The scroll shimmered with fading glyph light as I memorized the final stanza. "Strike not from wrath, but from inevitability. One becomes the meteor not to fall—but to burn the sky into memory." I closed it with reverence. The room, however, was too small. Even with the rune-silencers, the first pulse of the technique had already cracked a teacup and sent Marla's snakes hissing in protest. She glanced at me through one slitted eye. "Try not to punch the ship in half, darling."
I rose with a nod and walked out—my footsteps calm, but my qi trembling just beneath the skin. The Star bite's phoenix wood hull groaned softly under the wind, slicing through cloud and moonlight. The wind tree sail shimmered with emerald wind essence, each catching glimmers of starlight like flowing scripture. I stood barefoot, shirtless, golden qi trailing from my limbs like sunrise smoke. My azure raptor feathers twitched once. Then compressed. The Wind Essence was strong up here—stronger than I'd ever felt it. Perfect. I closed my eyes and visualized the first glyph of continuous meteor fists. A circle. Then a star. Then an inverse spiral.
My breath synchronized to it—deep, slow, becoming rhythm. I sent pulses of qi to each ram chakra path to my arms. I sent another pules through my spine and internal organs.
THOOM!
The air warped. My first Meteor Fist triggered a thunderclap that rippled out across the deck, buckling a lantern post and sending a deckhand's hat flying into the void. The crew shouted—running out from below deck just in time to see me.
"Hmmm, this technique is still too dangeroues, I'll need to cultivate it down in an open area."
I dove backward off the Star bite in perfect silence—vanishing into the void beneath like a falling god. The wind screamed past me. I reached out—compressed—and my raptor feathers flared with flight essence.
KRA-KOW!
A disc of green wind qi erupted beneath me, stabilizing my descent.
Then I kicked off it—ascending.
Whoooosh!
In a blink, I soared back above the Star bite, trailing spirals of compressed flight essence like an aerial comet. The crew crowded the port railing, dumbstruck. Hammerhead's jaw hung open.
"Did that man just—"
"—fly?" Faeluxe whispered.
Marla blinked once. "Show-off." I hovered above them for a breathless second, scanning the terrain below. Beneath us was a stretch of ochre wasteland. Dunes like crumpled parchment. No cities. No life. Just sand.
Perfect.
I angled my descent and dove again—this time, with purpose. Arms extended. Breath focused. As I plummeted, I activated the full tier one form of continuous meteor fists.
And I unleashed a volley of it.
BOOM.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOMBOOMBOOM.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOMBOOMBOOM.
BOOM.
Each punch was a comet. Each strike screamed with centrifugal fury and heaven-breaking pressure. Fists flared with golden light, leaving trails of flame and vortexes in the air. They rained down on the desert below like judgment from the stars. From the Star bite above, the crew watched with awe. Explosions bloomed across the sands like divine punctuation—each crater hundreds of feet wide, dunes flung into the air like ocean spray. Hammerhead muttered, "He's not just flying…"
"He's declaring." Marla finished, gold eyes reflecting the fire. Marla leaned on the rigging, eyes narrowing.
"…Now he really looks like a threat to the Seraph."
Below, I touched down in the final impact crater—my feathers still glowing, my fists steaming, craters stretching out in a perfect spiral behind me. The sand itself was glass now. The dunes had turned into obsidian. And my qi was steadier than ever. I exhaled once. And began walking back toward the sky.
WHUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMM!
A low, bone-vibrating rumble surged through the dunes. It wasn't from my fists. The ground buckled. Sand Geyser'd hundreds of feet into the air. Above, the Star bite listed slightly as wind from the shockwave rocked her hull. Alarms began to chime—wards flared red. Crew members scrambled across the deck, gripping railings and barking emergency orders. Hammerhead was the first to yell, "That's not part of the training!!"
Faeluxe leaned over the railing, eyes narrowing, her ribbons tightening into whips. "That wasn't his qi. That was something old." Marla's pupils narrowed into razor slits. "Something's waking up down there…"
From the sands below, an avalanche of desert exploded upward—
KRAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!
A shape surged into the air. Massive. Monolithic. A Desert Skyscraper Worm. Its body was as wide as a keep, covered in layers of calcified armor. Its carapace glistened like ancient sandstone, each segment etched with sigils older than recorded time. The beast's roar shook the clouds. Its tongue was a cathedral of hooks. Its eyes were blind, but it felt everything.
The crew prepared for disaster. "Raise shields!" shouted one. "Prep a bombardment array!" yelled another. But before any command could be executed—
Marla's voice cut through the panic like a blade.
"Stand down."
Everyone froze.
The snakes on her head lifted in perfect unison, glowing with eerie green qi. She stepped to the center of the deck, her cloak flaring behind her like oil-fire smoke.
"Let him cultivate."
Faeluxe blinked. "What?" Marla's voice was cold. Final. "You don't grow stronger without risk. That thing is a sovereign-class beast. He needs this." "But if it kills him—" Hammerhead growled. "It won't," Marla hissed. "He has the Wind. He has the Meteor. And he has a path to ascend. Let him walk it."
Silence.
Then slowly… the crew backed off.
The worm loomed like a living spire. Sandstorm winds tore past its bulk as it coiled mid-air, sigils pulsing along its sides like ancient scars. I hovered just above the dune line, arms glowing, breath steady.
But something held me back. The Meteor Fists buzzed in my bones, begging release—but I clenched my fists tight and… hesitated.
Wait. Try it.
The Beast Tongue tome's strange syllables echoed in my mind—heavy, primal, half-sung things born in caves deeper than dreams.
I inhaled, letting golden Animus twist around my throat like a burning ribbon.
Then, I spoke—low and deliberate.
"Vor Therak… Vor Tarnak… Ruhn Ta Zhol."
''I Rise. I Endure. Soul of the Breaker.
The words left my mouth like thunderclaps across the spiritual realm. The worm halted.
Paused.
Its spiral stopped midair—its blind head tilting toward me, the vastness of its consciousness brushing mine like a wave scraping a pebble. I felt my core quiver. Then it responded. A deep, rattling gurgle echoed from its mouth, like sand grinding bone underwater—
"...Nar-Ruhn? …Nar Zhol? …Nar Fim..."
"You… Flame-born? You…break us?"
"You Die"
My eyes widened. I understood it. My comprehension wasn't perfect—but the meaning was there. I wasn't fluent. But I was heard. The worm's next movement wasn't an attack. It was a challenge. A trial. Its coils shimmered with qi, and then—
FWOOOOM!
It surged toward me like a continent collapsing. I narrowed my eyes. "Didn't I say I come in peace?" golden qi exploded down my arms. "Oh well, let's fight, skyscraper."
I rocketed upward, fists blazing, and met it head-on. The Star bite hovered alongside the full moon over the desert expanse, emergency anchors were already halfway deployed. The Crew scrambled, some drawing qi weapons, others clutching deck rails and yelling over the storm winds. Faeluxe braced against the helm, hair whipping behind her like a ribbon caught in a cyclone.
Her eyes were locked on Ash below.
"Is he… talking to it?"
Snake Man squinted, his pupils narrowing to vertical slits. "He's chanting something."
Marla hovered above the deck, cross-legged and serene amid the chaos. "He's using the Beast Tongue," she said coolly. "Foolish. But fascinating."
The desert wind carried Ash's words to them faintly—thick syllables etched with ancient weight. "Vor Therak… Vor Tarnak… Ruhn Ta Zhol."
The crew fell still. Then came the answer—an impossible, churning groan from the skyscraper-sized worm. It was a bellow that made every one's ribs vibrate. It had meaning. Hammerhead blinked. "...Did that thing just talk back?" "Stars above," a crewman muttered. "He spoke to it—and it understood?" Hammerhead stood there wide-eyed, mug still in hand. "So... uh... are we... still panicking?"
Snake Man turned slowly. "We are officially in uncharted territory."
The worm reared back, silent for a heartbeat—and then lunged. Golden light exploded from below as Ash launched to meet it, fists wreathed in storm blood. Marla's snakes flared, hissed, and curled back around her shoulders. "Let him cultivate," she whispered, almost reverently. "He just made history."
The crew stood speechless as the two titans collided in the sky below. The old world shuddered. And a new legend began to form.
The skyscraper worm screamed.
A wall of fangs and sand, its body wider than a fortress tower, scaled in obsidian-like chitin—and I flew straight toward it. My fists became a storm flurry. Each strike cracked the air like a cannon.
"CONTINUOUS METEOR FISTS—TIER ONE!"
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
Golden afterimages flared behind each punch—shockwaves cascading outward, shattering the air itself. A dozen strikes landed across the worm's armored head, sending chunks of shell flying into the wind like burning meteors.
My skin shimmered.
My muscles roared.
"I can feel it," I growled, "This technique is almost ready to evolve!" The worm twisted, rearing back in pain—then coiled like a whip and struck.
CRAAAAACK!
The tail hit me like a continent falling sideways. My spiral tyrant exo-shell flashed into existence as the colossal tail made impact! My spiral tyrant crab tattoo flashed on my back as it absorbed any kinetic shockwaves that happened to make it through the ridiculously strong spirit crab armor. The mighty guard of condensed qi around my organs and my outer sleek spiral tyrant layer and thoroughly protected my vital essence. I shot backwards like a meteor in reverse—blasting through two cloud banks, spiraling wildly toward the sand dunes below.
"—Tch!"
Mid-plummet, I roared and flared my qi. I poured my Intent into the cerulean exo-spirit shell, and it flashed into existence—a shimmering armor of refracted spirit energy.
KA-THUD-BOOM!
Debris and compressed sand exploded around me, but the shell held—bending space like a gravity lens, redirecting rubble and kinetic force away from my vital core. Smoke trailed from my shoulders, but my grin was still there. "Nice shot," I muttered. "Let's see how you like the next round." I launched back up like a spear of gold and blood—gathering my qi into both fists, channeled by Intent through my ram chakras to my feet visualizing the ''Feather foot sigil'' I had developed during the inheritance war at sea, and instantly two wings appeared on each ankle.
Wind essence flooded into my Raptor feathers, I visualized the flight glyph, stabilizing my velocity. "I've got one more level in me—let's see if you can survive Tier Two."
I rotated mid-air, spinning vertically like a drill—
—then drove both fists forward in a rising uppercut motion, sending twin golden shockwaves into the worm's underbelly.
"SPIRAL TYRANT FIST!"
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
Every impact burst with five after-strikes, golden fists overlapping like solar flares!
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
The worm screamed again—this time in pain.
Its protective scales cracked wide open, exposing red, pulsing tissue. My aura exploded outward—winds howling, lightning threading through my raptor feathers. The air shuddered. The worm coiled again—but this time, slower.
Trembling. Its momentum faltered. I hovered above it, breathing hard, arms gleaming with the essence of my volley. My voice came low. Controlled. "Tier Two achieved…" My eyes sparked golden. "Let's finish this." The skyscraper worm screamed—but not in pain. In rage. Its mouth began to glow. I hovered midair, still blazing with aftershocks from my tier two breakthrough, when the pressure in the atmosphere shifted. A deep thrumming sound pulsed through the sand—vibrating the bones of the world.
WUUUMMMMMMM…
High above, clouds were pulled downward in spiraling threads—streams of energy and ambient chi torn from the sky, the dunes, the ancient fossils buried beneath.
All of it—
—was being devoured into a growing orb of incandescent energy forming at the worm's yawning maw.
Like a sun.
Like a bomb.
My eyes widened, "What the hell—?"
The orb continued growing—blue-yellow lightning coiling around its core like a serpent of judgment. Ghostly faces flickered inside. The pressure spiked so high the air cracked. And then the worm fired it. A singular, screaming detonation.
A world-killer.
I flared my qi, readying to dodge—but I hesitated. The blast was too wide. Too fast. I didn't have the time.
I raised my arms, about to brace—
Panic bloomed.
—I couldent stop this.
Far inside his veins, Felicity's silver eyes opened.
Sleeping deep inside Ash's blood system, she stirred like a silver crown awakening in fire. She felt the surge of fear. And she smiled.
"Ash." Her voice echoed not from the air—but from his bones. "Let me remind you of who you are." A shockwave pulsed through Ash's bloodstream.
Runes flared across my arms. My golden qi turned crimson-gold, veined with silver threads of divine origin. My pupils became slits.
My back arched—
—and horns erupted from my crown like curved obsidian blades, flaming with qi. My skin darkened to storm-glass. Azure feathers unfurled, tipped with celestial embers.
Spectral war crab armor hovered over my draconic body. I became something more.
Bloodline Awakening: God of War Aura – Primordial Lineage Recognized.
Felicity Sync Ratio: 97.9%
Form: Ascendant Warlord – Phase One
My voice now sounded different, like it echoed from the beginning of time.
"…Thanks, Fel."
The massive blue orb roared toward me, splitting the heavens. I didn't dodge nor flinch. I rose to meet it. And at the moment of impact, I raised both hands, palms open—
—and clamped them together with a titan's roar.
"RAAAAAAGH!"
BOOM!!
The orb met him midair—and for an instant, the world held its breath. Then the momentum shifted. My arms trembled with effort, golden veins glowing with rage and precision.
Then—
I threw it skyward like a volleyball spiked from Olympus! Being mindful of the nearby Star bite I directed the force of my blow out to sea, the massive orb trailing a column of light and tracers. The massive orb of condensed qi must of sailed a long way, as it grew smaller and smaller as it flew out to sea.
And then—
KA—BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A mushroom cloud bloomed in the far distance, lighting the sea like a false dawn. The desert went silent. The worm was stunned. I floated midair—draconic, godlike, steam rising off my body, War crab spirit armor flickering around my limbs like molten scripture. The wind bowed. The clouds parted. The stars seemed to whisper a name.
"Ashriel."
Descendant of the Battle God Bloodline. The mushroom cloud still painted the eastern sea in ghost light. I hovered midair like a myth reborn—my body blazing with blood-forged Animus, his spirit roaring through every realm of sense. The desert worm coiled in the sand below—massive, wounded, confused. Half its side was blackened from energy backlash. Crystals cracked along its hide. Its scream was hollow now—reduced to a low, tortured warble.
But it still rose. Still tried. I narrowed my glowing eyes.
"...Zhol-ta." I muttered. I clenched my fists and called my qi inward. All of it.
All the condensed qi, all of my Intent And I compressed it to a point. No larger than a firefly at the tip of my index finger. The desert around me trembled. Wind bent toward the tiny dot forming at the tip of my finger. The air cracked, warped, distorted. Reality twitched. I spoke—not to the worm, but to the world:
"XUN'DRAL FANG!"
The dot of compressed qi snapped forward with a flick of my hand. It didn't explode. Didn't scream. Didn't howl. It just zipped forward—like a sunbeam given will.
The worm's eyes tracked it too late. The moment the star-point hit—
KA-SHHHHRROOOOM!!!
It detonated like a shotgun of god light, inside the creature's flesh. A forty-meter tunnel was carved straight through the skyscraper worm's center. Ribs evaporated. Flesh turned to glowing mist. One of its nine crystal hearts cracked like an egg dropped from heaven. The worm twitched, tried to rise again…
…but its body had already given up.
It slumped sideways in a slow-motion quake, the dunes collapsing beneath it. A faint groan. Then stillness. I staggered slightly as the rush hit me. The bloodline kicked into overdrive. Vital essence, rich with ancient marrow, flooded into me.
I gasped. My veins flared and opened. My Meridians and just reached tier three!
Golden threads raced across my arms and neck like holy lightning. I grinned slowly.
"...Now that's a workout."