure you come out of this reaping as many benefits as possible."

He made Aster lie down on the platform. After making sure he was as comfortable as he could get on the stony surface, he then instructed him to close his eyes and enter a meditative trance where he could completely relax his body while still keeping his senses aware of everything that was going on. Staring at the prone form of the child on the platform, he still hesitated. During all these years, all he had done, all he had endured, and all he had prepared had come down to this moment. There was a lot he hadn't told the child—secrets with far-reaching consequences along with plots that stretch back hundreds of years—from the very moment the Forefather first stepped on these grounds. But several times, the child had been given the option to leave. Now, through this ritual, they will be bound together once and for all, for better or for worse. He could only hope he chose well, as the journey ahead of them wouldn't be for the fainthearted.

Shaking his head, he took a deep breath he never needed and then pulled his attention back to focus. After making sure everything was where it was supposed to be, with the moonlit rays kissing his form, Eiseldawn solemnly closed his eyes and slowly exhaled.

It was time.

"And so I begin," he softly said for the benefit of the child, before several arcane mutterings poured from his mouth. At his behest, he beckoned the circles to his will, pulling the ambient mana to further power the ritual. On the silent night of the full moon, the arcane words were sung into the air, charging the vicinity with so much power that Aster could sense the hairs on his skin rising. His eyes might have been closed but his senses were wide open and all he could feel was an increasing whirlpool of energy, one that circled faster and faster, sucking all of the mana around it. When it finally encroached on his body, where he felt a tendril of his mana pulled into the storm, a sense of panic nearly made him break his trance panic until he heard his master's words.

"Do not be afraid, child," his voice somehow reached him through the chaos. "Do not fight against it. To be reborn, the old has to be replaced. Work with the ritual child and let go of all your mana."

At first, Aster struggled to comply as his body was instinctively holding onto what was its own. But this was where the value of the harsh training he had gone through showed itself. Already familiar with pulling mana from his reserves, Aster forcibly willed his body to do exactly that. There was even no need for a spell, as all he had to do was focus on controlling his body and let his mana dissipate into the air, where it was quickly swallowed by the maelstrom of energy, increasing its strength.

Before he knew it, his mana reservoirs were entirely emptied. Holding on to the meditative trance despite the sudden exhaustion he felt from having his mana completely sucked out of him, Aster felt his mana add to the magnitude of the swirling vortex around him. When ritual could no longer pull a single tendril of mana from him, it enveloped him in a thick cloud, the strength of the energy powerful enough to lift him off the ground. He floated into the air, his heart soaring as he hovered over the platform. Despite staying adrift almost like the air itself held him, he was still aware of everything going on around him and thus he didn't miss the words his master uttered next.

"I'm sorry for this child," he whispered, signaling what was coming next.

The pain.

Unbeknownst to Aster, the moment he had left the ground, the golden leaf had floated off the bowl it had sat upon and drifted towards him. Under his will, Eiseldawn made it merge with his head, the leaf completely submerging into his skull. He did the same for the Vitalis flower but this one was sent directly to his chest, sinking into it to settle on the heart. Once that was done, he again silently apologized to the child and then flicked his hand to begin the next phase of the ritual. The one he had warned the child about.

On Aster's side, nothing could have prepared him for this.

One second he was feeling a euphoria washing over him when one of the ritual components merged with his heart, and the next, the maelstrom of energy that had at first previously devoured his mana, now began to tear into him; his blood, muscles, and organs were all slowly consumed by the hungry storm, turning what was once a golden globe of swirling energy into a crimson orb that shredded everything it touched.

For the first time in his life, Aster knew what true pain felt like. He couldn't scream, he couldn't move, and he couldn't do anything worthwhile to save his life. In fact, he felt as if he were perfectly chained in the air while a horde of gnats feasted on him piece by piece. The nerves on his body screamed at him to run, hide, or escape the hot, molten lava searing his flesh as it sought to end his life. He could feel the hungry vortex getting closer and he could sense his fingers and bones getting torn apart bit by bit. It was all too much for him, and part of him desperately wanted to let go to escape the damning torment that felt like it could shatter his very soul into pieces. But just before the darkness of the oblivion took him, just before he could feel the bliss from the torture, he heard a certain voice in his ear, the same voice that had brought him here—the same voice that now encouraged him.

"Remember the words you told me, child. Remember the vow you took."

If his throat was still intact, Aster would have screamed obscenities at the dead man, a shade that had enticed him to willingly take upon such anguish. At that moment, he was willing to do everything it took to kill him, his enemies, and the whole world for putting him through such an ordeal. Ironic though, his words also served to remind Aster of what he had lost and that was enough to pull his fading mind back from the edge.

I'm willing to do whatever it takes.

At the time he uttered those words, they resonated with his heart. But it wasn't until now that he could fully comprehend what it meant. A large part of him still wanted to let go, still wanted to delve into the abyss and escape the pain, the torture, the homesickness, everything. But then a small part of him, the one that has gone through everything, still stubbornly held on no matter what. The one that had gone through the blooded carnage at the mansion, lost his mother and father on the same day, survived the woods and its ghastly monsters, outwitted a group of hunters sent after his treasures, raged at the legacy found wanting and repeatedly made the same choice, again and again, all in an effort to one day wreak his vengeance upon those who had taken everything from him. That part ignited something inside of him. The maelstrom was still devouring him, the pain was still overwhelming but in the middle, at his center, he found his spark of life held in place by the golden leaf. In a frenzied effort, he forcibly pulled his focus away from his pain and suffering and the rest of the world. Only the spark and the leaf existed in his eyes and so, with the desperation of a drowning man trying to live, he furiously held on. Startlingly, his soul suddenly gave and for the first time since Aster had become a mage, he felt a deeper connection to himself in ways he had never before.

The array was relentless, the maelstrom of energy quickly encroaching on the limbless torso floating over the platform. Aster could feel his life ebbing away even as he found sanctuary within his soul, but when it finally neared his heart, something changed, and the euphoric feeling he had felt before rushed back in a flood. What had seemed to be unending waves of pain, were swallowed by a bliss so intense that for a moment, he was overwhelmed by what was happening in his body.

That was when he became aware of something deeply concealed in his heart. He inwardly heard a sound akin to a glass shattering and the overpowering deluge of vitality washing out of his heart intensified even further, spreading wide into the array. The magical energies of the Vitalis flower were healing him, restoring his ravaged body but then there was something deeper into his heart, something Aster had never sensed or felt before, that let out a pulse in rhythm with the healing wave and transformed everything in its path. The first pulse pushed the body to quickly form the inner organs, including the lungs, stomach, and kidneys. Each organ that was once devoured was quickly restored, followed by another pulse that soon formed bones, muscles, and then a new skin, so pink and healthy it could be likened to a newly born baby.

Eiseldawn could only stare as a process that should have taken several hours, even with the aid of the flower, finished with only a few pulses of the newly invigorated heart. Where once stood a small boy with a gaunt body and dark hair, now there was only a teenager, taller and leaner, with every inch of his body carved into perfection. His hair fell in lustrous waves of purple-red and if he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes, Eiseldawn could have sworn the child was wholly replaced by another being. Although it had been such a long time since he had undergone his ritual, he was sure the changes he had experienced weren't as shocking as he was currently witnessing. It was almost as if the child had been dipped into a vat of golden energy and then came out looking completely new from head to toe.

When the pain finally subsided, Aster felt himself pulled from the center of his soul, and then stretched over his whole body. All at once, his senses were overwhelmed as he found his new body strange but somehow familiar. In and around him, everything felt raw, different, and powerful. A new need was immediately made clear to him and he realized he somehow knew his new body was starving and missing something.

The starite stone was the one that floated next.

"This is the opportunity we both have been waiting for." The voice that he had now learned to be wary of whispered. "Quickly settle into a trance and pull the mana from the stone towards you. There can be no clash now that your body is born anew. The more you can devour from the stone, the more foundation you can build for yourself."

With his newborn clarity, several thoughts quickly passed through his mind before he understood. With the previous warning still clear in his mind, he wouldn't have dared allow the stone's pure mana to touch him with his previous body, but that was no longer a problem with his currently remade body. Exerting his will over the stone, he pulled the starlight mana into him. It was then that he realized his body was craving mana, which he proceeded to gorge himself on with a vengeance born out of pure despair.

On the outside, Eiseldawn watched over everything with a gleaming gaze. He hadn't missed the strange pulse that had emanated from the child's heart and a part of him was exasperated that the child could still surprise him. That pulse had quickened the healing process by more than tenfold, something that he was still struggling to wrap his head around. But that was a mystery he could solve later, as the child had finally arrived at the most crucial stage of the ascendant ritual. This step would be the foundation upon which all of his future feats would stand. What he didn't expect was the chaos that soon followed.

The mana that had taken several decades to accumulate was now being absorbed by the child at a visible rate. No, he was no longer a child; he was his apprentice. The starite stone got smaller and smaller and as if it wasn't enough, he could see his body pulling mana from the ambient air towards him in a rising vortex, almost an inverse of the beginning stages of the ritual. Knowing that if it continued any further, the array would run the risk of drying up, the shade waved his hand and helped concentrate the ambient mana within the ritual. This was at the point where his apprentice body was being made whole, and thus a lack of mana would have threatened to stunt his potential for life.

Even when Aster felt like his body was just about to be sated, he still pushed on. He instinctively knew that once he stopped, he would regret never knowing the true limits of his new body. Once, his body instinctively sucked the mana from the stone and the surroundings, but Aster took it upon himself to take over and continue the process no matter what. His body soon felt bloated. When it was clear his reservoirs couldn't hold in anymore mana, even as he forced it, Aster didn't give up as he redirected the mana into his newly made body, where he could feel each cell vivifying from the deluge. By this point, he knew he wanted his soul, body, and bones to be soaked in so much mana that there wouldn't be any more need for this kind of ritual ever again. On his side, Eiseldawn could only stare at his antics, his unexisting heart slightly filled with a foreboding that he might have birthed a much worse monster when compared to him.

When the vortex finally calmed down, the remnants of the energies slowly dissipated into the air. Aster's naked body was slowly let down to the pedestal, his robe destroyed during the tumult. With none of the blood to show for it, he took his first breath as he opened his eyes, a savage smile on his face.

"I did it." He rasped it to the sad smile of his master. "I did it. I lived." He repeated before he promptly fainted, the trauma of pain and torture he had gone through catching up to him.

Eiseldawn wreathed his body with a blanket, then carried it into the air as he slowly sighed.

"You really did it, child; you managed to live through it all. Now it's only a matter of time to see what kind of monster I have birthed."