(Time Stilled World, The Ascension Site, Leo’s POV)
The moment the first wave of mutation struck him, Leo felt his knees buckle as a molten rush tore through his muscles, spreading like wildfire through every nerve while the potion forced its way deeper into his cells.
*Thrum*
*Thrum*
A violent tremor ran through his body as the heat intensified, burning so fiercely that even his bones felt like they were splitting apart from within.
"Ahh... damn..." he hissed, as he clenched his fists and steadied himself, for the pressure swelling inside him no longer felt natural, as though some unseen hand kept filling him with more mana than his flesh could ever hope to contain.
The sensation grew worse by the second.
His skin prickled.
His lungs shuddered.
His heartbeat roared like a drum of war.
Then the mutation truly began.
*Crack*
*Crack*
*Crackle*
A sharp, splitting sting shot through him as the very walls of his cells started swelling with condensed mana, expanding against their own limits while the potion forced them to reshape.
"Fuck... that hurts..." Leo muttered, his eyes twitching as every nerve inside him lit up again and again like bright white sparks.
The mutation spread further, crawling through his bloodstream like liquid fire.
And for a moment, Leo felt certain his body would tear itself apart from the inside.
*Thump*
*Thump*
*THUMP*
His aura exploded outward in a sudden surge.
The earth beneath his feet trembled violently as his presence broke free of its previous limits, swelling with a force that rippled across the plains in a shockwave of pure pressure.
Far beyond the mountains, even the distant citizens inside Skyshard City flinched as a queasy shiver rolled through their chests, the oppressive weight of Leo’s unstable aura pressing against their senses despite being hundreds of kilometers away.
"Too much... this is too much," Leo growled, as the internal pressure kept rising, threatening to rupture his mana channels altogether.
’I need to start releasing it.... Now!’
He realized, as without a second thought, he lowered his stance and let the first skill rip out of him.
[Thousand Phantom Slashes]
*Fwoom*
*Fwoom*
*Fwoom*
Dozens of afterimage blades erupted from his arms, shredding through the air and carving deep scars into the earth as the ground cracked beneath the force of each phantom strike.
The pressure inside him dropped for barely a moment before rising again at double the speed.
"Again," Leo growled.
[Fade Step]
[Thousand Phantom Slashes]
[Storm Flash Traverse]
His body blurred and vanished, reappearing several meters away as the impact of his reappearance sent a circular shockwave through the soil.
[Kill Strike]
*CRACK*
A devastating arc of condensed mana split open the ground, carving a trench ten meters long as the excess power burst free from his limbs.
[Enhance]
He stepped once and the sky flashed.
His movement so fast that he covered the distance of over 20 miles in under a single second.
*SONIC BOOM*
The very air crackled as he moved faster than the speed of sound, shattering the sound barrier, however, the pressure within him still refused to drop.
His aura spiraled out wildly, twisting upward like a cyclone as clouds overhead warped and stretched from the force radiating off him.
His hands shook.
His blood felt like boiling mercury.
While his bones vibrated with each rising pulse.
"Keep going... keep going..." he muttered, as he slammed both palms to the ground.
[Astral Hook Bind]
Spectral chains erupted outward, latching onto empty air and ripping into the earth with such force that entire slabs of stone were torn upward.
[Crownfall]
A compressed spike of mana left his hand in a hurry, before slamming into the ground with a thunderous impact as dust shot into the sky like an inverted geyser.
[Celestial Veil]
A translucent barrier flashed to life for a heartbeat before shattering instantly under the stress of the overflowing mana, as it dispersed the excess pressure outward in a wave that flattened grass for kilometers.
[Night’s Whisper]
A soft ripple pulsed through the air, subtle yet sharp enough to slice through the distant ridge like a phantom’s breath.
[Enhance]
[Parallel Processing]
He cycled them again and again, faster each time, layering skill after skill until the plains looked like a battlefield struck by a meteor storm.
He did not stop.
He could not stop.
Because the mana kept swelling inside him.
Because his body was still mutating.
Because if he paused for even a second, he knew he would explode from within.
Minutes bled into more minutes.
And the minutes bled into half an hour of unbroken devastation.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
Crater after crater formed around him.
Stone dust filled the air.
Shockwaves rolled across the valley like waves crashing against the shore.
His aura raged like a beast breaking free from its cage, each pulse stronger than the last as the mutation approached its peak.
Leo remained standing at the center of the storm, drenched in sweat, breath harsh yet steady, his eyes sharp despite the agony ripping through his insides.
He endured.
He pushed.
He fought the surge with everything he had, as his entire body strained against the overwhelming force.
"How much longer...?"
He groaned, complaining about how the pressure rising inside him felt endless.
However, unfortunately for him, he was still only halfway through, with this pain bound to last at least half an hour more.
"Damn it... this is dragging on forever,"
He said, his breath rough and uneven as another pulse slammed through his veins, sharper and heavier than the one before it, as though the mutation wished to see exactly when he would finally break.
The world tilted for a brief moment, his vision flashing white, yet he forced his stance steady again as the trembling ground shook under the weight of his aura.
"Fine... keep going," he whispered, a strained smile tugging at his lips despite the agony, for no matter how long the pressure continued to rise, he had no intention of slowing down now.