Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 86: Layers

Physically, he looked the same, with only his height and musculature having changed; he was taller, as tall as Ayah, his previously slender frame now holding much more densely packed muscle.

Uriel was almost disappointed.

What was the point of evolution if they all ended up looking the same?

Enoch waved at Uriel. "Sup."

He walked to one of the sofas and collapsed onto it, groaning as he got comfortable.

"How was it?" Uriel asked, still looking out the window.

"Painful." Enoch groaned as he turned to face him.

Uriel nodded. "Splendid to hear, truly. Tell me more about it."

Enoch’s lip twitched at this, but he sighed and relented, and began explaining.

...

They all sat at the counter table.

Uriel himself had forgotten he’d already ordered food from the Lagoon before she woke up and came down.

So, accompanying the feast she’d made, mountains of food were soon delivered.

A spread so grand it would’ve been enough to feed dozens of humans lay before them, but with their recent evolutions and now ridiculous appetite, it was just enough.

"The dungeon is split in four zones. There’s the Torn Soul Forest, where we currently are, the Jiran Grand Coral Maze, the Alacryan Frost Desert, and the Ulmo Chaos Ocean."

The other two listened to Enoch as they ate.

"The other zones don’t matter for now, so I’ll just focus on the forest and what our plan is."

"Something that’s important to know is that our goal isn’t just to survive, but also to grow, and to do so, we’ll have to do all the Advents of the dungeon."

"Normally, Advents aren’t like the one Uriel did. They’re natural areas of a zone, where you can find something valuable and ’fight’ for it. It’s just like any opportunity."

"Our goal is to get to the desert, where we’ll be safe, but also to do all the Advents and grow as much as possible."

"The Forest normally has three Advents. The first is the one Uriel did, the Soulless Cauldron Sky, but the second and third are deeper into the forest and..."

A long planning session began.

...

Hours passed.

Uriel sat cross-legged in his room, meditating, cycling his breaths to calm his mind.

His window was open, cool air streaming in to brush against his skin, pushing and pulling his hair in gentle waves.

"Uriel," Ophanis’ voice echoed in his mind.

Uriel slowly opened his eyes. "You’ve been silent," he said, his state of focus unbroken.

"Mm." The tattoo on his back grew warmer. "But once your body reaches the D Rank, I’ll be able to stay awake all the time."

"Until then, I can only sleep during most of the day, lest I want your body to collapse from the strain."

Uriel nodded, having already arrived at a similar answer.

He didn’t know who Ophanis truly was, but he could innately tell she was a sort of companion he’d had in the past, one that he had fused with himself.

The reason he trusted her was in part because he chose to foolishly believe, but the other was because her aura was the exact same as the one his spark had emitted when he first saw it.

It was so shocking he was almost entirely sure that... Ophanis was born from his spark, or perhaps she was the spirit of his spark.

He wasn’t sure. But soon, once the barrier fell, she’d be able to explain.

When that happened, not only would she reveal the truth, but so would Enoch and Ayah.

A lot of truths would soon be coming.

"You’re about to reawaken your Spark, right?" she asked.

"Mhm."

"Don’t," she sternly said. "Don’t awaken your Spark until you reach the peak of F Rank. If you awaken it before... your mind will collapse."

Uriel was only slightly shocked by this.

"Why? Is my body unable to handle the three Sparks?"

He could feel Ophanis internally shake her head. "No, that’s not it."

"When your Sparks mended... they evolved and mutated in a way Older You said would kill you unless you were a Pioneer with at least two major evolutions."

"He said your mind would literally collapse from the weight of it."

Uriel sighed and ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back. "Alright, I understand."

"I expect more accurate explanations in the future, though."

"Mm."

He felt her return to her dormant form, the mark on his back cooling.

’...’

He closed his eyes once more and refocused.

Just like Ayah and Enoch’s paths, Uriel’s path was special, evidently, and carried unfair advantages and secrets.

The entire essence of the path was simple: Perfection.

It was to build a foundation perfect for oneself, unmatched by any other.

According to the path, the body had ten layers of complexity, what it called the three pillars and seven aspects.

In each Rank, Uriel would focus on one of these layers, forcefully mutating, adapting, and evolving them to suit his desired path and Spark.

The process was as follows.

Using the method he’d created, Uriel would have to craft a gem, then, evidently, ingest it.

Ingesting the gem would spark a major evolution, but it would also set off a chain reaction.

His Spark would rev into action and commune with the gem, reaching a level of harmony with it, then reshape it once again to its desires, which would spark yet another major evolution.

Two major evolutions: one started by Uriel ingesting the gem he made, and the second by his Spark reshaping and reforging the gem itself.

Once the two major evolutions were done, which would both be Sublime Evolutions or otherwise death, the next steps would get complex.

Uriel exhaled as he mulled over the details of his path.

Now, one question remained.

’What pillar or aspect should I choose for my first evolution?’

’If I want survivability and a stable foundation to build everything else upon, it would be wiser to choose my body first.’

’But if I focus on my mental and aether aspects, I can almost immediately begin excavating the potential of my Spark and heighten my fighting prowess.’

He remembered Ophanis’ words.

’But the solidity of my body remains the biggest issue of all, and if I treat this like I do my Mage circles, it’s better to use my lower-rank evolutions for the foundation and less pivotal tools.’

He rapidly came to a conclusion and made his choice.