Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

Back in the scenario world...

Uhtred’s consciousness slammed into Jor-than’s body yet again, and he was hit immediately by a heavy wave of heat.

The carnage caused by Inferno Violence lay before his eyes, seen through a different lens now that he’d had the time to retreat from the scenario and return.

His body was wracked with pain from the internal injuries he had suffered from tanking the An Clan Ancestor’s Hollow Vacuum spell.

Distinctly, he realized he was also buck naked, though it seemed that wasn’t much of a problem. The flames roiling from his body were more of a concern to the surrounding An Clan elders and warriors than his lack of clothes.

Damn! I forgot just how deep a shit I was in before I left!

Of course, he didn’t literally forget about his situation before he left, but being here again hit differently than mentally recalling it.

The interview had been thoroughly necessary. Even though he had essentially flipped off the entire multiversal audience, damning any chance he had to gain their goodwill, donations, or gifts, he had still walked away with three gifts from a far mightier, loftier being.

The Towermaster... Lorien.

Those three gifts — the Gnostic Eye, the Slipstream Stride technique, and the one-time privilege to overwrite a mandatory scenario choice — were worth infinitely more than any potential reward he could have gotten by sucking up to the crowd in that arena.

Thinking about the gifts again, Zara’s last words echoed in his mind.

Without hesitation, he switched his current Elemental Manifestation to frost, positioning his ice and water sub-cores at the center while the others orbited around them.

In an instant, the inferno around his immediate body flash-cooled to freezing temperatures.

His sudden shift sent the An Clan warriors onto high alert. Already, several of the more daring among them were beginning to creep closer, shouting warnings for Uhtred to surrender.

The elders remained behind, surrounding the clan Ancestor alongside Nayu An. The Ancestor’s warning about how dangerous Uhtred was still rang in their ears, but they couldn’t just stand there twiddling their thumbs.

So, they let the daring warriors among the lower ranks probe forward first.

A part of Uhtred’s mind registered them creeping closer. Exactly eight warriors were moving toward him — all fire elementals — but he didn’t pay them any mind.

Even with their affinity for fire magic, they barely stepped within fifty feet of him before rearing back in shock.

They were all Mortal Realm cultivators, so they couldn’t get anywhere near his immediate vicinity where frost magic had taken over. The flames still raging tens of feet away from him were so violent that they dared not draw any closer.

If they truly wanted to probe, the real Nascent Realm powerhouses would have to make a move, not these riff-raff.

Uhtred focused entirely on the sheet of ice he had conjured.

He made the surface opaque and highly reflective, staring straight at his reflection.

"What the fuck is that?!!" he sucked in a sharp breath.

First off, this was his first time seeing what he actually looked like in this scenario world, so he was taken slightly aback by the unfamiliar face staring back at him. Despite being well aware that this was a scenario, seeing another face mimic his movements was still deeply weird.

But that wasn’t the main issue. The main reason he had cursed out loud was because of the clear ocular pattern embedded in his left pupil.

He knew he now possessed the Gnostic Eye, but he had never expected the physical changes to be this blatant.

Instead of the usual blackness of his pupil, there was now a deep, unnatural shade of purple. Up close, three concentric rings spiraled inward, seeming to stretch on forever.

Uhtred tested how it looked from different distances, leaning close to the ice mirror and pulling back repeatedly.

From a normal distance, no one would be able to tell his eyes were any different; the deep purple was dark enough to pass for the same black pupil as everyone else’s.

Within about five feet, however, anyone with sharp perception would begin to notice something off about his left eye.

From about two feet away, the purple pupil became immediately noticeable.

Damn... is this gonna be a problem...?

Of course, things had changed at this point. Uhtred wasn’t going to hold back his abilities any longer, so he knew he wasn’t going to hide his Gnostic Eye either... unless strictly necessary.

But at the same time, having an eye so blatantly different from everyone else’s was going to be a real headache.

His plan had been to use his Gnostic Eye blatantly and bullshit an explanation for the abilities he gained from it, but the physical alteration was so obvious that it was practically a signboard announcing he had acquired an ocular gift.

Ascenders were exceptionally perceptive. The higher-leveled they were, the sharper their vision became. Uhtred could still remain somewhat low-key for now since the Gnostic Eye patterns were restricted to his pupil alone.

But what would happen when his Gnostic Eye powers began to mature, just as the Towermaster had said? What would happen when the pattern stretched beyond his pupil to cover his iris? Or his entire eye?

Heh... maybe I’ll just wear a contact lens or something?

Uhtred didn’t know exactly how he would handle it. Perhaps he wouldn’t even bother.

So what if they knew exactly what his eye was? What if there were members of his multiversal stream who would recognize it as the Gnostic Eye at first glance? As long as he didn’t admit it out loud, they could speculate all they wanted... he wouldn’t care.

Uhtred chuckled softly.

It was freeing, in a way. But at the same time, now that he knew the changes to his eye was physically obvious, it also raised the question of how the Host, and even several of the powerhouses in the audience during the interview, hadn’t noticed a single thing at all.

Even Handler Roy hadn’t commented on it; it was Zara who had pointed it out.

Uhtred wasn’t dumb enough to chalk it up to Zara’s "skill" or "perception." She was a terrifying ascender for her level, with extremely sharp senses... but compared to the Host, the audience, or even Handler Roy — who seemed so casual — her skill and perception were child’s play.

Did Lorien have something to do with this...?

Uhtred pondered for a second. Perhaps the Towermaster had done something to prevent anyone from noticing until he reached the corridor?

But then Roy would have noticed too...

Uhtred frowned.

He didn’t even know if he was on the right track with his theory. Perhaps the Towermaster had nothing to do with it at all. Perhaps there was some other reason the audience and the Host hadn’t noticed...

But if his theory was correct and the Towermaster really did have a hand in it, then it was either in the corridor or within the waiting room that whatever... shroud the Towermaster had placed over his eye came undone.

Which also meant there was a high possibility Roy had noticed the exact same thing Zara did...

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