Ashton's breakthrough not only affected himself but also Aria as well.
Since the two of them are closely connected to each other, especially after Aria evolved into a True Spirit, they essentially became a unit.
Aria wasn't a mortal since she was a Spirit but that doesn't mean that she didn't benefit from Ashton's breakthrough.
She's not a combatant but that doesn't make her useless. If Ashton was the leader of Humanity then it is Aria that armed them. She's an artificer and a blacksmith. Any weapon that she touches automatically raises in value. Her reputation might not be as resounding as Ashton's but she's quite well-known herself.
Skylar was also affected by Ashton's breakthrough. Currently, the songbird was slumbering in his consciousness, experiencing a growth spurt due to the sudden increase in its master's strength.
Ashton has no idea how long Skylar's hibernation would be but he didn't mind. There's not much for the bird to do anyway.
Now that he had broken through his mortal shackles, Ashton existed on a different playing field.
It just feels really different for him now that he had come to this. There's just comparing his current self to the previous one.
Right now, he's experiencing the Stairway to Heaven and the Lake of Blood for himself. And so far, he's doing quite well.
He had reached the 20th step on the Stairway to Heaven on his first try. He couldn't move on to the 21st since the pressure practically tripled past that point. His body couldn't endure it.
On the Lake of Blood, he managed to leave the shore since the Mental Demons didn't have any effect on him for now. Just like Mary, he could distinguish his thoughts from foreign ones. He also discovered the profundity hidden beneath the disgusting appearance of the lake, allowing him to appreciate it and move further.
Based on experience, Ashton was glad to say that those two realms were really helpful in training Ascendants such as himself.
He held some doubts over them before but that's gone now that he experienced them. He doesn't need to worry about the lack of proper training material for the Ascendants with these two being here.
Of course, if he could have more, that would be great. Sadly, he's yet to receive anything. The system didn't reward him for his breakthrough, it only does when he helps somebody else achieve their breakthrough instead. It's quite biased but that's how it works so he can't really complain.
Speaking of the System, his Profile in it had experienced some overhaul with his breakthrough to Void Rank...
[Profile]
Name: Ashton West
Race: Human
Bloodline: Human/Fey
Title: Sorcerer of Dreams
Life Rank: Lv.1 Void Rank
Law: Dream Laws
AP: 1485
His new Profile was simplified to this. It's compact and doesn't have a lot of details.
This was mostly because he's no longer being rated as a Mortal. His Aptitude section was gone, replaced by Life Rank which refers to his current cultivation ranking.
At this point, the goal of all Ascendants was the evolution of Life. Becoming an advanced lifeform that transcends even the natural laws themselves. Hence, Life Rank.
Additionally, his Spells and Skills don't have a distinction anymore. Now, they're referred to as Abilities. Similarly, Skill Points and Spell Points lost their distinction as well, they are now called Ability Points (AP) instead.
He likes this change, it made his profile neat and compact. Not filled with anything unnecessary.
For the most part, the System didn't change though. Its functions remain relatively the same even after his Ascension to the Void Rank. He still needs to gain more Beneficiaries to gain more sources for his rewards.
On another note, he was unbeatable once more.
While he didn't seek out his friends for a friendly spar, he did simulate a fight between them. And the results were his overwhelming victory on both one on one and one versus three.
Alice and her Excalibur paired with her, admittedly perverted, Sword Intent came really close. With those, she could cut through anything she disliked, she even managed to slice his Void Shroud for a split second. Alas, Ashton was just a different person once he had broken through so she still lost.
Against the three of them at the same time caused him to sweat profusely though. The trio was deadly when they are working together. Sadly, not even Mary's eyes could pierce through the Dreams he weaved so they lost in the end.
This result gave him his lost confidence. At least this way, he could confidently say again that he is Humanity's Trump Card, their last line of defense.
Of course, he still has to tread carefully. While he might be strong right now, his enemies aren't pushovers either.
He still falls a little bit short compared to the Miraculous Son and the Demon Emperor. That's why he needs to buy more time if possible.
With enough time, he could continue progressing. With progress, he'd be able to catch up to them, and with strength, he could continue protecting his race against them.
The matter of his Breakthrough is considered a secret. Only a handful of people knew about it, and the majority of them signed a contract of confidentiality so he could trust them.
On the surface, nothing had changed and that's what he wanted. So long as their enemies are unaware, then it means that the secret remains deadly.
At the Hypogean Grand Fleet, the Demon Emperor sat on a throne made out of ivory.
The Demon Emperor looked like a human male with a murky maroon skin tone. He had tribal tattoos all over his body. He's extremely muscular and is wearing a thin silk-like cloth that only covered his private parts.
There was a sea of bodies scattered around the throne. Some are slumbering peacefully while others were still panting and quivering from the recent activity they held. There is a thick stench of lasciviousness and filth coating the entirety of the throne room but it didn't bother the Demon Emperor too much.
He's frowning for an unknown reason. He initially thought that he might just be feeling some loneliness and carnal desires so he ordered his subordinates to take care of that, however now that it's done, the feeling was still there and he just couldn't understand why.
'Something's wrong...' the Demon Emperor's browed furrowed even deeper.
He couldn't help. Something at the back of his mind was gnawing at him and it was starting to get irritating. It's like he's forgetting something important but for the life of him, he just can't recall what it is exactly.
Pursing his lips, he closed his eyes and started to introspect.
He delved into the deepest parts of his psyche, trying to discover what exactly it was that was gnawing at him.
At the first scan, he didn't find anything weird. Usually, this would've been enough but for some reason, the Demon Emperor wasn't convinced.
He trusted his gut feeling this time and decided to get down and dirty, combing his psyche, checking through every nook and cranny to see what exactly it was that he was missing.
The Demon Emperor had been at it for a while when all of a sudden, he saw something unfamiliar.
Deep in his subconscious mind, he saw an orb of light, flashing with a wide spectrum of colors. The sight was mesmerizing, he almost forgot to breathe when he laid his eyes on it, but he managed to catch him before he fell for it.
'What is this?' The Demon Emperor thought.
This orb of light was obviously misplaced. The Demon Emperor's psyche was akin to a sea of murky blood under a black sun and gloomy clouds. A sight like this shouldn't exist amidst that kind of environment but here it was.
The Demon Emperor cautiously approached it. He doesn't know what it is but since it's here then it must be something that needed to be handled with care.
This was his psyche, if this turns out to be a parasite or something else, then he'd be at great risk. So he needs to handle this with utmost care.
As he slowly approached the thing, the Demon Emperor had to physically fight the mesmerizing sight that it was. The closer he got, the more difficult it was for him to extricate himself from it.
Eventually, he arrived at arm's length from the orb of light, but before he could even do anything to it, the orb suddenly transformed into a man who certainly does not look anything remotely close to a demon or an angel.
The figure looked perplexed for a bit before it saw him. It then smiled widely at him and said:
"My, what timing indeed. Good thing I can do this remotely now, or else things might've gotten more complicated."
The Demon Emperor couldn't get a word in before he was blinded by a flash of an aurora.
The next thing he knew, his consciousness was back in the throne room. Raising a brow, he thought to himself:
"I must've fallen asleep."
Then, he felt his pulse hastening upon the sight of naked bodies all over him so without further ado, he began the fuck-fest again.
Back in Fantasia, Ashton could be seen smiling as he peacefully slept on the Slumbering Immortal King's Bed.
