Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

> Kryton Overlord_01: Ha! So he chose to fight. Well, at least it seems he has some balls on him. Let’s see whether he’s the real deal or just another sham!

> Serial_Troll_Nyx: @Kryton Overlord_01 I bet you he’s just a sham! The same as every other fairly decent talent out there! The fact that we’re even discussing the possibility of this guy being a potential Sovereign is absurd to me! You can already tell these things! Someone that schemes this much is simply not confident in their power!

> Godly_Fiend_Anjos: @Serial_Troll_Nyx What does his scheming have to do with his power? If you were in his shoes, would you have fought your way out of the clan instead?

> Serial_Troll_Nyx: @Godly_Fiend_Anjos Only weak beings bother to scheme! When you have true power, all of that doesn’t matter! You simply charge your way through!

> Thunderous_Lord_ReJolt: @Serial_Troll_Nyx Look at this fellow expertly diverting his answer. That was not the question he asked you!

> TheStarTravelingDaoist: @Thunderous_Lord_ReJolt All I want to find out is that troll’s true name. He’s been running his mouth so much that I really want to check how he fared during his own Tower climb!

> Anuran All-Mother of Fertility: Fellow friends, enough of the banter. The boy is about to begin. Please keep your eyes peeled...

...

As Uhtred saw the barrage of messages after his choice was made, he nearly laughed at the last statement from the Anuran All-Mother of Fertility. It never failed to amuse him how the original hundred viewers he had before were now acting like sagely figures that knew all about him.

It was as though they were gaining some sort of second-hand pride from seeing the new multiversal viewers argue and banter over his actions.

Right now, the Anuran All-Mother of Fertility seemed excited to see the new viewers’ reactions to him fighting for the first time in this scenario world.

Well, I can’t say she’s the only one excited...

Uhtred brought up his fists, taking a firm fighting stance. He tucked his arms in and readied his posture, staring dead straight at the An Clan Ancestor.

First off, I have to figure out what his affinity is. So far, he has shown air magic and some sort of weird flight technique...

Uhtred had never seen anyone who could fly without any visible aid before, at least not back on Earth. Even Zara, whose attunement was geared toward spatial magic, couldn’t hover in the air completely unassisted.

During the ascent on Floor 1, she’d had to use spatial tears and repelling bursts to move upward through the air. Yet the Ancestor here was not just hovering, but floating in place without any visible spell at work.

So it’s either he has some form of space magic higher than Zara’s, or that’s a different level of the air magic that he’s shown so far.

Neither of those were good for Uhtred. If it was space magic, then it meant he was dealing with someone like Zara, but on a higher level.

Dealing with Zara at her current level was already a hassle. The few spars they’d had over the past few months were extremely troublesome for Uhtred. In fact, she had defeated him on one occasion despite her lower level. He couldn’t imagine dealing with someone higher-leveled than her.

If it was air magic, on the other hand, then it simply meant the Ancestor was operating on a level of skill that befuddled Uhtred, even with his current Level 47 Nascent Realm status.

But then again, I can clearly feel that he is still within the Nascent Realm... So how exactly is he casting such a high-level flight spell?

It was puzzling, to say the least. Between the An Clan Ancestor and the Jotuniel otherworlder leader back on Earth, Uhtred actually couldn’t tell who was more powerful.

If he had to choose, he would still lean toward the Jotuniel leader. Yet at the same time, he felt a different kind of threat from the Ancestor before him.

This old man’s weird magical prowess, and even the world in general so far...

Uhtred frowned, thinking of Nayu An and how he wasn’t able to see her level at all or even gauge her strength accurately. There was also the invisible watcher he had on him before.

...There’s surely something weird going on in this scenario world.

He clenched his jaw slightly and shook the thoughts away, focusing on the fight before him.

Without a second of hesitation, he dashed forward to begin his probing attack, using nothing but his pure physical agility and explosive speed.

With three consecutive jabs, he sent a triple burst of compacted air strikes shooting straight toward the Ancestor.

The old man simply stood there and, with a slight wave of his hand, diverted the strikes expertly. A sneer colored his face as his eyes tracked Uhtred’s rapid movements from where he stood motionless.

Uhtred sent forward several more probing strikes, most of them air attacks from different angles, along with a mix of different elements: fire, water, ice, earth, and metal magic.

Within a few rapid exchanges, he gained a better understanding of how the Ancestor reacted to different spells.

The old man had not bothered to dodge any of the air spells, diverting them with minimal effort. But for several of the fire spells, earth spells, and ice spells, he had shifted from his spot, widening the gap between himself and Uhtred whenever the boy got too close with those elements.

Air spells are useless against this guy. His proficiency with the element is much higher than mine, Uhtred analyzed quickly.

That was the first thing he noticed. Aside from that, he also noticed another fact: the Ancestor was content to watch him make all the moves and attacks.

There was a heavy sneer on the old man’s face, showing just how prideful he was. Yet despite his ego, he seemed to be holding himself back.

This wily old fox! No wonder he’s the Ancestor! He’s trying to waste time!

During the brief exchange, the old man had also fired off several strikes of his own, all of them formed from compressed air. From those strikes, Uhtred deduced a critical detail.

The Ancestor was not dealing fatal blows. All of the old man’s attacks were targeted either at his legs or at parts of his body that would incapacitate him without killing him outright.

Which means I was right! They really need me for something, and they need me in a stable state...

Uhtred pulled back, creating distance between them as he stared at the old man. He panted softly, steadying his breath from the rapid barrage of probing spells he had just cast.

In his chat, the usual trolls were already firing off scathing words about how disappointing his opening attack had been and how impossible it was for him to be a Sovereign candidate.

However, the viewers with keen eyes for battle could tell that everything he had done so far was to test his opponent’s limits and find out which spells were most effective.

Uhtred smirked.

”Old man... What was the point of trying to oppress me with your aura earlier if all you’re going to do is dodge around and watch me attack?”

The Ancestor’s eyes twitched slightly, which only caused Uhtred’s smirk to morph into a full-on grin.

”You want to know what I think?” Uhtred called out, a sharp, playful glint entering his eyes. ”I think there is something about me that you want... Or rather, not you, but your granddaughter, Nayu An.”

The moment he spoke Nayu An’s name, the Ancestor’s expression turned cold.

Uhtred continued without stopping.

”Whatever this thing is, you need me fully intact for it. That means you cannot kill me. Your goal is to capture me alive,” Uhtred stated matter-of-factly. ”But from our opening exchange just now, we both know that’s impossible with those limits. If you want to capture me, then you have to be ready to kill me.”

It was a straightforward analysis. This was exactly why the Ancestor was employing a stalling tactic. The old man had put away his pride and allowed Uhtred to do most of the attacking.

He simply wanted to buy enough time for the rest of the search party to arrive and surround Uhtred, increasing his odds of capturing the boy without risking serious damage to his body.

For someone of his status to resort to such a method just to ensure that the ritual vessel for his granddaughter remained unharmed showed just how much Nayu An meant to him.

”But just like you said at the start,” Uhtred’s grin turned cold, the air around his body shifting rapidly. ”You are severely underestimating me if you think you can keep me here for ten minutes.”

Around Uhtred’s body, the ambient air began to vibrate, the pressure rising steadily.

”Earlier, I noticed you don’t like any elements other than air. You tried to mask it, but among the different spells I used, there was one you reacted to most strongly.”

Uhtred’s skin began to take on a bright, luminous sheen at this point. The new clothes he had pulled from his spatial storage began to scorch and crackle under the rising heat emanating from his body.

”It’s fire, isn’t it?”

The expression on the Ancestor’s face hardened immediately. A low growl escaped his throat, and he began to float higher into the air, bracing himself.

Even a low-level cultivator could sense the immense volume of energy building beneath Uhtred’s skin as he spoke.

The Ancestor no longer had the luxury of playing passive.

”Let me introduce you to one of the spells I’ve been working on over the past few months...”

On the ground below, Uhtred stood firm, his eyes closing very briefly as he urged a surprising change within his core.

The sub-core formation that he had built back in the Mortal Realm, — the central core surrounded by several sub-cores dedicated to different elements — began to change its configuration.

The sub-core governing the fire element began to gravitate toward the central core that balanced all his elements. The process was arduous, requiring intense mental strain and precise control.

Uhtred clenched his jaw, heat billowing out from the edges of his teeth as his fire sub-core drew ever closer to his central core.

Then, with a sudden concussive burst, it entered into the central core, and an ignition occurred.

In an instant, a terrifying heat exploded from Uhtred’s skin, scorching everything in a ten-meter radius around his body.

His clothes burst into bright flames. His hair ignited, the strands turning into flowing strands of pure fire. His eyes burned with an intense, blinding light, the entire surroundings around him vibrating with extreme heat.

He looked like a literal creature of hellfire.

He looked up, and his burning white eyes locked onto the Ancestor hovering in the sky above.

”...I call this spell... Inferno Violence.”