Chapter 237
Path formation
As Thor stood in front of the warehouse, he thought back to earlier. He had immediately realised IAM wasn't using his Avien.
Thor wasn't stupid. That strange stiffness in IAM's movements, the pain in his eyes, and the absence of that subtle presence all ascenders gave off when circulating mana — it was obvious. IAM was hiding his level.
Ascenders could naturally sense when another ascender was circulating mana. It was a subtle pressure in the air, a signal the body gave off when the Avien was active.
For what reason, Thor didn't know. But still, it made him shake his head. What, the boy had gone to Hope Academy for a few weeks and now he was acting all mysterious?
Fine. As a senior, he had to show some grace, maturity and tact. Ignore his junior's weird posturing. Let the kid have his secrets.
But that didn't mean he could slack off.
Thor's eyes sharpened as his expression turned serious. IAM couldn't sense it — not yet, anyway. He was only still a low experienced ascender. But Thor, as a master, could feel it instantly.
It wasn't well-hidden. Only the highest quality ones could escape his senses. This wasn't one of them.
A path formation can be created by a single individual or by a group working in harmony. It allows the user—or users—to inject their understanding into an area. When that understanding links together correctly, it forms a powerful structure: a trap, a defense, or a continuous effect.
They can be extremely effective and are considered more powerful than a person using their path methods alone. They can also last a long time. However, creating a path formation is complicated. To make one, you must inject your understanding using mana into an area and ensure it aligns perfectly with others involved, or it will collapse.
Because of this complexity, building a path formation can take a long time. Once set, it cannot be moved. Whether it is placed in the air, on the ground, or along walls, it must remain there. If used for attack or another purpose, it would function as a trap or continuous effect. When executed correctly, it can be extremely effective.
Since mana is required to carry your understanding into the formation, it naturally remains present as a form of battery to maintain it, especially if it has been recently charged. The quality and purpose of the formation determine how much mana is stored.
A skilled creator could even craft a path formation that cannot be sensed by a master, making it virtually undetectable for anyone under the level of master.
Thor stepped closer, stopping just at the edge of the path formation he could sense. He squatted carefully in front of it, resting his hands lightly on the surface—and the formation reacted instantly.
The ground flared to life with a mix of green and red patterns, spreading outward to cover the surrounding area of the warehouse. The intricate designs pulsed subtly, a silent warning of the energy embedded within.
Thor's hands moved and the colors seemed to bend toward him, flowing into his fingerprints, traveling up his palms, and dissipating along his arms to his shoulders. The light like liquid understanding being drawn into him and tracing it's paths like glowing veins.
He was dissecting the path formation, analyzing its purpose and structure. Any normal person, novice, or even an unaware experienced-level ascender could have triggered it unintentionally. But Thor's mastery over path formations allowed him to study it safely, avoiding any activation while absorbing its details.
After a few seconds, Thor's expression had understood the formation's purpose.
Its primary function was deceptively simple yet effective: it lowered the perceived presence of the warehouse. It made the building seem unimportant, forgettable, even uninteresting—just another empty structure in a sea of empty structures. Most people, even those actively searching, would unconsciously overlook it.
Its secondary purpose, however, was far more dangerous. The formation was designed to bind or restrict movement, acting like an invisible net once someone stepped too deep inside. If triggered, it would have locked the target in place, rendering them immobile.
Thor's eyes narrowed slightly.
That kind of restriction—if IAM had entered without caution or activated the formation by mistake—it could have easily restrained him completely. And in his already exhausted state... he would have been in serious trouble.
To deal with a path formation, the standard method—at least the one most ascenders were taught—was to gradually unravel it.
It was a slow, delicate process that involved identifying the interwoven strands of understanding within the formation, then gently injecting one's own understanding and mana into it, bit by bit.
The goal was to carefully cause the structure to unravel without triggering any latent effects.
It took time. Even experienced ascenders struggled with it—one misstep, and the formation could collapse violently, lashing out or reinforcing itself in unexpected ways.
But Thor… He had no need for all that. Not for something like this.
This particular formation, while well-built, wasn't high quality enough to withstand brute force from someone at Thor's level.
As a master, his mana reserves were vast—on an entirely different scale from those of novices or even experienced ascenders.
For Thor, the solution was simple.
All he needed to do… was flood it.
He stepped forward without hesitation and exhaled once, slowly, before he placed his palm firmly on the ground where the formation was woven. The earth trembled subtly as mana surged from his body.
The ground beneath his hand trembled slightly.
A faint hum rippled outward, and the green and red lines of the formation reacted instantly, flaring up like veins under the skin, twitching and pulsing with resistance.
But they stood no chance.
Thor's mana poured out like a broken dam, crashing through the foundation of the formation in great invisible waves. The once-solid colours began to flicker—red bleeding into pink, green dulling into grey, then both turning translucent, like glass fogged by breath.
And then—
A final flash. A burst of light so sharp it left afterimages in the air.
The ground beneath his hand vibrated with a last desperate shiver, and then—gone.
The light winked out. The formation vanished.
The onlookers behind him—officers, specialists, and support staff—watched wordlessly. They had seen path formations take minutes, sometimes hours, to dismantle. Thor had wiped it out in seconds.
They could only look at Thor in reverence and respect, for both his strength and who he was.
This was what a real master looked like.
Thor didn't even glance back to acknowledge the attention. He simply turned his head over his shoulder and said flatly, "Go ahead and check it out."