Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

"No." Uhtred didn’t even hesitate to decline using the manual shard right now. He was up on his feet immediately after harvesting the beast core, bending low as he left the site of the battle quickly.

This time though, he was looking for a cave or any sort of enclave that would ensure he wasn’t left vulnerable when he used the shard.

Logically that was the next thing to do. There was no heading to the river in his current state unless he was able to heal himself. And learning how to cultivate was the only apparent method to achieve that.

Within minutes, he was well away from the site of the fight and began to look for suitable hiding spots. But while he was at it, he noticed a tree with branches that looked well-suited for climbing.

Even with his hurting body, he reckoned he could tough it out and work his way up relatively easily.

This is actually good. It’s out in the open and I’d be able to see anything snooping around from a high vantage point, Uhtred thought, moving immediately to climb the tree.

Finding a cave or enclave of any kind in such a short time was harder. And even if he found one, how could he be sure another beast wouldn’t have made such a place its home already?

Uhtred grit his teeth, stifling his groans as he jumped and reached for the first branch, pulling himself up and climbing the rest of the way slowly.

Finally, he reached a high branch, solid and wide enough to accommodate him comfortably, before he relaxed slightly, sweat beading down his forehead from exertion.

Damn... That lizard busted me badly, he held his side that was throbbing more violently now.

Let’s just hope the rewards are good enough, he opened the System panel and let all the messages flood his vision.

[Titles Gained]

Initiated Hunter : 9th in world to kill a beast. (+2 Merits)

​Skilled Combatant : 4th in world to kill a beast 1 level above you. (+10 Merits)

​Elite Slayer : 2nd in world to kill a beast 2 levels above you. (+27 Merits)

Apex Predator : 1st in world to kill a beast 3 levels above you. (+40 Merits)

Bane of the Strong : 1st in world to kill a beast 4 levels above you. (+50 Merits) 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Tier Breaker : 1st in world to kill a beast 5 levels above you. (+100 Merits)

​Pacesetter : 1st in world to reach Level 1. (+100 Merits)

Total Merits earned : 329.

Do you wish to redeem Merits now or continue to stack for better reward(s)?

Okay... that’s a lot, Uhtred thought. But first...

"Ninth in the world to kill a beast?" he muttered, raising his brow slightly in surprise. It had only been five minutes at the moment of his first kill, yet eight people had killed beasts ahead of him already.

Not just that. Even the first kill title for a beast one and two levels above had been taken.

"There are people out there who have adapted so quickly?"Uhtred muttered, becoming serious. "Well, I guess that’s not too surprising... It’s the whole world afterall."

The realization served as a grounding reminder that the world was vast, and that having a Primordial Grade talent didn’t mean he should slack off.

He skimmed through the rest of the list, seeing that he had at least gotten some first-kill titles. But he didn’t let that get to his head and immediately scrolled to the bottom, checking his total Merits and the query from the system asking whether he wanted to redeem them or not.

Nah. I think I’ll hold off on that, Uhtred waved the query away, declining for the meantime. He had played way too many games to know that the good stuff usually came at the start.

He would have loved to redeem those Merits for rewards, especially if it could help him in his current situation. But right now, he didn’t know how valuable these Merits were or how hard they were to come across.

Was it something he’d regret spending later? Or were they easy to come by with just any title?

He put those thoughts aside for the moment, moving to the next thing.

His status panel.

Ever since the integration process, Uhtred had not bothered to check his stats even once.

The System had given him a title and a sizable amount of Merits for being the first in the world to reach Level 1, but he hadn’t even realized when he crossed that threshold.

"How do I do this? Do I just say status?"

The moment Uhtred uttered the word, a new panel containing his stats opened up in his view.

[Status]

Name: Uhtred

Level: 0 -> 1 (Peak)

Race: Human

Class Grade: Primordial

Class Title: Formless

Core Attunement: Limitless (Compatible with all affinities)

Core Rank: Mortal (Next rank evolution at Level 25)

[Attributes]

Strength: 10 -> 13

Agility: 10 -> 14

Endurance: 10 -> 12

Vitality: 10

Intelligence: 10 -> 15

Perception: 10 -> 14

Willpower: 10 -> 11

Luck: 19

"Not bad..." Uhtred smiled as he scrolled through. There was a lot to unpack, but he also waved it aside for later.

A more pressing issue still remained. The System message from before.

[Low Mortal Rank cultivation manual shard available for use. Proceed to learn {Basic Essence Cultivation} now?]

"Yes," Uhtred said, and immediately, a tiny black-colored crystal materialized right in front of him, hovering mid-air before suddenly shooting toward his forehead and disappearing.

A stream of information slammed into Uhtred’s mind right after. Every single aspect of the basic essence cultivation technique started to flow into his brain at a rapid pace.

For what felt like a prolonged moment, there was nothing else but thoughts of the technique taking up the entirety of his mind, until eventually, the process ended and he could think normally again.

Gasp!

Uhtred sucked in mouthfuls of air, and his vision swam for several seconds.

"Minor bout of disorientation my ass!" he managed to mutter through in his dazed state. The system had warned about this earlier, but it seemed the System’s definition of minor differed slightly from what Uhtred classified as the same.

Thankfully, Uhtred was able to come to his bearings relatively quickly. Within seconds, his vision stabilized, and his breathing evened out. And in his head, a whole new understanding of the basic essence cultivation technique sat like it had always been there.

The sensation was jarring. If Uhtred had to describe it, it was as though neural pathways had been carved directly into his brain, bypassing the slow process of learning, and giving him the knowledge cleanly.

In fact, his knowledge of the technique was so deep and inherent that it felt as basic and as second-nature as reciting the alphabet.

Uhtred opened his extraction artifact and took out the stored beast core. Holding it carefully in his palm, he began to cultivate, putting his newly acquired knowledge to the test.

And within seconds, a warm sensation began to flow from the beast core, up through his arm, before pooling steadily in his chest.