Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100

"Devour." The word left Max’s mind like a silent whisper carried on a midnight wind, even as his eyes glowed faintly under the crimson haze still hanging low over the battlefield.

All around him, the black flames Karl had unleashed continued to ripple across the Second Circle like an endless tide of oily ink, casting shifting shadows that danced and twisted over pools of void blood and mangled corpses. It was the perfect cover, and Max intended to exploit it fully.

Without moving a muscle, he called forth the abyssal pull of his Devour ability. From every fallen Ascendant strewn across the battlefield, an invisible tide of essence began to flow, as if some unseen vortex were sucking the very life remnants from their monstrous corpses.

Black ichor evaporated into writhing wisps of void energy that curled and twisted through the air, funneling into Max’s body like rivers drawn to the sea. The corpses shivered and cracked as dark flames began to consume them, until one after another collapsed into piles of fine grey ash, leaving nothing but scorched scars upon the churned earth.

Yet even as he felt power surging into his veins like liquid lightning, Max’s golden eyes flickered with restraint. He clenched his fists at his sides, suppressing the tidal wave of energy trying to expand outward and shatter the limits of his cultivation.

He could feel the edges of a breakthrough clawing at him, begging to erupt and elevate his cultivation even higher. His draconic scales shimmered as raw power coiled beneath them, barely held in check.

But he knew the battlefield was still too crowded with prying eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to level up. It was just that if he leveled up it would too shocking to others. He had already leveled up three times before causing others to suspect that he was suppressing his strength.

So he kept the flood contained, locking it behind walls of sheer willpower. He’d wait for solitude, somewhere far from these countless eyes, and only then would he drop his suppression and allow his power to blossom again. If his calculations were right, he’d likely jump another level or two once he unleashed the energy he was holding back.

Following the slaughter of all the Ascendants, a strange quiet fell over the Second Circle battlefield. The roaring tide of combat ebbed away into muffled grunts and distant clashing.