CHAPTER 41: BREAKING THROUGH
One month later.
The training yard was empty.
Well, not completely empty. People were still filing out, heading back to their dorms after the last day of lessons. The funny thing was, the instructors didn't even give them a goodbye speech. They just went on with their lives like this was just another Tuesday.
But who cares? The days of brutality were finally behind them.
John walked near the back of the group. Nico was beside him, talking about something, but John wasn't listening. He was long lost in thought.
"—and then he just stood there, like he didn't even feel it. I mean, who takes a fucking hammer to the face and doesn't even flinch? Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little there, but my point still stands. That guy is built different, I swear. He was able to stand up and fight like before. You think he's got some kind of—"
While Nico kept talking on and on. John was focused on a more pressing matter.
Origin Archive Record
Name: John
Age: 15
Race: Human
Affinity: ???, VOID, ABYSS, LIGHTNING
Ascension Level
Stage I — Awakening (peak)
Energy Circulation Arts
Current Art: Void Integration ArtGrade: Exalted (Grade 5)Created by John Blackwell. A unique cultivation art unlike any other, suited just for him. This art exists because of the ??? affinity, along with a set of other unique affinities, working in synergy. No one else can replicate this method.[Note: This art defies conventional grading metrics. Proceed with caution.]
Techniques
Registered Techniques:
GRADE 9 (MORTAL)
Thunder Fang — Mastery: Expert
Storm Wall — Mastery: Adept
Flash Step — Mastery: Adept
Spark Sense — Mastery: Adept
Thunder Pulse — Mastery: Novice
Silver Flicker — Mastery: Novice
GRADE 8 (REFINED)
Midnight Mantle — Mastery: Novice
Domain
Status: Awakened
Domain Grade: Unrated
Domain Aspect: Undefined
Manifestation: None
Blessings
Thread of Eternity: A binding tether to the Origin Archive, the silent witness that records all and enforces the laws of existence.
Gift of Tongues: Ability to speak and understand the Common Tongue shared by all sentient beings in the world of Cassiopea.
Soul‑Bound Item:
Evolstice Blade
Ring of Lies
Peak, John thought. I can finally move forward now.
[Considering it's been weeks since you reached that stage, I think you just wasted your precious time,] Echo said.
Hey, I didn't waste it. I was just preparing. I want to achieve the best result.
[Right. Because you're so patient,] Echo drawled.
John wanted to argue, but Nico's voice finally broke through.
"Hey. Hey. John. You listening?"
John blinked. "What?"
Nico sighed dramatically. "I've been talking for like ten minutes. The guy being hit with a hammer and getting up as if nothing happened. Remember?"
"Right. Hammer guy."
Nico narrowed his eyes. "You weren't listening at all, were you?"
"Not really."
"Unbelievable." Nico shook his head. "Here I am, sharing quality content, and you're off in la-la land."
John chuckled a little. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."
Nico gave him a disappointed look. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Fine. Maybe I'll go to someone who will actually listen."
He started walking toward Amara—only to be sent backward with a punch after a while.
John smiled and offered him a hand. "Still want to go?"
Nico gritted his teeth. "Maybe I'll stay for a while."
They finally reached the dorm. Everyone settled into their usual spots and started doing their own things.
John sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
The others faded into the background. None of it mattered now.
He focused inward, toward his domain.
[Ready?] Echo asked.
Ready.
John breathed. In and out.
Then he started to draw energy from his domain. He'd spent weeks preparing—everything he needed to reach the second stage of ascension, which was called Weaving. Why was it called that? Because it was quite literally weaving.
To reach the second stage, someone first needs to construct pathways using their energy between the three aspects.
They were Body. Spirit. Mind.
The three pillars of existence.
The Body was the vessel. The physical self. Muscle, bone, blood, and the like.
The Spirit was the will. The fire that burned beneath consciousness. Quite literally, what gives you your drive.
The Mind was awareness. It is your consciousness. The part that says "I am me."
Together, the Mind and the Spirit make the Soul, while the Body houses both.
Where do I start, exactly?
[Wherever you want. Just start.]
Whew. Okay. Let's do this.
John chose the Body first.
He pulled energy from his domain—first from the purple threads, then the abyss below, then the void itself. Finally, the energy was empowered by the glow of the red sun, just like how his first energy formed when he created the Void Integration Art.
At first, he imagined the energy flowing like a river throughout his body. But then he changed his mind.
Instead, he imagined it like a series of nervous systems connected to each other.
The reason? The pathway's form has a huge impact on how energy behaves.
A river is simple. It follows the path of least resistance, carving deeper over time. That works. It's efficient, fast, and smooth.
But a river is also fragile. Block one point, and the whole thing backs up. Break one channel and the water spills everywhere.
A nervous system, though?
Nervous systems are redundant. They branch and weave and connect in multiple directions. If one path is blocked, energy finds another. If one connection is weak, the surrounding paths compensate.
It's slower to build. More complex. But once it's there? It's more than worth it.
John wanted that. Not the easy path or the quick path.
The right path.
The energy obeyed.
It flowed exactly where he imagined, threading through his body like a needle through fabric.
First, the core. Not a core in the normal sense, but in the way that the pathways had to start somewhere. The center of his chest made the most sense. From there, they could spread outward—up to his head, down to his limbs, into every corner of his body.
John pictured the first thread.
A single line of glowing energy cutting through the darkness of his domain.
It first exited his domain and started pushing outward like a root searching for soil from his chest.
He guided it up his spine.
The thread followed.
John didn't rush. What he was trying to do was a delicate process with a very high chance of failure. He didn't even know why he was doing this—he just wanted to do something... unique.
Slowly, he reached his neck. The thread started to split. Once. Twice. Thrice.
Within minutes, his chest was a web of light.
John breathed.
The energy kept flowing.
He guided it down his arms next. Into his shoulders. His elbows. His wrists. His fingers.
Each split created more connections. More redundancy. More paths for energy to travel.
His hands glowed faintly in the real world. He didn't notice. He was too focused.
The legs came next. Hips. Knees. Ankles. Toes.
The thread split and split and split.
Every muscle. Every bone. Every inch of flesh was connected by the pathways.
He opened his eyes. The dorm was dark. The others were asleep. Hours had passed.
John looked at his hands.
They weren't glowing anymore. But he could feel the pathways there.
Is it done?
[The Body is done,] Echo said. [The Spirit and Mind are still waiting.]
John nodded. He was exhausted. But he wasn't stopping.
Not yet.
Now for the Mind and the Spirit.
Even though they were classified individually, at this stage, John couldn't access them separately. No one could.
Instead, he had to approach them as one.
As the Soul. And where was the Soul? Deep within his domain. Buried beneath everything he'd built so far.
The Body pathways were on the surface. Easy to reach. But the Spirit? The Mind? They were deeper.
John had been exploring his domain for weeks. But he'd only scratched the surface. The domain was, quite literally, his metaphysical space inside him. So, it only made sense that the Mind and Spirit were there.
So now he needed to descend.
And that was the connection.
The Body pathways were complete—a web of light stretching through every muscle, every bone, every inch of flesh.
But he needed more.
John reached out and touched the threads to expand them.
Slowly, John began to push the pathways deeper. Toward his domain.
They stretched like roots searching for water, extending past the surface and reaching deeper.
John felt the connection strengthen. The pathways weren't just in his body anymore. They were in his domain. But he wasn't done.
He pushed deeper.
John gritted his teeth and held firm as the space itself seemed to resist him more and more.
He lost track of time. There was only the descent. The pathways stretched further than he thought possible.
Then—
He felt it. He was sure he felt it. The Soul.
At least, that was what it felt like to him. It was faint and distant. Like an echo from the bottom of a well. But it was there.
John reached for it.
The pathways responded. They shot downward, crossing the remaining distance, and started to spread into what he felt was the Soul.
John gasped.
Everything he felt—himself—began to elevate. Both literally and metaphysically.
His body grew stronger. His mind grew faster. His will grew firmer. It was like his entire existence was being upgraded.
It felt euphoric.
[Breakthrough Successful]
[Stage 1: Awakening → Stage 2: Weaver]
[Ascension Level: Stage II — Weaver (Early Tier)]
[Energy Pathways Successfully Formed]
[Well, that went better than expected,] Echo said, surprise in his voice.
What? You didn't expect it to work?
[Yeah. I was expecting you to blow up into tiny little pieces by now. But you didn't, so... congrats.]
John just rolled his eyes and wiped his sweat.
But beneath the exhaustion and sarcasm...
He was happy. If only for now.
For weeks, he couldn't stop thinking about what was coming—all thanks to what Daren had said.
Well, as the saying goes: prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
So at least for now, he would enjoy this moment.