Chapter 177: Domain Lord_Ashborn Primordial

Chapter 177: Domain Lord

 

 She swept her eyes over the dead city. Little had changed since herst hibernation cycle. The city of spires stood as it always had. Dead and abandoned, its Prana Swarm clinging as it always did to the central spire, while Wyrms swam through the sky around it.

 This time was different, though. It had known what she craved. Long ago, it had promised her a future. That when her cores ran dry, the end would not be the end. It would be a beginning. If only she trusted the one who woulde for her.

 After having remained static for so long, the realm was changing. She was changing. And she embraced it dearly.<hr>

 Vir sat cross-legged upon the dead domain lordsir, enduring agony in silence. It felt like day one in the Ash all over again.

 Hed wondered why the prana density here was many times what it was just paces away, but learned that the Colossus upon which he sat emanated prana continuously. In some ces, it was just a trickle. In others, a torrent that pulsed rhythmically, ebbing and flowing with each beat.

 Must be where its heart is Or some other vital organ.

 The Mahakurma was prana incarnate. Just the excess bleeding off the beast was enough to make Virs blood explode if he didnt maintain his saturation dam, only allowing a trickle to leak into his body at a time. The sheer scale of its size and power still boggled Virs mind.

 Could an army of 40,000 really take this thing out? Vir thought. He doubted it, and it was likely whoever pped that rank upon it did as well, given the bestiary''s enormous Br range from 12,000 to 40,000. While Vir hadnt seen its maw weapon in action, the beasts steps alone could crush a whole vige in one go.

 With something as mammoth as this, it was better to think of how many lives would be lost before the beast was taken down. Depending on the battlefield and circumstances, Vir could imagine it easily reaping 100,000 humans. One might consider running away, but as Vir had witnessed, the turtle could move, despite its seemingly lethargic gait.

 Quick strides simply werent necessary when each step carried the behemoth several hundred paces at once. So while an individual or a team of mercenaries could escape the beastor even board itan army, or a city, had no chance. Vir wondered how long it would take for the Mahakurma to erase a city like Sonam with its maw weapon. Not long at all.

 At least these horrors were contained. Ash Beasts had been stuck in the Ash for millennia for a reason; they wouldnt survive outside with the lower density. Only the least of them could, and none of those were City Enders.

 Well, maybe a certain pet Prana Swarm could But the one Hiranya kept was a far cry from anything he might run into here.

 Grak it! Minds wandering again.

 One week had passed since Vir imed victory over the Shredder. Seven days of agony. Both from stretching his bodys prana limits and because more than a month had passed in the Human Realm.

 The Mahakurma was still on the move, but to Virs immense frustration, it had delved no deeper into the Ash.

 And now, even a weekter, his body still hadnt adjusted to the ambient prana levels. Vir wanted desperately to confront the next domain lord but knew he wasn''t ready.

 There was just so much prana. Three times as much. When multiplied with the twofold increase Vir had dealt with upon entering the Ashs periphery, once he limated, his body could handle six times what it did prior to entering the Ash. Vir doubted even the Prime Mejai could boast such a capacity.

 Unfortunately, that meant little in a realm where all the beasts had more.

 The adjustment process was slow and painful. There was little to do other than sit for hours on end, allowing more and more prana within himself as he adjusted. Which left his mind open for plenty of other thoughts, such as ruminating on avenues for progression, like Prana Armor.

 Virs eyes wandered to the sh marks on his seric bracer. It was still in good condition, but a few more strikes like that, and they wouldnt be for long.

 Hed spent many hours wondering exactly how Ash Beasts manifested their armor, but now, he had an inkling. Watching the internal prana flow of an Ash Beast while fighting it wasnt exactly a simple task, but hed noticed a pattern.

 Quite literallyAsh Beasts cycled prana through their bodies. The patterns differed, and Vir was almost sure they did it intuitively, but the principle was identical to Parais Prana Channeling.

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 A week ago, that would be as far as Vir got. Parais technique stymied him, working on unknown arcane principles. Now, he knew better.

 Its using Chakra. It has to be.

 There were 144 chakras spread throughout the body. Cirayus concentrated on the seven major ones, but the others were also fulcrums of energy and Prana Vision was blind to them.

 Cirayus had mentioned as much, but it also perfectly exined the underpinnings of Parais patterns. Parai must have mastered each one, allowing him to design new patterns by linking prana from one chakra to another in a virtuous cycle.

 And so, Vir had spent the past days concentrating on the Foundation chakra, though the pain assaulting his body hadnt helped any. While his progress had been cial, thankfully, he wasnt on his own.

 Youre pushing too hard,d, Cirayus said, striding up to where Vir sat. The other domain lords shirked back, instinctively understanding the threat that Cirayus represented.

 I need this, Vir said. How am I gonna defeat the other domain lords if I dont do at least this much?

 Aye, true. Surely youll be able to keep this up for the foreseeable future, yes? Ah, silly me. Of course, you cant. Let me teach you about this concept we call pacing.

 Vir rolled his eyes under his eyelids. I just want to get deeper into the Ash.

 Yes, to keep your poorss from worrying. A noble motivation, but do ensure you stay on the right side of the line that splits ambition from recklessness.

 I will. Say... have you ever seen an Ash Tear do that, Cirayus? Vir asked, pointing to the gate that had opened up for what had to be the twentieth time since they''d arrived.

 The Tear was dangerously close to a deeper Domain Lord''sir, but unlike the other lords, this one didn''t hesitate. It walked right up to the Tear, which blinked out of existence as it approached.

 The beast, which resembled a hulking metal gori, snorted in victory.

 Can''t say I have,d, Cirayus replied.

 Doesn''t... doesn''t it almost seem like it''s alive? Vir asked. It couldn''t have been a coincidence that it closed right when that ash beast got close, right?

 If it happened once, I might''ve believed it. I''ve seen it do the same thing before, Cirayus said. Keep a watchful eye. There is something strange about that one. Now, let us begin.

 Vir felt the calming aura of Cirayus Life chakra touch his soul. His thoughts calmed the moment he epted it. The pain no longer dominated his mind, allowing him to contemte on the Foundation chakra.

 Maybe he was getting closer, or maybe it was Cirayus, but he felt closer to the concept of solidity. The weight that pressed upon him before had grown heavier, but so too had his ability to resist it.

 Like the rock at the bottom of a mountain, the weight above it was iprehensible, and yet, the mountain didnt crumble. Vir couldnt say the weight he felt amounted to a mountains worthmore like a small hillbut it was progress, nheless.

 Cirayus called the session to an end six hourster, and after a quick bite of raw onion and root vegetables, Vir finally stood.

 Youre not nning on fighting the next domain lord, are you? the demon asked, but Vir shook his head.

 I dont have a death wish. Just, it bothers me that I dont even know what Ill be up against. I can see the other domain lords, but the next one remains hidden. I need more information.

 Wits, not strength, had allowed him to defeat the Shredder in hisst battle. Going forward, he needed to be smarter about how he fought, squeezing everyst drop of potential from his abilities.

 Its how Cirayus would fight, he thought.

 Take care not to venture into its territory. You cannot handle that level of prana. Not yet.

 Challenge epted.

 Vir could handle the prana, but only as long as he maintained his Prana Damthe saturatedyer near his skin. Taking down the next domain lord would grant him ess to an even higher level area to train his body, which would speed up the process. Itd be more painful, too, but Vir was no stranger to pain.

 Rather, it was the challengers that bothered him more. Over the past week, opportunistic Ash Beasts had attacked him while he meditated, eager to im the prana-dense region for themselves.

 Theyd failed; Vir had fought back every one, though some were closer calls than hed have liked. The fights grew easier as his body limated, strengthening him and boosting his vitality, though even then, none had been easy.

 If he did make a move on the next domain lord, it wouldnt be long before another beast imed the empty throne he left behind. If that happened before he won, or if Vir found himself unable to take the pressure, hed have to retreateither fighting the new lord behind him or giving up entirely and exiting the prana-dense regions to start from scratch.

 That was a situation he wanted to avoid at all costs.

 Feeling confident enough in his recent gains to take a quick break, Vir approached the periphery of the next lords domain.

 Like his own, it was a t, grassynd near the center of the valley. The prana was visibly thicker, forcing Vir to dial back how much of it went to his eyesto let him prate the thick haze.

 Scanning the horizon, he expected to find a monster with the ability to deceive the eyes and turn invisible. Such a creature would ze brightly to Prana Vision, but he saw nothing.

 Nothing, aside from a tunnel that led into the earth. Vir almost missed it, owing to Prana Visions degraded sight for affinities that werent Ash. If it wasnt for the bright signature deep inside the shell, he mightve missed it.

 A rodent-sized beast shot up the tunnel and popped a head out of a hole in the ground before emerging, standing on its hind legs to regard Vir with hostility.

 The ground squirrel might even have been cuteif its body wasnt covered entirely with vicious-looking spines like a hedgehog. Twin tusks protruded from its mouth almost down to its wed paws and it moved blindingly fast.

 Vir lost sight of it and assumed it had retreated into its cave, but that wasnt the case. Itd Blinked right up to him, standing daringly at the very edge of its domain.

 Scary though it mightve been, the Ash Beast barely came up to a third of Virs height. Hardly a vicious opponent.

 Then it shrieked, and Vir copsed to his knees in pain. The sound wasnt simply loud, it was alien, resonating horrifically.

 When he recovered momentster, four more of its brethren had joined it. More and more poured out through perfectly camouged holes in the ground, and there seemed to be no end of them. Twenty. Fifty. A Hundred.

 Two hundred ground squirrels all stood facing him. A whole colony.

 Well, this should be interesting.

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Chapter 177: Domain Lord