Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 63: Theory(III)
Uriel, who’d been asleep, his mind nearly collapsed and his body emptied of all strength, suddenly awoke.
Not even a minute had passed since he’d passed out, and Ayah was still in the skies, undergoing the shocking changes granted by her class.
But he didn’t focus on her. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
His core.
He felt it replenish at a rapid pace, so fast it bordered on the nonsensical. More shockingly still, he could tell it wasn’t the doing of his body, nor was it the doing of the world that loved him so much.
The System.
[You have forged an avenue of Ascendance!]
[You have unveiled an ancient Godly Avenue!]
[You have achieved a Singularity Feat!]
Uriel felt his mind shake.
Any backlash that had fallen upon it was healed in an instant, and he felt his mind expand and grow in ways that made no sense, its sharpness rising by the second, towering into realms hard to name.
But this was merely a side effect.
[Your Path Creation Method has been perfected.]
The very knowledge within Uriel’s mind was refined and rearranged, the vague theory he’d come up with while witnessing Enoch form his own Class evolving and growing in real time.
It was perfected into a true method of class creation in the blink of an eye, so flawless that Uriel shuddered as the knowledge flooded him.
[You have pleased the Weave.]
[The Weave-System now watches over you.]
These weren’t notifications.
A voice, ancient and impossibly old, echoed within his mind.
It shook him to his core, so thoroughly that he didn’t even notice time slowing around him, nor did he notice when it suddenly returned to its normal flow.
WHOOOOOOOSH!
The skies above dulled to grey once more, rain falling heavily as Ayah descended, her body settling as her transformation completed.
"We did it!"
She rushed to him, foolishly grinning. Squatting down, she grabbed his shoulders and shook him in her excitement. "We did it!"
"I formed a class!"
Enoch’s eyes widened.
"What?!"
...
Ayah explained everything.
From Uriel’s theory, to his ideas, to the execution, and all that had led to the birth of her path and class. Enoch listened to it all with shaking hands, his breath hitching.
Neither of them could begin to fathom the depth of such a creation.
A method to birth... classes? As powerful as the ones they’d formed themselves? With no apparent backlash?
Enoch’s pupils trembled so violently it seemed the emerald within them might shatter. He looked at the still dazed, disgruntled Uriel and, inwardly, couldn’t suppress a creeping sense of foreboding and... fear.
The last time Uriel had come up with something that relied on his spark to help others, calling the outcome tragic would have been an understatement.
He would know best, after all.
This had to remain secret.
...
Seeing that Ayah didn’t need any rest, and was, in fact, practically overflowing with energy, and that Uriel was only mildly dazed, the trio still decided to head out.
They would discuss the details of her class once they returned home.
For now, they had things to do. Quite a lot of things, actually.
They showered, dressed, then headed out, all three brimming with energy and excitement.
CREAK! BANG!
Uriel exited last, closing the door to Ayah’s house as, after what felt like years, he finally returned to the bustling streets of the settlement.
To avoid any issues, they’d all donned hoods and veils from Ayah’s extensive stash, ensuring none would bother them.
Hurrying along, Uriel slipped past dozens of people crowding the streets and caught up to the other two.
"So what’s the goal here exactly?" Ayah asked Enoch as they left the more residential streets behind and reentered the truly packed zones of the city’s center.
As he watched it all, Uriel felt a strange sense of unreality.
The last time he’d been in the crowds, many had already begun to look inhuman, their bodies warped with strange proportions, but now, it was far beyond that.
It felt like everyone, human or otherwise, had undergone at least one evolution, with most having brought their Sparks to the Iron grade.
Fur, scales, tails, wings, snouts, elemental bodies, new limbs, towering heights—it was a dizzying diversity.
The sheer pressure from their clashing natal aethers multiplied the weight of gravity tenfold, every step akin to trudging through quicksand. Yet no one seemed bothered, their bodies long since evolved beyond such limits.
Staring in awe, Uriel couldn’t help but feel that he, and the other two, were lagging behind.
Would they really be ready for the barrier’s fall?
He wasn’t sure.
"We’re heading to the Training Craters," Enoch explained, weaving through the dense crowds. "We’ll be using the simulation feature."
"Now that we have a clearer idea of each other’s strengths and arsenals, we need to see how we work together, what holds up and what doesn’t, so we can fully understand our synergy."
"After that, based on what we learn from the simulation, we’ll hit the shop, stock up, and then truly begin training."
Ayah’s interest was immediately piqued. "Simulation? What do you mean? Simulating what?"
"You enter a pod, and your mind is pulled into a virtual world," he replied. "You can simulate expeditions, of pretty much anything. We’re going to run a hunt in the forest."
Ayah’s eyes sparkled. "Oh! Is that—"
...
Uriel wasn’t really listening.
Truthfully, he was still dazed.
He walked behind them, their voices blending into the roar of the streets, the churn of mud beneath countless feet, and the steady percussion of falling rain.
Step after step, he drifted further inward as something deep within him tugged insistently at his awareness.
His ivory eyes glazed over, his consciousness slipping into the strange sensation overtaking him. His breaths grew deep and slow, his heartbeats powerful and measured.
His natal aether poured outward, but it was invisible, merging seamlessly with the ambient fabric of the world in an instant, his resonance rune shining with brilliant light.
It felt as though, in but a moment, the boundary between his own natal aether and the world’s atmospheric aether had blurred.
And that only pulled his mind deeper.
Then, something shocking happened.
