[Ding! You have fulfilled all conditions for advancement!]
[Ding! Commencing advancement to rank A!]
At that moment, Rio remembered the 'path' he had forgotten about after his transmigration.
With all conditions fulfilled and a proper opportunity, at that critical moment of life and death, Rio gained what he had forgotten. He had achieved a 'Breakthrough'.
The chaotic mana suddenly started to condense and rush towards Rio.
With a sudden increase in mana, the giant axe of the undead was pushed back, and the dense mana covered Rio's body all over in its embrace as if to protect him from the outside cruel world.
*Groooorrrr*
The undead tried to remain steady and push forward, but due to the increasing mana pressure around Rio, he couldn't even move an inch towards Rio. Instead, the undead was getting pushed back even further.
The dense mana started to swirl like a tornado, and the clouds in the sky were pushed away.
An insanely large tornado of dense mana was formed around Rio, mana pushed Rio's body up from the ground, and his body floated mid-air in the warm embrace of mana.
Due to Rio's ascension and 'True Immunity', the chaotic mana that would have been like poison to others became calm and warm when it entered Rio's body.
[Ding! All your wounds have been healed, and your body has been restored to its usual form due to ascension!]
The dense mana reinvigorated the cells of Rio's body and healed him at an insanely fast speed. Rio's split hand grew back, and all his internal and external injuries healed in just a few seconds.
Whenever someone ascends from one major rank to the next one, all their previous wounds get healed, and their lifespan increases to match that of the next rank.
(For example, ascending from rank C to B or any other heals the individual, but ascending from C- to C+ doesn't cause the healing to trigger; only a major rank ascension can trigger the healing.)
This phenomenon is considered a blessing granted to the awakener by the mana itself.
Due to the presence of high-grade healing potions in today's era, this healing effect may be considered lackluster.
But if someone succeeds in ascending to a higher rank in the middle of a battle, then they can recover all injuries and get the upper hand over the opponent.
Still, trying to ascend during an ongoing battle is a very risky move. Obviously, the opponent is not going to stay still and wait for you to complete your ascension.
They would immediately seize the opportunity and try to attack you when you are immobilized due to the ascension.
Everyone's ascension is not like Rio's; generally, ordinary A-rank ascension does create mana tornadoes, but not at a scale similar to what Rio is causing.
…
Outer Area, Foggy Hills.
"This mana whirlpool… is someone breaking through to rank A! In this domain!?" (Liam)
A look of extreme shock appeared on Liam's face. He stared at the huge mana tornado and said in a shocked tone:
"The mana in this domain is extremely chaotic and violent! Wouldn't it cause the ascension to fail if someone tried such a reckless move!?" (Liam)
At Liam's remarks, everyone was also confused and stared at the tornado with confused looks on their faces.
The huge ice spear that Raji had summoned in the sky to deal with Damian disappeared into nothingness, and Raji looked in the direction of the tornado with a slight frown on her face.
'What is going on… the mana entering the body of that boy is chaotic… but it's not even harming him in the slightest… this is strange…' (Raji)
With her mana detection abilities being unhindered by anything, Raji had already sensed everything that was going on with Rio.
She didn't go and try to save Rio till the last moments because she already was expecting a talented individual like Rio to achieve a greater height by being in that near-death state.
If Rio was not able to defend himself, Raji would have directly teleported near him and used a high-grade potion to heal him back to full health. With a single swish of her finger, she could directly make the undead knight vanish into nothingness.
'This little guy… he is full of mysteries…' (Raji)
All of a sudden a huge portal appeared on the ground and directly swallowed everyone standing nearby Raji. Raji shook her head and also entered the portal.
The other end of the portal opened in the sky near the tornado's center.
Raji cast a spherical barrier so that everyone could stand on it and watch the things happening below with ease.
Lia immediately noticed Rio's presence and she could see that he was in an injured state at the moment.
Seeing Rio's injured state, a concerned look appeared on Lia's face. She glared at the undead and wanted it to stop from coming near Rio.
Raji gave Lia a slight glance and said in a cold tone:
"Don't try to interfere… He must do it on his own…" (Raji)
"B-but-" (Lia)
Lia wanted to say something, but Raji didn't even let her speak.
"No need… just stand there and watch… instead you guys should focus and get some insights from him… it may prove to be beneficial when it's your turn to ascend…" (Raji)
Raji shook her head and didn't let anyone interfere with Rio.
Link stared at Rio with bloodshot eyes.
'Sh*t! you beat me to it again! I wanted to be the one to ascend before you! Ugh…' (Link)
Due to Link's competitive nature, he couldn't help but clench his fists and watch Rio leave him behind in the dust with complicated emotions on his mind.
While everyone had different emotions on their faces, Damian was sitting nearby with unknown emotions on his face. Everyone seemed to have forgotten his existence all of a sudden.
…
Unaware of everything happening outside, Rio was solely focused on his own ascension.
Due to his body being healed by the mana, his mind cleared up, and his heart started beating again.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the marvelous phenomenon happening around him.
'It seems that 'True Immunity' can still help me keep the mana from causing mana deviation in my body…' (Rio)
(For Fade, the true immunity would not have helped him because his body was flawed due to forced ascensions, but Rio had ascended naturally with a clear 'Path' and no flaws.)
(True immunity could block the chaotic mana for Rio and Fade both, but it couldn't block the physical flaws Fade had caused in his own mana circuit.)
At that moment of ascension, Rio could feel dense mana entering his whole body and strengthening every cell of his body. He could feel his body becoming stronger.
His senses became clearer and sublime as time went on; he could even sense the undead trying to break through the huge tornado and rush toward him with full force.
'I feel so calm right now… it's as if something deep inside me has changed…' (Rio)
[Ding! You have achieved a breakthrough!]
[Ding! Your rank has been increased to Rank 'A-']
[Ding! All resistances and stats have improved greatly!]
[Ding! All skills and traits have improved greatly!]
Just when Rio was going through his ascension, his sword that had fallen from his hand earlier suddenly trembled and flew towards him at great speed. It crossed the tornado of mana easily arrived in front of Rio and continued to float mid-air.
Rio instinctively understood what he had to do; he stretched his hand out and held the sword in his hand.
The sword seemed to tremble from joy when Rio's hand touched it.
[Ding! Due to increased rank and fulfillment of the conditions, the second integrated skill of 'Vinash' has been unlocked…]
[Ding! Now you can use the second skill of your sword 'Vinash'…]
[Ding! The second Skill 'Soul Splitting' has been unlocked!]
[Ding! You have gained the unique title 'Soul Splitter' by getting permission to use the skill 'Soul Splitting'…]
[Ding! Due to your immense sword aptitude, your understanding of 'Sword Intent' has been increased immensely!]
A huge amount of knowledge entered Rio's mind, and he got a preliminary understanding of the technique called 'Soul Splitting'.
[Soul Splitting: Whenever this skill is activated, the user can carry out 'One' attack that can damage or destroy the soul of the enemy directly while ignoring any physical resistance.]
(The maximum number of times Rio can use this skill on any opponent is 'One' for now, but it can be increased as his rank improves…)
At this sudden turn of events, Rio could only think that.
'This skill is too broken…' (Rio)
Although Rio could only use this skill on an opponent for just one time, it is still too broken and overpowered to be able to damage the soul of the opponent directly, while ignoring most of the resistances. (Except 'True Immunity', that can resist this skill too…)
Still, this skill is just too broken.
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! Your beloved author is here! I have been foreshadowing this 'Soul Splitting' skill since the chapter I introduced Kevin Flash. Now you guys know where the title 'Soul Splitter' comes from!
Finally, the plot has started to clear up a lot.
Question of the day.
Did you expect a deadbeat guy like Kevin to leave such an amazing gift for Rio?
1. No
2. Yes
3. Others (Tell me in the comments.)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.
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