Limitless Ascension Supremacy

Failure, Pain, Weakness

All the bones in his body seemed to have snapped at that moment, the pain he felt spiked and his aura was transformed from a calm shade of silver to a raging storm of wind, dust and aura.

He felt as if all his muscles were being tugged on by a thousand angry babies, his veins seemed as if some unseen force was pulling them apart! It room him all his strength to swing his sword, to bring it down upon the enemy and finalize the battle.

Or so he thought…

Arthur's eyes widened as his sword crashed into the head of the the Iron Hooves Boss, and snapped! Pain engulfed Arthur as the rebound force from the strike travelled across his body in waves!

His head seemed as if it was about to explode, and his limbs went limp. He was unable to guard himself, and all he could do was watch as he crashed into the walls of the domain. Breaking his back and all the bones in his body.

[Awakening, Failed!]

"Failed?" Arthur slid weakly down from the crater on the wall he created with his back, blood streaming out from his mouth, nose and wounds. His brain throttled after processing the message on the screen.

He was stunned. Even after all the stimulation his qi must have underwent, he still couldn't awaken. Still, he believed that losing hope at this minute would be nothing more than crying over split milk.

All he could do was try his best. Stimulate his qi, try his best to awaken his true power! He wasn't in the position to whine or cry. If he is unable to awaken, then he still isn't ready for what's to come.

Fighting was all he could manage, until he gets what he wants. Stimulate the qi with pain and anger, raise the bottleneck with as much mental power you can muster! That was the true way to awaken!

"…"

Watching Arthur sitting limp at the side with his aura still raging wild around him, Felicia's gaze grew a bit soft and moist. She was still shivering under the aura of the Iron Hooves, and had not recovered.

Aaron who had kneeled besides her suddenly began to get up, his hands shaking as he clenched his twin daggers. Fear filled his eyes, but he managed to stand against the fierce aura bearing down upon him.

'I'm not actually built for combat…'

'Sorry, I can't fight those things. I wasn't built to do things like this. Just leave the chests to me…'

'Eek! Don't leave me behind, I wasn't born to fight like you, I might die!'

Aaron took a step forward as his life began to flash before his eyes. Walking towards an awakened Iron Hooves Boss with his pathetic defensive and petty offensive skills? It was simply falling freely into the cold bosoms of death.

"If I can just buy Arthur a little more time, I'm sure he would surprise me." Aaron stuttered out as he walked on, marching unsteadily towards the unmoving beast take took out the almighty Drake without breaking a sweat. His entire aura exuded fear and weakness.

"Ever since I was born, I've always hated fighting. I never liked fighting monsters, nor did I enjoy taking their worthless lives — although it would have earned me some spare dimension coins, ahem!"

Aaron staggered to his target, looking harmless and frail to the huge monster as it stared down upon him, a strange glint in it's eyes. Aaron seemed unaffected by the monster's aura, but his legs were wobbling.

"No, it is more like I was scared of fighting. Maybe it is how I built myself into a glass sword. Weak, useless and unwanted. At least, I managed to outshine some 'stronger' and 'smarter' kids due to my talent."

Suddenly, Aaron felt strength overwhelm him as he charged towards the monster with blazing red eyes. All the weakness he displayed earlier vanished into thin air, becoming a cold viciousness that merged with his sly aura.

"At least, I managed to hone my talent to my limits! It wound be a bit nicer if I had a few more perks to come complement my amazing lethal power!"

Aaron dashed to the side, dodging the spark metallic thorns that emerged from the earth at the monster's command, his eyes flaring as he pressed forward. He doubted he would even scratch the boss's metal body.

The only thing on his mind as he charged forward, was to survive. He knew if he tried to escape, his fate would be sealed. All he could do was to fight, until he could no longer breath, or until Arthur wakes up.

"Another!"

Aaron spun to the side, dodging a second metal spike with difficulty. Soon, numerous spikes began to rise from the earth, stabbing towards Aaron whose eyes narrowed down to slits.

"I have gotten too close to it…" Aaron frowned as he began to dash from side to side, his movements grew blurry as he flickered about in his attack range. With every passing second, he seemed to be gaining more velocity and power!

"Shadow Thief Technique — Dagger Rain!" Aaron's figure seemed to have vanished the second his voice fell, leaving numerous blurry shadows that dashed at the Iron Hooves Boss at fast speeds.

Each shadow phased through obstacles without any effort, dealing damage as they struck the confused Iron Hooves from multiple angles. Although their attacks dealt little to no real damage at first, their overall attack power began to rise slowly.

The Iron Hooves let out a beastly roar, then began a wild unleash of metallic spikes without hesitating in the slightest. The new spikes were made out of pure energy, glistening silver in colour and giving off an eerie aura.

Soon, all the shadows were thorn apart by the spikes and Aaron's real location was revealed. He was just a few metres from the rampaging beast, hidden behind a cluster of metal shards rising from the ground.

"Techniques are one of the few skills unrecognized by the Ascension System, despite their sheer might and power in comparison to weaker system given skills."

They consume Supreme Qi just like system skills, and can be cultivated by an awakened to reach high levels! Techniques practiced by powerful Warlocks are so powerful they are said to affect nature.

Despite all these, techniques do not have any level caps — just a few fail-safes and requirements so that one wouldn't kill themselves trying to use techniques that aren't compatible with their Qi.

Aaron was panting heavily, beads of sweat rolling down his face as he struggled to keep himself from fainting. He was exhausted just by using one of his few ancestral techniques, the only one he mastered.

Techniques are named by their inventors, and aren't just flashy click bait titles to deceive the disciples who want to learn it. The rule on naming a technique is very strict, and most people follow then strictly!

That is, if the name of a technique is given as Heaven Shattering Blow, then the technique should have a sufficient amount of power to literally shatter the sky — the rule is so strict that any technique that does not follow these rule would be banned!

Aaron could still feel the beast rampaging, he felt as if the beast had grown stupid after a few strikes. The power behind them were not lackluster, but since he was too weak — it would pass as a mere 6/10.

He had used a chapter of the almighty Shadow Thief Technique, and it took a huge toll on him. His SQ was nearly depleted, and he felt as weak as someone who had ran 5 marathons in a row without pausing.

All his muscles seemed to be under shock, and his limbs had gone numb. If the monster had a good enough perception, he would have been taken out minutes ago.

"Damn it. What can I do? I need to stabilize my Qi and recover a few more, then buy more time!" Aaron cane to a conclusion, then shut his eyes and began to draw into energy. Unlike normal cultivation, his Qi gathering techniques was nearly undetectable!

As a thief trained under fire to learn stealth and vile assassination skills, his ability to conceal Qi with the aid of the Shadow Thief Technique was unparalleled amongst his peers.

More time — Aaron relaxed his muscles — I just need more time!

Before anyone could react, a large spike shot up from the ground underneath Aaron. His pupils narrowed down to slits at the last minute, and his body tensed once more. Soon, his expression grew vicious.

"Shadow Thief Technique — Shadow Dispersion!"

Aaron's body tore apart by itself into shadows that scattered, then dashed off in different directions! In seconds, the shadows congealed even further away from the boss monster, reforming Aaron who still wore the vicious expression on his face.

"That stupid!" Aaron growled angrily as he glared at the Iron Hooves, "It must have known my location from the start, then waited for me to relax before going for the kill! What a vicious move wasted on someone like me!"

Aaron didn't think the boss would be that smart, but now that he knew he was irritated beyond measure, a demonic aura spreading out from his body to shroud the entire area around him in darkness.

"Although I can't beat it, knowing that it is this smart makes me feel relieved going all out to buy more time for that slow idiot." Aaron glanced over to where he last saw Arthur, and his pupils expanded!

"Awaken, Awaken… I won't awaken. Stupid system, stupid bottlenecks. It's enough, I'm not interested in awakening anymore." Arthur's hands burst into blue flames as he took a step towards the Iron Hooves.

"I'm going to plummet you into oblivion with my fist alone."