Boundless Cultivation
Chapter 99 - Tier Chapter 2 Ascension

The ensuing fight with his father didn’t last long, but it was almost as intense as his fight with the android had been. Unlike Alpha Prime, who had fought with Alaric using overwhelming physical might, the count’s strength manifested in a different manner.

Alaric hoped his father would rush at him, and he was prepared to retaliate with his oath skill. That would’ve made his job so much easier. However, the count was content to stand in his corner with a grin on his face.

It was too late before Alaric realized that his father was a long-range fighter. The count flicked an arm towards the sky and snapped his fingers, releasing a bolt of lightning that shot towards the thunderclouds. The dark clouds flashed bright purple in response.

Then he clutched the air and called forth a rain of lightning that didn’t allow Alaric a second of reprieve. Uncannily, every bolt of lightning precisely tracked his every movement.

For the first time during his spar, Alaric was forced to channel a drop of his root chakra energy to evade the lightning strikes, which erupted several times a second.

The lack of full control over his body made it far more challenging. More than once, thunderbolts struck the ground too close for comfort, pelting him with shards of broken stones. Fortunately, his mana shield proved its value during such misfortune.

Alaric had been confident that he could handle his father as long as the count restrained himself to early Tier 3. And, while his father had adjusted his strength accordingly, the fight was wrought with a different kind of complexity due to the presence of his aura.

It was an invisible force that weighed on Alaric’s body and mind, restricting his mana control and testing his willpower to the limits. Thus, unlike fighting with Alpha Prime, it introduced a different dimension of hurdle to their sparring.

The use of aura in such a manner was enough to completely dominate any Tier 1 who faced it for the first time.

Alaric suspected that if it wasn’t for his superior mana manipulation ability and his highly tempered mind achieved through years of chakra training, he would’ve already succumbed under the blanket of oppressive force.

However, he allowed a grin to stretch across his face that matched the count’s own. He was having fun clashing with the count. At least this way, he could spend more time with his father.

And he could bet his father felt the same.

After a while, it became clear that it wasn’t possible for him to close the distance to his father. At least, not as he was now. The lightning storm was already fierce and intensified when he attempted to close the distance.

The inability to unleash his full strength without losing control of his body and the stifling pressure of the aura that hung over his body and mind made it impossible. However, Alaric wasn’t disheartened.

The goal of this spar was to showcase the ceiling of his power. It wasn’t necessary to directly hurt his father to achieve that outcome. So he took a more defensive stance and stood his ground, countering the lightning strikes by unleashing pulses of mana-scrambling waves.

“What happened, Alaric?” shouted the count, grinning. “Did you lose your heart already?”

“Absolutely not! Hit me with your best shot, and I’ll show you something interesting,” Alaric countered with a smile.

The count’s eyes gleamed as he digested that information. Alaric could see the gears turning in his father’s mind as he nodded.

“Fine. As you wish, my son,” replied the count solemnly. For a brief few moments, the rain of thunderbolts paused as a gale swept over the region. Within seconds, a bubble of dark clouds materialized behind the count and grew large enough to dwarf his form.

Alaric’s danger sense spiked as he observed the colossal silhouette of an ethereal bird wrought in blue lightning emerge through the dark clouds with a shrill cry.

Is that his bonded entity? Alaric had witnessed Captain Aldric do something similar a long time ago, but he had no more time to speculate as the concentration of ambient mana spiked, heralding his doom.

The thunderclouds above spiraled into a vortex around a glowing purple center. A split second later, the count declared, “Hammer of Odin,” before stamping his raised arm as if signing Alaric’s defeat.

Time seemed to slow down as Alaric burned a hefty chunk of his mana and willpower, eager to meet the pillar of thunderbolt that descended from the sky. With a massive grin on his face, he launched an uppercut toward the sky before uttering - “Disruptive Pulse.”

All the energy in his body drained in an instant, manifesting in a visible pillar of shockwave that collided with the pillar of thunderbolt high above in mid-air. For just a moment, the two pillars of energy hung in a stalemate before detonating like a mini nuke and bombarding the ground below with a series of shockwaves.

Alaric’s true vision verified what he had already sensed. The count’s powerful intent and aura had been interwoven into that attack, rendering it much more potent than any other thunderbolt.

However, Alaric’s disruptive pulse wasn’t an ordinary ability either. It was infused with his own potent willpower - sharpened by his partially awakened throat chakra - and was enough to destabilize his father’s attack.

The power of his uttered chant shredded through his father’s aura and intent like an unstoppable drill. And yet, just as it was on the verge of completely annihilating it, it clashed with another force.

His father’s final attack had also been imbued with the willpower of his bonded entity. The potency of its devastation matched what Alaric could channel with an uttered chant.

In the end, neither one of them could gain the upper hand. The collision of their abilities painted the sky a bright purple before extinguishing. The dark thunderclouds scattered across the sky, as numerous beams of sunlight touched earth with a light drizzle.

Alaric dropped to the ground, completely spent. His arm was numb, but at least it remained in one piece. He had failed to overpower his father’s final attack, but he still derived satisfaction when he noticed the looks of astonishment adorning the faces of the count and Edgar.

His father slowly approached him, still bursting with energy, accompanied by his ever-trusted friend.

“I never expected you to withstand an aura attack that had been infused with the power of a bonded entity,” said the count, grinning widely. “That was a commendable performance.”

“Commendable?” questioned Edgar. “That was outstanding. And don’t you say otherwise, my lord!”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

A burst of joy popped into his heart as he witnessed his father and Edgar get embroiled in a light, friendly argument. In between, Edgar snapped his fingers as the barrier protecting the arena dissolved, and Alaric felt the exhaustion slowly leaving his body.

So I was correct. It was his bonded entity. Alaric tried to process what he had seen and felt during the fight when his father had gotten serious. However, when both of them slowly turned their heads towards him with grim expressions, he braced himself for what was coming.

“Tell me, Alaric,” started the count. “Was that an oath skill I sensed earlier?”

Alaric realized it was a rhetorical question. He could only nod in response.

The count glared at him while Edgar added, “I don’t recall teaching you any oath skills.” He crossed his arms. “Under whose supervision did you acquire such a powerful skill?”

Ahh, here we go. The moment of truth has arrived. “Uhm, my own?” Alaric could’ve made a number of excuses, but in the end, he simply blurted the first response that came to his mind.

For a few tense moments, both Edgar and his father glared at him as if they might eat him alive. Then suddenly, they burst into laughter, unable to stay angry at him any longer.

The sound of their laughter was so contagious that a subdued chuckle escaped Alaric’s mouth, even in his confused state. What is happening? It took a few moments for him to realize that none of them had been truly angry at him. They were simply pretending.

“Stop grinning, you fool,” barked the count, wiping a tear from his face. “I swear, Alaric. You are such a clever child, but sometimes you test my patience. I can’t even remain angry at you.”

The cloud of apprehension inside Alaric’s chest finally dispersed as if swept away by a strong gale. The punishment he had been expecting never came. Instead, he basked in the display of their faith and love.

All of them took a brief rest after the sparring match, indulging in a platter of sliced fruits - apples, bananas, mangoes - and cakes. Alaric enquired about his father’s bonded entity and learned that he was bonded with a nameless elemental thunderbird.

And, although it was a moderately powerful entity, it couldn’t really compare to powerful named entities that dominate the upper floors of the Tower of Trials. In fact, he discovered that none of the adults he knew had a bond with a named entity.

Not the count, Captain Aldric, Sir Baldwin, or even Edgar, who was bonded with the most powerful entity among them. Alaric was surprised to learn that information because all of them seemed so formidable.

Weirdly enough, both his father and Edgar believed he had a real shot at bonding with a powerful named entity - something that wasn’t assured for even the most talented capital city nobles.

In between nibbles, Edgar tried to subtly probe how Alaric had truly learned the oath skill. Alaric couldn’t fault them since their curiosity was completely warranted.

His excuse - that it was a sudden decision when he was slammed by a sudden insight - didn’t fully satisfy their curiosity. But they didn’t broach the topic again, sensing he was reluctant to share any more information.

The fun conversation took a weird turn when the count suddenly grabbed his shoulders and said, “You worry me, son. I've never heard of anybody wielding so much power at your age.” He chuckled while shaking his head. “The least you can do now is to ascend to Tier 2.”

Alaric simply accepted the compliment with a smile, although he could detect the palpable worry lacing the count’s voice. Even when he agreed to ascend to Tier 2 in their presence, the count’s expression remained tense.

It wasn’t difficult to realize what his father really thought of the matter. You think I’m too powerful, even by Tier 2 standards. Alaric released a sigh. He had never been concerned about being too strong in his past life.

The stronger a cultivator becomes, the more hurdles they have to face. It was simply a fact of life. However, he could understand why his father was worried about him.

“Don’t worry, Father. I’ll be careful, I promise.” Alaric tried to reassure Eustace by gently placing his hand over his father’s own. Unexpectedly, the count responded with a smile and a nod. He had come to trust Alaric.

Afterwards, Alaric asked them what to expect during the Tier 2 ascension ritual. Apparently, the ascension itself was nothing too complicated - only a matter of accepting the system prompt.

The real difficulty stemmed from the body reforging process, which Alaric had already overcome with flying colors.

Besides, they didn’t want to ruin the surprise. Alaric wasn’t exactly sure what they meant by that, but without further ado, he settled into the lotus pose and summoned the system prompt in his view.

Congratulations! You have fulfilled all the requirements for ascending to Tier 2. Would you like to initiate the ascension process?

As soon as he accepted the system prompt, Alaric felt a pull of gravity tug at his body. He promptly closed his eyes, attuning to the internal changes unfolding within him.

A surge of tranquility coursed through his body, reinvigorating it with fresh vitality. The little bit of exhaustion that had remained from the sparring matches was completely washed away.

Once again, Alaric glimpsed the network of yellow-green energy tendrils manifesting throughout his body. A substantial web of these tendrils was tethered to his heart and mana core, pulsing with mana to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Alaric remained a silent observer of the transformations occurring inside his body, intuitively realizing there was no conscious action required from him.

He had no idea how long he spent in that state, but he remained aware of every moment. Throughout the ascension ritual, the yellow-green energy tendrils grew more substantive, drawing more mana from his core during the process.

Suddenly, Alaric discerned their true function. These were living energy conduits that acted as bridges, channeling the power of his mana core and bloodline ability from his subtle body to the physical world.

Previously, each filament of these energy channels had been as thin as a strand of hair, whereas now, each one had doubled in thickness. Surprisingly, new tendrils sprouted from his mana core and heart, intertwining with others to become even denser.

These living strands reached into every corner of his body, melding deeply, but instead of pain, he experienced a wave of euphoria.

By the end, the yellow-green tendrils thickened to the size of fingers, and Alaric intuitively understood that his energy channels could become even denser with time and effort.

And then, they dissolved from his awareness just as smoothly as they had appeared. However, Alaric sensed no threat - the energy tendrils weren’t invaders, but extensions of himself that had awakened.

Opening his eyes, he experienced a surge of power coursing through his body like never before in his new life. Squeezing his fist, he directed mana through it and discovered that his mana actually flowed through his newly developed energy channels.

In fact, he realized it had always been the case - only before, the channels had been so fine that they were almost impossible to detect.

Congratulations! You have ascended to Tier 2.

Alaric dismissed the notification, noticing the bewildered look featured on both adults' faces.

“That almost took you an hour when it should've taken minutes,” said Edgar. “What happened?”

Alaric gave a brief explanation of what had occurred during the ascension, including how his energy channels had developed. Both of them stared at him as if he were a new species.

Apparently, neither had heard of any cultivator developing sentient energy channels, let alone ones as thick as fingers. Most Tier 2 cultivators manifested energy channels as thick as hairs.

In fact, the primary responsibility of a cultivator during the Tier 2 ascension was to simply become aware of as many energy tendrils as possible.

It was a magical process and easy enough to do. They had trusted Alaric's ability and didn’t want to ruin the surprise by informing him beforehand.

A major part of progressing through the Tier 2 stage was to become aware of more channels by connecting to their subtle body via meditation.

Talented cultivators could sprout more energy pathways and grow them into thicker tendrils to funnel more mana — but not to the extent of finger-width thickness.

In response, Alaric recounted his experience of when he first awakened these energy tendrils - during his acquisition of superior mana manipulation ability.

Then he let them know how they had evolved during the acquisition of his perfected, supreme-grade reforged body.

When he finished, both adults chuckled nervously, clearly realizing they were out of their depth in this matter.

“I’ve come to realize that we aren’t suitable to guide you properly, Alaric,” admitted the count, exchanging a glance with Edgar. “I don’t know if anybody truly is, not even at the Evercrest academy.”

That was news to Alaric, but he wasn’t perturbed. He had expected as much when he set out to climb the summit of power.

“Perhaps if one of them ever set their sight on you,” Edgar muttered offhandedly. Then, immediately, he disregarded the idea with a laugh. Whether that was due to the count’s intense glare or because of the improbability of the idea, Alaric couldn’t tell

When Alaric enquired about whom Edgar had referred to, both of them assured him that it wasn’t something he had to worry about. But before Alaric could argue, another prompt chimed in his mind.

Congratulations! You have been invited to the Tower of Trials. Please accept your token.

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