The next few weeks flew by in a flash.
It was a funny thing, how time often went by quickly whenever one was faced with impending doom.
At least, that was what it seemed like for the two princes of Stormholt.
It wasn't just that the case at Port Tabara was quite unique.
But even the top-ranking commanders of the kingdom had classified this mission as platinum-level difficulty—the highest level of difficulty in their ranking system.
High-ranking battalions of soldiers with epic-ranking difficulty might not even have been able to handle it on their own, largely due to the fact that not much was known about the Port Tabara case at all.
Nevertheless, the few telltale signs of the mission's nature were enough to rank it not only as one of the most difficult but also to mark Port Tabara as one of the most dangerous parts of Stormholt at the moment.
The Greitor problem, of course, was the main reason for the mission being ranked so high.
Greitors were abominations—people who had succumbed to the effects of mana poisoning and suddenly transformed into mindless seven-foot creatures with unbelievable speed, along with teeth, talons, and claws that could rip a human apart within seconds.
They were tough foes to deal with, giving problems even to Epic-grade soldiers.
Of course, it didn't help that Greitors could be born of mythical creatures as well.
All it took was one source of corruption.
Port Tabara had recently been closed down due to an inexplicable rise in their numbers, with the widely suspected reason being a corrupted soul core left out in the open.
This was not certain, though. In fact, nothing was certain when it came to this mission, and King Aurelius had ordered them to only return when they had results.
Indeed, the situation that the two sons were in was very dire.
But Kion paid no heed to that.
He had danced with death on multiple occasions, and the prospect of dying didn't rattle him much.
He came to this new life with a purpose: to get stronger. And if this was how fate wanted to test him, then it should be his guest and watch.
For weeks, he had been working, meditating, and training alongside Sir Alex to grasp the basics of swordsmanship.
He had mastered various physical strike styles, stances, and weapon-wielding techniques. He had undergone grueling hours of physical training to ensure that he was ready for this very moment.
The moment where he ascended.
Entering Common-grade rank was not something particularly challenging, as it didn't take much toll or effort on the warriors involved.
But just like any other form of ascension, entering Common-grade took a lot of mental willpower.
The idea was simple—or at least, the way Shaman had explained it made it sound simple.
To ascend, Kion needed to cause his mana to resonate within his soul, renewing his reserves and ensuring they remained fresh.
It was a sort of purification ritual that grew more complicated with each higher level of ascension.
Shaman had called it Resonance.
For his first level of ascension, Kion only needed to resonate once. As he progressed, the number of times his soul had to resonate would increase by one.
Basically, to ascend to Common-grade, he only needed a First Resonance. For the next stage, he would need both a First and Second Resonance.
Resonance was typically done with a specific style of meditation, but the process could be fast-tracked with storm pills or other supplements.
There were even rumored armaments that ensured the wielder resonated continuously with their souls, making the process of ascension a mere moment's work.
With such weapons, one could even ascend in the middle of a battle without knowing it.
But of course, none of those remedies were at Kion's disposal currently.
Shaman was someone who enjoyed following due process, and he forbade Kion from using any storm pills so early, claiming that Kion's body needed to get used to the natural conditioning that came with ascension before he could ingest any artificial boosters.
Kion rolled his eyes at the thought, wondering why the old wizard would tell him about shortcuts without letting him try any.
He heaved a sigh as he stared at the parchment before him, an imprint of a human's anatomy with all the paths of mana traced within like an intricate spiderweb.
He focused the image in his mind, just like the regular meditation he had practiced many times before.
Except this time, he focused more inward, digging deeper beneath the surface until he could feel the light thrum of his soul core.
It seemed routine, as he found the first few instructions from Shaman quite easy to execute. But in reality, Kion was not at all thrilled to look within himself.
Not because he wasn't sure of who he was or what he wanted—that had been established long ago.
But because he was almost completely convinced that something—or someone—was inside him, pulling the strings in a strange way.
He had been himself most of the time. Most of his actions were of his own accord and not influenced by someone else. He was sure of that.
But it was a completely different story when he slept.
He had dreams where he would be in someone else's body, reliving their experiences and lifetimes. The crazier part was that this didn't just happen with one person, but with different people.
It was usually just glimpses of their lives at first—from basic conversations with their friends and family to their daily trips to the market or blacksmith's workshop.
But in the past week, it had all taken a dark turn.
Glimpses of natural everyday life quickly morphed into visions of wars, bloodshed, and something that seemed like an apocalypse.
At least, that was the only way Kion saw fit to explain it.
And strangely, in all the lifetimes and points of view that he had been through, there was something—a feeling, an essence—following him and watching with him.
At first, its intentions seemed unclear, but Kion had quickly discovered that in the latest versions of his war-torn dreams, it wanted only one thing.
To kill.
An overwhelming urge that would cause him to daze over and panic. To raise a sword at his foes in his dreams, and slowly but dramatically flay their flesh from their bones.
Some would say that it was the urge of the devil, but Kion saw no use in antagonizing something that seemed to be a part of him.
Shaman had said something about premonitions from his ancestors, which explained quite a lot, but Kion felt there was more.
Either way, he knew he needed to focus on the mission ahead. And to survive, he needed to ensure that this resonance was successful.
"Okay, absorb the mana in the air back into your core…"
"…reopen meridians so purified mana can flow through… Hrrk!"
Kion clutched his chest as he felt a sudden jolt spasm through his entire body.
It was the most painful and the most satisfying feeling all at once—like he had suddenly been electrocuted by several volts of electricity but felt better afterward.
And "better" was quite an understatement. What Kion felt was a renewal, as if he had been born again, all his organs replaced and his senses replenished.
He could suddenly see better, smell better, and move better. He got up and tried some physical moves. He found that they took less effort and that he performed them more smoothly.
It felt good, being a Common-grade warrior, and it had only taken him a little over two weeks—even though Shaman had initially predicted at least a month for him.
He would have loved to see the surprised look on the wizard's face, but something told him Shaman would not be so surprised, as it was he who had given him the scroll after all.
The old wizard might have felt a need to congratulate him if the situation at hand weren't so dire.
Kion imagined Shaman was not someone who cared much about anything besides his scrolls and parchments, but when he left his workshop earlier, Kion glimpsed a look of worry on the old man's face.
But he couldn't worry about all that now.
Because what he was about to do next was exciting.
Earlier, he had evolved his first and only skill from Novice level, [Fire Blade], to Grandmaster level, [Fire Storm].
It usually wasn't natural to jump skill ranks like that, but doing so had granted Kion access not just to one version of [Fire Blade] but about four in total.
The extra two were [Fire Slash] for Warrior level and [Fire Barrage] for Master level.
Kion hadn't particularly learned these two individually, but advancing his skill by more than two levels granted him passive knowledge of the techniques needed to master the two he had skipped.
So, in theory, Kion had mastered four skills. But they were all of the same base skill, and of course, the same domain.
Of course, he hadn't forgotten that he had a subdomain with a huge potential cap.
And that was where his next skill was going to come from.
Kion had always prioritized speed and accuracy over brute strength, and his next few skills were going to be heavily invested in that area.
Not really with fire—but this time, with lightning.