The light that escaped from Andar's body penetrated the Energy Field shielding the Body Farm and reaching the skies of the Black Tower.
Countless powerful presence of Mages saw this light and those who were not aware of the miracle happening inside the Body Farm became quickly conversant, and the name of Andar was on millions of lips.
This number soon reached billions when it reached the Federation, and it quickly spread to the rest of the Great Towers, and then his name echoed among trillions.
Andar's popularity was reaching a feverish peak, and in his name, many powers began to rise, as ancient feuds and diabolical power plays were unleashed.
A storm was coming.
Andar's consciousness was flooded with an endless wave of euphoria as his body reached a peak and broke through it.
This did not happen only once, he had already counted this change occurring more than three times, and every time it happened, he had to dismiss the urge to Ascend and suppress his realm hurriedly.
Although he wondered how long he could last, it soon became clear to him that what he was doing would not work for long, the wave of power was arriving faster, and with each passing moment, the urge for Ascension was becoming stronger.
It would not take long before it was out of his hands and his body was saturated with power and began its Ascension even without his permission, and that was the best outcome here.
Although Andar's limits were far beyond any Acolyte and even a Mage, his cells could not take such rapid growth for long. It was as if he was evolving so fast that if he did not slow down this pace of growth, he was going to be torn into pieces, in both body and spirit.
His black hair he kept short had begun to grow in a feverish manner and was now coiled around his feet, more than twelve feet in length, this was a minor indication of the amount of change and growth happening inside his body, and any other Acolyte would be long dead.
Andar groaned, 'This gift came with thorns.'
There was no way he would allow himself to perish when he still had other cards left to play. Andar projected his intentions into the Aether around him and did not have to examine for long before he found it.
It was here, all this while, waiting for him.
Before Andar, the person with the highest recorded value for the Endless Vault Meditation Art was only on the 92nd floor.
Before Andar left the Endless Vault for the first time he had already Engraved 99 Engraving Tiles, easily surpassing the known highest practitioner for this Art.
Usually, a Meditation Art gives a Divine Ability at the 100th Engraving Slot and Andar had received something compelling as he gained the ability to turn himself into Data, and when he did, his body would be brought back to its peak, yet Andar knew that this was just a small portion of this Divine Ability's power.
With the creation of his 100th Engraving Black Tile, his connection with the Endless Vault deepened, and now with his call into the Aether, it responded to him, and behind the floating body of Andar, space was ripped apart and for the first time in countless years, the true form of the Endless Vault revealed itself.
Behind Andar a massive spine that seemed to stretch for countless miles yet seemed as small as a thin piece of string emerged from the spatial crack, and immediately plunged into Andar's back and began fusing with his spine.
He did not feel any pain during this process, it was almost as if this was not a true fusion between the spine and his body but a bridge was being created to close the gap between Andar and the Endless Vault.
There were undoubtedly many mysteries and benefits to this process, but what Andar needed at this time was to gain access to the higher levels of the Endless Vault so that he could grow the amount of Engraving Tiles in his body, this should expand his foundation and push the threat of Ascension to become a Mage to the side.
His consciousness easily accessed the 101st floor and the broken scripts that were swirling around chaotically became captured into his consciousness which has been split into many parts by Gray Will.
Perhaps it was because of the sheer amount of Primordial Aether running in his system or the fact that he was thousands of times more knowledgeable than he was at the first time he entered the Endless Vault, for he could easily crack the Inscription, creating a Higher Order Script that merged with his Spirit Matrix, and his 101 Engraving Tile was born, and like its predecessor, it was black.
Andar could immediately feel the effect of this new enhancement to his physique, as his cells that seemed to be filled to bursting suddenly had the space to receive more of the baptism being bestowed on him.
It should be noted that the reason Andar was able to successfully practice the Endless Vault Meditation Art to this extent was revealed here.
There would surely be other Mages who would be able to solve the Higher Order Inscriptions with ease, but their very bodies would not be able to handle the strain of the changes that every Engraving Tile had on them.
Unlike Andar's physique which was created using Rowan's unique Empyrean Shell that was born as a result of Rowan using Soul Energy to create far more Empyrean Essence than an Ouroboros Serpent could ever hope to receive, thereby leading to a brand new mutation that was unparalleled in its energy conservation and transference abilities.
Rowan had copied that ability into every single one of Andar's cells; without this drastic change, a monster like Andar would not exist.
Like a rising tide, Andar entered the 102nd floor and in eighteen seconds he cracked it, now he had three Black Tiles, and the pressure on him reduced, but he needed more.
Desperation fueled his mind as he began pushing Gray Will deeper than he had ever done before. He smashed through the 103rd, 104th… 107th before he began to slow down.
