Beatitudes

Episode 105.

The entirety of the invisible energy storm that had enveloped my body had now finally been assimilated into my body. At this point, I could swear that I felt something, something like a shackle or chains, I felt a weird sensation as if they were cracking. Basically the whole thing felt like I had been bundled up all along by chains or shackles I didn’t even know existed, it was only now that they happened to c***k open as they shattered and thus filled me with a sense of liberation.

It felt like I was more free than I had ever been, like I had entered a new stage of life and strength entirely. It was a subtle feeling that only got more assured when I felt a clear change in my strength, the power that my body contained. Although I won’t go out of the way and say it was an enormous difference compared to how I was just moments ago, the difference I felt was clear. That bottleneck of sorts that I had been feeling for a good while, since before we had even started to challenge the trial of this particular mountain, was now a thing of the past. The feeling of fullness that my body felt was no more as I felt much more space compared to before.

Perhaps this was the largest change that had happened to me. But I knew I was now even stronger. I even had the feeling that I could challenge the wolf all by myself and still win… actually perhaps I should take back that line, I might have gotten too immersed in my current mood and happened to exaggerate a little bit. That wolf was not a normal entity, at least it wasn’t one meant to be on this level.

I looked all over myself to figure how much I really did change, when I immersed myself in the feeling, I could my insides changing, instinctually, they felt like they were growing towards perfection. So looking all over my body from the outside I tried to spot the difference.

But before I could properly do that, a burst of light caught my eyes, and I paused my actions to look forward. It was a screen of light that had appeared before me, one I was even more familiar with than the blood red screen of light for the mountain trial. It was the screen of light that usually displayed my status screen. At this point, it began to lighten in shade as it seemingly turned to a white color. Black lines of words began to appear on the now white screen of light as they brought new words for me to read through.

But right as I was about to focus my sight and read through what was before me, a booming sound was heard all of a sudden.

I raised my head to look around and see where the noise came from but then I discovered that the booming sound was actually not from anywhere outside, but it was actually resounding within my head. And it only grew stronger as I was forced to close my eyes.

Strangely to my growing confusion, I could feel a flame burning within me vaguely as it raised the temperature of my body and even the air around me wasn’t spared as I felt it stirring slightly due to the heat.

‘What’s going on, what’s happening to me…’ I couldn’t make heads or tails out of what was going on as I felt the temperature still keep on increasing. I was forced to take a seat to steady myself so I could handle my current condition better.

‘Is the whole growing stronger thing not over even still, I feel so hot. This isn’t even how I felt before…’

‘I actually don’t think you’re experiencing the same thing as before Isaac…’ it was astral who spoke up at this time. His spoke in a calming manner and I couldn’t help but feel a bit more clear headed, but the burning heat I felt still refused to go or even diminish just the slightly bit. ‘Just try to keep a level head, the situation you’re in doesn’t seem to be dangerous, move the sovereign essence in circulation around the entirety of your body…’

As he spoke up once again with an advice, I was able to heed his words as the sovereign essence, that I had to admit had always been a little dormant without use for a while, was stirred and flowed through every part of my body.

**

Status

Name: Harry Auster

Class: Berserker

Rank: Tier two (204.68 / 2000)

Strength: 228

Speed: 221

Flexibility: 218

Constitution: 230

…

I stared for a long time at my status screen. From what I could see, I was definitely stronger than before. Perhaps now I would have had a chance against that damn wolf and wouldn’t have been pushed back so easily. I knew that before Isaac had come back to the fifth floor after being clawed out, the wolf king was actually not using all its strength. The damn wolf was making me feel like I had chance when I in fact didn’t.

But I know that if I had a battle with the wolf now, then I wouldn’t be as out of sorts as I was before.

It was then that I felt like the temperature surge up quickly, I scrunched my brows slightly as I felt a little bit uncomfortable. And then a wave of air blew over and hit my skin like an attack.

It obviously wasn’t an attack, but I felt alarm bells ringing my head as I turned my head to look in the direction that the breeze came from. It was a gust of breeze but it felt so terribly hot, I could swear that my skin felt slightly blistered at this point.

I looked over and I saw what made my eyes almost pop out.

“Who lit a bonfire in the fifth floor, is one of you planning to roast some piece of meat or something, I thought we ran out for a while now…”

I said this out loud but I got not a single reply. Naturally Isaac would always reply with a sentence or two even if Hiya but there was no voice replying to my question at this point.

I looked around and could only see Hiya who was also staring intently at where I was staring previously.

There was a bonfire burning brightly in the fifth floor and it didn’t look to be growing smaller as it instead grew bigger. ‘Where the hell is Isaac…’

I looked all around but couldn’t find him. I stood up to look around the floor, wondering if he decided to go to the lower floors or something. But it was then that Hiya’s voice rang out and stopped me in my tracks.

“Don’t bother looking around, you won’t find him anywhere else…” she spoke as she kept staring at the bonfire for a reason I only then understood with the next words that she said, “Isaac’s sitting within the flames, he lit the flames himself”

“What the… ?!”