Ascension Through Skills

The power that manifested beyond the space converged at the child.

It contained divine energy. To exert such power across space was an extraordinary feat, impossible for ordinary mortals.

There was only one such being in this world.

“You blasphemer!”

The knight gritted his teeth and stomped his foot.

Light enveloped the knight’s entire body.

“It seems you’re not willing to answer.”

If so, he intended to extract answers by force.

The knight, cloaked in divine energy, charged at Taesan. A golden sword materialized in his hand.

Taesan raised his sword.

Ka-ga-kak!

The grinding sound of blades rang out. Taesan deflected the knight’s sword and stabbed his chest.

Ka-aaang!

“Urgh!”

The knight spewed blood as he was pushed back.

His armor, pierced by the sword, had caved in.

“My, my armor…”

“Not breaking, huh?”

The knight was shocked that his armor was dented, and Taesan was surprised it hadn’t shattered.

The difference in strength between Taesan and the knight was overwhelming. The knight should’ve fallen in a single blow, yet he endured.

The reason was the power granted to the knight by someone else.

Taesan stomped his foot, and his body disappeared.

The knight’s instincts screamed in alarm. He reflexively turned and swung his sword.

Ka-aang!

“Ugh!”

Taesan applied just enough pressure for the knight to barely parry his attacks. The knight sweated profusely, struggling to defend himself.

“This is fun.”

Taesan calmly observed the knight’s power.

The knight’s own strength wasn’t exceptional, comparable to sword masters Taesan had met in the world of Vekveta.

However, the divine power granted to him elevated his abilities to the equivalent of the 50th floor of the labyrinth.

“Can a god’s apostle bestow this much power without being a transcendent themselves?”

Taesan muttered as he struck with his sword.

Ka-aaang!

The ground beneath the knight’s feet caved in as he blocked the attack.

‘Monster!’

The knight was horrified.

Even while using the power granted by the Emperor at full strength, he was being overwhelmingly suppressed.

‘But!’

Taesan was letting his guard down.

The knight targeted an opening in Taesan’s defense.

Ka-kak!

Taesan swung his sword, blocking the knight’s attack. The knight’s eyes gleamed as he stepped forward aggressively.

“Die!”

Ki-i-i-ing!

A radiant light, like the sun, enveloped the knight’s sword. He poured all his power into the blade for a decisive strike.

The sword was aimed for Taesan’s chest.

Ka-ga-ga-gak!

But it couldn’t pierce through.

The golden light touching Taesan disintegrated.

“What, what?”

“There’s a gap in our level of power.”

Taesan grabbed the knight by the neck and slammed him into the ground.

Even with bestowed strength, one couldn’t surpass the inherent gap in rank. No matter how much effort was made, the knight couldn’t even force Taesan to use his First Attack Nullification.

“I have some questions to resolve too, so how about answering me?”

The power of the three proofs activated.

Taesan’s very presence materialized, crushing the knight.

“Aaah…”

The knight’s face turned pale. His spirit was being overpowered by Taesan, and his body trembled like a leaf.

He could do nothing.

The sheer disparity in rank suppressed even his will to act.

As Taesan was about to extract information from the knight—

Ki-i-i-ing!

A pillar of light descended from the sky.

Containing power potent enough to scorch the earth, even Taesan couldn’t disregard it.

[You activated Restricted Blink.]

Taesan swiftly exited the pillar’s range. The pillar pierced through the knight.

“Aaaaargh!”

The knight screamed as he was incinerated. The power within him flowed away through the pillar of light to somewhere unknown.

When the pillar disappeared, nothing was left behind.

“Cold-hearted.”

It seemed they preferred to deal with him themselves rather than let Taesan extract information.

Taesan returned to the child. Dismissing the wolves, he looked at the child.

The Emperor was targeting this child.

The obsession was intense. No matter what, the Emperor was determined to obtain the child.

Taesan retrieved a leaf stained with divine blood.

This divine blood was the most critical clue.

Now that he had confirmed this, there was no reason to hesitate.

[You activated Beyond the Boundary.]

[You activated Magic Overlay.]

[You activated Focused Detection.]

Focused Detection activated.

Previously, he couldn’t discern the information contained within the divine blood. But now, it was different. With Beyond the Boundary, he forcibly accessed power beyond mortality.

Even power surpassing Taesan’s level could now be deciphered.

The information and energy within the leaf flowed into Taesan’s mind.

“I see.”

Taesan pressed his forehead, suppressing the pain.

Accessing power beyond mortality meant processing information beyond his current capacity, leading to immense mental strain.

This was why he had postponed using Beyond the Boundary.

But the value of this knowledge was undeniable.

He didn’t uncover everything, but he grasped all the crucial information.

“So it’s truly the power of a god.”

The divine blood was literally godly power.

Flowing through blood, it surpassed mortality.

However, simply possessing divine blood didn’t grant one godly power. That’s why most who inherited divine blood lived ordinary lives and died.

To be precise, they were closer to sealing the divine blood within their bodies.

Even so, it was power that transcended mortality. Upon reaching a certain level, one could wield it forcibly, like Helia.

Helia, at the pinnacle of mortality, became this powerful. Someone stronger could handle it more freely and powerfully.

For instance, someone at Taesan’s level.

The boundary referred to a state straddling mortality and immortality.

Stronger than mortals but clearly weaker than immortals, it was an ambiguous state.

If someone in such a state obtained divine blood—

They might cross the boundary.

Taesan looked at the child sleeping quietly.

The child had said: Unable to endure the pain, they went to a temple and received an oracle. Cursed by all things, only the Emperor could lift the curse.

The method to lift the curse was for the child of divine blood to willingly offer themselves as a sacrifice to the Emperor.

“When a being with a sense of self becomes an offering, forcing them doesn’t work, does it?”

[It greatly diminishes the meaning. An offering means willingly giving oneself. The will of both the offering and the receiver is crucial. They must mutually agree and accept it.]

The ghost spoke. Taesan shook his head.

Why did the god of choice send him to the child?

Now, he felt he understood what she wanted.

The child moved to the next trial’s location. Another day passed there, but when Taesan blocked the curse again, nothing happened.

“Haha… What is this…”

The child shook their head. At this point, it was absurd.

“Why on earth?”

The child, after enduring long despair, had ultimately decided to become the Emperor’s sacrifice. That was the purpose of the seven trials.

But as soon as they entered the trials, the curse suddenly disappeared.

The child couldn’t understand.

“Could it be… because I decided to take my own life that the curse vanished? Then, now I…”

The child muttered continuously.

Eventually, they arrived at a small rural village.

“Huh?”

The child’s eyes widened.

The village was bustling. Many people were laughing and talking, and various foods were displayed on stalls.

“A village festival, it seems.”

A small festival unique to a village—it seemed to be in full swing.

The child blankly stared at the festival.

Taesan asked the child,

“Do you want to join?”

“W-What? No, I can’t. I’m a cursed child. If I join something like a festival…”

The child couldn’t finish their sentence.

They hung their head deeply.

“B-But I…”

“Your curse takes a day to activate, doesn’t it? And right now, the curse isn’t active. So there’s no issue.”

“But…”

The child wanted to join the festival but seemed too afraid of their curse, retreating timidly. Taesan spoke quietly.

“It’s your choice. Do you want to enjoy the festival?”

“…Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

Taesan led the child into the heart of the festival.

The child looked around the festival with wonder. Covered by a robe, the villagers seemed to think Taesan and the child were travelers.

“Hey there! Is that your son?”

A sturdy man asked Taesan with a laugh. Taesan nodded, and the man chuckled as he handed over a skewer.

“You’re outsiders, huh? Hey, kid! This is on the house! Enjoy your time here!”

“Th-Thank you.”

The child hastily accepted the skewer with a word of thanks.

They took a small bite of the skewer, then exclaimed in amazement.

“It’s delicious…!”

The child, who had lived alone, was overwhelmed by the taste of the seasoning carefully crafted by people.

The child, staring at the skewer in awe, finally handed it to Taesan as if they had made a big decision.

“This tastes good. You should try it.”

“I’m fine. You eat it.”

“T-Thank you!”

The child devoured the skewer quickly.

The festival continued.

A clown appeared, and a talking bird captured everyone’s attention. The child was no different. They walked among the crowd, their eyes sparkling as they took in the sights.

Even so, they didn’t let go of Taesan’s hand.

“…This is nice.”

The child muttered.

Though short, the words carried a myriad of emotions.

Taesan spoke.

“Do you long for a normal life?”

“Yes.”

The child’s gaze shifted to a boy their age, holding hands with his parents and laughing as they walked together.

“If I had been born normal, if I hadn’t been born with blue blood… what would it have been like? Could I have lived happily too?”

The child’s voice carried a despair unbefitting their age.

Taesan responded.

“If you could live such a life?”

“What?”

“If your blue blood was just that—a trait that didn’t affect your life much. Even if people around you persecuted you for it, if you could still live alongside them—would you have made the same choices you’ve made now?”

“What do you mean?”

The child looked confused, unable to understand Taesan’s words.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Taesan looked toward the sky.

From beyond the space, a force surged forth. It was about to manifest in the world with tremendous intensity.

Crack.

The ground began to crack.

Space distorted.

“Huh?”

The child’s expression hardened. Based on their experience, they knew what this was a precursor to.

“T-There’s no way! It hasn’t even been a day!”

“They must be getting impatient, seeing you finding hope. How pathetic.”

“We need to leave quickly! If we don’t, the village will…”

The child clung desperately to Taesan’s arm.

But before they could move, a deafening roar echoed. Space twisted, and the ground trembled.

Villagers screamed, collapsing in fear.

“Aaaaah!”

The child’s face filled with despair.

People were going to die.

Because of them.

Taesan stomped the ground.

His power erupted and clashed with the divine energy.

The distorted space began to stabilize rapidly.

The force from beyond the space collided with Taesan’s, the two powers opposing each other.

“…Huh?”

The panicked child’s pupils widened. Until now, they hadn’t realized the force beyond space was there. It had been suppressed so quickly in previous encounters that they hadn’t noticed.

But this time was different. The force beyond space clashed with Taesan’s power in a confrontation so immense that even the unaware child could sense it.

Taesan sneered at the force beyond.

“No matter how far away you send your power, it won’t work on me.”

The force resisted but was gradually crushed by Taesan’s power.

“Just wait. I’ll come to you soon.”

Crack.

The space was closed.

The villagers groaned as they got back on their feet.

“What… What just happened?”

“What’s going on?”

No one had died. The ground had shaken a bit, but the damage was minimal—only a few collapsed stalls at worst.

The child looked at Taesan with trembling eyes.

“…Sir Taesan?”

“Let’s leave for now.”

Taesan took the child out of the village.

The child staggered and collapsed into a bush.

The child bit their trembling nails.

“…What was that?”

This time, it was clearly strange.

The curse had activated, even though a day hadn’t passed. This had never happened before.

“And then… the power beyond the space I saw at the end. No matter how I think about it, it didn’t feel like a curse.”

The child was deeply confused.

“You are not cursed. Just because you possess blue blood, events like this should not happen.”

“What?”

The God of Choices had said: they respected all choices, even those that lead to death.

But they strongly disliked paths that were forced upon someone, where no choice existed, dictated entirely by another.

Taesan began speaking slowly, explaining to the child.

A few days later.

The child, with a lifeless expression, looked up at the golden temple.

Their face was filled with every negative emotion imaginable.

“Everything is your choice.”

Taesan spoke. The child, as if resolute, began walking toward the temple. The knights guarding the entrance thrust their spears toward Taesan and the child.

“Halt! This is the temple where His Majesty resides! Who goes there?”

“I am… the cursed child.”

The child removed their robe. The guards, recognizing the child’s identity, were visibly startled.

Suppressing their emotions, the child spoke.

“I have completed all the trials His Majesty bestowed upon me. I have come here to meet my end.”

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