Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

A middle-aged Caucasian man cleared his throat to announce his presence. He was one of the artificers working on deciphering the arrays in the facility.

He and the rest of the artificers had already been informed that Uhtred would be using the training room all day, but he seemed to have forgotten an item in here and had stepped back inside to retrieve it.

Unfortunately, he had walked directly into the most bizarre sight he had ever witnessed.

Uhtred cleared his throat, immediately shifting to a professional demeanor as if he and Diya hadn’t just been running around laughing like children seconds ago.

”Craftmaster Bruce. What brings you here at this hour?”

”Please don’t mind me, Lord Uhtred. I only came back for this.” Craftmaster Bruce smoothly stepped forward and went straight for what he wanted — a specialized engraving tool.

The moment he retrieved it, he headed straight for the door, clearly uncomfortable and eager to stay out of whatever had been taking place before he entered.

However, right as he was about to escape, he paused, let out a quiet sigh, and turned back to face Uhtred.

”I know it’s not my place to say this, Lord Uhtred... But seeing you and Miss Diya laugh so freely made you both seem very human in my eyes,” he said with a calm, warm smile. ”For a while now, I had totally forgotten that the man I willingly chose to follow is actually still just a young man. Thank you for reminding me of that. I hope, at the same time, that you will also not forget it yourself. Please learn to cherish moments like this when you can...”

A short silence fell over the room until the man realized what he had just blurted out and began to apologize profusely. Uhtred, however, wasn’t offended in the slightest. In fact, his gaze turned distant, lost in quiet reflection.

”You don’t have to apologize, Craftmaster Bruce,” he said, his voice solemn. ”Thank you for the advice. I will take it to heart.”

Craftmaster Bruce offered a small smile and a hesitant nod, still not entirely convinced Uhtred hadn’t taken offense. He didn’t know what had overcome him to utter those words, but since Uhtred raised no issue, the man promptly excused himself, nodding once more before leaving the room.

The moment the door shut, Diya silently resumed her teaching, and Uhtred listened intently, attempting once more to master the fundamentals of healing magic.

They continued in silence, with Diya offering small pointers here and there. However, it was obvious that Craftmaster Bruce’s words had resonated deeply with both of them.

It was a stark reminder that, despite all their power and the heavy burdens that came with it, they were still youths in their prime. Even though the path of ascension was arduous and demanding, requiring constant effort to stay ahead of others, there still needed to be moments where they could simply... let themselves be free.

Not even the relentless pursuit of power should rob them of that joy.

Uhtred and Diya continued their session for well over an hour longer. The whole time, Uhtred kept failing in his attempts to mend the lab rat’s wounds, and eventually, Diya had no choice but to begin wrapping up the session.

It was clear that both of their minds were distracted. A good night’s rest to reset for the next day seemed like the best path forward.

However, on his very last attempt, right before Diya was about to officially call it a night... Uhtred succeeded.

It was a small, minor feat, but it marked the first time throughout the entire day that his attempt yielded a positive result.

Instead of the rat’s cellular structure destabilizing and imploding like before, the flesh around the wound began to visibly squirm, slowly restitching itself together.

A look of utter shock crossed Diya’s face, her eyes widening. Her immediate instinct was to step in and guide Uhtred so the attempt wouldn’t go haywire.

However, just as she opened her mouth to speak, she stopped herself. Looking at Uhtred, she realized there was no need to intervene... This time, he wasn’t going to fail.

His eyes were distant yet sharp with focus. He seemed to be thinking, yet entirely unburdened by thought at the same time. This was the exact mental state she had been attempting to describe to him all day.

Right now, Uhtred was no longer forcing the cells to do his bidding; he wasn’t interrogating them or trying to unravel their exact mechanics. Instead, he was simply guiding them.

And right before Diya’s eyes, slowly — even slower than when she had first begun using her healing magic as a Level 1 Healer Mage — the wound on the rat’s leg began to close up.

Finally, the laceration scabbed over completely. It wasn’t a pristine restoration like the one Diya could perform, but the result was clear and undeniable...

”Congratulations, Uhtred,” Diya said softly. ”You’ve successfully healed a living organism.”

”Ah. Thanks,” Uhtred replied in a quiet tone, far less boisterous than he had assumed he would be after trying all day.

Instead, he felt oddly centered.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on him. Right now, he could sense a subtle, familiar type of essence coursing through his body.

Esoteric magic...

In that moment, Uhtred recognized several distinct facts. The first was that healing magic undeniably carried traces of Esoteric magic. In fact, it likely relied heavily on it.

Diya had mentioned earlier that an ”extra” something separated her from far superior medical minds who ought to have received higher grade classes than hers. Yet that missing thing had allowed her to gain an Epic Grade version of the Healer Mage class instead.

Uhtred now understood that this missing thing was directly tied to Esoteric magic. Yet, Diya’s class didn’t function like the standard Esoteric magics Uhtred had previously encountered.

Esoteric Magic exists on a spectrum, Uhtred realized. In fact, all magic exists on a spectrum. There is no such thing as ”pure” Elemental magic, or ”pure” Esoteric magic, or ”pure” Fundamental laws. They all exist along a sliding scale, leaning closer to one side depending on the ascender’s class...