CHAPTER 53

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The Frozen Wastes stretched endlessly before me, a vast expanse of white and grey that seemed to go on forever. The wind howled through the barren landscape, carrying with it the bitter sting of ice and snow. None of it bothered me. The cold, the isolation—this was nothing compared to what I had faced. My body was as fresh as ever, my Auto-Heal ensuring that fatigue never touched me, and my mana remained limitless.

There was no one around now, no one to see what I was truly capable of.

I pulled the mask down over my face, the cold metal settling against my skin. It was a precaution—a way to hide my identity, should anyone appear. But here, in the middle of nowhere, I doubted anyone would. The mask was more a symbol now, a reminder that I didn’t need to hold back.

No more restraints.

I stretched my hand out in front of me, feeling the Aetheric Flow pulse through the air. The magic here was thick, saturated with the ancient power of the Wastes. It was strange, almost alien, and it resisted my control in ways I hadn’t expected. The air around me hummed with potential, but it didn’t bend as easily as the magic I was used to.

I raised my hand, summoning a flame to my palm. The fire sparked to life, bright and strong, crackling with energy. That part was easy. Fire had always answered me without hesitation. But when I tried to tap into the deeper, raw magic of the Frozen Wastes, something pushed back.

I furrowed my brow and reached out with my mind, trying to pull the icy energy up from the ground. The snow beneath my feet began to crack, jagged shards of ice rising up. But the spikes weren’t as sharp or as controlled as I had intended. The ice resisted, moving sluggishly, as though the land itself was fighting my influence.

“Interesting,” I muttered. The magic here wasn’t like what I’d encountered before. It was old, tied to the very fabric of the Wastes, and it wouldn’t yield to me so easily. The Aetheric Flow here was raw and wild, and though I could still manipulate it, it required more effort.

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I focused again, this time trying to control the ice more precisely. The ground cracked once more, and a series of sharp ice shards shot up from the ground, but they weren’t as responsive as I wanted. The flow of magic here was thick, resisting my attempts to fully bend it to my will. I could manipulate it, but it felt like trying to grip water with my bare hands—slippery, elusive.

Even with my ability to instantly learn and master magic, the Frozen Wastes’ magic was different. Its ancient nature made it harder to control, as if it carried the weight of centuries untouched. I had to adjust, learn its patterns. This wasn’t about brute force—it was about understanding.

For a moment, I stood still, letting the cold wind whip around me. This wasn’t a place where I could simply overpower the magic with sheer will. I needed to learn its flow, to work with it. It was a challenge, but one I would eventually conquer.

I summoned another flame, larger this time, and sent it spiraling into the air. The fire roared to life, dancing through the sky, but I didn’t stop there. I called upon the ice again, trying to merge the two elements, creating a storm of fire and frost. The flames hissed and cracked as they met the ice, steam rising from the ground as the two forces clashed. But even then, I felt the magic resisting me, as though the Wastes themselves were pushing back.

I narrowed my eyes, raising both hands as I poured more mana into the spell. The flames grew hotter, swirling into a vortex of heat, while the ice spikes surged upward, encasing the firestorm in a jagged crown of frost. The air around me shimmered with the clash of elements, and for a moment, I felt the magic bend to my will.

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But it wasn’t perfect.

The fire moved as I commanded, but the ice lagged behind, slower, less precise. The Aetheric Flow of the Wastes resisted my control, its ancient nature more complex than the elemental magic I had mastered. Still, I could feel it—just on the edge of my understanding. I wasn’t quite there yet, but I would be.

“Just a matter of time,” I muttered to myself.

Hours passed, and I continued experimenting. Fire roared across the landscape, carving through the snow and ice in massive arcs. The ground beneath me shifted and cracked as I raised pillars of ice, trying to shape them with more precision. Each attempt brought me closer, but the magic of the Wastes remained slippery, elusive.

Even so, I didn’t tire. My Auto-Heal kept me refreshed, and my unlimited mana allowed me to cast without limit. The spells flowed effortlessly from my hands, and though the Frozen Wastes’ magic resisted, I could feel myself gaining a better understanding of it with each passing hour.

By the time the sun dipped low in the sky, casting a pale orange glow across the snow, I had reshaped the landscape around me. The ground was scorched in places, melted by the firestorms I had summoned. In other areas, jagged ice towers reached toward the sky, their edges sharp and gleaming in the fading light.

But there was still work to be done. I wasn’t satisfied with my control over the ancient magic of the Wastes. Not yet.

I paused for a moment, breathing in the cold air as I scanned the horizon. The Frozen Wastes stretched out endlessly, and the sense of foreboding I had felt since arriving here hadn’t faded. If anything, it had grown stronger.

I reached out again with my Analyze skill, searching for any disturbances in the Aetheric Flow. There—faint, but growing stronger. A ripple in the magic, like a distant pulse, coming from the north.

Something was coming.

I prepared myself, readying both fire and ice as the disturbance grew closer. The wind howled, carrying with it the scent of something dark, something dangerous. I narrowed my eyes, watching the horizon as the shadows began to shift.

And then I saw it—a figure, barely visible in the distance, moving with unnatural speed. The Aetheric Flow twisted and warped around it, as though reality itself was bending in its wake.

A Void Stalker.

The creature moved silently, its form flickering in and out of existence as it approached. I could feel the distortion in the Aetheric Flow, the way the magic bent around the creature. It wasn’t just a physical being—it existed between worlds, slipping through the cracks in reality.

I raised my hand, summoning a wall of fire to surround me. The flames roared to life, casting long shadows across the snow, but the Void Stalker didn’t slow down. It moved through the fire as though it wasn’t even there, slipping between the cracks in the flames.

“Not bad,” I muttered, impressed by the creature’s speed.

But I wasn’t done.

I called upon the ice, summoning jagged spikes from the ground, encircling the Void Stalker in a prison of frost. The spikes shot upward, but again, the creature moved faster than I expected, slipping through the gaps in the ice with ease.

It was fast. Too fast.

I activated Analyze, focusing on the way the magic flowed around the creature. It wasn’t fully physical—its form existed between this world and another, which was why it could slip through my attacks. I needed to trap it, pin it down before it could escape.

I summoned a firestorm, the flames spiraling around me in a massive vortex. The heat was intense, melting the snow and ice beneath my feet, but the Void Stalker hesitated, its movements slowing as it approached the edge of the firestorm.

Now.

With a wave of my hand, I sent the firestorm crashing toward the creature, flames spiraling outward in a massive wave. The Void Stalker moved again, slipping through the edges of the fire, but I was ready this time. I summoned another wave of ice, crashing down from above, trapping the creature between the two elements.

The Void Stalker let out a low, guttural hiss as the fire and ice closed in around it, the two forces merging in a violent explosion of steam and magic.

For a moment, the creature struggled, its form flickering in and out of existence as it tried to escape.

But there was no escape.

The Void Stalker collapsed, its form dissolving into the shadows, leaving only the faintest trace of its presence behind. The magic around me returned to its natural state, the Aetheric Flow settling once more.

I let out a slow breath, watching the steam rise from the ground. I wasn’t fully in control of the magic of the Wastes yet, but I was getting closer. And I wasn’t going to stop until I had mastered it.

The Frozen Wastes would bend to my will—eventually.