Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

[Notice!]

[One full year has passed since planet Earth was integrated by the System. T-3 years : 365 days : 23 hours : 59 minutes left until full Multiversal integration]

[Congratulations! The integration of all newly qualified humans aged seventeen will now begin]

All across the planet, within Zone 0 and everywhere else the qualified unintegrated were, beams of light appeared, taking them to an unknown space. The phenomenon was mesmerizing to all who saw it.

Those already integrated, the ascenders who had been taken into the System space right from the onset, got to see for themselves how it had happened to them from a different point of view this time.

However, for people like Uhtred, Zara, Diya, and the other three powerhouses who had been watching the sky expectantly, they weren’t moved at all. They were still waiting for the second announcement.

[Notice!]

[Time period requirement met! Congratulations, inhabitants of planet Earth, you have gained access to the Illustrious Tower of Wonders]

[A Handler would arrive to explain more details! Wishing you the best of luck on your climb up the Path of Ascension]

Normally, with such a vague announcement that left more questions than answers, everyone would have wondered whether something was wrong with the System. However, what everyone saw next numbed them all into silence.

In the midnight sky of the new year, daunting and very visible to all eyes in every corner of the planet, was a tall, inverted cosmic behemoth of a tower.

It cut across the entire length of the night sky, disappearing past the north and south horizons, its size so large, one couldn’t see the beginnings or the ends of it.

Its exterior was a weathered, mottled grey that was somehow dull even under the light of the sun up there in space. With how large it was, one would have expected it to reflect sunlight down on the planet, turning the night basically to a bright dusk-like state.

Unless...

Uhtred looked at the oppressive structure more carefully, squinting. His eyes widened, realizing something peculiar. But before he could speak, Zara did first, her voice filled with wonder:

”What an incomprehensible and immaculate usage of spatial magic... The Tower is physically present above us, yet at the same time, not present. No matter where you are out in the cosmos, you will always see it...”

”...So it is true then,” Diya muttered. She turned and looked at Uhtred. ”That information...”

Uhtred frowned slightly, then nodded. ”I never doubted its authenticity. I’m guessing the Handler would arrive anytime now—”

”Inhabitants of planet Earth!! Are! You! Readyyyy!!!!” A voice that could be heard by every ear on the planet cut Uhtred off mid-sentence.

A figure appeared in the sky above Capitol of the Elite, wearing a bright red tuxedo and a comically long top hat. Everyone squinted to make out the exact details of this person’s features, but he was so high up that all most could see was the silhouette of his striking pose.

”W—Who’s that—?”

”Is that the Handler the System was talking about—?”

”Damn! Another trial again?! Just how many will die this time...”

The ascenders of Capitol of the Elite murmured in hushed tones filled with questions and trepidation. Despite being the elites of the human race, training for a year in Uhtred’s elite academy, toughening their mentality in the process, many were still filled with tension at the spectacle in the sky.

One couldn’t blame them either. This was the first time they were all seeing a structure that boggled their sense of size to such an extent.

For Uhtred, it wasn’t too bad, he had experienced this same terror in the Memory Fragment of the Sovereign of Chaos, Drakgon during his crossing to the Nascent Realm. But for everyone else, seeing this cosmic-scale structure that boggled the mind made them feel a bone-deep oppression.

They weren’t even really paying attention to the so-called Handler that had arrived. They only stared at him with half attention, and that was even because he was the one to tell them of the details of the Tower trial.

Suddenly, as they all half-watched the Handler make his appearance, out of nowhere, a cheerful, upbeat melody began to resonate through the air across the entire Capitol, drawing their full attention back to the present.

It sounded as though a full, energetic marching band was playing a lively tune right above their heads, yet no matter where anyone looked, there wasn’t an instrument or musician in sight.

”Huh? What the hell is going on?”

”What’s that sound?”

”Music...? In this kind of situation?”

It was a very out-of-place occurrence. While everyone was waiting in tension for the Handler to explain the details of the Tower trial, some weird music suddenly began to play?

Yet that wasn’t the end of it.

High in the sky, the Handler in his bright red tuxedo began to... dance.

Under the confused and flabbergasted gazes of every ascender in the city, with a gravity-defying grace, he kicked his legs, spun on an invisible axis and began to dance right there in the sky.

His comically long top hat wobbled precariously atop his head with every spin, but it never fell.

He glided sideways, executed a pair of seamless mid-air somersaults, and slid down an invisible staircase made of light, striking over-the-top, dramatic poses all the while.

For nearly a full minute, the performance went on with everyone watching, not knowing how to react.

Finally, as the invisible music reached a loud, brassy crescendo, the figure made his final descent.

With his long top-hat in his hand, and with a deep bow, he finished his performance, ending his dance right atop the highest point of the city where Uhtred currently stood.

The music cut out instantly.

”...”

For several seconds, even Uhtred didn’t know how to react, and neither did anyone in the entire city.

Pin-drop silence reigned, not just in the Capitol, but across the entire planet.

Up in the sky above, at some point, a large, holographic screen that displayed the whole dance from start to finish, hovered.

All around the world, in every single territory, big or small, where modern humans resided, the same screen had also appeared, displaying the whole dance from beginning to end.

Frowns of confusion and dumbstruck expressions colored the faces of everyone all across the world. Aside from the absurdity of a dance performance that started out of nowhere, there was also the fact that the Handler himself could now be seen in full...

And his true appearance added more to the absurdity of the whole thing...

A cat. The Handler who was to explain this grand Tower trial to them was a literal cat on two legs, about four feet in height, with a prim and proper red tuxedo and a black bow tie...

What the hell was even going on?