Path to Transcendence

There was something about relaxing on the beach in the early morning and enjoying the brisk breeze as you watched the dawn rise. It was already getting a little bit warmer nowadays, but it was still nippy as the sun rose over the horizon. Not that it mattered to Julius. He could probably be comfortable in subzero temperatures with his fire mana protecting him.

That was just one nice benefit of having magic.

He was alone. It was too early for the others to be up and about. He only got a couple of hours of sleep. He had been working on his Concept training late last night. That ephemeral feeling of a Concept had been gradually building over these past weeks. He had a feeling that he was getting close to something.

As for what that something was, he had no clue. But he hoped it would be good.

On the bright side, he had gotten another level in [Spatial Crack], which brought it up to level 6.

He still hadn't managed to connect two points, but his ability to create them had improved immensely. He was beginning to feel comfortable enough that he could make a small one in about a couple of seconds.

He still hadn't really found much of a use for it other than collapsing it onto itself. Until he could connect two points and test out his theory, he was kind of stuck with a useless skill.

It actually made him want to get the [Kinetic Restriction] skill he had been offered a while ago. He had been putting it off because he thought he didn't need it, but with two open skill slots and a lack of kinetic-based skills, he was tempted more and more every day.

He already had a Concept that would go nicely with it. His Force Concept: Resonating Burst could potentially go well with it. The Concept might give it the extra oomph it needed to allow him to use it on more powerful people or as a regular tool.

At the moment, the skill was more suited to a surprise attack. It was really only effective when people's guards were down and when they hadn't prepared their willpower.

On the other hand, he could see his Concept of Will being a good fit as well. As a skill that he relied heavily on his willpower anyway, Inexorable Resolve could be a potent addition.

He put that on the back burner of his mind, though, and closed his eyes. He breathed in and out slowly as he steadily increased [Sage of Savagery]. He could feel each soft gust of the salty ocean air and hear the slight chirps from the birds off in the distance.

Once he felt ready, he activated [Spatial Crack]. A distortion in space opened up in front of him. There was no need to rush the skill; he wasn't in a hurry and wanted to feel every ripple of space as he could with [Spatial Perception] as the skill activated.

He had also gotten comfortable enough with the skill that he wasn't worried about creating one in front of himself anymore. Once it was open and the crack was fully formed, he manipulated the same aura he used to create the spatial distortion to hold it in place. The skill itself helped a lot with this process and managed to stabilize the effect without much direct input from him.

When everything was set up, he took another calming breath. This next step was where he wasn't sure what would happen. It was also the reason why he had come all the way out here to do so. If something went wrong, he didn't want to destroy another training room accidentally.

He didn't actually believe that something terrible would happen, but it was better to play it safe for the time being. He also liked the atmosphere more. The beach was calming and relaxing. So if he were going to attempt this anywhere, right here would be the most pleasant spot.

Realizing that he was stalling, he chuckled to himself and cranked up [Sage of Savagery]. Then, before he could hesitate any longer, he gently pushed his pointer finger into the crack.

He knew it was dumb and dangerous, but he had been playing around with the skill for some time and realized that the only true danger was whatever entered the crack. It wasn't going to pull him in by accident. He had already tested that with a stick.

But he firmly believed that if he was able to experience whatever was on the other side of the crack, he might be able to understand a little more about space and maybe even acquire a Space Concept.

Although if he was being honest, he was just really curious what it would feel like as well, or what lay beyond the distortion. After all, [Spatial Perception] was not able to sense anything on the other side.

When his finger entered the crack, there was nothing. It was completely fine, and he couldn't feel anything rubbing against it. He pulled it out and examined it with a curious eye.

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Normally, when he put something in there, it was quickly ripped to shreds. This was what he expected would happen to his finger, which is why he only put his finger in there and not his face.

However, the fact that it was perfectly fine was quite interesting. What made his finger so different from the other materials he put in there? Was it the fact that his finger was alive? Or was it that his body was naturally stronger than a simple piece of cloth or a wooden stick?

He had many questions and knew exactly where to put his finger in order to find them. So without further ado, he shoved his finger back into the crack. This time, leaving it there for longer.

He smiled softly as nothing continued to happen again and kept his digit in there, all the while doing his best to focus on experiencing the sensations of his finger. The problem was that he wasn't feeling anything. There was nothing; it was as if his finger was just sitting in the calm void.

However, just as he was thinking that, he could sense something almost similar to a breeze of wind brushing up against his finger. He felt a brief moment of elation as he was finally able to attempt to unravel the mysteries inside the crack.

But that elation only lasted for a second because simultaneously, he felt a searing pain surge through his pointer finger. There was a little resistance at first, but it was like water seeping through the finest cracks of his skin. Only this water was the sharpest thing in the world, slicing his flesh apart. It was unstoppable, like trying to prevent erosion over millions of years.

Before he knew it, the pain stopped, and once again, he felt nothing. He was curious, but he left his finger in there for a few more moments to see if anything else was going to happen. Still, he noticed nothing and eventually removed his finger.

Or rather, what had been his finger. Instead of a fleshy digit, there was a perfectly cut-off finger. What was interesting was that there was no blood. It was like it was already cauterized.

He snorted to himself despite the fact that he no longer had a finger. At least he knew why he wasn't feeling anything toward the end. There was just nothing left to feel anything with.

Before he healed the finger, he used his senses to inspect the damage. Like the spatial explosion, there was something very particular about the injury. The way it affected his body was very intrusive. Most of the injuries he received were from external attacks. For example, a sword would have to break through his defenses and skin to cut into his flesh. However, this wasn't the case for spatial magic.

It was as if it didn't care that there was a solid object to go through, which would make sense considering it was spatial magic. He could barely detect small remnants of something from the void attached to the end of his finger. He didn't know what it was quite yet, but he had a feeling that it was something leftover from whatever had caused such damage.

Regardless, it was fascinating to observe and examine in close proximity. Which, of course, meant he had to do it again. So, without bothering to heal his missing finger, he eagerly shoved his middle finger inside the crack.

This time, he just waited. He couldn't help but compare what he was doing to what people did in his old world, where people would fish by putting their bare hands inside a catfish hole.

Only with this, he was sure he was going to lose a finger or two.

Thus, he wasn't surprised when he felt his finger get shredded into confetti once more. But it happened so quickly again that he immediately shoved his ring finger back into the tear in space.

He continued to do this until all of his fingers were used up, and each time his fingers never had a chance. They were torn apart so easily.

Although, he managed to pick up on a few new things. Things such as if he were to channel more aura into his body enhancement skill, the spatial ripples had a harder time breaking through his defenses and his finger lasted several seconds longer.

Satisfied with his progress, he quickly healed his fingers with [Phoenix Renewal]. The spatial nature of the injuries made it a little more difficult, but he had learned from the last time he was injured by the collapsing space and found a little trick that helped.

He needed to flood his Phoenix Concept into the injury a little more directly than he usually did. Typically, he simply used his skill to treat his injuries, but if he wanted to speed up the process, he needed to wrap his Concept around his wounds and then pump the healing skill through them.

It took an extra step and more concentration, but the result was much quicker and more efficient. He watched as his flesh regrew back and his little fingers reappeared with a grin because he received a notification.

[Phoenix Renewal lvl 11 -> lvl 12]

See? Whoever said that self-mutilation couldn't be fun?

Wiggling his new digits in front of his face, he turned back to the spatial distortion he had been maintaining this entire time. When he was healing himself using his Concept to help him along, he realized that he should have done something similar when he put his finger in the crack.

So with a curious glint in his eyes, he wrapped his finger with his Will Concept and pumped a lot of aura through his body skill, before he shoved it into the tear in space. He waited for a few moments and eventually felt the space trying to tear it apart.

However, this time something was different. He was still feeling the pain even after the spatial ripples tore through it. Therefore, he pulled it out of the crack and was surprised by the finger that looked like it had just gone ten rounds with a blender.

Large gouges of flesh were missing, and it barely survived. But he knew better than to write this off. The fact that anything was still left and that it was bleeding was a good sign. That meant that his Concept had some effect.

Seeing that he was on the right path, he wrapped his finger up with his Concept once more and put it through the crack, all the while a big goofy grin was on his face that didn't match his current actions.

If someone were to walk by him, they would be both disgusted and alarmed to see a young boy shoving his finger through an invisible hole in the air and get it torn apart. And for some reason, that made him chuckle in amusement.