Even the air around the ray of light had been set ablaze, scorching both the lands and the skies. The horrid smell of charred flesh filled the air, accompanied by the dust that inhabited the skies and poisoned the lungs of both the Profane and the Enlightened.
By that point, most if not all of the civilians had been evacuated, and so Luminious had unleashed his full and destructive power. The rays of light struck faster, harder, and in a far greater radius than before.
Ira silently wished for the same domineering power as the strongest of humanity, a deep sigh leaving her lips as she did.
"Is it possible to gain more attributes after awakening, Bariealla?"
She knew there was a way. After all, she had experienced it firsthand. The Lineage of Mystery was the only reason she had lived for so long.
"Well, there is. Runes—or better known as attribute stones. They are the main way to gain new attributes. They are usually found inside of ancient monuments that lie in the Purge Realm, the most popular of those ancient monuments being found on Star Chain."
So many new names being thrown together. Runes, Attribute Stones, and even Star Chain. It only took a moment for Ira to absorb the information, and then another to question it.
"The main way? Is there another?"
Bariealla nodded her head, glancing towards the other Dormants.
"Of course there is. The second method of gaining new attributes is through extremely taxing situations. The type of situations where one is on the brink of death, and even then you still have to meet certain conditions! It is ludicrously difficult to achieve, to the point that it is not even taught in schools. There are fewer than a thousand cases of it happening, when there are over a million people on the path of enlightenment!"
A deep grunt of frustration left her mouth.
"Do you wanna know the worst thing about Resonance? It hides things from you! It is not on our side—if anything it is completely against us. Some functions of one's echo abilities or attributes are hidden away until they are found out."
Her mouth opened to speak once more, but she could not. Her frustration had boiled over, leaving her breathless.
Taking a couple of deep breaths before she continued, she spoke once more. "I had to discover that my spirit slashes only last for ten-minutes before the effect wears off! In the middle of combat facing a Strayed Fiend…"
Ira only glanced down at the newfound information. She had assumed that the vile god she had seen in the vision could have possibly been the one to create the concept of Ascension—but now she was certain it was responsible.
'Hides things from us? That is exactly what a vile god would do!' Only a single question remained.
'Why?'
Why had it created the very thing it opposed? Perhaps it was an accident, a flaw in the creation of another being. Perhaps it was created with purpose, a purpose to foil the plans of another.
Or perhaps something else interfered in the process, creating the concept of Ascension.
Ira did not know. She could not possibly know, as a matter of fact.
Three decades of exploration, and little to nothing was known about the Purge Realm except for a very few locations, one of which she had learned about just moments earlier, "Star Chain".
The world had become quite a confusing place. 'Maybe if I had paid more attention in school I would know most of this stuff…'
But she had not. She was focused on something entirely different at that time.
And now, here she was chastising herself over the lack of attention she put into her education. She had never thought she would be forcing herself forward to live on; perhaps that was because she would never let herself become a puppet for anyone, not even Fate.
R-0 was the being she needed to defeat to survive past the six-year mark, and thus she would need to become a Sage in that time period.
It was absolutely ludicrous, of course.
Becoming a Sage? Humanity had been climbing the ranks for three-decades, yet they had only achieved the Crowned rank—at least that is what Ira knew of.
Perhaps a Sage did exist, and it was pulling the strings from the background; dictating every movement she, her party, and even Luminious made.
It was quite hilarious at how absurdly impossible it was, and so she let out a loud chuckle. "How must I achieve that in six years!?"
Her other party members only stared at her in confusion and wonder. Quickly, Ira realized that she had spoken out loud.
She must have looked insane, completely so! Yet only a deep sigh escaped her lips. A tinge of embarrassment painted her face, almost forcing her to lengthen her stride forward.
'Should embarrassment not be below the likes of me, the Champion of Hope? Actually, who even is Hope!?'
Ira already knew the answer, it was one of the Great Gods who had created the world in which Ira resided. If only it could miraculously make the Realm Gates unable to besiege Ira's homeland, then perhaps everything would be perfectly fine.
She knew what it was doing as of that moment. It was battling the Frenzied Flame to protect its domain.
As she thought, her mind wandered to the question of, 'What Great God ruled over the Purge Realm? Most likely a far greater evil than that of the one I saw in the vision…'
Whatever the case was, she hoped to figure it out soon.
Her train of thought was broken by Ellendore's harsh breathing, a jumble of words attempting to escape her lips. "S-stop… Please… Th-there is an eighty-seven percent c-chance one or more of our p-party members will collapse in… In a few minutes… I beg for rest!"
The constant breaks only brought more frustration to Ira and Bariealla. Did she not have a tinge of sympathy in her heart? Perhaps she did, but it was chained up when she had been informed of her dreadful Fate.
Bari took charge as she always did. "We will need to find a suitable place to make camp, first. Another thing…" she deeply inhaled the sterile air all around them, "Have you four ever trained a day in your life!? For Gods sake, we have had to take at least a dozen breaks today!"
Her outrage felt deserved by Ira. Who would not be mad with this ridiculously slow progression they had made?!
At least she had come to a few conclusions before the sun had set.