Darkness came first.
Not the absence of light, but something heavier, like the world itself hadn't fully formed yet.
Ishmael's eyes snapped open, but he didn't move immediately. He remained still against the cold surface beneath him, breathing slow and controlled as his senses returned one by one. The ground felt rough, uneven…not quite concrete, not quite earth. Something in between. Artificial, but incomplete.
"Not, dead yet, that's good. Really need to stop waking up like this". He muttered dryly.
His voice came out low and dry.
He pushed himself up, expecting dizziness, but none came. His body responded instantly, almost too cleanly. Stronger. Sharper.
"…better than before."
The air pressed against him in a way he couldn't ignore. It wasn't suffocating, but it was dense, like every breath carried something more than oxygen. Something heavier. Something that settled deeper into his chest with each inhale.
He stood slowly, his katana already in his hand without remembering when he drew it. His trusty backpack on his back.
"So this is inside the gate."
The sky above wasn't a sky. Layers of dark grey and black stretched endlessly, fractured by thin crimson veins that looked like cracks in glass. The landscape around him made even less sense. Fragments of the city existed, but they were misplaced, buildings half-buried into the ground, sections of road suspended in midair, everything stitched together incorrectly, as if reality itself had been rearranged without care.
Then something moved.
A sharp drop cut through the stillness.
Ishmael's body reacted before his mind did. He shifted his weight slightly, bringing his blade up just in time to meet the descending strike.
The impact rang through his arms, heavier than anything he had faced before. The force didn't feel wild or unstable, it was structured and deliberate. When he looked up, the Incursion standing before him reflected that same refinement. Its body was no longer a chaotic fusion of flesh and metal. It was unified. Hardened. Complete.
"Stronger"
More movement followed. Another landed behind him, then two more, spacing themselves evenly as they formed a loose circle. Their positioning wasn't random. It was controlled, almost tactical.
Ishmael exhaled slowly, adjusting his stance.
'Right'
The first one moved without warning, its attack fast and direct. Instead of blocking it head-on, Ishmael shifted slightly, angling his body just enough for the strike to graze along his blade. A faint trace of silver energy formed instinctively along the edge, not spreading wildly, but reinforcing the angle of contact. The attack slid off instead of colliding, pulling the Incursion slightly off balance.
That was all he needed.
He stepped in and delivered a short, precise cut toward the joint beneath its arm. The resistance was still there, but the silver energy pulsed faintly at the moment of contact, weakening it just enough for the blade to slip through. The Incursion staggered back, not destroyed, but compromised.
"It's not just about force." He muttered, recalling one of those hateful old man's lessons
The second one attacked immediately, faster than the first. This time Ishmael met it directly. When their weapons collided, the silver energy didn't spread, it compressed at the point of impact. The difference was subtle but immediate. The strike didn't push him back. It stopped.
For a brief moment, they were locked in place.
Then Ishmael twisted his wrist and released the tension he had built. The stored force rebounded through his blade, throwing the Incursion slightly off its line. He stepped forward into the opening and brought his katana upward in a clean, controlled arc. This time the cut went deeper, the silver energy lingering just enough to carry through the resistance.
It dropped dead.
The remaining two adjusted instantly, their movements tightening as they shifted into a coordinated attack. One came low, aiming to break his stance, while the other struck from above. Ishmael couldn't avoid both completely, so he chose not to.
Instead, he met the lower attack halfway.
For a split second, silver energy flared along his legs rather than his blade. His footing stabilized unnaturally, anchoring him in place as the impact traveled through his body instead of knocking him back. At the same time, his upper body moved independently, his blade rising to intercept the second strike.
Rather than stopping it, he guided it.
The silver energy along the edge reduced the resistance just enough for the blade to slide along the incoming attack, redirecting its path. With a sharp twist, he turned the momentum against it, forcing the attacker forward into his counter.
His blade cut across its neck.
Not clean, but enough.
The Incursion staggered, and Ishmael didn't hesitate. He stepped in and finished it.
The last one hesitated.
Only for a moment.
But that moment was enough.
Ishmael closed the distance immediately, his movements more decisive now. The silver energy wrapped faintly around his blade again, not perfectly stable, but no longer flickering. When he struck this time, the resistance gave way more easily. Not because he was stronger, but because he was using it better.
The final Incursion collapsed.
Silence returned.
Ishmael stood there for a moment, breathing steady, blood trailing lightly down his side. His grip on the katana loosened slightly as the faint silver glow faded.
"…so that's how it works."
Not more power.
Better use.
The system flickered into view.
[Multiple Incursions Eliminated]
[Spirit Energy Absorbed]
[Spirit Core Rank Increased]
Ishmael's Spirit Energy surged as he advanced to Mid-Second Ascension Rank.
He glanced around at the broken landscape, the unnatural stillness settling back in as if nothing had happened.
"System…," he called out calmly, his voice devoid of emotion, cutting through the silence.
"…what exactly is this place?"
There was a brief pause.
Then—
[Ding…]
[This zone has been forcefully mutated and undergone Incursion conversion.]
[Ascension Zone → Incursion Dominant Field.]
[Host is advised to survive.]
Ishmael stared at the panel for a second before letting out a quiet breath.
"Incursion Conversion huh, and let me guess by the boss?"
[Affirmative]
"And how strong is the boss?"
His question was followed by a brief pause before the system answered his question.
[Peak 4th Ascension]
"Haaaa….well I've got one option now. Survive and grow strong enough to kill that thing" He said with a sigh, a cold gleam in his grey eyes.
He adjusted his grip on the katana and stepped forward.
Heading deeper into the zone.