We are as if reflections of countless lives lived, of worlds witnessed.
We are a flourishing seed of an idea changing. Redefined by our own conception.
A fire burns. But a fire also seals a wound.
All can be changed. All can be made true.
All can be made ours.
-The Dying Queen
57
Concept Ascension
Wei wasn't sure what to expect when he selected the Concept Ascension, but as the space within him grew, his sorcery resonated with his mastery nodes, and he felt a vague sense of gravity emanating from within the emptiness. It was like a small singularity drinking in the myriad essences and concepts that composed the world beyond Wei's System. It was an uncanny thing to glimpse inside oneself, but thanks to his Aspect of Omniscience, Wei had no trouble doing so.
As his perception passed into the small sphere of space that existed within his soul, Wei felt the sensation to be exactly like looking into the concept core for his class earlier. The only difference was that his Concept Core of Destruction manifested in an already defined environment, a small five-square-kilometer realm where devastation reigned eternal.
The Concept Ascension, however, was nothing more than a pit of darkness contrasted with a single pinprick of white at its epicenter. Swirling trickles of essence were drawn in from the world beyond and converted into lumens of source for Wei. As he continued his examination, a new System notification materialized.
Ascension
>Path of Harvest — All that is can be unmade, and all that evolves will eventually return to its point of origin. Unlocks a novel concept, Harvest, for your System. This concept is only available for the Keter system. The system host can combine masteries, sorceries, Aspects, and experiences to generate new Skills and Titles befitting the concept of the Harvest.
Concept (Harvest): This concept entails the disassembly, absorption, and reconfiguration of material properties, other concepts, and essences. May you claim your enemy's power and use it to forge their undoing.
"Skills?" Wei said, speaking to his system. "This is my System Specialization then. Or a class?"
No, his System responded. We are the Concept Breaker. We are Keter. We are unable to bestow classes or specializations upon another. This concept is for our use specifically and was fully unlocked as you completed the Sorcery Advancement path for Source Refinement. Completing the Sorcery Advancements for Source Amplification, Aspectshaper, and Liminal Bridge will unlock you the Path of Augmentation, Path of Imposition, and Path of Boundary concept ascensions. When those Concept Ascensions are unlocked, you will also be able to use them to forge new Skill and Titles for yourself in accordance to their core themes and ideas.
"So I will have to build these Skills then," Wei said, frowning to himself. He didn't see any new options appearing among the notifications. For his Class, when a Skill was offered, there was a menu with a list to pick from. Right now, he saw nothing aside from the Concept Ascension details.
Indeed, his system answered. As you are the host, you can now use your experiences to fashion new Skills of your choosing. Titles alter how you interface with the world, and are passive configurations of your potential. These creations will be limited by the concept they are birthed from, your aspect advancement levels, and your current masteries. An investment of experience and an incubation period will be necessary for every skill cultivated.
And there it was. Wei's life was turning full circle again. He started this day as a cultivator, fleeing, fighting, running, surviving. He traveled up the Claimed Hells and, over the last twelve hours, he slew more foes and engaged in more serious fights than he had over the course of his entire life as a disciple of the Drowned Sky Sect. Mental weariness began to settle over Wei as he reviewed just how much he'd been through. Had it only been a day? Minutes and hours here felt like days and months respectively.
Shaking off the malaise, Wei summoned his Broken Crescent and focused his perception on the Concept Core now imbued within his Eidolon. Once more, he peered into that realm of destruction and found a disconcerting similarity between it and the hollow expanse materialized within his system. This was what the orc had hinted to him about, the Concept Core.
Mepheleon was giving his Classed System-related features, or so it seemed. Extracting his Trespasser's Compendium via the inventory, Wei looked through the forums and briefly skimmed over all details relating to concepts and Concept Cores.
What he found was mostly adjacent to the details his System provided. Furthermore, he also quickly discovered that Concept Cores provided to the Classed of the claimed hells were a major reason why Mepheleon was so popular a host. Perhaps "popular" wasn't the right word. "Favored" might be more accurate.
As it was, all Classed that reached the Knight tier could begin constructing their own desired skills. All it took was an investiture of experiences, sins, and feats.
Experiences—that seemed to be the thing that nourished these concept cores above all else.
Directing his Intent inward, Wei seized his concept core, and suddenly several options loaded into his vision.
Concept Core: Harvest (Minor)
>Invest Masteries
>Invest Experience
>Infuse Aspect
>>Determine Skill Pathways
>>Determine Title Pathways
Without a moment's hesitation, Wei extracted the tendril of Intent from his System and infused it into his Class's Concept Core instead. At once, the same set of options appeared in his field of view. The young master slowly began to consider the potential that was offered by the concepts he now had. He also thought back to the Spearsaint Class Specialization. That Specialization had a concept directly offered—substantial benefit provided long before most classes would ever reach the Knight tier.
Wei's mind processed all these details like a fluid stream. His thoughts were clear of confusion or lethargy, with the only thing impeding the speed of his conceptualization being the sheer amount of sensory detail flooding into his awareness. As he was currently running Lesser Hollow Mind, his thoughts and emotions were muted, preventing him from being overwhelmed as the sphere of his Omniscience occupied almost 800 meters of space.
With each passing second, he could feel invisible demons fleeing from the area, fleeing from the sheer amount of essence from his class, not to mention his system itself.
Wei activated his inventory once more, but instead of going through his items, he looked over his more human cargo instead and extracted the Knight of Lust. Space clenched right before Wei as the dragoness materialized in a collapsing heap. She didn't cry out or try to flee. Instead, she merely shivered, the broken glass cracking beneath her as she shifted on her sides.
Reaching into her aspects using his intent, Wei looked for a concept core and found nothing. But as he continued his examination, he detected a strange feeling deep within her. It was almost like a spiritual scab of some kind, a hardened patch that impeded the flow of all essence within her.
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"Do you have a concept core?" Wei asked, speaking to the Knight without any pretense.
"No," she replied, her voice barely a moan.
"Did you lose your Concept Core?"
"Yes," she answered, almost a sob.
“How?”
“I betrayed my Circle. They—I broke my contract. They took it out from me. They left me… they took my levels as well. I was… the Inheritors were going to give me a lawyer. They were going to get my future back for me…”
The young master frowned at that. He didn't know one could have these cores extracted, but that made sense. How else would Mepheleon bestow such a gift upon his class if they couldn't be transferred? And then Wei's thoughts veered slightly. Did he use his own Path of the Harvest to extract other people's concept cores?
Yes, his System said without any hesitation.
Well then, this was going to be very interesting. The young master grinned. Regarding the Knight of Lust a moment longer, he drew her back into his Inventory, prepared to take his leave. Examining his surroundings, he made sure that he claimed everything the orc left him, taking the contract and the Spatial Navigator into his Inventory as well, before heading to retrieve Rafael.
Snatching his Broken Crescent from where it hovered in the air, the young master lifted himself upon a rising gale. Soon, he shot through the air, moving at well past twice his original speed. His body felt like a whip in motion, the winds whistling and parting around him. He allowed himself to go even faster as he cut, using his control over calamity to part the wind resistance and lessen the touch of friction on his body.
The outer perimeter of his perception passed over a dome-shaped castle formed from glass, and Wei regarded the structure with a faint look of fascination as the details of an enemy signature loaded into his mind.
Bastion of Deception Lv. 65
Another bastion, a counterpart variant to the others that Wei encountered in the Moongrave of Wrath. He detected eleven or so signatures within the small castle. Three of them were Faebloods, one of them was Rafeal, and the rest were all demons scurrying within the reflection. But they too were fleeing, escaping this section of the Moongrave as they sensed Wei's sudden approach.
As much as watching demons flee filled his heart with pride, he ultimately wanted to be capable of a clandestine approach, something to not broadcast his presence to his foes. As he touched down, dropping through the toppled wall he made when he first hit the Knight of Pride, he walked down the hall and observed flashes of brilliant light splashing from mirror to mirror.
Peeking into the small cell where Rafael and the Faebloods resided, he watched as the lich babbled on about the merits of community and unity against the foul leviathan that was the capitalist market.
Ciphers danced around his skeletal fingers before they formed what seemed to be a golden bell. As it rang, waves of vitality washed into the elves and mended their wounded bodies evermore. When Wei last saw them, two of their number were nearly on death's door, with the final one barely putting up a fight against the orc. Right now, the young master wouldn't say they were completely healed, judging from how much of their bodies were scabbed over and still slightly bleeding, but they were nowhere near mortally wounded.
Without further hesitation, he made his way toward the cell, and as he entered the doorway, the only uninjured Faeblood noticed him, jolted in surprise, brought up their bow, and triggered a skill. The tip of their arrow came alight with the essence of fire. Wei flicked a finger at the elf, and a blade of wind severed the strings of their bow.
The tall, long-eared flinched back as their arrow clattered uselessly to the ground. Wei simply walked past them, ignoring their presence altogether.
Little wonder the orc was disappointed. This one was pathetic, and the other two were even less. They weren't going to survive this Moongrave. But then again, he had thought the same about Agnesia and her mother at first.
"Ah, Wei, you're… here," Rafael said.
Wei sensed a note of disappointment in the lich's voice. "Were you hoping for my death, lich?" Wei asked.
Rafael simply laughed, as if the young master had just told the most absurd joke. "You! Dead! Ridiculous, my friend. If you fall here, how am I to get back?"
Wei suppressed a scoff of scorn, as if the lich cared about getting back. He was willing to abandon the group, abandon Wei, to preserve his own life. If Wei had actually been killed in battle, then things would be even better for Raphael. He could simply continue onwards, pass through this Moongrave, and arrive at another sanctuary before completing the trials, or at least die during the attempt.
"So, since you aren't dead, I guess it means that you resolved the problem of the Knight, then?" Rafael leaned in slightly. His field of invisibility was still present, though inactive, Wei could sense it as if a transparent sheet hovering about the lich's form, prepared to wrap around and trigger at any moment.
"I achieved Class Tier Ascension," Wei said, his Lesser Hollow Mind suppressing some of his enthusiasm. Wei considered deactivating the mastery earlier, but alas, his Enlightenment told him that the sheer amount of sensory detail brought on by his Omniscience would inflict a severe headache the likes of which he wouldn't care to experience.
Wei equipped both Spatial Navigators as proof of his victory and also as a slight taunt against the lich. He also neglected to mention the exchange he held with the orc, alongside the contract. That was going to be for his eyes only. He now held two keys across the Moongraves, and the lich—well, they would never get anything. Not unless Wei had a means of controlling them further. The thought of breaking Rafael’s will returned again, but thinking of how hollow and useless the Knight of Lust now was made him hesitate. The lich, left as a puppet, would no longer be a threat, but they also wouldn't be of any use either.
And ultimately, Wei was a selfish, selfish man.
"This is the one you spoke of?" the Faeblood who tried to shoot Wei earlier said. Their eyes were wide, far larger than a human's. Their skin was also impossibly perfect as well. A soft melodic noise echoed from deep within their being, and Wei regarded each of the Faebloods with a quick look. He had seen others—the Trine, as Rogi had called them. Those Faebloods had kept their distance from Wei, were masked by costumes of bark and reaching leaves. These ones wore more understandable attire, leather, and iron. Additionally, their song was far softer than that which the Trine could channel.
"Yes," Rafael said. "This is the cultivator who has been helping me get through the tower. The Hunter-Killer.”
So that was the story the lich settled on. That was wise. It painted a good image of Wei. Wei liked that.
"Then we are in your debt," the first Faeblood said, placing a hand over their heart and bowing slightly.
The young master regarded them, and only after a moment's hesitation did he place his fist against his palm, offering the slightest of salutes. The Faeblood did nothing to earn such honor, but ultimately they mattered little. Wei was here to uphold his desired traditions, to enforce his vaunted ethics. The Faebloods were merely the canvas for his virtue to be expressed, nothing more.
"If they are healed, then we are done here," Wei said, speaking to Rafael. Wei returned to the other Moongrave, looking over the elves. He considered them briefly. The cruel and wasteful option would be just to leave them here. They would undoubtedly end up dead or claimed by another hunter, in such a case. But that very idea offended the young master. They were just as much his spoils as the levels he gained, the ascensions he earned, and the Artifacts he claimed from his fallen foes.
The Moongraves were vast and expansive, and most of the demons were weak, made to be chaff. These Faebloods, though lacking as warriors, could still do something that Wei couldn't alone. Be in other places, complete other rifts. As he delegated tasks of lesser difficulty to his other comrades, so too could he give these Faebloods assignments—find a use for them somehow. In his eyes, they were effectively Outer Court Disciples, set to prove their promise.
Rafael leaned in close, the ghostly embers burning within his hollow sockets, sending an almost pleading glint. "Listen, I understand that you might not trust me—"
"We're taking them with us," Wei interrupted.
Rafael froze. "Oh, I was going to have an entire speech about doing the right thing, and how we should help them, and even if they're weak... But I see that's not important anymore right now. You are a noble soul, my friend."
Wei simply stared at the lich for a moment, and then grinned. "Yes," Wei agreed. "I am a very noble soul." That and another thought were forming in the young master's mind. He was, still, the sole survivor and the young master of the Drowned Sky Sect. Decimated though his home was, he was still alive. Some teachings were still alive. And so the sect was still alive. “I am… and there are more Knights we must kill. And more people we must slay. But first. We reconvene with the others. And I need to find a sanctuary. Can you create a working using your ciphers? One that masks our presence?”
“I—yes. Yes, I think I can.” Rafeal nodded.
“Good. I think it is time for us to take stock of our situation, and find out how we can squeeze every last bit of benefit we can from these Moongraves.”