The Glorious Evolution

Levi slowly lowered his shaking arm... his breath was ragged, and his head was sending waves of pain nonstop... He had overdone it.

Before he could appreciate this level of destruction, Levi felt faint, like he was going to pass out at any moment... this was a big no-no when he was flying using aether energy.

However, he wasn’t alone... the moment Vyra noticed his emotional distress from their spiritual link, she swiftly took off into the sky and positioned herself under him... then she nudged him with her wing to fall on her back.

With a thankful smile, Levi canceled his Aetheric Grasp, and he fell on her back gently... then, she took him back to his friends while growling at them, seemingly ordering them to help him recover.

Arthur swiftly helped his brother get down and pulled a recovery totem that handled the nasty side effects of abusing one’s spiritual energy... It didn’t restore it, but it alleviated the tiredness and dizziness.

After uttering the incantation with decent fluency, the healing liquid activated, and Levi drank it.

In a moment, Levi felt the throbbing die out and his messed-up spiritual vision turn off gently... then, he stood back up and dusted his clothes, smiling serenely in everyone’s direction, ”Not bad, right?”

”...”

”...”

Everyone was left speechless at once, their eyes switching between Levi and the massive palm imprint he left behind on the forest... it was deep enough, they could tell anyone would be able to see it from the sky perfectly clear.

When they remembered that it was left behind by a Junior Daywalker, their brains kept short-circuiting... they knew Levi’s spiritual prowess was an Anomaly-level talent.

Yet, not in their wildest dreams had they expected it would be this horrifying... that’s right, the only term that could describe it was pure horror.

The fact that he didn’t just leave a spiritual palm as a physical imprint, but also unleashed an aftershock strong enough to kill anything nearby, made them realize... if Jojo hadn’t been there, their souls might not have survived intact.

First was Jasmine, now this... It wasn’t normal, none of it was...

In the end, Arthur broke into wild laughter, his palm covering his face.

Before the others could react, he uttered with the widest grin possible, ”We are so f*cking qualifying for the tournament.”

***

Sometime later...

Levi and Arthur had returned home from their breakfast and went to sleep, taking an SR Pill each to help them restore most of their mental fatigue in less than two hours.

They couldn’t go for regular sleep as they had a meeting in the afternoon with Lord Idriss to check on their progress and attend the Game Hall to see what kind of Death Game had been chosen.

During their breakfast, which was paid for by Jasmine’s team, they talked about what happened in the three nests they had obliterated.

Arthur, Nurah, Jojo, and Shia had taken another Midnight Dominion nest after Levi soloed the second one.

Although their powers had increased immensely as well, and they had taken down the nest in less than two minutes... it still didn’t come close to touching Levi’s twenty-second and Jasmine’s thirty-second records.

If outsiders were with them and saw what those four had done, they would have crowned them as having one of the best potentials in the entire continent.

Alas... two slumbering monsters were amidst them, and they had decided to awaken on their big day.

Once they saw what Levi and Jasmine were capable of, nothing they could do would ever top it... Those two were genuine Abnormal entities: Jasmine possessed unique, unheard-of aspects while Levi’s spiritual prowess was terrifying enough to erase tier 3 nests with a single attack as a freaking Junior Daywalker... Their perspective on strength and potential changed forever today.

Unfortunately, they asked Levi about his new powers, and all he told them was that he had awakened Aether Aspect and was still in the process of exploring it.

Though he had explained that his nightcrawler’s most powerful aspects were still dormant, just to prepare them for what was about to come later on...

Once they heard this, even Jasmine was taken aback, realizing that Ash’Kral wasn’t like any other normal nightcrawler... by now, it wasn’t really a secret to anyone... Levi’s strength spoke volumes about what Ash’Kral brought to the table.

As mentioned months ago when describing Demetris’ nightcrawler... Nightcrawler shouldn’t be judged by their current tiers before the contract, but by their potential and unique powers.

Just like Arthur and Nurah... those two had nightcrawlers brimming with potential related to their unique powers.

As for Levi and Jasmine? To be honest, those two nightcrawlers shouldn’t even be included in such a conversation.

After Levi woke up from his two-hour recharge coma, the first thing he did was enter his Spiritual Leywell and join his tenants over tea.

”Aethermancy... I have to say, I didn’t expect it to be this good... I can see the vision of having it as a single Battle Arts.” Levi commented with a pleased smile, his palm still tingling from earlier.

”It’s only good in the right hands... and you, my boy, have one of the best potentials as a human to wield it,” Ash’Kral smirked, sipping from a floating cup, his wings too small to hold even themselves.

”Are you sure about not wanting to invest all of your time and efforts in spiritually based aspects?” The Titan wondered with a smile, ”There are still plenty of aspects you can unlock.”

”I have to say... I was a bit tempted earlier, but still no.” Levi shook his head, ”I can always unlock more aspects through hard work, but the moment I miss a single sense, it will be nearly impossible for me to unlock anything related to them in the future.”

Levi was told that aspects could be unlocked slowly through effort if one already had a base aspect to work from... Example: Water Aspect would lead to unlocking Blood and Mist aspects, the more he learned.

However, if he skipped a sense and it needed a vital aspect unrelated to anything in his possession, he was done for.

After all, he couldn’t learn fire-based techniques from Water Aspect or vice versa.

”What can I say... You are choosing one of the hardest paths possible, but... unless you solve the Three-Body Problem, any choice you make is leading to a dead end.” The Titan smiled wryly.

”I know, but today has shown me more than ever that I have a genuine shot at Ash’Kral Soul-Split Theory,” Levi uttered solemnly.

”I feel the same.” Ash’Kral approved, ”Your peak Spiritual prowess is at the base of a Psyche Specialist Solarbound Daywalker... Your soul, on the other hand, still needs some catching up to do... but, once you try to evolve, you can commence the soul split during the evolution process before the Nine Senses’ tree turns into a young tree.”

”During?” The Titan raised an eyebrow, ”Isn’t that dangerous... considering he will be evolving one tree at a time?”

”Ash... are you f*cking with me? You never mentioned this before.”

Levi felt chills course down his spine after recalling his first evolution... the agony was simply too much to handle.

Now, he was told that he needed to split his soul while he was going through that hellish agony? Shit, he might actually start throwing hands.

”Boy, you chose this path, not me.”

”Prick, I chose nothing... You forced me into this crap. I just wanted to get strong enough to put my heart at ease.” Levi’s brow twitched.

”Tomato, potato.” Ash’Kral waved his hand dismissively.

”You aren’t even using the phrase correctly.”

”Tomato, potato.”

”...”

The Titan sighed, ”Now, imagine having to deal with this for eons...”

”Heh, don’t lie to yourself, Old Bark.” Ash’Kral chuckled, ”I know you miss me when I am not around.”

”I wish my memory were still damaged to forget what you have just said.” The Titan said, his voice as genuine as it could get.

”I would have believed you if your first words when you woke up weren’t my name.” Ash’Kral chuckled at the Titan’s temple vein protruding in irritation.

”I genuinely question how you have survived for this long...”

Levi sighed... he could tell that anyone who had spent some time with Ash’Kral must have had a thought of killing him at least twice a month.

”Those with thick skin die last.” The Titan answered as he stared at Ash’Kral’s annoying grin.