Path to Transcendence

In complete honesty, he didn’t really mind the idea of the rift being a torture chamber. In his case, it wasn’t that bad a thing. He was more worried about Aubrey than anything else. He didn’t like the idea of her experiencing a torturous challenge.
He had several abilities that helped him deal with pain. He was also quite well adapted to it because of the nature of his skills and his years of training. But she didn’t have that luxury.
So, despite the pressure steadily increasing, he stayed still, sitting on the bench. It had already been about five minutes since it had begun; the field had slowly filled, and no matter what he tried or did, he couldn’t disrupt or destroy it.
It was actually quite similar to what he had experienced in the caverns not too long ago. The way the overwhelming quantity of mana had blanketed him was just like he was experiencing now.
The mana aspect was just one part of the situation, though. The way this field or domain pressured his soul and willpower was really the challenge. He suspected that was the true goal of this rift.
To test one’s willpower and resolve.
In that case, he didn’t think he would lose. Despite the field's constantly increasing strength, he remained firm. He didn’t flinch, even as it became more painful.
His skin felt like it was actually getting roasted over a fire. But that sensation wasn’t anything new to him. He had quite literally burnt himself alive in the past. If he could withstand that, then this was nothing in comparison.
The pressure on his soul felt like it was squeezing him from all sides, trying to pop him like a balloon. However, he maneuvered all of his willpower and aura to his core. Then he hurdled up like a turtle and let it come to him.
His mind started to get a little woozy, but [Sage of Savagery] helped him keep focus.
Ten minutes into it, he felt something change. The previously slow but gradual increase suddenly ramped up. The additional pressure he experienced almost caught him off guard, but thankfully, he reacted in time.
He strengthened his aura and willpower just in time and grunted when the pressure truly started to get intense. It got bad enough that he wasn’t even cognizant of the pain on his skin anymore. All his focus kept him from breaking down his protective shell.
He closed his eyes as he withstood the pressure, only letting out the occasional grunt.
Finally, after what seemed like a long five minutes, he felt the pressure on him suddenly disappear like it was never there. The burning sensation on his arms vanished similarly, and his soul was no longer being assaulted.
He was confused and thought it was a trick, so he didn’t let his guard down. He made sure to keep his shell reinforced just in case something wanted to surprise him.
However, he frowned severely when he saw the notification.
He scrunched his nose when he read through it. That was it? That was the entire challenge? He had been expecting a lot more than that.
He hated to be the one to complain, but that was way too easy. He didn’t know if that even qualified as a challenge.
A disappointed sigh followed, and he was about to stand up from his little bench when he was alerted by another notification. This one roused his curiosity again.
He furrowed his brows tightly together as he read the incoming messages. This was indeed a surprise. He hadn't been expecting anything like this and didn’t know whether he should be pleased or not.
It was nice that even a Challenge Rift seemed to appreciate his high willpower as well as notice that his soul had undergone a second soul evolution already. He was also very curious about the rewards he would receive if he accepted.
The only thing that made him cautious was the emphasis this notification placed on this modified challenge being significantly difficult. From what he could tell, it was almost like the rift was telling him that if he chose to continue, he would experience something meant for Tier 4s rather than Tier 3s.
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With that being said, he was not deterred. He wanted to test himself and see just how far he could push his willpower and soul. This was a perfect opportunity to do so.
“Okay then. Bring it on,” he muttered with a chuckle and accepted the notification.
His laugh slowly drained away, replaced by confusion. Then, before he could even start to think about what the message meant, he felt the sudden and violent surge of energy. It was already far beyond what he had experienced just moments ago; this new influx dropped him straight to his knees so hard that he felt his bones creak from the impact.
“Holy… shit… not what I was… expecting,” he grunted out.
If his skin felt like it was being roasted over a flame before, then this time around, his body felt like it was literally being shoved inside a raging campfire. He almost convinced himself that he was burning himself alive again.
However, what bothered him even more was how familiar the sensation was. He didn’t enjoy having so many other experiences to compare it to. Hell, it wasn’t even as bad as some of his other stuff he had deliberately put himself through. For example, there were various levels of fire.
There was “campfire” hot, then there was “magical flame” hot. Right now, he was experiencing “campfire” hot. He could deal with that; he was confident in that.
On the other hand, the pressure on his soul was quite intense. He could barely breathe, and his skills were so much slower to react. It was as if his soul had a hundred tons of lead sitting right on top of it.
Still, he endured.
He was subconsciously aware that the orange light the crystal pillars gave off illuminated the entire mountain top. He could barely see anything except for the blinding orange light. It was like being an inch away from an orange sun. He was forced to close his eyes due to the brightness.
This pressure continued to increase violently. Each level of increase forced him lower to the ground, and he grunted with exertion. He felt Drasil and even Seraphyne wake up in his soul. They must have felt the weird fluctuations and pressure.
They did their best to help and support his soul, but there wasn’t much they could do. This was his own challenge, and their efforts had minimal impact at best.
Thankfully, they weren’t being harmed by the pressure. Still, he was worried about what would happen if he let this pressure wreak havoc on his soul. What would happen to them if he failed to endure? Would they get hurt or receive some kind of backlash from it?
He didn’t know, and he didn’t plan to find out. So using that fear as motivation, he continued his efforts.
That bonfire heat was growing as well. It started to become truly hot and very painful. His skin literally started blistering and popping from this. If he didn’t know any better, it was like he was being bombarded with radiation.
He found himself chuckling to himself despite the pain. On second thought, that was almost exactly what was going on. It was like he was being subjected to so much mana and energy that his body was reacting to it like he would to radiation.
As if the sheer quantity and quality of this mana were poisoning him. This was very close to what the creature inside the cave had demonstrated to him personally. Using extreme amounts of mana to harm others.
It was quite an interesting idea, and for a moment, he forgot about the pressure and pain as he considered the possibilities this discovery offered.
However, as another steep increase in pressure crashed into him, he fell to his elbows. His skin went beyond blistering and started to turn to ash. The smell was awful, and he gathered whatever mana he could, which was way harder than it should have been. Then he shoved the mana inside his nose, blocking out the scent from making its way in.
Some of the smell still got in, but the worst of it was held at bay.
He didn’t know how long it had already been, but he was already somewhat regretting his choice. He and his stupid pride. Why couldn’t he just take the usual reward?
He spat out some blood that came up to his throat and crushed those thoughts. He knew why. He knew exactly why.
Another steep increase in difficulty suddenly battered into him. He was no longer on his hands and knees. He was now fully prone on the ground as he experienced extreme levels of pain. Even as numbed as he was to pain, this was bad.
Infusing every bit of his body and soul with his Concept of Will, he grit his teeth and just accepted the pain.
He did his best to ignore the physical pain for the time being. [Sage of Savagery] helped a lot with that. It separated the pain from his mind, making it feel almost detached. So as he bled from all of his orifices and as his skin cracked open like the dry desert, he endured, making sure to keep all of his focus on protecting his soul.
Drasil actually helped him with his injuries, or at least made sure they didn’t get any worse. Since Julius was pretty indisposed at the moment, he wasn’t able to use his healing skill like he normally would. However, Drasil had that covered.
What was more alarming to him was that the chances of his dying were quite high if he didn’t have Drasil. It didn’t matter that his soul hadn’t given up yet, but his body was already suffering beyond the point of return.
The nature of the wounds was quite unique. Despite the large amounts of life mana Drasil sent through Julius, there was quite a limited effect. There had to be something else at play, something that was interfering with healing magic. Still, it was just barely enough to keep Julius alive.
There was another devastating blast of pressure. This one was so intense that he felt his soul actually crack from the duress of it. He choked on his burnt tongue and would have cried out, but his throat was gone. It was so damaged that he didn’t have any vocal cords to shout anymore.
His emblem was shaking like a leaf as it attempted to help him. But there was nothing he could really do. All he could do was wait and stubbornly hold out until it died down.
It felt like an eternity had passed, and when it finally let up, he was in so much pain that he didn’t even know that it was finished. It took him almost a full minute before he realized the pressure was gone and that his body was stitching itself back together.
It was only then that he read the notification.