The darkness of the Abyssal Cell wasn't empty anymore. To Edward Vistro, it was like a vibrant, swirling painting. The Null-Stone walls, meant to drain a prisoner's mana, seemed tired, worn out by the force of Edward's spirit. He sat still, like the center of gravity, pulling in every bit of energy into the swirling power in his chest.
With the Seventh Circle locked in place, pushing to the peak of the Apprentice Stage felt like a smooth, almost peaceful transition. He didn't stop to rest. Before, in his last life, it took him until late afternoon to reach the tenth circle. The body resists this kind of quick growth, and even with his memories, it was tough.
But this time, he was quicker. Every breath was planned, every heartbeat was in sync with the Eleven elven Paths.
As the faint light from the high window showed it was almost noon, Edward's core was already glowing with the power of the Ninth Circle. The ninth was the circle of Stability, an inscription that held the other eight together. In the standard human curriculum taught at the Royal Academy of Vaeloria, the ninth circle was seen as the real challenge. A lot of students stayed at the eighth for years, scared of the mental strain of the ninth's complexity.
But Edward overcame it in seconds, sure he was someone who had reached the peak of the mage emperor stage, so forming the Ninth circle was like flicking a finger without registering you even flicked it.
With that, as the clock struck noon in the mansion above, Edward felt a silent chime inside.
The Tenth Circle.
He had reached the Peak of the Apprentice Stage before noon. Nobody in the history of the Luminaris Kingdom had done that before, reaching the peak of the Apprentice stage after two hours of just awakening. Even the legends of the first High Priest, who was said to be born with a mana-filled soul, weren't as good as Edward's speed. He was like someone playing a game he had already won, skipping the hard parts and using the rules to his advantage.
Edward didn't stop to look at the ten glowing rings around his core. To stay at the peak was to be stagnant. To progress, he now faced the first true hurdle of cultivation in this new life, The First Synchronization.
The space inside a mana core isn't endless. To reach the Adept Stage, you can't just add an eleventh circle. That would make the ten circles push each other away, causing a Core Fracture—an explosion that would turn Edward and the dungeon into dust.
"Thread the needle," Edward said quietly.
He used the Celestial Needle technique. In his mind, a thin thread of pure, white mana appeared. He started to weave it through the ten circles, pulling them closer and making them line up.
One by one, the circles slowed down, forming a tight, nested ball. The tension was strong, the air in the cell felt so heavy that a normal person would have been crushed.
"Now!"
Edward took the remaining mana in the room—a large, swirling cloud of blue energy, and turned it into a sharp point. He pushed it into the center of the nested ten.
The Eleventh Circle formed.
A burst of mana exploded from Edward's body, a wave of raw power that wanted to break the walls. If this energy got out, everyone who could sense mana in the mansion would feel the birth of something powerful.
Edward's eyes snapped open, glowing with a fierce, wild gold.
"Stay!" he ordered.
Using a technique he had learned as the Imperium of Elfhiem, he grabbed the air. He squeezed the mana burst, pulling the explosion back into his skin and making it flow through his body. The stone walls groaned, but his mana stayed inside the walls of the Abyssal Cell.
Edward exhaled, a cloud of blue mist coming from his lips.
He was now an Adept.
The change was instant. His Spiritual Sense, which had been limited to about two miles, suddenly spread out like a wing. It swept through the mansion, over the city walls, across the nearby farms, and into the wild forests at the border.
"Three hundred miles," Edward said, smirking. (482KM)
At this range, he could feel the heartbeat of every soldier in the capital. He could sense the moisture in the clouds above the coast. His Sea of Consciousness had grown from a small pond into a big, deep lake. His ability to think had increased a lot, letting him handle the complexity needed for advanced magic.
In the world of the seven kingdoms, spells were ranked by their difficulty and power: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, Cataclysmic, and Heavenly.
As an Apprentice, Edward could only use Common and some Uncommon spells. But as an Adept, he could now use Rare and even some low-tier Epic spells.
Teleportation. This was one of the spells that Edward could now use as an adept rank, but it range was still limited due to his cultivation base.
Before, in his previous lives, at his peak as a Mage Emperor, Edward could teleport across the area of the Human Domain in a heartbeat, traversing the hundred million kilometers of his empire with a thought. Now, he could only teleport short distances—a few miles at most. But in a fight, a few miles could mean life or death.
But Edward wasn't dumb. He knew that an Adept appearing in the Exile area would cause a quick and strong reaction from the Marquis. He wasn't ready for a fight yet. He needed the thirty days to get ready.
Reaching into his Sea of Consciousness, he started to create a Suppression Rune.
This was a work of magic, a rune he had perfected across his Lifetimes. It was a passive spell that sat on top of his mana core like a veil. To anyone watching, even the High Priest of the Church of Light, Edward would seem like someone without mana, someone who hadn't even awakened.
He finished the rune just in time.
Edward leaned back against the cold stone wall, the blue light of his core fading behind the veil. He could feel someone coming. It was a light, quick step, filled with worry that vibrated through the floor.
"Sister," he whispered.
He stopped his magic training, because he knew she would visit. Throughout every regression, she was the only one who came to the Abyssal Cells, risking the Marquis's anger just to bring him some hope.
By the third day, Edward planned to have created over fifty circles, reaching the Middle Level of the Adept Stage. At that point, he would be strong enough to do the Essence Extraction on the goblins in the lower caves of the estate—monsters the Marquis kept for training but Edward would use to make his body stronger. By taking their marrow, he could temper his body to handle an increase in the level of his cultivation technique, which would allow him to reach the High Mage stage before the month is up.
With that, the heavy iron bar on the door slid back with a groan. The door opened, letting in a bit of light from the hallway. Standing in the doorway, lit from behind by the torchlight, was a young woman with long, flowing hair and wide, scared eyes.
She looked at the damp, horrible cell. She looked at the gray marks on Edward's skin, which she thought were dirt and rot. She looked at her little brother sitting in the dark, and her heart broke.
"Edward?" she whispered, her voice shaking.
Edward didn't move. He kept his head down.
"Edward! Oh, gods... what has he done to you?"
She rushed forward, falling to her knees in the dirt of the cell. She reached out, her hands shaking, and touched his shoulders, her voice getting louder with sadness.
"Edward! Talk to me! Please!"
She started to cry, her tears falling onto the stone floor where, just hours before, something powerful had been born.
"EDWARD!"
Her voice echoed through the Abyssal Cells, a cry of sadness that would have broken anyone else. Edward just felt the cold, hard truth of his path.
....
A/N: Thanks for reading, please support with your power stones and comment what you like and don't like.