Endless Ascension
Episode 3 – The Climb Begins
The sand is still wet with the blood of vampires, werewolves, and assassins when the gates seal shut behind the corpses.
The crowd stays quiet. Not out of respect — there's no such thing here — but out of calculation. They're all wondering the same thing:
How fast will he climb?
⸻
The System's Whisper
The familiar, cold voice echoes in my head.
[Level: 26]
[Next Gate Opens in 30 Seconds]
[Rule Reminder: Level Gain Per Fight – 5 Maximum]
It's a strange rule — one I didn't set. No matter how strong the enemy, no matter how many I kill, I will only gain 5 levels per fight. But limits are illusions. I don't care how small the steps are. I'll take them until the staircase ends — or until I burn it down.
Gate One – The Desert Stalkers
The first gate slides open, heat spilling in like a furnace blast. A world of endless dunes lies beyond.
They come crawling out — Desert Stalkers. Insectoid hunters the size of horses, with chitin armor and jaws that could bite through tank plating. Six of them scuttle forward, eyes glowing faint orange.
The first leaps — I fling a star mid-air. The rune flares, and the blade slices its head clean off. I catch the returning arc, slam it into another's thorax, and ignite. Its body bursts into smoking pieces.
Two more close from either side — I crouch, spin low, both stars carving their legs off in a spray of green ichor. The last tries to flee into the sand — I throw both stars in a crisscross pattern, bisecting it mid-tunnel.
The fight lasts less than ten seconds.
[Level Up] → 26 → 31]
*[Weapon Upgrade] → Tier 5 Visual Mod — Chained Recall: Stars can return to me even after multi-target throws.]
Gate Two – The Blackwater Sirens
Water floods in from the next gate, a rushing tide carrying Blackwater Sirens — humanoid predators with pitch-black skin and teeth like needle clusters.
They sing as they swim, the sound clawing at my mind, trying to drag me under in a hypnotic haze. It might work on someone else. Not me.
I leap from floating debris, stars spinning in my hands. I hurl one at the lead siren — it embeds in her chest and detonates, staining the water crimson. I use the returning path of the star as a step, vaulting over another's grasp, and split his skull with the other blade.
When the last siren surfaces, I'm already on her, pressing the star to her throat before igniting it. The water around us boils from the blast.
[Level Up] → 31 → 36]
*[Skill Unlocked] → Aqua Pierce: Stars retain throwing speed underwater with no drag.]
Gate Three – The Molten Guard
The third gate opens to a wall of heat. A towering Molten Guard stomps into the arena, its entire body made of rock and lava.
This one is big — big enough to crush me with a single hit if it lands.
He swings a molten hammer the size of a car. I dash in, ducking under it, and slam a star into his knee joint. It sinks deep, glowing brighter until the rune's detonation blows the limb apart.
The giant roars, stumbling, swinging again. This time, I leap onto the hammer, run along it, and drive both stars into his chest. The runes flare white-hot, and the explosion shatters him into a thousand burning fragments.
[Level Up] → 36 → 41]
*[Weapon Upgrade] → Tier 6 Visual Mod — Lava Etch: Edges glow with molten patterns, burning targets on contact.]
The Observation
By the time the third corpse falls, I can feel it — the ripple spreading. My kills aren't just raising my level; they're drawing attention from places far beyond this arena.
I catch movement high in the stands. Figures cloaked in gold and shadow, faces hidden. They're not here for entertainment. They're here to judge.
And they're not the only ones.
⸻
Gate Four – The Voidspawn
The final gate of the round opens, spilling out Voidspawn — creatures made of liquid darkness, their shapes constantly shifting between claws, blades, and teeth.
They don't roar. They just move.
One lashes out — I slice its arm clean off, only for it to regrow instantly. I realize quickly: they can't be killed by normal strikes.
So I change the rules.
I leap high, hurl both stars into two Voidspawn at once, let the runes cling deep with Rune Bind, then ignite both simultaneously. The double explosion rips holes in their bodies too wide to heal.
The remaining two swarm together, forming a single massive creature. I dash straight into its chest, stabbing both stars deep and chaining detonation after detonation until the thing collapses into nothing but black mist.
[Level Up] → 41 → 46]
*[Skill Unlocked] → Shadow Rend: Stars deal double damage to dark-based enemies.]
The Pause Before the Storm
The gates seal. The arena floor is a battlefield of burning corpses, boiling water, shattered stone, and fading shadows.
The crowd doesn't cheer.
The cloaked watchers don't move.
And somewhere deep in the arena's walls… something stirs.
I roll my stars in my hands, feeling the new heat in their edges, the way the runes now shift like molten rivers.
[Level: 46]
Four fights. Twenty levels gained. The climb is steady. The hunger is growing.
I look up into the stands, locking eyes with the shadowed figures.
"Send me more."
Because until I hit the point where even gods bleed… I'm not slowing down.