Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

Uhtred made to speak, but then he noticed something odd.

An unnerving silence.

This wasn’t just the audience waiting with bated breath for him to speak; they were totally and utterly silent, with not a single sound to be heard across the sprawling arena.

What’s happening?

Suddenly, Uhtred felt a presence.

Right there in front of him, a figure had appeared without his knowledge. How they had gotten there, and whether they’d been standing there the whole time, only allowing him to see them now, remained a mystery.

Uhtred immediately became vigilant.

He didn’t prime his spells or prepare himself to fight, though. Distinctly, he knew doing so was futile. Whoever this person was, they were so, so far above his level that trying to fight was completely pointless.

”...And who might you be?” Uhtred asked. Surprisingly, even in the face of someone so unfathomably powerful, he felt oddly calm.

The figure stood with their arms crossed behind their back, the spotlight behind them casting a sharp silhouette of their form.

Again, this person was also unmistakably humanoid.

”You look nothing like him,” the figure said softly.

Uhtred frowned immediately. But before he could process what that meant or ask a single question, the figure spoke again.

”You asked who I am?” They stepped forward, their features emerging from the shadows to become distinct. ”Well, have you forgotten? I also intervened in your scenario, did I not? Therefore, I also have the right to interview you.”

Uhtred’s eyes narrowed slightly.

”You’re the Towermaster?”

He looked the man up and down, taking in his appearance.

The Towermaster looked like the spitting image of a human male, save for his pointed ears and a dastardly ethereal, ageless face.

”Are you an elf or something?”

”Hmm? So your world knows about the existence of elves?”

”No... not really,” Uhtred answered, his tone measured. ”Elves are just fictional beings in our world... but seeing you now, I guess they aren’t so fictional after all.”

”Well, it’s not too surprising then,” the Towermaster spoke, his tone conversational. ”Mayhaps some of our peoples passed through your world at some point in the past.”

Uhtred said nothing in response. He let silence reign for a second, then shifted the conversation straight back to serious matters.

”You said something just now... that I look like ’him,’” Uhtred stared at the Towermaster. ”Who are you referring to? Is it... my father?”

The Towermaster could have meant several things, but Uhtred felt certain in his gut that his father was the one being referenced here.

”Did you know him?” the Towermaster asked, his eyes unreadable. ”Your father?”

”No. Not at all... Never even knew what he looked like.”

The more Uhtred spoke, the more he found that it was surprisingly easy to talk to the Towermaster. Naturally, he became suspicious and began to analyze himself deeply. Who was to say he wasn’t under another kind of Esoteric guile?

If I am, then there’s no way to even detect it. This guy is way too incomprehensible for me to decipher any technique he may be using...

For someone whose cultivation was so vastly superior to his, whether he was under a guile or not was entirely irrelevant. Uhtred focused only on what he felt, rather than trying to decipher any possible technique.

And what he felt from the Towermaster was... nothing. He felt absolutely nothing. No malice, no deceit, not even goodwill either.

The elf felt like an outsider, detached not just from the happenings around him, but from the very world itself.

That was the general feeling Uhtred got from him.

The Towermaster clearly knew his father, which in turn opened up several heavy questions about his father’s true origins. Who was his father? How did someone as unfathomable as the Towermaster know him? Was his father on a similar power level to the Towermaster?

So many questions were firing off in Uhtred’s mind at once.

”Hmm,” the Towermaster hummed non-committally, then shifted to a different matter. He didn’t comment further on Uhtred’s response, nor did he speak any more about his father.

”So, you were about to reveal your class, is that right?”

”Uhh...” Uhtred was taken aback by the abrupt shift in conversation, but he answered nonetheless. ”Yes. I’m tired of stifling my growth just to prevent unnecessary attention.”

The Towermaster said nothing, staring at Uhtred in silence for several seconds. Then his expression changed dramatically.

”Foolish! You lack the strength to face what will follow after you reveal your class! To think you were actually about to reveal that you bear Origin!”

”Orig—?”

”Hush, boy!” the Towermaster barked sharply, cutting Uhtred off. ”You cannot speak that name ever, lest you draw their attention. You still lack the power to steal your own words from the void!”

”You say you are tired of stifling your growth? That the multiverse already suspects the nature of your class?” The Towermaster’s voice vibrated with vigor. ”But so what? Let them guess. In fact, let them figure it out! Let them call you out on it... Let them demand answers... hunt you down...”

He paused, his tone dropping into a terse, heavy warning.

”But no matter what, never, ever speak your class with your own mouth... that is, until you reach the realm of Ascendant, at least.”

Uhtred’s heart thudded violently in his chest. This basically confirmed all his long-standing suspicions. Everything he had done since receiving his class — subconsciously trying to remain low-key, suppressing the urge to explore his abilities to their absolute fullest — had been worth it.

His caution had been completely justified.

Based on what the Towermaster had just revealed about his class — about possessing this thing called ”Origin” — he had been right to be cautious with how he used his powers from the onset.

He could only imagine what horrifying consequences would have unfolded had he blatantly used his abilities to the fullest right from the start of the integration.

Still, now that Uhtred was aware there were far deeper, more dangerous layers to his Formless class, a proper explanation was severely overdue.

He processed all of this in a few silent seconds, then his expression eased. His previously tense posture relaxed, causing the faint light in the Towermaster’s eyes to flicker slightly. The ancient elf seemed quietly impressed by how quickly Uhtred had processed that revelation and reached a clear conclusion.

His expression remained patient as he waited for Uhtred’s next question.

”I will take your warning to heart, Towermaster,” Uhtred said, meeting the Towermaster’s steady, fathomless gaze. ”But I think an explanation is in order. If not for your intervention, I would have made a grave, irreversible mistake just now...”

”...Please shed some insight so I don’t keep running blind,” his voice was deeply respectful, yet firm and unyielding. ”What exactly am I? What should I know that I currently don’t?”