Nar woke up to the same purple twilight above his head, except it was tinted emerald.

  Well, I guess it wasn’t a nightmare, Nar thought. We really have a war to win.

  He sighed.

  This was supposed to be their moment of triumph and celebration, the last great hurdle before they headed towards the exit and hopefully… He checked, and yes indeed, they would be collecting their rare rewards on the way out. They had done it all, completed Tsurmirel’s requests, fulfilled the aethermancers’ quests, survived almost four months in that blasted Pile of a jungle and now… Now they had fifty days more to go, after which they either lived, or were killed and swallowed by the dungeon when it reset.

  He sighed again.

  Well, time to see what’s been going on.

  Sitting up, he found that most people seemed to be sleeping. Jasphaer and Leta were still busy over Raf, Teb, Gad and Mul, but their movements weren’t frantic anymore, which gave Nar some ease. The four of them had been in a bad state, like zero HP bad, and it had taken the two healers working together to bring them back from the brink.

  He spotted Leon and Eum talking and watching over the exit leading back down the tree, and Tun sat with Rel, Cen, Cor, Jaz and Lim on watch. A tank and a Pile-ton of ranged firepower, ready to erase anything that swopped down on them or climbed up the tree to bother them.

  Silver Fists’s body lay untouched to the side. The other gorillas wouldn’t dare approach them now, especially not within the Altar of the Winds.

  Eyeing the body, Nar grimaced.

  What a waste.

  With all their storage blocked, they lost more than the ease of storage and quick withdrawal for their weapons. They lost access to their consumables, jungle suits, tents, and others, but were also in effect blocked from harvesting or gathering anything else within the Brightnight. And the loss of all that loot in Silver Fists’ body hurt. That giant aether reservoir alone would’ve fetched a fortune.

  Still, it looked as though everything was quiet, so picking up his sword, and with a quick wave towards the watchers with a whisper about checking his gains, which earned him a lot of somber nods and made his heart pump harder in worry, Nar took a seat upon the altar, and pulled up his notifications again.

  He knew they were going to be good, but he didn’t know just how good. However…

  “Holy Crystal,” he whispered, his eyes widening. “So many points…”

  As expected, the rewards from a spirit of air focused on the attributes that most closely attuned to its paths. Movement, flexibility, senses… Though he did doubt everyone would’ve received a flat hundred points to their [Reflex]. The spirit had stressed the need for balance and to stay under scrutiny, so likely, whatever it gave, it had to be earned.

  He flinched at the removal of his [Aura Quickening] and [Combat Cycling].

  “Wait, what? But—”

  And his eyes landed upon the list of new skills gained, which prompted another window to pop open.

  Nar raised a shaky hand to his face.

  His sight changed, and he saw. But not with his eyes…

  The hand before him remained the same, but he saw the flow of aura within. The main pathway split into five at the center of his palm, and when he cycled his aura out from his fingertips, his eyes widened at the trails of bright gray they left in the green tinted twilight.

  While he had noticed those trails before, now there was definition within those hazy lines of gray. Not particles, but maybe tiny, tiny lines?

  He checked his core, yet all he saw was the same hazy light as always… Or was there something more?

  May your sight bring understanding… As the skill evolved, perhaps he would come to learn more about his aura, and maybe that would help speed the discovery of his own affinity.

  But his [Aura Sight] was only the last new skill on a list of phenomenal gains...

  [Aura Edge] was a tremendous new tool in his active skills, and if he was reading it correctly, it was going to be one he used all the time. It was a boon to both his single and multi-target DPSing, and the part where it said it would be far more crippling against resistances and armor brought a ravenous grin to his lips. Imagine what he could achieve with enough room around him.

  Oh, this is going to be good, he thought with a dark chuckle. So, so good. But Mul won’t let me hear the end of it… It really is called [Aura Edge].

  [Regenerative Meditation] was a phenomenal sight as well. Tys had mentioned that his [Meditation] would upgrade and he had expected something to this effect, and it was great to see their expectations and hard work confirmed. From now on, as long as he was conscious, he could heal himself as needed without having to rely on healers again. It was both liberating and freed up Jasphaer’s attention from him, so he could focus on the others instead.

  We don’t really have any choice in the matter, Nar thought, as he reared his new [Indomitable] skill. My aura will be self-healing me, properly and truly passively from now on, and it will interfere with any external healing. Hmm. I wasn’t expecting that.

  As the Master of Aura always said, there were pros and cons to balance out everything, and in the worst-case scenario, if he completely depleted his aura bar, then Jasphaer could just heal him as normal.

  Well, at least until I gain that passive aura regen, Nar thought, his eyebrows rising. With passive aura regen and passive self-healing… Crystal, is this what Tys meant by unstoppable?

  If they added in a passive stamina regen skill as well, plus Crystal knew what other passives Tys had in mind… Nar would become a blur upon the battlefield, leaving a trail of unparalleled, relentless destruction. And any damage that did manage to hit him would heal on its own.

  Already the name of his new skill was [Indomitable], which meant impossible to subdue or defeat, and already his aura was hard at work within him, restoring him from the abuse he had subjected himself to save Mach and to hold off Silver Fists… With more aura, better pathways, and upgrades to [Indomitable], would he be able to regenerate within seconds? Instantly?

  He shook his head, bringing himself back to reality.

  Maybe we’ll get there, but for now, don’t go tanking with your body again, Nar thought, recalling those early days of relaying on his arm to be his flesh and bone shield.

  At last, there was the one skill he had not been expecting, the upgrade from [Combat Cycling] to [Champion’s Cycling].

  Another Champion skill… and this one is epic like [Combat Cycling] was, Nar thought. The bonus to my [Mastery] and [Vigor] is up to forty percent now, but the big thing is that [Aura Quickening] has become a subskill of it… and that there is no time limit now. Crystal. As long as I can endure the pain and heal the damage, I can quicken myself for as long as I want.

  Plus, he could now control the strength of the effect, from zero up to [Aura] * 0.2. And at the max, the skill now gave him a staggering 751 attribute points into [Speed], [Agility], [Reflex] and his [NPC].

  Which is kind of crazy, right? I’m up to 35 [NPC] now, and that is enough to sustain my attributes boosted by [The Aspiring Champion]. So why does [Aura Quickening] give me so much [NPC]? Is it being used for something else?

  Nothing within the System happened without a reason…

  He snorted. Whatever it was, he would deal with it when it revealed itself. For now, he marveled at what he had achieved.

  As always, pain opens the way forward, he thought.

  Should that be a depressing thought? Or just reality?

  Had he not been an Unclean, suffering in that machine from five years old, he wouldn’t have developed such strong pathways, nor such a large aura and the capacity to handle it. But did that speak of the way things were, or him?

  He closed his gains with a sigh.

  A Pile of attribute points, a bunch of incredible new skills, and upgrades to many of his current skills. Putting his life on the line was always worth it, wasn’t it? At least as long as he kept surviving it.

  That said…

  Still no [Toughness]? Really?

  He shook his head.

  Whatever God was blocking his attribute… Wait. Why was a God blocking his [Toughness] in the first…

  A whispering obscured his thoughts. A rage. A hatred. A resentment… Words he did not understand bloated his own, shards of pain exploding within his mind. His aura seethed within him and flooding from his core, climbing up his neck, his face, it spread across his head.

  Something is happening, Nar realized, panting through clenched teeth. Something’s inside me… The spirit! Soon! Remember… my why! Why? Why!

  And Nar was back upon the altar of wood, eyeing that green beam and distant lit clouds with a deep frown, thinking of the madness ahead and having forgotten what had just happened.

  Within him however, while his aura had been forced to retreat, it was not defeated, nor would it accept defeat. And at his side, his blade gleamed a full crimson, as though devouring the green light that dared to touch it. The weapon held onto that emergency aura stored into its core, and more besides, much more, held back in secret. Ready and bidding it’s time…