MAGUS INFINITE

Something was wrong; this was not how it was supposed to happen. I knew that I needed more essence to push open the gate, but that meant I had to push, and no time did the gate ever crack with the weight of the essence I accumulated.

I did not think that the essence of the Thul was different from the other demons that I had killed; perhaps it had more volume, but every other thing was the same, and so therefore, the only thing that could have changed was my location... I was outside my world, and somehow, the Earth Gates here were easier to break down.

These thoughts barely flashed through my head before I could no longer think anymore, as I screamed in pain, and at this point, it took a lot for me to scream.

The sensation was unlike anything I had experienced before. The first four gates had been thresholds I crossed, doors I pushed open with effort and will. This was different.

It was as if the entirety of the void was pressing against my soul, and this caused the gate to fracture, and there was a loud, impossible scream inside my soul as the fifth earth gate collapsed and my consciousness was swept deep into the gate, carried along by the demonic essence I had harvested over the loops.

When I had opened the Fourth Earth Gate, I had been able to push a bit into this mysterious space before I was pushed out by a flood of Celestial Essence, and my perception was burnt to ash, however, this time was different as there was a force that was here with me that I could not touch that was pushing me deeper into this place, and for a moment it was as if my perception was crossing an impossible distance that was so great that I was traveling across time as well.

I could barely glimpse the path I was being pushed towards, but then I sensed that I had entered a massive space, and despite the speed being exerted on my consciousness, I had a feeling that I could spend a thousand years, my entire lifespan as an Arcanist, and I would not be able to cross a fraction of the distance in this place.

Still, it was then that I saw what nearly broke my mind. It was a winged figure that reminded me a bit of the Jade Oracle, but this was clearly a man, and this man seemed to be made out of a billion stars. I thought I was looking at a vast constellation of stars, but then the man began to move, his massive head slowly turning towards the distance, and I was grateful that this figure did not turn towards me because I don’t believe my mind and soul could ever withstand the weight of their attention, as I was reminded of the eyes of the Thul.

The demonic essence that carried my perception alone suddenly vanished, and one of the stars on his body winked out. I don’t know how I could find that star among the infinite multitude that made up its body, but I knew that this star was innately connected to me... that I had earned it.

As this star winked out, a flood of Celestial Essence rushed towards me, shattering my perception to ash, but in that moment, I wondered if this gigantic winged being was the one who left messages for me every time I opened an Earth Gate.

Then the world came crashing into me.

[Fifth Earth Gate — Open]

[Bonus: +50 Anima Depth +100 Endurance + 5 Unattuned Law Fragments ]

[ Ascendant Earth Gate — upgraded ]

[ Sixth Earth Gate — Unlock Requirement — Stored Essence: 2,000,000 ]

—I have opened the way, and I have poured the sea into your heart. Now stand, and let the sky know your name.

∞

Before I opened the fifth earth gate, I had begun to expect drastic changes in my abilities. Looking back at my growth, disregarding the opportunities given by the loop to refine my abilities and spells, the greatest reason why I was an Arcanist at the moment was due to the Anima I had gained after opening an Earth Gate.

Every Earth Gate had pushed my power base to ridiculous heights, and I could see myself easily struggling to reach the Adept Level at this point instead of being an Arcanist.

From the rapid fusion and compression of my Anima that gave rise to me reaching liquid and then a crystallization state of the soul, to the impossible Celestial Vitality it gave me through Endurance, I was here at this moment due to the bonus I gained from killing demons.

For a while now I had been stuck at the peak of Arcanist in many of my skills and spells... There was a barrier that was holding me back from reaching the Sovereign Tier, and I had rightly diagnosed this barrier as the barrier of knowledge.

I had grown too fast, and there were many things I was missing to become a proper mage, and without gaining this knowledge, I may never be able to touch the highest realm in the world and set about making changes... However, I also knew that my case was different.

Looking back at all the advancements that I made, from the way my gaseous Anima was fused till it became crystalline, all of those changes would require a massive amount of knowledge and study to accomplish, but my path forward was forged by much stricter teachers.

It was as if the world itself was the one forging my path, as I made advancement in a way that I suspected only the first magus to walk this world would have done.

And so, even though I had decided that I would be using my second Temporal Location to learn about the laws of lightning, I also had the hope that opening more Earth Gates would be the primer to break the barrier that had been holding my skills at the peak of Arcanist, most especially Endurance.

With all the boost I had been obtaining, Endurance was my first skill to reach the peak of the Arcanist level, and it had been pushing against that barrier for a long time.

With the notification from the fifth earth gate, I knew that everything was about to change, and I braced myself for whatever transformation was to come... I was not ready for it.