Ashen Ascension: The Divided Flame-Chapter 96: A New Skill

Ivor stood where the skeleton had fallen, breathing heavily. Sweat covered his entire body and his arms still trembled from the strain of the fight. He tried to take a step forward, but the moment his foot moved his strength gave out. His knees buckled and he dropped to the ground, catching himself on one hand as his vision blurred for a moment.

For several breaths he remained there, forcing air back into his lungs while the world slowly steadied around him. His mana core felt nearly empty, the constant coating and compression during the fight having drained it far more than he realized in the moment. His muscles burned with exhaustion, and even holding the sword upright felt heavier than before.

Then the stone beneath him began to react.

A faint circular pattern slowly appeared on the floor around his knees. Lines of ancient carving lit up one after another, forming a complete ring beneath him. The glow deepened rapidly, shifting from dull blue to a brighter, almost liquid light.

Before Ivor could fully understand what was happening, the chamber answered.

Mana surged.

A powerful current erupted from the circle and rushed upward into his body like a rising flood. The energy poured into him in overwhelming quantities, far greater than the ambient mana he had absorbed before. It forced its way through his circuits and straight into his core, filling the emptiness there with violent speed.

The circle beneath Ivor brightened until the light became almost blinding. The carved lines along the stone floor flared one after another, forming a complete ring around him. At the same moment, a powerful stream of mana surged upward from the formation and rushed into his body.

The mana did not scatter through his body the way ambient mana usually did. It moved with clear direction, following the same pattern carved into the circle beneath him. The flow entered his mana circuit and spread through the familiar network of channels that connected his core to the rest of his body.

Then the current changed.

Instead of spreading outward, the mana began gathering toward specific points within the circuit.

The nine attuned nodes.

These nodes were not located in his muscles or bones. They were part of the mana circuit itself, invisible anchors that existed within the flow of mana. When awakened children spoke about attuning nodes, they were not activating a body part. They were strengthening these anchors so the circuit could hold more complex structures of mana.

The Labyrinth had required nine attuned nodes to enter. Now it was using those same nodes to shape its reward. Mana began collecting around each of the nine anchors inside his circuit. As the flow intensified, faint symbols suddenly appeared around them.

Runes.

They flared briefly inside the circuit like marks being carved into place. Ivor immediately understood what was happening.

A skill was being locked onto his nodes.

Shock ran through him.

He had planned to use these nine nodes carefully once he left the Labyrinth. Skills were permanent once they were formed, and choosing the wrong one could shape a fighter’s entire future. Yet now the Labyrinth was engraving one directly into his circuit without giving him a choice.

His body remained frozen while the process continued. Mana poured through his circuit and gathered around the nine nodes as the runes brightened. The symbols rotated around each anchor and slowly connected to one another, forming a single structure across all nine points.

Then the knowledge arrived. He felt a rush of information in his mind and the details of the skill were fed to him.

Vortex Compression.

The name appeared first, followed by the instinctive explanation of how the skill worked.

The runes flared once more and locked into place around the nine nodes. At the same moment, something inside his core changed.

Mana within the core began to move.

Before this moment, the mana inside his core behaved like a calm reservoir. When he wanted to compress it, he had to force the mana inward manually by concentrating on it. The process required effort and could not be maintained while fighting.

Now the mana inside his core began circulating on its own.

A slow spiral formed within the reservoir.

The outer layer of mana began rotating around the core while the inner layers remained denser. The motion created a natural inward pressure, slowly pushing mana particles closer together over time.

A spiral formed within his core.

It did not require his constant attention.

Ivor watched the process with growing understanding.

Continuous Compression had created a permanent rotational flow inside his core. Instead of relying on constant conscious pressure, the mana now circulated in layered spirals. The outer layer remained slightly less dense while the inner layers held tighter concentration.

This difference created a natural pressure gradient.

The result was simple. Mana inside the core would slowly compress itself over time. The skill did not increase the size of the core. It did not increase the total amount of mana he could store, nor did it raise the density limit required for advancing to the next stage. Manual compression would always be faster if he focused on it directly.

What the skill provided was consistency. The spiral would continue operating during combat, movement, or rest. Even when Ivor was not actively training, the mana inside his core would gradually grow denser.

The runes surrounding the nine nodes dimmed as the structure stabilized. Ivor now understood the full logic of the system.

His core was the reservoir where mana gathered.

The circuit was the network that carried it through his body.

Nodes were anchors within that network.

Skills were stable patterns built around those anchors.

The nodes themselves were not tied to arms, legs, or any specific part of the body. They existed within the circuit, not inside flesh. When a skill activated, the mana followed the structure of the skill and flowed through whatever part of the body the technique required.

A movement skill would send mana through the legs. A weapon skill would direct it through the arms and blade.

The nodes simply provided the stable points needed to maintain the structure. Now nine of those anchors held the runic structure of Continuous Compression. Whenever the skill remained active, the spiral inside his core would continue turning, slowly increasing the density of the mana stored within.

The Labyrinth had not simply rewarded him with strength. It had given him a permanent engine of growth inside his core.

The surge of mana finally slowed.

The runes around the nine nodes dimmed until they settled into the circuit like faint carvings etched into invisible stone. The circular formation beneath Ivor faded as well, the blue light withdrawing into the cracks of the floor until only the quiet chamber remained.

For several moments Ivor did not move.

He simply knelt there, breathing slowly while the last traces of mana settled inside him.

The exhaustion from the fight had not vanished, but something inside him felt very different now. When he looked inward, the emptiness he had felt in his core earlier was gone.

The core was full.

Mana rested there in thick layers, far denser than it had been when he first entered the chamber. The Labyrinth had not only engraved the skill, it had filled his core completely as part of the reward.

Ivor closed his eyes and focused deeper.

The spiral was immediately visible.

Inside the core, the mana was no longer resting in a calm pool. A slow rotational movement had formed. The outer layer of mana moved first, drifting along a wide circular path. As it rotated, the flow naturally pressed inward toward the center where the inner layers remained more tightly packed.

The motion was steady and unforced.

The core itself was not expanding or contracting. The mana simply continued circulating within it, following the spiral pattern the skill had created.

Ivor observed the process carefully.

When the outer layer completed a rotation, a faint inward pressure appeared. The mana particles settled slightly closer together before the circulation continued again.

It was subtle. But it was constant. He immediately understood the advantage.

Normally, compressing mana required full attention. A fighter had to sit still and focus entirely on pushing the mana inside the core inward. The process could not be maintained during movement, much less during combat.

This spiral changed that. The compression was slow, but it never stopped. Even while fighting, traveling, or sleeping, the mana inside his core would continue tightening little by little.

Ivor opened his eyes and stood slowly.

His legs were still sore from the battle, but the exhaustion had eased now that his core was full again. He drew a small amount of mana outward just to test the change.

The flow responded smoothly. The spiral inside the core did not stop when he moved the mana. It simply continued rotating while a portion of the flow left the reservoir and entered his circuit.

That meant the compression process did not interrupt normal mana use. He tried again, this time releasing more mana through his arm and into his sword.

The blade formed its familiar blue coating.

Inside the core, the spiral continued moving calmly. Ivor withdrew the mana and allowed the blade to return to normal steel.

Then he focused again on the core. The circulating mana slowly filled the small space left behind by his test, the layers settling naturally as the rotation continued. The skill was doing exactly what the Labyrinth intended. It was not a combat ability. It was a foundation.