Heir Of Chaos

Dale was only familiar with the three ranks. Dormant, Awakened, and Ascended. Those were the three he was familiar with and the ones he had seen.

Aside from Sera — whose encounter ended rather unfortunately — he was sure that General Todd and Lord Byron were Ascended as well.

Those, alongside Ascended beasts, were the epitome of power he had observed and lived to tell the tale.

’So why does the author seem to believe that there are four ranks?’ Dale raised an eyebrow as he turned to the next page.

To him, the only other ’rank’, if it could be called that, was mundane. Mundane people were those who hadn’t awakened an ability.

The next page read:

[The first rank is Dormant. This is the very beginning of any new ability user. Here, they are still fresh to the AIDE and only have a rudimentary knowledge of their ability

The first ability skills are seen at this point. Some only have one while others have more.]

Dale nodded. He was among the latter, having acquired two ability skills the moment he gained his ability.

"So far, this book seems factual and reasonable." The more Dale read, the less likely he was to doubt it.

"So why hadn’t I heard about a fourth rank?" Perhaps there wasn’t and the author was a little crazy. Not that Dale was exactly a perfect model to be used to describe sanity.

[Dormant people are not so different from their mundane counterparts. In fact, this is the closest similarity between two different classes of humans.

The physical traits: strength, endurance, tolerance, and muscle mass face an indescribable boost once Dormant, though the degree is subject to scrutiny and the nature of ability skills.]

Dale nodded, reading on.

[Once a Dormant uses their intelligence to deeply understand their power — the very description of their own ability skill — they Awaken.

This Awakening is vastly different from the awakening one undergoes when they enter an awakening pool. While the latter hands you the key, the former is you using that key to unlock a greater power from within.

During your Awakening, all your physical traits are severely boosted. Your body starts to feed less on food and more on the energy within your body; this boosts your resilience to lack of food, water, and vitamins.]

Dale’s eyes widened and he leaned closer to the book. According to what the author was saying, the secret of Awakening was in fact understanding one’s ability to the point of triggering it.

"But it can’t be that simple." He could tell that whoever wrote it tried to be as vague as possible to reduce the chances of ruining someone’s potential.

But Dale was different from the average reader. He had witnessed someone’s awakening and had an idea of what he had done to achieve that.

Naturally, the person was Austin.

When his energetic friend had Awakened, what he had done was to try to sustain his [Kinetic Thrust] skill.

Granted, Dale didn’t know the exact train of thought his friend had during that daring attempt — he certainly wouldn’t tell him even if he asked.

But still, he knew enough to make an informed guess. It was like tapping a button and each time you tapped it, your hand was thrown off.

Austin must have tried to keep his finger on that button, eventually succeeding and triggering his Awakening.

This wasn’t enough to tell him anything but at least it reaffirmed the thesis presented by the book.

Dale turned away from the book and placed his hand on the table. He used Energy Pulse on it.

Naturally, since it wasn’t a system that could be affected, nothing happened. It wasn’t like that was his goal.

"Come on, work." He used another Energy Pulse and another. While doing this, he focused on the feeling of the Energy Pulse leaving his body.

He was hoping to hold it.

After repeated attempts — and failures — he was exhausted and frustrated.

’So much for Awakening.’ Dale sighed and continued reading.

[Awakened are blessed with a greater understanding of their ability skills yet it isn’t enough.

When an Awakened blurs the line between themselves and their ability, they Ascend.]

Somehow, the description of Ascension was extremely vague. It didn’t carry any details about the matter.

Perhaps it was for the best. Dale could imagine that it required something far more profound than just understanding one’s ability.

According to the author, you had to ’blur the line’ between yourself and your ability.

Dale placed his hand under his chin. "Isn’t that what Trevor had done?" He still vividly remembered Trevor giving himself an Ascended adjective.

His power skyrocketed but it wasn’t permanent. Now that he thought about it and referenced it to what the book was saying, Trevor being an Ascended was merely because of his ability.

It felt strange looking at it through that lens but it was true. There was no difference between him, as an Ascended, and his ability. For as long as he had his ability, he would be an Ascended.

But according to Trevor, there was a wall preventing him from fully ascending. Perhaps he still lacked some understanding of his own ability.

Dale smacked himself on the head. ’Here I am analyzing every other ability except my own.’

It couldn’t be helped though and perhaps he’d get some insight on his own.

He sighed and continued reading.

[Upon Ascension, the AIDE vanishes for most. While it is unclear why, the next rank proposes an idea why that occurs.

Ascended rely even less on food. They can go weeks without material sustenance and as such are the perfect workers.

Unfortunately, Ascension is a double-edged sword. While one’s power increases tenfold, they begin to lose their humanity and their emotions dull.]

This certainly explained Trevor’s increasingly cold demeanor during the battle against the Ascended Centipede.

[Ascended beasts are similar to humans in that sense. They don’t feel much care, even familial, for the beasts of their previous pack.

At a moment’s notice, they will feast on them.]

Dale ignored that part, increasing his pace to find a particular piece of text. He soon found it.

[Then the last, Transcendence.]