He soon reached the orb, lightly sweating from the run he'd had to make to reach it.
The surface of the sphere vibrated and slowly, an entrance was opened to him.
**
Walking in, Amon found himself in a large empty space, standing on water as a ray of blue light illuminated the place.
At the center of it all, an altar could be seen, a sphere of green and white fire floating atop it. Assuming this was the device that'd awaken his affinities, he walked toward it.
He did as told.
BANG!
Amon was originally taken aback by the terrifying amount of aether that was being sucked out of him but he remained calm nonetheless.
The altar trembled and in a flash, the flame had engulfed his figure.
It coursed through every single one of his cells as a series of loud pops echoed and Amon felt something within him stirring awake.
His aether wildly fluctuated and cycled through his body as more and more of it was being devoured by the flame.
Suddenly, the flame fully separated from him and an explosion occurred—an explosion of aether.
BANG!
Amon's body floated in the air, a crown of nine stars forming around his head as behind him, nine overlapped halos could be seen.
Space shook, time became chaotic, and the very world seemed to have been turned upside down as his affinities fully and finally awakened.
Just as Amon's mind began to clear, he was plunged into a deep slumber as his gift of growth suddenly whirred to life.
{Second Evolution will be initiated.}
Amon's body was vaporized to ashes as suddenly, a great amount of origin aether, which he'd stored in his mental space, was summoned.
A great amount of ash manifested and began to swirl, fusing with the origin aether to become a cosmic dust radiating colors of gold, white, green, and purple.
The ash swirled atop the swirling sea; nine stars, surrounded by nine halos, appeared.
The stars began to revolve and grow as the halos began to widen.
In an instant, the stars had gone from tiny dots to true stars and the halos wide enough to fully encase them.
The stars and halos suddenly shattered and faded to ash that joined the endless sea below.
Slowly, from the ash, filaments began to form and weave, following a complex pattern to reform Amon's body.
BANG!
With long, semi-curly white hair that gently swayed with the wind, a body seemingly crafted by the gods themselves, and a face that surpassed all standards of mortal perfection, Amon's body had reappeared.
He slowly opened his eyes, revealing a cloudy landscape of emerald and amethyst rivers that flowed in and out of each other.
WHOOSH!
All the ash around him fused back into his body as in one go, he broke past the barrier of the Peak awakener tier and into the earliest stages of the Acolyte tier.
Amon slowly floated down, his mind gradually becoming more and more clear.
Upon touching the calm waters below, his ring flashed and a set of black robes draped over his figure.
He took a deep breath in, feeling the terrifying power that flowed through him and then exhaled, reeling it all in under his control.
Only after that did he look at the screen in front of him.
~~~~
~~~~
'Oh….'
Amon was inwardly shocked seeing the terrifying affinities he'd awakened but he was more interested in the third part of this screen—his affinity grade.
'It's the same as my aether grade mark…interesting…'
The grade of one's affinity determined the strength of the powers when wielded and one's closeness to it. Considering affinities were a whole part of one's existence, having such a high affinity grade meant Amon was practically one with it, acting as its Lord.
And when his stats focused on affinity were factored in, this affinity would only get more terrifying with time.
'Status.'
***
[Name: Amon Celekria Thanakree]
[Titles: Dungeon Diver, <•••••>, <•••••>, Son of <••••>, <••••••>, Beginner's Curse, Master, Survivor, Iron Forged Star, Indomitable, Limit Breaker, Defier, Touched By Death, Touched By Life, Mad Paradox, Genius, Evolver]
•Aether Mark Quality: Grade 13 (Divine Tier)
•Affinities: Space-Time, Destruction, Life-Death, Void, Calamity, Star, Yin, Sovereign, Fire (new!)
{Physical Stats: 150 (True Limit)}
{Soul Stats: 150 (True Limit)}
{Aether Stats: 150 (True Limit)}
{Core Stats: 150 (True Limit)}
{Affinity Stats: 150 (True Limit)}
[Status: Healthy, Hungry.]
~>Status Note: Evolution completed.
***
'New race…new lineage…'
Amon sighed, already used to his Gift's unpredictable nature. He had gotten stronger for sure, but he hadn't even gotten the time to fully excavate the potential of his previous race and lineage.
'Let's see…'
Amon extended a palm and atop it, a swirling ball of flames appeared.
He closed his fist and the orb was extinguished. He took a step forward and vanished, reappearing a few miles away from the altar.
His figure suddenly blurred and he reappeared where he'd previously been.
'Is it supposed to be so easy to control your affinities?'
He soon found this thought to be stupid. His affinity grade was as high as humanly possible; it was a no-brainer that it would come so easily to him.
'On the other hand, I feel much more powerful though my stats haven't changed, and I can tell this strength isn't related to my lineage or race…'
[Your breakthrough.]
Amon nodded. He had a faint inkling it'd be this.
'I need to find the time to fully assimilate the legacy I got from the First Warlock.'
Though Amon hadn't used it once, the things he'd gotten from the First Warlock could only be said to be monstrous.
Beyond getting the inheritance of the First Warlock himself, he'd gotten hundreds of thousands of other inheritances for martial, arcane, beast, warlock, and true golden path practitioners, and this was only the tip of the iceberg.
If it wasn't for a strange spell that'd been cast on his mind, he'd have already forgotten most of it. There was just too much.
Amon shook all these thoughts away and smiled, heading toward the exit. He'd gained a lot today and would have a lot cut out for him over the next few days.