Spirit's Ascension-Chapter 61—Advancement

The old man opened one of his eyes to look at Cole.

"Advancement is possible for those less than the Awakened level; otherwise it will cause too much of a ruckus," The old man responded.

Cole felt slightly elated upon hearing that point; he could feel that advancing in the library was a perfect choice.

It could even be said to be vital for his growth, so hearing the man’s words of approval made him quite happy.

"Where do you plan to do it?" The librarian asked.

"Somewhere on the first floor," Cole responded.

"Well, carry on then. If you encounter any problems, I might be able to help."

Cole thanked the old man graciously before turning around to head back into the core of the library.

"He is progressing in the right direction; I hope he doesn’t steer off." The old man thought as he watched Cole leave.

The hollow middle section with plants was his exact destination. In that location he felt completely surrounded by books.

Cole didn’t really know what to do to start his advancement, but he had a rough plan in mind.

Upon getting to his destination, he sat down in a lotus position while trying to steady his breath.

Either to warm himself up and as a preparation, Cole activated the World Absorbing Mantra and very slowly absorbed Life energy.

He absorbed Life energy up till the moment where he felt fully invigorated again.

"Let’s get this started," he thought.

He began enacting the rough plan he had in mind and randomly stated facts that he knew.

"Knowledge is Malleable,

A book contains knowledge."

He got this idea after observing a little part of Cain’s advancement. But after a few minutes of incessant chanting, nothing changed.

He didn’t feel any surge or any reaction. He felt nothing.

"This can’t be the right way then," Cole thought.

Just as he was about to get frustrated out of helplessness, he suddenly heard the librarian’s voice.

"Begin with Questions and slowly answer them."

Cole felt a mix of both gratitude and fear at that moment. Gratitude that the man helped him and fear that the man could invade his mind like that.

"Begin with Questions," He thought again.

Slowly a new plan began forming in his mind. He felt quite confident in his new plan, so he immediately began enacting it.

"Let’s begin then."

What is a Codex?

A codex is a book.

What makes the codex a book?

Because it contains knowledge.

The moment those questions arose, Cole felt a throb in the Codex. Like it was responding.

That immediately made Cole feel like he was on the right path. He felt his new plan would yield great results, so he continued.

He proceeded from asking questions to making affirmations and giving answers.

Knowledge in the Codex in Fixed and Stable.

Knowledge in the Codex is not malleable.

Not for me,

Only for those whose secrets are unreachable

Knowledge in the codex is changeable.

They all shall bow to my will.

For I am the venerable one.

Knowledge must obey,

it is inevitable.

The more he spoke, the more he affirmed; the more he understood, the clearer things became; Life became closer. He was comprehending his Innate spirit.

Cole didn’t waste time or reduce pressure; instead, he pressed on with increasing tenacity.

I govern the Knowledge just like the Constable,

Knowledge in a book can’t remain the same.

They mustn’t remain stable.

Knowledge manipulation is in my grasp.

Nothing is unattainable.

For I am the child of knowledge.

The one and only Honourable.

The moment the final words were let out, the Codex switched up totally.

It throbbing already morphed into full-blown shakes and vibration as if it wanted to break free of some sort of shackles.

The vibration grew more intense until

Crack!

A shattering sound rang out as the codex snapped open, and along with it were powerful golden lights.

The golden lights flooded out of the book and spread throughout Cole’s body.

It was causing great change in both Cole and even the Codex itself.

The destroyed page from the combustion of the Flaming Fist ability began reforming itself at an astonishing rate.

Runes on the Cover of the Codex also began fluctuating widely as they changed shapes and multiplied.

The spread across occupied areas filled more of the cover with runes.

Changes also appeared on the Kinetic Acceleration ability page. Its content grew to a level of fluidity.

The changes weren’t just in the codex; an equal, if not even higher, change was going on in Cole’s body.

The golden light entered into every crevice of his body, elevating its being.

Cole felt a warm feeling surrounding his body like a motherly hug, and slowly he sank into the feeling.

Cole could feel the steady increase in his body’s life energy limit. It felt like he was currently shattering the limits and constructing new higher ones.

It also provided a significant boost in Cole’s physical stats. He felt much stronger than he previously did.

He could even feel it was much easier to utilize the same amount of strength he previously did.

He slowly felt his body melt into its surroundings, like he was about to become one with it.

He didn’t notice, though; he was too engrossed in the feeling of comfort that was currently going through him.

Cole could feel his mind everywhere all around at the same time, like he was becoming omniscient.

"Snap out of it," Cole suddenly heard in a thunderous voice.

He was forcefully dragged out of sleep by the loud noise.

"Be careful whenever you advance, or you will just become a diffuse thought in the air unable to coalesce anymore, and your body will be absorbed by the earth."

Cole’s heart was filled with dread when he heard that.

"Was cultivating as a Spiriter really this dangerous?" He thought.

"I better be careful next time."

When he regained his full composure, he stood up on his feet, ready to test out his new strength.

"Let’s see what we’ve got now."

Cole flexed his muscles while he observed his skin. His dry and slightly scaly skin was nowhere close to be found.

They had been replaced by smooth porcelain skin that would make even ladies jealous.

Cole admired his own appearance for a while more before switching to a serious mode.

He sent out a punch flying straight into the air as he kept a tight stance.

Bam!

The punch created a tiny shockwave formed from the splitting of the air itself.

No one had to tell Cole, just from that Punch, it was obvious he was just more than two times faster than he previously was.

This immediately made Cole grow extremely excited as he hadn’t expected that much growth just from that simple breath through.

"I am one step closer to the privileged ones right now," Cole said while clenching his fist.

After testing his strength for a while more and confirming it wasn’t a fluke. He decided to test his speed.

And what better was there to test his speed than through a sprint. His body got in the perfect pose ready to launch forward.

"No running in the library," He was suddenly interrupted.

He was completely shut off from doing anything before he could even attempt to.

Cole felt he wasn’t done testing out his new upgrades so he decided to leave the library.

On his way out, he thanked me the Librarian profusely for the two helps he provided in his Advancement and to prevent his "Death"

Upon getting outside the Library and deciding on his next destination ( where he had been taken care of).

He decided to sprint there so he could test his current speed and endurance.

Cole burst out with a Sharp boost as he navigated the roads of the academy.

He was able to do this and arrive at his destination in about ten minutes.

Cole included on an approximate double in his speed and even endurance.

From all of his accumulated data, he concluded that he had gotten an approximate double in all of his stats.

"Sweet, and I haven’t even checked changes with the codex," Cole said excitedly.

He hadn’t expected this much change in himself after the advancement so all of this came as a shock to him.

"The nurse will be really shocked to see me completely fine," Cole said with a cheeky expression.

But upon his entry, he found the whole place completely empty. No single person was present anywhere there.

That was both good and bad news for Cole. It was bad news because he had lost the perfect time to flaunt his new state.

It was also good news because the emptiness finally gave him the perfect chance to test out the changes that had occurred in the Codex.

He moved to his bed and sat himself down with an extremely serious expression.

The main reason he was anxious to advance was due to curiosity on the change it will bring so at this moment he felt quite scared of the disappointment.

"Unviel the mystery" He said expectantly.