Andar had been nearly petrified into a pile of rocks, he had been ceaselessly using Gray Will without any pause, and previously he would have never allowed it to get to this extent, but now…
He groaned and activated his Divine Ability and Andar was "Refreshed." His concentration returned, and it felt as if he had taken the most pleasant rest, Andar grinned internally and waded back into battle with his Endless Vault.
With each floor he climbed, his connection to the Endless Vault increased and new bridges were created between this treasure and his body, Andar was not yet aware, but behind him, a black shadow hundreds of feet tall began to grow.
It resembled a massive bird that had thousands of tentacles on its back that was waving around violently. At this time every Acolyte here had been evacuated, and even the Rank 1 and 2 Mages were cautioned against peering into what was happening around Andar using their True Sight.
This warning was not heeded by a Rank 2 Mage who felt his realm was strong enough to understand a bit of what was happening. A silly mistake from a Mage, she did not live long enough to regret her stupidity.
Her True Sight captured the growing shadow behind Andar, and her eyes turned gray like a decaying corpse, and in less than a second her bones began to rot, and she collapsed into a pile of decaying flesh which withered away into black water.
A powerful Rank 2 Mage at the peak of her power had been killed in such a manner without even the slightest resistance.
The moment this happened, all the Mages at Rank 2 and 3, hurriedly retreated, the danger of being around this monster was growing.
In their heart, Andar was no longer being regarded as an Acolyte, but something else. He was beginning to resemble one of those ancient monstrosities that prowled outside the Material Universe.
Such creatures could not be defined by normal rules and conventions, doing so would only invite grief. Although they all wished to understand the mysteries inside this Acolyte, it would have to be acquired in other ways.
Andar reached the 110th level of the Endless Vault and his speed began to slow down even more dramatically, luckily for him, his body seemed to have adapted to the pressure from the Primordial Aether, and they had reached a sort of balance.
Yet Andar was not willing to stop proceeding up the floors until he reached his limits, this chance to grow using Primordial Aether was too valuable to be wasted.
Without the pressure of death hanging over his shoulders, Andar began to slowly excavate his potential, digging deep into each floor of his Endless Vault.
At the 115th level, his growth slowed to a snail's pace, but he was still making progress, and each floor he ascended was like a hammer nailing down all the knowledge and data he had collected over the past few months.
Every piece of knowledge was verified and tested and seemed to be added to his base of power. Andar could feel his physique transforming with each floor he climbed, the process nourishing, his mind, spirit, and physique at the same time.
It was at the 118th floor that he stopped, his knowledge base had been excavated to the limits, he had nothing else to give, he had used the ability to refresh himself eight times, and he did it one more time to bring himself to the peak of focus.
Andar brought his hands to his face, a few seconds back, they were becoming gray like rocks, but with a refresh, it was all returned to normal.
He suddenly felt a sudden barrier with this ability and he understood that while he was in the Acolyte Realm, he could not use this ability more than nine times, for a short period of time, and according to his deduction, it was within a year.
That means he would have to wait for seven months before he would regain this ability to Refresh, but that did not mean he no longer had access to the ability to turn into his Data Form, he could, but he would no longer be able to heal from doing so.
This ability, Andar had to admit, was too overpowered for an Acolyte, but he understood that it was due to the sort of Meditation Art he was practicing.
He basically had nine lives, and he was not just healing but returning to the peak of his power.
This ability solved one of Andar's greatest fears about losing his knowledge base if he got seriously injured. Backed by this insurance, if he ever got into a situation where he had lost a greater portion of his body, a single refresh would reverse whatever damage he suffered, returning his knowledge and power to him.
Andar finally breathed out a sigh of relief and victory, with the tension escaping from his heart, he felt the presence of the Endless Vault behind him in its true Primordial Form.
He turned around and could only catch the distant form of a massive bird with countless tentacles in its back, escaping into Andar's body.
"Light Devourer!" Andar gasped internally, as a brief feeling of dread stole over his heart, that he soon dismissed when he noticed no adverse reaction from the Entity entering his body, it was the opposite in fact, a feeling of wellness surged inside of him and he nearly moaned in pleasure.
This Entity did not settle inside the Endless vault like he had first assumed but it traveled into his Spirit Matrix where it dwelled over it like a dark cloud.
A closer look at this figure inside his Spirit Matrix would reveal that although it was hazy like it was made from smoke, it was still possible to identify a part of its features, and he soon realized that its eyes were closed.
Andar could sense a distinct connection between him and the entity. The Light Devourer almost felt like a phantom limb, and he almost felt like he could make it open its eyes, he ultimately gave up after trying for a while, he would have more time for experimentation. For now, he still had some series of tests to go through.
