In this world, there existed a group of aura users who had far superseded the norms of the ordinary.
The individuals were exceptional beings not just in combat but in the complete mastery of intent.
Intent was the norm, but it wasn’t the apex of power.
For aura users, there existed two more:
A concept, the evolved form of an intent, and a domain, one’s concept’s influence on the larger world.
What separated a saint from Ascent was the very fact that they had a concept.
So what would happen when a man lacking a concept suddenly attained the level of power of a saint?
Well, the answer was simple.
The world adapted and forcefully imposed one onto them.
[Absolute Power.]
This was the concept engraved into Art’s aura after he was temporarily boosted.
For his intent, it generated aura and allowed him to manipulate it as he saw fit, but with his concept, he didn’t just generate, he literally created it.
He had shattered the world’s rules and forcefully transmuted everything around him into aura.
If the universe was ever-expanding, then so too was his aura.
His presence, as ever-composing as the sun, radiated through the city. No one was spared from his sight, and so began his first counterasures.
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"A call!"
On the far side of Academia City, a silver-haired man in a suit whispered. His slitted golden eyes drew to the radiance of gold crawling up the dark skies.
"Gold, the color of treasures. How can I resist that?"
He took a single step, and space and ti stretched as he appeared above the city, watching the golden light clearly.
"Hehe!"
With a smirk, his body was shrouded in a radiance of his own as he darted toward the calling, leaving behind a streak of silver light.
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"Elder sister, he is calling for us."
On the rooftop of a large training institute, a man in silver robes muttered, his long black hair billowing against the winds.
His eyes, blue and sharp, gazed at the glowing star thousands of miles from him.
Beside him was a woman in pure white robes and dark hair. Her eyes, in contrast to the man’s, were cold, like a frozen ocean.
"What if this is a trap?"
"Then I will take responsibility." The man responded, taking out a sword from his storage ring and tossing it into the sky.
It ca to a halt, hovering inches above his head.
"Go then!"
The woman said nothing more and left.
The man, giving a respectful bow, leaped onto his sword, then with masterful balance flew toward the light.
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In the Southern district of the city, a brown-haired woman had her eyes glued onto the sight happening behind her window.
There in the horizon glowed an enormous pillar of golden light.
The sight left the other mages behind her in awe. As for her, she was curious, so pressing her finger through the glass window, her body soon followed as she phrased through it and hovered outside, stretching her palms forward.
Her eyes, a light orange, flickered slightly as she whispered a faint chant.
A magic circle ford before her, and she placed her hand within to retrieve a wand made of the branches of Yggdrasil, the world tree.
With a casual wave, the tip of her wand tore through space and opened a large cut before her.
She stepped in afterwards, accepting the calling of the golden light.
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The Spear Saint’s hair glistened with sweat as he jogged up the apex of the mountain.
Coming to a stop at its edge, he let out a soft sigh, breathing out mist.
The climb itself wasn’t exhausting for him—he could repeat it a thousand tis before he felt even a trace of exhaustion. Hence what made him sigh wasn’t tiredness but the familiar premise lingering in the horizon.
"Another Saint!" He muttered, prying into the horizon to observe the rising pillar.
"Temporarily, but a saint nevertheless!"
The Sword Saint’s voice hung in the air, her figure having long materialized beside him before he had even noticed.
"The presence... it’s from Legacy."
Having pinpointed the location of the new Saint, the Spear Saint’s blood ran cold.
The imagery of the girl he had spent ti with not even a month ago flashed in his mind, causing his fingers to tremble slightly.
That girl was like family to him, and for a Saint to have manifested at her academy ant only one thing.
"They’re in danger!"
As he concluded, he attempted to aid, but Anastasia grabbed a hold of him, pulling him back.
"You..."
Confusion gripped his heart at her sudden antics, but Anastasia didn’t do anything without reason, so he didn’t resist and just awaited her explanation.
"I told you I t a strange boy in those halls."
"Yes, what about him?"
A boy with the qualifications to be a Hero—Anastasia had already inford him. But what did it have to do with this? That was his confusion.
"Before I left, he told I should prevent the expedition into the rift."
"That which you did!" The Spear Saint comnted.
He had never really been in agreent with the commission and association trying to pry too much into the rift.
The danger that scar of the world held was sothing only those who stood at the peak of this world would understand.
The association and commission, while powerful in their own right, just didn’t et the qualifications. Hence he had been in support of Anastasia’s sudden change of plans.
Of course, it had now bred animosity between them and the commission and its allies, but it had also preserved their lives.
"Gray, what if this is a trap... a misdirection?"
"That could be possible." The Spear Saint responded, heartbroken at her conclusion.
If her statent had even a possibility of being true, it ant they couldn’t aid the academy.
He couldn’t aid that girl... he couldn’t aid the closest thing he would ever have as a daughter.
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