CHAPTER 66: BECOMING THE VESSEL OF INFINITY [II]

"Damn, you really want to kill me with pain that bad?" Aurelian groaned, dropping to his knees as waves of agony assaulted his body.

This time, far more intense than ever before. His body lit up in a resplendent purple glow, illuminating the dungeon as glyphs and runes formed in the air, weaving intricate formations before slamming into his flesh, engraving themselves into him, rewriting his very being.

The purple light swelled incandescently, enveloping him completely and forming a radiant shell of light that cocooned his body.

Then the real changes began. The branded runes dimmed as their power ebbed into his flesh, reforging his entire structure to house something no mortal vessel was ever meant to wield.

As it unfolded, his will synced with his blades one last time, issuing commands before even his consciousness was dragged into the agony of being reforged.

The blades responded instantly, spinning above the corpse of the level 31 acidic slime. A black hole bloomed, devouring the carcass before collapsing in on itself. Even before the notification blinked into view, all that energy was mystically drawn into Aurelian’s attributes—channeled into Constitution. Warm energy flooded him, and the grimace lining his face eased as vitality surged through him. The process had become natural now, the Infinite Mana Pathways sinking deep into his mind, anchoring a concept beyond comprehension. His skin shimmered faintly, a wondrous sight unseen even to him.

Had he been awake, casting his metaphysical vision, he would have witnessed ethereal strings stretching across his form, carving into him a structure that radiated an aura ancient enough to border on divinity.

The blades hovering before him buzzed violently, their surfaces glimmering as they were drawn into the purple light. Synced to his will, they were dragged deeper, even as they resisted. Cracks spread across their surfaces, splintering and reforging them again and again. Each time they pulled back, the light swallowed them whole, siphoning the energy until they were forced to absorb it.

The devilish black hue tinged in crimson was flushed out, replaced by torrents of purple energy. They shattered and reforged in endless cycles, their frames expanding monstrously from two meters to three. Their aura grew by the second, wavering between pure corruption and radiant purity, unable to decide which to embody. Finally, they exploded into motes of splendiferous light, releasing a shockwave across a hundred meters. Yet the shell of light around Aurelian remained untouched.

The scattered motes were drawn back into the purple cocoon, reforged with it as the core. Their new forms emerged, dazzling to behold.

One blade hovered at his side, its three-meter frame cloaked in a menacing black hue. Wisps of abyssal smoke drifted from it, sizzling the air with corruption.

The other, similar in size, radiated a pure incandescent light. Its edges gleamed white-hot, exuding an aura of untainted purity that stood in stark contrast to its twin.

If he had been conscious, he would have noticed the notification blinking before him.

Seconds blurred into minutes, minutes into hours, as the purple glow dimmed. Its radiance had acted as a beacon, drawing hordes of beasts. Acidic slimes surrounded him, staring at the cocoon as though it were a divine treasure about to be born. Those foolish enough to attack had long been reduced to ash.

Deep within, a figure slowly came into view. The purple energy sank into his body, muscles arched to perfection, midnight-black hair streaked with silver-white strands. His allure sharpened even further. His eyes fluttered open, revealing swirling vortices of abyssal and crimson light.

A notification rang out.

[Ding! Congratulations! The host has successfully merged with the Infinite Mana Pathways!]

[Construct I awakened: Converting Finite into Infinite.]

"Finally," Aurelian breathed, a smile tugging at his lips as memories surged through his mind, secrets and mechanics unraveling as if reclaimed from a forgotten past.

Snapping his fingers, a robe draped itself over him, replacing the tatters shredded by his transformation. His gaze shifted to the horde of beasts surrounding him, their gazes locked onto him in awe and hunger.

He ignored them. Lowering his body, he extended an index finger toward the ground. A whisper escaped his lips.

"Heavy as the ocean."

A blue hue covered his fingertip, and even before it touched the floor, the air screamed in protest. When it landed, the ground collapsed instantly, forming a massive crater. The shockwave propelled him upward, rocketing ten meters into the air.

"Light as a feather," he whispered again, and the same glow enveloped him. His body descended slowly, weightless, until he touched down.

"It worked," he exhaled, exhilarated. The memories synced seamlessly with his body, unlocking the function of the Infinite Mana Pathways.

It hadn’t granted him infinite mana per se. But something just as terrifying.

The ability to compress mana to unimaginable levels. To shift a drop of mana into an ocean. Where another might need 100 mana to cast a single fireball, he could use that same amount to unleash a hundred. Finite, twisted into infinite.

And this was only the first construct.

The second was bound to be even more monstrous.

His lips curled into a smile as a single thought played at the back of his head.

It was testing time!

But before he could move, his gaze shifted, his brows arching as he stared at the blades hovering before him.

"You evolved again?" he murmured, eyes glued to them.

They had changed, drastically. He mused aloud, "Black and white, swirling like fish chasing each other... damn, that’s some straight-up Taichi vibes right there."

The sight sparked old memories, but he shook them off, snapping his focus back to the horde of slimes charging at him, likely furious after being cheated out of the treasure they had expected.

It was long overdue anyway. Time to end this and clear the damned dungeon. He had lingered here far too long; now, all that remained was to devour a few more beasts to awaken his third supreme record.

His feet lit up with a dim blue glow as mana coated his steps, his figure vanishing from where he stood.

In less than a heartbeat, rippling shockwaves echoed through the dungeon as slimes burst into misty explosions of blood, torn apart beneath the ruthless assault of a single youth. The once-menacing E-rank evolved Acidic Slimes were reduced to nothing more than scraps of meat, helpless prey on his chopping board.