In the beaming sunlight two young souls stand at a safe distance from each other, their swords gleaming in the sunlight as they lock eyes. The girl, with her exceptional skills and years of training, The boy, though not as skilled, puts up a valiant effort.

He tries to anticipate the girl's moves and defend himself, but her techniques are simply too advanced for him to match. The girl's movements are strategic, calculated, and flawlessly executed. Her golden hair cascades behind her as she leaps and spins with impressive agility.

The boy tries to retaliate, but his attacks are met with swift parries and counterattacks from the girl. With every clash of swords, the sound of metal reverberates through the air, showcasing their determination and focus.

As the fight progresses, the girl's expertise becomes more apparent. She has a deep understanding of timing, distance, and body mechanics. With each strike, she finds openings in the boy's defense, gradually wearing him down.

Eventually, the girl executes a brilliant maneuver, disarming the boy and leaving him defenseless. Sensing the opportunity, she swiftly lands a decisive blow, bringing the fight to an end.

The boy falls to the ground, once again looking up at the clear blue sky with dirt and blood on his face.

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Name: Damian Sunblade Lv.25

Rank: Mundane

Affinity: Water, Space-time

STR: 30

DEF: 30

INT: 72

AGI: 30

DEX: 30

CHA: 19

LUC: 3

Blessings: Godless

Skills: [Beginner Tree Climbing Lv.2] [Truthseeker Lv.9] [Scholar Lv.9] [Beginner Swordsman Lv.9] [The Runic Serf Lv.9] [Ascension Rank 1 (Temporary)]

=========

He never even once managed to land a hit on the girl genius, even though they were fighting daily for two whole years.

"Exceptional as always My lady."

Said a middle-aged man while clapping.

"Enough with that, what is it?"

Said the young girl coldly however Damian didn't pay any attention to the sulking Thomas and also looked at him with question in his eyes. He stood up with a bit of a struggle and went near them.

"The Baron has decided on the date, A week from now you are to leave for Drakmor for your Ascension and blessings."

Lucian finally had a change in her usual stoic face, excitement? Happiness? Damian could never tell. It was a feat worthy of feeling happy, ascension at age of 9. She was probably the youngest ever to do it in entire north of the Kingdom. She was truly deserving of the title 'The northern ice Blade'.

"And you will be also accompanying us, Master Damian."

"Huh? What? Why?"

Damian blurted out without thinking which resulted in him becoming the center of glaring competition. Why was he needed to go for her ascension? Of course on paper, she was his fiancé but he was always kept hidden from the noble gatherings by her family. And ascension was very personal matter not an occasion for an event.

She would just receive an ascension stone in the church and use it to clear her ascension trial. Rank up, receive a blessing from her patron god and that's all. However the trial happened in a person's mind it is not something that needs an audience.

"After the ascension both of you are to remain in Drakmor with marques Whitestone, who will be your new Swordsmanship teacher."

Damian wanted to curse out loud but he suppressed his emotions. He was looking forward to continuing his runic research but now he would have to pack everything and leave for another place to live?

"Ah.. fine. As you wish."

Damian returned to his room after freshening up and just laid down staring at the ceiling on the bed.

"I guess this is where I call it quits."

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That was the only way for him now. He had to leave this place. Two years were enough in Baron's hospitality. The marquee might be Baron's friend but he could not just bet his future on just wish-washing anymore. If he went there then only sword training was going to be for him, in the city hunting for monsters or buying materials for just a hobby is definitely not gonna fly. So all his Runic research would have to stop.

"Well if I am really doing it then, I might as well go all out!"

Damian had long since reached level 25. And not just that his crazy research had also garnered him Lv.9 in his all three skills. Even his Swordsmanship had reached a Lv.9 with day after day of training with Lucian.

Actually he only reached Lv.7 in Swordsmanship with just his training so he started putting extra hours into the sword training for the past 6 months to gain the last two levels. Why was he in such a hurry? There was actually a very good reason for that.

Once he reached Lv.9 in three of his skills [Truthseeker] [Scholar] and [The Runic serf] there was a feature that was unlocked on his status screen. He had gained a new temporary skill.

[Ascension Rank 1 (Temporary): Pass the trial and ascend towards the peak existence.

(Trial#01: Activate to enter.)]

For some reason he was given the ability to ascend without any kind of ascension stone. So if he really was going to run away on this trip, he had to gain this power.

And so he straightened up and took out his short sword which he had stolen when no one was looking. With a bundle of parchment with all kinds of runes drawn on it and a huge apparatus of monster blood with three quills, he was ready.

Damian knew that trials happened in the astral world which was in person's mind and he most likely won't be able to carry any items there but still he needed to be prepared just in case since this was a unique way of ascending that was never tested before.

"Activate [Ascension Rank 1]"

Just as Damian uttered those words his vision got darker and darker until only darkness remained then a splashing sound came along with him becoming weightless. He was drowning. He tried to swim up but it was like some kind of suction force was forcing him to go to the bottom. In a few seconds which felt like years without not being able to breathe he landed somewhere and the lights forced him to close his eyes.

After staying on the ground and heavily breathing for a minute or two Damian slowly opened his eyes. It took some time to get adjusted to his surroundings and the light but at last he could understand what this place was.

He was back in his dorm room at University. Everything looked to be the same as the day he had left Earth. Even his bedsheets were the same as he remembered before going to sleep that night. He looked outside the window and he was greeted by millions of twinkling stars, either this was really next gen wallpaper or he really was in a weird part of empty space. His mind could not comprehend what he was seeing. And just then a sound came from behind him, a very familiar sound of his computer booting up.

"What the hell? Weren't astral plains supposed to be in castles or dungeons or plain green fields and stuff? I guess there is really nothing left of old Damian in me, that's why it's reflecting only my own memories."

Damian walked towards the computer and sat down on his old squeaky chair. The screen finally finished loading and started showing an image of his 7-year-old self with his name written beneath it. And under it five images with him in different clothes and weapons were present, written beneath it were the five classes. The pugilist in which he was flexing his biceps was greyed out, so he couldn't select it. However the other four were available.