With every Engraving Tile Andar unlocked, the more the Endless Vault merged with his body and the deeper his connection with the phantasm of this beast became, and in those rare moments when Andar fell asleep in exhaustion he dreamt of himself soaring over the clouds and exiting his world, his ascent triggering multiple earthquakes leading to the destruction of the planet…
He dreamt of spreading wings of shadows and flesh that were countless miles long and surrounding a massive blue star that was as large as a galaxy with those spectral wings, just as millions of tentacles burst out from his back and he began to feed, his shrieks of joy echoing all around the cosmos with such a great force that planets and stars in the distance were shattered to pieces.
He would wake with his back itching and a dreadful hunger that would only be sated after he ate hundreds of kilograms of high-energy meals which were enough to feed ten thousand mortals. He was lucky that he could eat as much as he could while in the Body Farm, or else his feeding expenses would break his wallet.
Andar's body was special, and with 396 Engraving tiles unlocked he had 198 white tiles and 198 black tiles. No matter how much he tried, his Acolyte body had truly reached its limits and he could not fit in any more power, he needed to Ascend to become a Mage to continue Ascending up the Endless Vault.
The Nyre Flower was his best and most convenient way to complete this transformation as quickly as possible. Andar had begun feeling more restless, it was as if his instinct was reminding him that a great storm was on its way, and he should be ready, or he would be swept aside like dust.
With the amount of power that Andar had accumulated in his flesh, if he were to transform normally without the vitality granted by this flower, then it was possible that he might have to spend many centuries to complete this conversion even with a high influx of material and treasures containing all the vitality he could absorb daily.
This progress in his Meditation Art was not only because of his prodigious talent it was also due to a great reason; Andar with the assistance of his Archmage teacher, had become a Master in all fields of the Magus World!
To progress further up the Endless Vault, Andar did not only need to become a Master in Inscription, but also in Alchemy, Weapon Refinement, Talisman, Spiritual Plant, Formations, and Puppet Creation.
This achievement was so terrifying it was collectively agreed that Andar would be taking his Mithril Rank test only after he became a Mage because for an Acolyte to become a master of a single field of study was unheard of, but to become one in all the seven fields as well was earth-shaking, not even mentioning the time it took for him to do so.
Andar represented change, but it was one where the Archmages were scared to figure out its final conclusion, as they all wondered, in the entire history of the Magus World, who else had similar achievement to this youth?
There were six Great Towers in the Supreme World of Mages, each of them holding the foremost technique in each field of sturdy.
For the Black Tower, its paramount Aspect was Talisman Crafting, except for Alchemy which was under the domain of the Alchemist Union, an independent body, every Great Tower held an unshakable position as Grandmasters of their specific fields.
Andar's presence was set to destabilize that dynamic.
The platform below him vibrated as it finally reached the bottom of the Underverse, this place was just an endless field of bones.
And returned his consciousness to his body, but he left a parting word to the Light Devourer, "I call you my friend, but you have done nothing but cause me pain… the pain of bearing your weight is great, but I shall persevere and grow stronger, and one day, even your great weight shall no longer be enough for me, and I shall seek more."
Andar opened his eyes and stepped off the platform, he was followed only by Zaros, although he was proud, he knew that he was no match for Andar and he followed behind him.
Andar began walking, his feet not touching the ground but supported by a moving platform of air, keeping him above the countless rotting bones here.
A few thousand feet ahead was his target, the Nyre Flower,
"You don't need to be behind me, Zaros, you can go ahead and fight for your opportunities. My target is the Crown."
Zaros frowned before saying, "There is more than one Crown, I can fight for another one."
Andar shook his head, "I will advise you against that option Zaros, I will require all of them for my Ascension, you should go for the pistils nearer to the top, for I will not be holding back, I am warning you because you are a member of my Black Tower."
Zaros snorted, "Nobody needs that much vitality to become a Mage, don't tell me you are a Dreadbeast instead of a human."
With that last dig, he hurried past Andar, carried by a column of air conjured by his boots.
Andar nearly laughed aloud, even the Archmaged felt he needed just one Crown, but only he understood how deep his foundation was, even if they became suspicious during the Ascension, they all knew he had a special physique and would chalk up the changes to be related to his constitution, not his Meditation Art.
The truth was that Andar would not be upgrading his flesh while he was here, only his Spirit Matrix; he doubted if the Nyre Flower had enough vitality to do that. If he became a Mage, his abilities would evolve further and he should be able to reach places where he could claim the resources he needed to truly upgrade his flesh to equal to his Spirit Matrix.
The twenty-six platforms that surrounded the Nyre Flower released their 485 participants for this treasure hunt. Most of them were Rank 3, with a small number of Rank 1 and 2 Mages, most of whom came here for the experience and hoped to be lucky to collect a small piece of the Nyre Flower.
This was the first time Andar was seeing the Mages of the other Great Towers and from the Alchemist Union, and any other time he would have made conversation and tried to understand how their Great Tower operated but not now… Andar was in too much pain, and he could no longer hide it any longer.