novelraw Chapter 436: First Floor of Ascension Tower—5
Chapter 436: First Floor of Ascension Tower—5
Leon stood ready for the fourth trial, his body still radiating power. He hadn’t even deactivated his Mana Body Enhancement at all—maintaining it cost him virtually nothing with his recovery rate.
Let’s see what comes next.
FLASH! MATERIALIZE!
A massive, hulking figure appeared in front of him in the center of the arena.
It was an orc—an absolutely jacked orc standing at least three meters tall, wearing gleaming silver armor that covered its muscular frame. A giant war hammer rested casually on its broad shoulders.
But unlike the goblins before, this creature floated effortlessly in the air several meters above the ground, looking down on Leon from its elevated position with clear superiority.
Its eyes burned with lethal intent.
ROAR!
The orc released a deafening battle cry that shook the very air itself.
Leon had already checked its information the instant it appeared:
[Trial Orc - Sage Rank]
Sage Rank. So the difficulty is scaling into the next cultivation tier entirely.
But Leon knew immediately it wasn’t a normal baseline Sage rank fighter. There was quite a significant difference within Sage rank cultivation stages—early, mid, late, and peak periods each represented substantial power gaps.
Through his combat instincts and enhanced perception, Leon could feel its power level hovering around mid-period Sage rank by Pyrrhan standards—which he’d become familiar with through Ira and Archon Vyrra’s people.
However, since he hadn’t personally met human race Sage rank cultivators in the outside world yet, he estimated this orc would likely represent peak power for normal human Sages based on what he knew about racial differences.
Humans are generally weaker physically than other races at the same rank.
Leon could feel and assess power through his instincts, but it was more accurate to say one of his numerous mastered skills was primarily responsible—Mana Sight.
This ability lets him perceive mana flow patterns within bodies and assess mana density with remarkable precision.
He had quite a large number of skills he’d mastered over his intense training periods that he hadn’t utilized much in actual combat situations yet. Usually, he relied on heavyweight techniques or higher-rank skills to finish battles quickly and efficiently.
But Mana Sight is one I’ve started using quite often recently. It’s invaluable for assessment.
Now he’d made the decision to start integrating more of his diverse skill arsenal into his combat style as well. Most of them had reached proficiency levels around 90 or higher, approaching maximum mastery, because of his absolutely brutal training schedule.
They’re ready to be used properly. Time to test them in real combat.
This orc was no different in terms of being outmatched. However, Leon did notice that the strength disparity from the previous third-layer trial to this fourth layer wasn’t as dramatically overwhelming as before.
Maybe around seven to eight times stronger. Not the hundred-fold overkill jump like earlier layers.
But then—
SURGE!
The floating orc unleashed its own Transcendent Rank Mana Body Enhancement, which Leon felt immediately through his heightened senses.
The pressure equalized somewhat.
Ah. So now I’ve lost the natural suppression advantage my enhancement provided.
Under cultivation rank standards, this wasn’t just surface-level anymore. These higher-level challenges were genuinely getting progressively harder and more dangerous.
The massive war hammer in the giant orc’s hand began crackling intensely with bright blue lightning, clearly emanating Level 3 Thunder Aura that sparked and jumped across its surface.
Level 3 aura. Legitimate master-level technique.
But Leon’s face remained completely unmoved and calm. It was genuinely impressive—even he had to acknowledge that level of weapon mastery combined with Sage rank cultivation.
But that was all it warranted. Acknowledgment, nothing more.
Still not a threat.
Leon’s eyes locked onto the fierce orc hovering above him with killing intent radiating from its gaze.
Then his figure disappeared completely from its original position.
VANISH!
Where he had been standing, only a swirling spatial distortion remained—warping the air like heat waves.
His figure arrived directly behind the orc almost instantaneously.
The creature reacted quickly—its combat instincts were sharp, honed by whatever trial programming created it.
But it completely failed to counter Leon’s attack.
Leon was simply far too fast. The combination of his Primordial Might passive ability—which made his physical prowess simply outrageous compared to others at the same rank—along with his active Mana Body Enhancement created speed that blurred the line between movement and teleportation.
His blade carried a distinctive black sheen as it sliced cleanly through the thick neck of the orc, like cutting through soft butter.
It was Spatial Aura combined with Spatial Slash—one of the most lethal cutting techniques possible.
SLICE!
The orc’s head separated from its body before it even registered that the attack had occurred.
However, when Leon had teleported, it wasn’t his normal spatial teleportation achieved through his Rank 7 Space Element mastery and control.
Instead, he’d used Void Step—one of the many skills in his extensive arsenal that had reached Level 94 proficiency.
The range already exceeds my standard teleportation capability significantly. At the same time, it’s marginally faster—the difference measured in milliseconds.
In casual situations, that tiny speed difference meant nothing.
But in actual high-level combat between experts, milliseconds were often the deciding factor between victory and death.
Not only that, but the spatial distortion left behind...
Leon could only imagine how incredibly infuriating it would be for an opponent if the fight lasted any significant duration. Those distortions could disrupt enemy movement, deflect attacks, create hazards—the tactical applications were extensive.
However, Leon had also detected something unusual as he’d decapitated the monster.
In between its muscular body tissues, he’d glimpsed a faint green sheen that he was far too familiar with not to recognize immediately.
Life element. That’s definitely life element energy.
Life element was an extremely rare elemental affinity—beyond rare, actually approaching legendary scarcity.
Beyond Loriel and himself, he hadn’t seen anyone else capable of using it anywhere in his home world. Even in the Pyrrhan realm with its millions of inhabitants in the lower domain, none possessed it.
Not in the middle domain either, from what he’d heard. Loriel would have certainly mentioned it to him if life element users existed there, given her position as the future Saintess of Life in the higher domain.