I sat down, crossed my legs and started meditating. I felt my concentration towards mana and the surroundings increase as my mind reached a tranquil state. Previously, I couldn't even stand the thought of meditation and quiet, but it was different all together when I started grasping the knowledge and feel of mana around me.

And at the center of mana was the soul. The hub of energy was the collected mana's conductor and storage. The more I delved deeper into the mysteries of this supernatural force, the more I began to understand it's functions, limits and power.

My mana storage, my soul, was enormous enough to handle large quantities of this transcendetal energy. Even with the generation strength of the spirits I have gathered, it took a couple of hours to fully reach the maximum that I could handle.

After waking up this morning, I felt like I needed to overcome this obstacle called limit. I wanted to ascend before progressing further into the dark tunnels and beyond. To become strong enough to defeat my enemies without breaking a finger. This ambition of mine increased my willpower to succeed, and so I reassured myself that it is possible to become more than I am now.

The vigor I accumulated yesterday didn't interfere with my collection of mana. The tamed spirits inside me kept absorbing energies in the cave room and transferred from their embodiment of the soul into mine, all while I was ferociously training. Currently, with the help of yesterday's capped out mana, I started to integrate it into my soul, all the while absorbing even more mana from through the spirits.

I realised that the energy, called mana, and the spectral matter, called soul, were not so different at all, yet they were dimension apart. They were not the same, but they were able to become the same. Using this knowledge that I gained from prowling with my sixth sense, I was able to advance further.

As I further meditated, my body started to respond to the changes occurring. At that moment, I realised another thing which was actually quite logical and needed no pondering to begin with.

Souls are the co-existing force in all organisms, being one with the physical body. Organisms cannot live as one without the other, lacking in a soul or a body. It could be said that the fundamentality of life revolved around those principles, atleast where I was located at. Considering all that, it would be natural that the physical embodiment of myself changed according to my inner self.

I felt as my body restructured itself evenly, just like I was distributing my mana evenly and combining it with my soul.

As I kept constantly absorbing more energy and integrating it, the soul started to expand in size aswell. I already took mental notes of it before meditating and came up with a solution. I wrapped the expanding soul until it was the same size as before, increasing it in density. I wasn't able to manipulate my soul directly; only through the connection with the fusing mana, that needed more time to develop into the spectral matter, was I able to control the structure itself.

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At the moment of my mystical forces merging, my soul was very vulnerable and weak. However, everything so far has been predicted and calculated. If there was one thing my intellect excelled at, it was the ability to learn.

As the weakness permeated in my soul, I took advantage of it and signalled the spirits inside of me to locate my central point. I wasn't able to do everything by myself so tasking the tamed ones inside of me lifted off a great burden. Once the spirits found my central point, which was my stomach, I ordered them to start circling it keenly, like providing cover for their children against harms from outside the ring. The reason that I commanded them to encircle the centre was so that I could accurately create a hole in my soul. If somehow I managed to screw it up by mislocating it, the results would be catastrophic.

Using the external mana that surrounded my meditating body, I started to drill into the centre elegantly and slowly, but firmly. A spiral pattern became visible as I further deepened the hole. It felt a bit painful and uncomfortable, but there was no other choice if I wanted to progress in this hellish cave. I didn't have time to wait like some kind of a patient monk trying to reach enlightenment. My survival was the only enlightenment that mattered right now.

I stopped drilling into my soul after I reached an invisible obstacle. I wasn't able to get it's appearance into my head, but it was letting itself be known through waves of small spasming. I released the external energy in my hold and put my soul form on top priority again.

After several hours of cultivation with half my mana reserves drained, I felt like I had come to a stop. The integrated mana started to push out of my soul as it was so tightly packed that even I had trouble making it any more denser, but after coming this far, I was not gonna give up. The process didn't feel complete.

Unlike before, when I had to use my wits to progress; it was a battle of willpower this time. I was mentally exhausted, dropping it all and taking a long nap was seducing, but I hated the thought of me being lazy. I didn't work a day before coming to this cave, so I saw it as an opportunity to change myself. I wasn't going to abandon everything I fought for just for a nap, only to wake up and regret everything. Those thoughts infuriated me, and through my own rage I found strength. Strength to evolve further as an individual I desire to become.

All the mana that started leaking out suddenly came to a halt. I was not letting my progress diminish any further, and with the rest of the mana I possessed, I pressed everything together. It was the same as placing a wooden plank on a rock wall, hoping that it would combine. I didn't saw it that way though. What I saw was an opportunity right infront of me, and with my willpower, I dominated it.

Instantly, all of the mana compacted into the soul explosively. The feeling of it felt enormous, like I had swallowed a rhino in one gulp.

It wasn't only in the mental plane that it could be felt; a light ripple erupted from my body and clashed against the stone walls of the cave room. As the light dispersed, it's smallest particles danced elegantly around the room before dissipating.

My mind was released from immense amount of pressure and I fell on my back.

I stared at my hands, which looked somewhat different from before. I didn't have the need to wash over myself with the sixth sense, as I could feel that I had..

'..Ascended.'