The man walked out of his dojo and immediately soared into the sky.
Unlike before, his face now displayed worry and fury.
"Those bastards set him up," he muttered, accelerating. "I'll see if his old man can find anything."
WHOOSH!
"I'll be damned if I lose another disciple. Not again."
***
Amon stood at the edge of a grand well, a swirling portal of blue and white at its center.
If he destroyed it, the gates would open. He immediately sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.
"Let's be fast."
The next three steps he had to take in the Awakener tier were Blood Awakening, Bone Transformation, and Third Eye Opening, each referring to the Martial Path, Beast Path, and Arcane Path, respectively.
The first two were rather simple.
For the Blood Awakening step, Amon had to infuse neutral aether into his blood and marrow, plunging it into a chaotic state that would rouse and awaken the slumbering potential of his body and blood, greatly empowering him.
For the Flesh Transformation step, he had to devour the runed bones of a beast and shed his own bones to gain true runed bones.
Runed bones, as the name suggests, were naturally etched with runes of power, affinity, and purity.
Power, because these runes directly empowered one's body; affinity, because they allowed one to sense their affinities on a primal level, just like beasts; and purity, because they rid one of imperfections and impurities.
The two steps together reforged one's bodily foundation, preparing it for more.
"Let's start."
A sea of ash appeared around him, and a rush of pure neutral aether swirled around him, gently infusing into his blood and marrow.
"Hm..."
Amon's body began to break down, chunks of flesh falling away as his blood bubbled. Foul black impurities oozed from his pores as his bones shattered and reformed, growing stronger to accommodate his new runes.
"Good."
As this happened, Amon allowed the process to fall under the control of his Growth gift and focused on the final step of the Awakener tier.
The fifth step, Third Eye Opening, was complex.
First, Amon had to push all his senses to their limit, permanently enhancing them using aether. Once he reached his limit, he had to harmonize all his senses and link them, allowing him to awaken his spiritual sense and open his third eye.
The spiritual sense was a domain-like sense that fused all five fundamental senses. Within this domain, one could see, smell, taste, touch, and hear to the highest degree imaginable.
It was a sort of false omnipresence, limited to a personal domain.
Beyond these abilities, the spirit sense allowed true control over the aether within it and enabled one to summon their innate aether anywhere within this range without additional cost.
The specifics became complex when opposing spirit senses clashed, as the stronger mind and soul always won, regardless of realm. The mind and soul also determined the natural size of one's spiritual sense.
SHAH!
As Amon's body underwent massive changes, his mind stilled, focusing on each of his senses to heighten them to their full potential.
Physically, his senses were at their peak, so he focused on their resonance to aether.
Using aether as a fabric, Amon tried to resonate each sense to it, using the world itself as an extension of his senses.
Every slight change in the atmospheric currents of aether was felt by his body, and the very will of aether seemed to embed itself into him.
Dots of light appeared on his ears, mouth, nose, hands, and eyes as his innate aether began to manifest.
"Touch... smell... sight... hearing... taste..."
The dots of light interlinked, and a slit appeared on his forehead, near his glabella. It slowly opened, revealing an eye that instantly vanished and fused back into his body along with the dots.
BANG!
Amon felt as if his mind had imploded, or rather, been freed from endless chains.
He could feel everything. He could smell everything. He could see everything. He could touch everything. He could hear everything.
It was like he was one with the world, yet a part of him stood above it, manipulating the world and its aether currents without hassle.
Amon's spirit sense, upon awakening, immediately reached 100 meters in circumference, but it kept expanding.
500 meters... 800 meters... 1 kilometer... 4 kilometers... 6 kilometers... 10 kilometers... 20 kilometers!
His mind solidified as his spirit sense settled at a terrifying 20 kilometers. The average upon opening one's third eye was five meters at most. Even for those with the most powerful souls, fifty meters was the absolute limit, yet Amon had shattered all norms, reaching a spirit sense of 20 kilometers at his base!
It took him a few minutes to get used to it and learn to turn it on and off, but regardless, he felt better than ever.
Everything within his spirit sense's range seemed under his control. It was like he was a god within his domain. It was fantastic.
But he soon noticed the toll it took on his stamina. It wasn't huge, but over time, it would become noticeable.
"So I have to tone down the level of my spirit sense if I want to keep it active at all times, or I need to shrink its range."
"Interesting."