Time seemed to slow as the colorful energy wrapped around what remained of Damian’s broken body.
It lifted him gently, cradling his ruined form like a parent holding an injured child.
Then warmth flooded through him.
’Hmm?’
The thought came confused, his mind still preparing for death.
His legs began reforming, ash and burned flesh knitting back together from nothing, bone growing from severed stumps, muscle and skin weaving across the gaps.
His arms reconstructed themselves, shredded tissue pulling back together, bones fusing, fingers regrowing one joint at a time.
His torso filled in, internal organs that had been half-consumed regenerating completely, ribs sliding back into place, flesh covering everything in healthy pink.
’What’s... going on?’
His eyes snapped open, staring at the rainbow energy surrounding him.
In his peripheral vision, text flashed.
[Will: 362 → 400 → 450 → 500]
His mind cleared instantly, the fog of pain and exhaustion evaporating as his mental state was restored to its peak.
’Why is it helping me?’
His thoughts raced, trying to process what was happening.
’Wasn’t the tribulation trying to kill me? Didn’t it just try to destroy me for walking the Devourer’s path?’
But the energy kept working, repairing every injury, erasing every wound, returning his body to perfect condition.
Within seconds, the healing was complete.
The colorful energy released him, and Damian dropped to the ground.
Thud
His feet hit ground, perfectly stable and whole, like the tribulation had never happened.
He looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers, feeling the strength in them.
’I’m... completely healed?’
The ancient voice resonated across the mountain peak, carrying absolute authority.
"Mortal, you have passed the tribulation’s test. In accordance with the universal rules that govern all of creation, you shall receive the blessing owed to those who prove themselves worthy."
The voice spoke as if their previous conversation hadn’t happened at all, as if it hadn’t just tried to convince him to abandon his path.
’Blessing?’
Damian’s thoughts caught on the word.
’Lily mentioned it before, but I didn’t have time to pay attention. What does–’
Whoosh
Before he could think further, pure Aura rushed toward him from every direction.
The purest form he’d ever encountered, completely untainted, carrying no elemental affinity or corrupting influence.
Boom
It crashed into his body like a wave, washing through him, and he gasped at the sensation.
The Aura flowed through every cell, every muscle fiber, every bone, seeking out imperfections and erasing them.
’There were so many issues I hadn’t even noticed before.’
His eyes widened as the pure Aura highlighted problems he’d been carrying.
Micro-fractures in his bones from constantly pushing himself, scar tissue in his muscles that limited flexibility, blockages in his pathways that reduced Aura flow efficiency...
’But it makes sense.’
His thoughts tracked the logic.
’My physique was upgraded mostly through the Devouring Body Art. I never gave my body time to properly adjust between breakthroughs.’
The pure Aura kept flowing, correcting everything, perfecting what had been flawed.
’This Aura... is so pure it’s almost alive. Like it knows exactly what needs fixing.’
Then a thought struck him with the force of lightning.
’Let’s try to break through! I won’t get another opportunity like this.’
He’d just broken through to A- rank a few days ago at the Northern Military Training Center.
And even with SS rank talent, it should have taken weeks or months to accumulate enough Aura for the next breakthrough.
But with this blessing...
Damian sat down cross-legged on the ground, his breathing exercises activating automatically.
He guided the pure Aura toward his Aura core, the energy center located just above his navel.
He pushed the blessing’s energy into it, feeling the core expand, grow denser, begin straining against its current limits–
BOOM
–And the barrier broke, and Damian surged from A- rank to A rank in a single breath.
In his peripheral vision, text flashed.
[Strength: 770 → 785]
[Speed: 771 → 786]
[Stamina: 762 → 777]
[Vitality: 764 → 779]
Power flooded through his body, his physical capabilities jumping upward.
But the pure Aura still remained, though it was becoming noticeably less abundant.
’The energy is fading.’
Damian’s eyes stayed closed, his mind calculating rapidly.
’But there’s still enough. Maybe... maybe I can reach A+ rank if I push hard enough.’
He knew the risks.
Rising through ranks too quickly created instability, left gaps in foundation and caused problems that could take years to fix.
But he was using the purest Aura in the universe, the blessing itself correcting imperfections as it strengthened him.
’This probably won’t cause the same issues as normal rapid advancement... Let’s try, it’s worth the risk.’
He pushed harder, forcing more of the blessing into his core, compressing it further, driving toward the next threshold.
The Aura became less and less with each passing second, draining faster than he could absorb it.
’Just a bit more.’
His concentration was absolute, feeling the edge of A+ rank approaching.
’Almost there. Almost th–’
Suddenly, the pure Aura vanished completely, cutting off mid-flow.
Damian’s eyes snapped open, his core hovering right on the threshold of A+ without quite reaching it.
’Damn it!’
Disappointment crashed through him.
’I was so close. Just a little bit more would have–’
Then, as if the tribulation’s consciousness had sensed his thoughts, the ancient voice resounded again–
"Since ’I’ increased the power of the tribulation beyond standard parameters, the blessing shall be increased equivalently to maintain balance."
–And more pure Aura rushed in, a flood that dwarfed what had come before.
BOOM
The breakthrough happened instantly as his core shattered its limits, surging past A rank and into A+ territory with explosive power.
[Strength: 785 → 799 → 800]
[Speed: 786 → 799 → 800]
[Stamina: 777 → 799 → 800]
[Vitality: 779 → 799 → 800]
All four physical stats hit eight hundred simultaneously, reaching the theoretical limit for A+ rank.
And the moment they reached that peak, black waste began pouring from his skin.
Thick, dark sludge that smelled like death, seeping from every pore, coating his body in filth.
’I still had this many impurities?’
Damian stared at the waste coating his arms, his hands, dripping onto the snow.
’Even after the previous purification... my body was still carrying so much filth.’
The waste kept flowing for several seconds before finally stopping, leaving a pool of expelled filth beneath him.
He stood up, snow falling away from his body, and clenched his hands, feeling the power coursing through his body.
’This... is what A rank is supposed to feel like.’
Then his eyes tracked upward toward the churning clouds.
’But why? Why is it being so generous now? Just because I passed the test?’
The shift in behavior seemed too drastic.
Before, the tribulation had been trying to destroy him utterly and now...
’What changed? What–’
The voice resonated again before he could think further, carrying weight that made reality bend.
"By the authority vested in the universal laws, with all of creation as witness, ’I’ recognize this human mortal–"
A mark made of translucent energy emerged from the clouds, descending toward Damian with terrible speed.
’What is that?!’
His eyes tracked the approaching mark, instincts screaming danger.
Whoosh
His body moved before conscious thought, his Telekinesis activating, trying to dodge.
But the mark was faster than thought, faster than reaction, moving with the inevitability of universal law itself.
’Too fast!’
It struck his forehead and vanished into his skull, disappearing completely.
’What did it just–’
"–as a Chosen One of this era."
The words finished with finality that shook the mountain.
DONG DONG DONG
A massive bell resonated across the sky, the sound echoing from nowhere and everywhere simultaneously.
Each ring made reality shiver, the vibration spreading outward in waves that would reach across the entire world.
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