MAGUS INFINITE

The Caelith was a Celestial Structure that defied meaning, and who knew how long before I would be able to understand it, but fundamentally it was still stone, and my shell should have given me the power to channel stone as if I was breathing, but because it was not fully stated on my Status Screen; I was just so occupied with so many things, it would not have surprised me if I had taken a much longer time to figure out that this was happening.

I was incredibly excited, but I did not immediately test this hypothesis; I was not being attacked or in a rush; I could take the time and focus on my thoughts before I made any move.

It was my haste that placed me in this situation, and if I had taken the time to analyse my actions properly before I took that step inside the Caelith I controlled, then I would have realized that I was walking into a trap.

The higher I climbed, the more I had to ensure my steps were steady because the dangers and mysteries I was coming across could no longer be easily brushed aside, and there were things that not even the loop could save me from; in which case, being more careful was not just the right choice, it was the crucial one.

Just because I had a great idea did not mean I had to immediately implement it. With this warning in mind, I sat in meditation until the day rolled past.

Meditation: 95 → 96 (Arcanist)

Observation: 116 → 118 (Arcanist)

Concentration: 109 → 110 (Arcanist)

My skills were growing, and this was what soothed my soul in the moments I remained in silence and in my thoughts.

∞

The eighth day came, and I opened my eyes to darkness, and for a moment I just stared into the nothing all around me, and I pushed against the instincts to dwell on this, and focused on my mission and the objectives I had set for myself.

I stood up and shook myself like a wet dog, laughing a bit at the imagery in my head. Then I took the stance that connected me with the earth.

The first time I took this stance, my body was controlled by the Hollow Avatar, and it was for the purpose of combat, but even then my soul knew that there was something strange and special about this seemingly simple set of movements.

My feet spread open, balanced in a way as if I was expecting the earth below me to rock like a boat on a raging ocean, and my right hand at my side, while my left hand came up, palm open as if I was trying to catch the air in my grip.

Usually at this point I would have felt an immediate connection to the ground I was standing on, but here, I felt my channels reach for the earth below me, and they touched... nothing.

I did not despair; I remained in this same position, and I closed my eyes, exploring the sensation of my soul reaching into the ground, and this went on for four hours. The only consolation I had during that time was the fact that my Earth Resonance was growing, and this told me that my efforts were not being wasted.

My senses were telling me that nothing was here, but my growing resonance was telling me something else.

Earth Resonance: 49 → 55 (Acolyte)

In four hours, my Earth Resonance was reaching towards the peak of the Acolyte level, and I remembered when growth like this would have been bought with multiple deaths. Still, growth like this was not normal, and I could only attribute it to my impossible channels, my near celestial soul, and this strange place in which I found myself.

In the sixth hour, my Earth Resonance reached 56, and I became determined to see if there would be any changes if it crossed into the Adept level. Eight more hours passed by, and Earth Resonance finally reached the peak of the Acolyte Tier at 59, meaning that I spent fourteen hours pushing this Resonance all the way from 49 to 59.

I did not take time to celebrate since I knew that this was just the easy part, and I focused deeply on trying to understand what I was standing upon. Why would my Earth Resonance be growing when it could not even feel the earth beneath me?

It was rather frustrating to be constantly reaching out into nothingness and grabbing nothing over and over again, but I tried to always look at the bright side; at least this posture did not drain my endurance, nor did it hurt- that would have sucked.

The next ten hours passed like this, and the eighth day went by, and I entered the ninth, and still yet my Resonance did not budge. The leap across tiers had always been difficult, particularly for me, who had no spells related to the earth and never studied this branch of magic before.

As far as I could tell, every resonance I was gaining outside lightning was just being brute-forced into existence, and I was not one for looking the gift horse in the mouth.

The ninth day came and went, and the tenth day, the eleventh... thirteenth, and on the eve of the fourteenth day, I heard a click in my soul that I felt from the crown of my head to the sole of my feet, and something about my channels steadied and for a moment, I felt an itch on my shoulder blades that vanished a second later.

Earth Resonance: 59 → 60 (Acolyte →Adept) — Rare

I tried not to allow my excitement to cloud my thinking as I focused on the sensation of having my Resonance touch the Adept level, and then I felt it... the ground beneath my feet.

It was as if my hands had become frozen and I was trying to claw at ice that I could not break. I struggled to reach for the ground with my channels, but I could feel it!

∞

It took me another week to be able to isolate a patch of earth about the size of a dinner plate.

At the beginning, I was trying to seize too much ground, but days of failure caused me to reassess my strength, and I began to reduce the spread of my senses until I could reach this point.

Earth Resonance: 60 → 64 (Acolyte →Adept) — Rare

Every point I gained here made the struggles a bit easier, and in the end, out of an infinite plain, I was only able to hold a circle of black stone the size of my palm... and I had never felt so great.

There was something about growth outside the flow of combat that I felt was more natural to my state of mind, and despite being locked inside a realm of darkness, I could not deny how good it felt to see myself do something that was impossible for me a moment before.

I did not move for a while since I was afraid of losing it. Then I asked it, without any words, to rise.