Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

Uhtred immediately went on the defensive. He channeled his metal magic through the handle of his battleaxe, causing the heavy blade head to instantly deform and widen out into a broader shape that shielded his head from the direct brunt of the blast.

The searing heat washed over him. The armor-like tactical clothing he had recently purchased from the multiversal store held its ground, the reinforced fabric absorbing the massive thermal impact and preventing the liquid flames from melting his skin.

He had spent a significant amount of money to upgrade his gear to materials that could handle attacks from entities and beasts like this Level 23 Fire-breathing Saber-toothed Tiger.

However, at these levels, relying purely on gear durability to tank an apex beast’s attack was a death sentence. Armor was only meant to stall some of the damage and shave off the initial brunt of an impact.

The fire-breathing tiger was a powerhouse. Its mastery over its fire affinity was far too dense for standard store-bought materials to endure for more than a few seconds.

Uhtred only shielded himself with his armor clothing and his star-metal battleaxe before he bolted from behind the line of the fire blast. His high Agility attribute kicked in as he dashed to the side, launching a high-speed charge through the smoke with his glowing weapon gripped tightly in his right hand.

The star-metal battleaxe was clearly beginning to show its limits. The body of the weapon was glowing a dangerous, angry red from the constant heat exposure, and though its structural form remained fully malleable to his metal magic, the core of the material was under immense strain.

This thing needs an upgrade, Uhtred thought, his eyes tracking the beast’s movements through the haze.

At Level 23, even the star metal material of his battleaxe was beginning to show some deficiencies in handling continuous essence input and output.

Uhtred burst through the burning inferno, and the saber-toothed tiger was sitting at the exact same spot waiting for him. Their eyes met across the distance, and Uhtred was reminded just how crazy the system evolution for some of these beasts it had brought back to life was.

However, to him who was used to fighting beasts above his level, fighting against a same-level beast wasn’t anything particularly spectacular, even with how powerful they were.

The only reason he was taking this much time with the Saber-toothed Tiger was for a completely different reason: its exceptional area-of-effect control over the battlefield.

It didn’t just strike its targets directly, it actively altered the terrain to its advantage. The beast possessed a rare dual-affinity for both earth and fire.

The ground beneath Uhtred’s boots suddenly cracked open, turning into boiling molten lava.

Uhtred didn’t stop for a moment. He jumped over the molten pit, launching himself into the air and into the direct vicinity of the Saber-toothed Tiger.

The massive predator bared its long, glowing fangs, staring down at the approaching human without a single trace of fear in its feline eyes.

"All right, playtime’s over," Uhtred growled.

With a violent snap of his shoulder, he hurled the heavy battleaxe straight at the center of the tiger’s skull.

The beast instantly cut off its fire belch, twisting its massive neck to the side to dodge the whizzing trajectory of the incoming metal. At the exact same time, it drew a deep breath, preparing to unleash an even more intense, concentrated stream of plasma directly at Uhtred.

But the thrown axe had already served its primary purpose.

As the tiger shifted its focus to avoid the weapon, Uhtred’s frost magic activated.

In an instant, he completely inverted the temperature of the immediate surroundings. His mastery over thermal magic had reached the point where he could cycle between both extreme ends of heat and frigid cold without the lag time of before and without much preparation.

His frost magic alone had already reached Level 6, and the output was terrifying.

"Winter Court!" Uhtred growled under his breath, activating his spell.

Immediately, the surrounding radius around Uhtred, which encompassed the saber-toothed tiger, descended into an even more frigid cold, followed by a white haze reminiscent of a familiar spell.

Uhtred had reverse engineered this technique by copying the Frost Daemon he had slaughtered on the 20th floor of his dungeon.

It wasn’t a cheap, one-for-one imitation, though. Uhtred had developed his own version just by reverse engineering and filling out the blanks with his own understanding of thermal manipulation.

Even though the effects were similar, his winter court was not the same as the Frost Daemon’s. And at Level 23, the amount of cosmic essence he could funnel into the spell was far more than the level 21 Frost Daemon could, so the effect was even more pronounced and terrifying.

Needless to say, the battle was over three seconds later.

The blinding blizzard completely blocked out the tiger’s vision and snuffed out its fire magic for a few moments.

Before the predator could adjust itself and adapt, or even use its Earth magic to counter and pull itself away from the radius of the domain, the freezing temperature locked its joints and frostbite pierced through its muscles until its body became completely rigid.

Uhtred took advantage of the moment and sliced its head off cleanly at its neck, before piercing his hand through its chest and digging out its essence core.

He didn’t even bother admiring the glowing orange core. He immediately put it into his spatial storage, a new device he had gotten from the multiversal store that held several cubic meters worth of space within.

With the threat cleared, he stood amidst the melting snow and immediately pulled up the flashing blue System log that had disrupted his combat focus. He knew that for the System to force a prompt right when he was in the middle of a battle, the notice had to be very important.

[Notice: First Global Trial Initiated]

[Trial Title: Trial of the Ages]

[Description: Two weeks have officially elapsed since the integration of Planet Earth. The initial adaptation phase for the modern human race has concluded. The System will now implement the next phase of the ongoing Global Quest: The Sapiens’ Crucible.

The Trial of the Ages is the first formal evaluation pitting the ancient variants of man directly against their modern descendants to measure their long-term viability under the rules of cosmic essence. This trial is the first of multiple filters designed to determine the dominant strain of this world.

Upon the conclusion of this notice, permanent territorial transit arrays will manifest within every established territory across the globe. These arrays will grant direct passage to the trial grounds. A continent specifically prepared and terraformed by the System since the onset of the integration: Australia]

Uhtred’s brows knit together into a hard, deep frown as he read the last word.

How the hell is there still a place called Australia? Hasn’t the entire world been terraformed into something else entirely?

Uhtred was entirely confused. It wasn’t even just about the fact that an old world landmass had reappeared, but specifically, why Australia?

What was special about the place that made the System keep it, despite the fact that it had reformed the entire landmasses of the planet itself?

He pushed the questions to the back of his mind, his eyes shifting down to read the rest of the prompt.

[The rules of this trial remain hidden. However, for fairness, the System will reveal a few hints:

Every individual on the planet can join this trial, regardless of level. But the System suggests a base strength of Level 10 before joining to ensure survivability

​The teleportation points to this continent will only appear within territories owned by individuals in Zone 1. There will be no teleportation points in any area in Zone 0. Territory owners have the right to decide who gets to use their teleportation circles and who doesn’t

​For the period the teleportation circle is active in any territory, that territory will be exempt from external attack. Territory owners may freely go to the trial without having to worry about the safety of their home bases. This applies to modern humans and the ancient variants]

​[Participation is entirely voluntary. However, survivors should be aware that the result of this trial will go a long way in determining which variant strain will be acknowledged as the true representative of planet Earth. More details will be revealed once you enter]

​[Trial Type: Voluntary]

​[Trial Duration: 1 Month : 0 Days : 0 Hours : 0 Minutes]

​[Win Conditions: ???]

​[Failure Penalty: Nil]