Chapter 225: Tier 3

It wasn’t that shocking that this particular orb was the most worrying out of the three epic skills. There was a reason why he had been wanting to save this one for last.

However, he wasn’t going to hesitate this time around. He knew what he was going for. He wanted to reach Tier 3 with three Concepts and three epic skills. There wasn’t anything that was going to stop him. He would do it or die trying.

He cranked up [Sage of Savagery] to its absolute max. It was so intense that he almost felt like he blacked out, but after reining himself in, he was prepared.

There was only the orb and himself present at the moment. With a resolved reach of his arm, he touched the orb with his fingers.

He didn’t have a fighting chance.

Nothing could have prepared him for the onslaught of power that was unleashed. It completely overwhelmed him and he felt his soul begin to burn.

Nothing he could do would stop it. It wasn’t like this was his actual body, this was just a metaphysical representation of it. Therefore, there was nothing for [Phoenix Renewal] to heal.

His soul was literally being burned to ash.

He could only desperately fight with everything he had as he watched his soul burn one inch at a time.

Still, no matter how bleak it looked, he made sure to keep fighting. It didn’t matter how dire the circumstances were, he wouldn’t give up.

With that being said, the power of the Phoenix Concept ran over any of his efforts like it was nothing. Inexorable Will wasn’t able to hold it off.

He had known that this had been a possibility, but he had been expecting that he would have been able to handle it as long as he tried his hardest.

The frustrating reality was that his body and soul weren’t able to handle the assimilation. They weren’t properly prepared to handle such stress.

Despite his best efforts, he could only watch in bitterness as he felt his grip on his soul start to slip away.

***

Reinera POV

She let out a rasping breath. Those final steps had been the most difficult, much more difficult than she had expected. Not even Amelia’s or her family’s warnings had been enough to prepare her for her advancement to Tier 3. Assimilating her Concept took all of her will.

However, in the end, she managed to overcome her trial. She was now officially a Tier 3 and had even managed to advance with a Concept to boot. Something that not many people could say they have done.

She couldn’t help but feel proud of her accomplishment. It was a testament to the hard work she had put in these past several years.

She hoped her mother and father would be proud of her as well.

Although, she winced at that thought. Perhaps that was a bit of a stretch and wishful thinking on her end.

In all honesty, they would probably be furious that she had advanced without their say-so or their supervision. They likely had an entire chamber built just for her to breakthrough to Tier 3. Still, she has talked with Amelia about how prepared she was. That was why she had been assured about taking the next step.

She did feel bad about not letting Amelia be here for this moment though. If there was one person who deserved to be by her side, it was Amelia.

Shaking her head, she took a long deep breath. Although, that was a huge mistake. She instantly choked on the stench that invaded her nose, gagging as she was assaulted by the odor. She simultaneously smelled rotten fish and sweet fruit for some reason.

The combination was unusually deadly.

Then she looked down and realized that she was coated in a very thin spotted layer of dark gunk.

I guess there were more impurities in me than I thought, she thought with a frown.

Initially, she believed that she had done a good job purging any impurities and cleansing herself before she advanced, but it seemed like she was wrong. She had consumed a Crystal Spirit Lotus every month for the last year in preparation for her eventual advancement. It had been with the hopes that it would hasten and ease the process.

They were expensive too. Each lotus was worth around a Tier 5 core on its own.

That said, they did work at least. The amount she released was way less than people would normally exude. She could only imagine how many impurities she would have had if she hadn’t taken the Crystal Spirit Lotuses.

It wasn’t like it was necessary to do so, but it would help immensely with the coalescing of one’s core and soul with their body. The fewer impurities there were beforehand, the less work it would take to remove them during one’s advancement.

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She immediately went over to the hidden washing area in the corner of the room to turn on the shower and give herself a good scrub, making sure that she held her breath until all of the gunk was nowhere to be seen again.

It was only after she was clean that she changed into a clean pair of clothes and removed a piece of cake from her storage ring. It was the same one that Julius had introduced her to all that time ago. She had been saving a piece for this very moment.

When the taste of rich chocolate and bitter espresso hit her tongue, she moaned in delight. It was just as good as the first time she tried it. She was glad that she had decided to keep a piece stored away for such occasions.

It was just another thing that she needed to thank Julius for.

Speaking of Julius, she wondered how he was doing.

With a quick thought, she removed her timepiece from her ring and looked at the date and time.