Chapter 126: Melting the Battlefield

The white circle continued forming around Zishan’s gathered foundation while he fought.

It was already close to completion, and the First Ascent Imprint Reinforcement seemed to be making every portion that formed denser than the last. Zishan could not tell what exactly had changed because he had never formed an Imprint before, but he could feel the difference between the faint outline from earlier and what was now settling into his soul.

The Wyvern in front of him tried reaching him again.

Zishan moved away with Rift Steps, allowing its claws to tear through the frozen ground before appearing on its other side. Frostbound Dominion spread toward the creature almost at the same time, though part of his attention remained on the white circle inside him.

One final portion closed.

[Stage Two: Imprint – 100%]

[Stage Two: Imprint Completed]

The circle became whole.

There was no symbol inside it, no image representing any of his Mana Affinities, and no change in color. It remained completely white, exactly as the System had described.

Before Zishan could inspect it any further, another notification appeared.

[Stage Three: Temper]

The gathered foundation inside the white Imprint reacted.

Zishan sucked in a breath when the sensation spread throughout his body. His Mana pathways felt as if they were being stretched and reinforced at the same time, while the pressure traveled through his muscles, bones and even the deeper parts of his body that he normally could not sense.

It was much stronger than the Gather Stage.

The difference was that Zishan no longer had to divide as much attention between controlling the process and controlling his Mana. Ascent Stabilization continued doing its job, keeping the changes inside him from interfering too much with the fight.

"So this is Temper..."

The Level 273 Wyvern rushed toward him again.

Zishan looked at it and moved.

His body felt strange while the Temper stage continued, almost like every movement was forcing the changes deeper into him. He avoided the creature’s bite, stepped beneath one of its wings and drove Gravity Mana against the frozen joint before moving away again.

The Wyvern stumbled.

Zishan glanced inward. The pressure running throughout his body had started settling.

[Stage Three: Temper Completed]

[Stage Four: Ascend]

The white Imprint inside his soul reacted.

For the first time since Gather began, everything Zishan had accumulated before Level 100 felt like it properly belonged together. The different parts of his foundation were still distinct, but the strange separation he had felt while they were being gathered was gone.

His Mana surged through his pathways.

Then, the pressure vanished.

[FIRST ASCENT COMPLETED]

[First Ascent Bonus Applied]

[STR: 151 → 156]

[VIT: 131 → 136]

[AGI: 137 → 142]

[PER: 105 → 110]

[INT: 162 → 167]

[WIL: 115 → 120]

[Mana: 2,140 / 2,140]

Zishan froze for a moment.

His Intelligence had already increased from 112 to 162 after receiving the +50 INT reward earlier, and the First Ascent had now added another five to every Stat.

More importantly, his Mana was full again.

All the Mana he had spent throughout the fight had returned, and the increase in Intelligence had pushed his maximum capacity much higher than before.

Zishan clenched one hand.

And the Wyvern attacked once again.

He disappeared.

Rift Steps carried him farther than he expected, and Zishan almost overshot the creature before correcting himself in the middle of the movement.

’That’s different.’

The Wyvern twisted toward him, but Frostbound Dominion had already started gathering around one of its legs.

Zishan pulled. Gravity dragged the creature toward the frozen side, and the Wyvern tried correcting its balance before Zishan crossed the remaining distance with Thunderwake.

This time, when his fist struck the side of its neck, the difference was obvious.

The Wyvern’s body was thrown sideways.

Zishan stared at it for a fraction of a second before moving again.

He had expected to become stronger after completing the First Ascent. What he had not expected was how much easier everything would feel once his foundation had been gathered, Imprinted, Tempered and stabilized into the next stage.

The Wyvern tried standing.

Zishan forced Frost across the damaged leg, used Gravitic Anchor to keep its body from recovering properly, then appeared near its exposed neck using Rift Steps.

One strike followed.

The creature stopped moving.

Zishan looked down at it. ’Okay...’

That had taken far less effort than before.

Another Wyvern approached from behind, and Zishan felt it enter Frostbound Dominion before it could reach him. He turned, shifted the Frost toward one wing and watched the creature lose height while coming toward him.

He understood what he wanted to do before it even reached the ground.

Gravity changed its angle. Rift Steps placed him underneath it. Stormwing Rend tore across the part of its body exposed by the fall.

The Wyvern crashed several meters away.

Zishan breathed out.

His tactics had not changed much. He was still using the same openings and combining Skills instead of trying to overpower everything head-on, but now the raw power behind every movement made those openings much easier to exploit.

"First Ascent, huh..."

His attention briefly returned to the white circle inside his soul.

He still did not understand it.

’What does a blank Imprint actually mean?’

Every Imprint he formed would apparently remain white because he had no limits. Zishan considered asking the System what that actually meant, but the thought lasted less than a second.

’You’re just going to tell me I don’t have sufficient authority, aren’t you?’

The System did not respond.

Zishan stared ahead. ’Thought so.’

He could bother it again once he had whatever sufficient authority it wanted from him.

A violent roar shook the battlefield before he could think further.

Zishan looked toward Ernest.

The Wyvern Lord had finally reached the ground. The Level 698 creature tried forcing itself upright while Sound Mana continued disturbing its movements, but Ernest was already standing in front of it.

The Wyvern Lord opened its mouth.

Ernest placed one hand against the side of its head.

Zishan could barely hear what followed. A low vibration passed through the creature’s enormous body.

Its wings spread once. Then, its entire body collapsed.

Zishan stared for a moment before another surge of Mana spread across the battlefield.

This one came from Elinox.

She was floating above the remaining Wyverns with one hand raised, and a pale golden light had started gathering around her fingers.

’Light Mana?’

Zishan had seen her use Light before, but this felt different.

The golden Mana spread outward until every Wyvern around the battlefield was caught within it. Some were still flying, others were injured on the ground, while several had already been killed during the fight.

Elinox closed her hand. "Radiant Dissolution."

The light intensified.

Zishan’s eyes widened as the scales covering the nearest Wyverns began glowing before their bodies started breaking down underneath the radiance.

They were not burning because of the light. Instead, they were melting.

Yes, melting.

Their flesh and scales turned into a glowing mass that sank into the ground beneath them. The same thing started happening everywhere else, and the Wyverns still alive barely managed to roar before Light Mana consumed them as well.

Even the bodies scattered across the battlefield were affected.

Within moments, the entire horde was gone.

Zishan stared at the places where the creatures had been. ’Light Magic can actually do that? That’s sick!’

He had mostly thought of Light Mana in terms of illumination, concealment and whatever ridiculous things Elinox had already shown him before.

Melting an entire battlefield worth of Wyverns had not been on the list.

Green panels appeared in front of him.

[EMERGENCY QUEST COMPLETED]

[SUB-EMERGENCY QUEST COMPLETED]