Eternal

They prepared for days. They had Selia advance to Peak Ascended, using the room for her just how both Ryun and Erdania had used it before. It was good for her to get accustomed to it. She stopped with her last cycle, just how the two of them had done. The plan was for their advancement to happen at the end of a cycle.

On the day they planned on advancing they took things slowly. The staff of the Estate was sent away, leaving the three of them alone. Just talking about nothing important, internal matters of the Sect, of their smithing and how they could improve it. They prepared mentally by emptying their minds of any unneeded thoughts.

Once they were ready, they all shuffled into their advancement room and took their spots.

“Now what?” Erdania asked.

“I thought that you two knew what to do,” Selia glared at them.

Ryun chuckled. “We… relax, I guess. We all know what is required, it is just that we need to reach that point of… inspiration I guess.”

Selia tilted her head. “That is a lot easier said than done.”

“How about this,” Ryun started. “We are here, together, because we want this to be a crucial moment in our lives. So, let’s start by saying what we want out of life, why we advance.”

Selia tilted her head, then nodded.

“I’ll start,” Erdania said. “I want to get stronger because I want to enjoy life. To see and experience interesting things.”

Ryun smiled, that was a big part of why he cared for her. “I want to see the end,” he said. “To hear stories of lives lived by others. My life is… simpler. I am not like most people, and so hearing and seeing their lives gives me something that I lack.”

Erdania fit into his goal. They could endure together, experiencing stories, until the last end. Or as far as she could go.

Selia closed her eyes. “All I want, all I ever wanted was a… family. Now… I want a legacy, children, something of me to endure after I am gone.”

Ryun had always known that not everyone was like him, not everyone wished for eternity. And that was fine. He would take what he could, enjoy it while it lasts, and remember when it was gone.

They had already known this about each other, but words had power. Saying out loud was as if bringing it into existence. Ryun reached over and placed his palm on the formation, activating it.

Selia and Erdania did the same, activating their own. The room thrummed with power as Essence started to move, Ryun felt everything being pulled away from his section just as Selia’s section started to fill in with her own Aspect and Gravity increased in Erdania’s. Ryun closed his eyes, using his new skill to focus only on his own Aspect to the exclusion of all else. His existence narrowed to just his section of the room and slowly he started pulling out Essence Crystals.

He pulled from them and into his core, feeding that endless well with Essences as closely related to Oblivion as he could find, and of the highest tier. He poured them in, and destroyed it, consuming it to create Oblivion, which he then cycled through his core. Again and again, spending a fortune of Essence Crystals to convert and get just a 100th of what he needed. But he did it, careless for the time it took.

Instead, he focused his mind and his whole being, inward, on his Soul. What Zach had shared had sparked something more, but Ryun had already been on the path. Selia and he had managed to touch their Souls long ago, when they first crafted their spiritual tool. Since then, they had both worked to expand on that.

Ryun had been able to both see and sense Souls for a long time. Now, he felt at his own. Through smithing, he had learned that Soul too can be a resource, that it can be used and that it regenerated. He focused on that connection between his body and Soul, knowing that it was the key for the Eternal inspiration.

He suspected, that to reach the Eternal Realm, one had to reinforce that connection. But how to do it, was… up to each individual Cultivator. And Ryun’s idea, was… well. His Aspect destroyed everything, yet the meaning of his Soul gave him shape and form. It was what ordered the Essence of his body into his appearance.

What he wanted was more, a deeper connection. He could feel the gulf between his Soul and his Body. The thing that separated them, and he poured his Qi through his body then out. Not out of his body, but through that gulf, the Essence that was in between. Space, or Realms, or whatever it was, gave way to his power. He eroded that gulf, bringing his Soul closer.

His will and meaning were united in purpose, and all he could think was that he wanted to be… Enduring, Eternal. A fixture in existence that would always be a part of it, for as long as it existed.

To see it all through, up until the End.

The gap was gone, and his Soul superimposed on his body without the barrier of that gulf, that Essence that anchored and kept Souls apart.

Ryun cycled his Qi that one last time, then he advanced, as he knew he would be able to do. His Soul trembled, as did his body. Heat and Cold in equal measure spread through him, sensations unlike anything that he had ever felt ripped through him. He almost cried out when he felt something else.

Something filled the room they were in, a wave of something that only his Soul could sense that he had no word to describe. His sense shuddered and he felt the items they had placed around the room… change.

Those around Ryun, fell apart, consumed by Oblivion, turning into Essence that swirled around him. Erdania’s change too, in a way that Ryun didn’t recognize, but the gravity in the room increased substantially.

Around Selia, the change was greater. The items they had placed, the works they had created together, the paintings. They caught on green fire, but didn’t burn. Something was seeping into them, but again, Ryun didn’t know what.

He understood Oblivion, not their Aspects.

But whatever had happened lessened his pain. He narrowed his sense back, and focused on all that Oblivion around him. His advancement was still in progress, he could feel it lancing through him.

The hole inside his Core opened up, the conduit to his Aspect. That plane that was a Realm of a concept made manifest. He gazed out at it, and it gazed back at him. Everything got erased as that concept touched him. All his thoughts and all his sensations. One moment the overwhelming weight of the advancement was there, and then he was empty. He both existed, and didn’t. A paradox made real. He felt it as he had last time when he had only glimpsed it.

It refused him then, and it refused him now. He was not pure; he was made out of Essence that it could not touch—his Soul. Ryun reached for it anyway. He understood it in that moment more than any other. Oblivion was not malice, it was not hate or death or destruction. It was just a state of complete and utter peace.

The Oblivion’s rejection of him slowed, then came to a stop. Perhaps it sensed his thoughts, his will reaching for it. Yet, as Ryun poured into that Realm, his will and thoughts spilling inside, he found it just… empty, directionless. He understood now what Zach had meant when he told him how he established the Way of Time.

But this… it felt nothing like what he described. Zach had felt other wills, competing ideas to his own, he had to overpower them. Ryun felt… nothing.

Pieces slid into place inside of his mind, and he grasped at the meaning behind Oblivion. He had known it, in some shape or form, he felt like. Now it was clear to him. He wanted to be part of it, of that enduring monument that would never end, that was always there before everything. He pushed himself into that plane and felt it touch his Soul, his advancement continued, and he was changed.

He grasped at the Oblivion all around him, and complete understanding was there, just at the tip of his fingertips, waiting for him to reach for it and then shape this entire Realm with his will. Oblivion poured over his Soul, and he stretched himself toward that understanding and—

The empty state inside of his mind was shattered as something from the outside intruded in. Something greater than any concept, a framework upon all of it was built.

Power level sufficient.

Possible integration of the Aspect of True Death remnants.

User unique perk created.

—Evolved Form removed and merged

—Immortality removed and merged

—Ankh of Eternity—Form of True Oblivion, Eternal Hunter, Last Death created.

Ryun blinked, and felt the Plane of Oblivion throw him out. A part of him lamented the loss of what he almost had, but another knew that he would be back. Instead he let himself settle into the Real Realm, his thoughts and sensations returning.

Immediately, he could tell that he was… different.

He opened his eyes and saw only Oblivion around him, so thick that his sight couldn’t see what Selia and Erdania were doing. Through his sense he knew that they were fine, and the Essence around them spoke of the same thing that had happened to him.

Mentally, he pulled up his notifications, reading them in order.

Insightful knowledge acquired

You peered into the deeper law and concept of an Essence. You grasped the truth behind it.

Great Feat accomplished

Rewards:

—Grasp of Oblivion Title

—Gate to Oblivion Title and Grand Perk

Titles

Grasp of Oblivion

Gain a grasp of the core concepts of your Aspect and gain a deeper understanding.

+7% to all stats, (Aspect Improvement) 50 Celestial Essence

Gate to Oblivion

Your achievement, drive, or effort is recognized.

+100 to base wisdom, Gate to Oblivion (Grand Perk), 10 Celestial Essence

Oblivion (9) (Aspect Perk)

Your Qi passively enhances your body with the concept of Oblivion. You are immune to any direct tracking or scrying methods. Any attacks against you will lose a portion of their power based on the disparity between you and the source. You are immune to directly influencing movement restriction effects. You have no presence that can be sensed by anything or anyone. +25% to vitality, +50% to wisdom and intelligence.

Gate to Oblivion (Grand Perk)

Open a gateway to the plane of Oblivion.

He had gained the Grasp perk. He grimaced, knowing that he was so close to the next step, what Zach had. He could remember the moment where he had almost gotten a complete understanding, but… he pushed those thoughts away. There will be more chances for that after. Now, he reached the last notification, and paused. He didn’t see a choice of perks, which told him one thing.

Slowly, he opened up his perks and found the new one that had swallowed two of his greatest perks.

Ankh of Eternity—Form of True Oblivion, Eternal Hunter, Last Death

Your Body and Soul are inescapably forged together. You are a singular entity, comprised not out of a body and soul, but raw Essence and Meaning. Appearance and size dependent on will and meaning. Consuming high tier Oblivion Essence or Qi temporarily raises stats up to 150%. Your meaning endures for as long as a single Essence of your body remains, and you can regenerate to full from it.

Realm restrictions lifted, able to walk on any plane.

Evolved Form perk removed.

All Immortality powers removed.

Benefits retained: You do not age. You no longer need to breathe or eat food, but will need to consume Oblivion or related type Qi or Essence. Reproduction will only be possible through use of powers.

Gain +50% to intelligence, wisdom.

You embody the ideas of several Aspects, ultimately, all had led you to one—Oblivion.

That… was going to take some testing to fully understand. But… perhaps there were some upsides to what he had lost. For now, he centered himself, waiting for Selia and Erdania to do the same.

There was a lot of in front of them, and he wanted to go through it together.