For the first time in a long while, I had felt the gap between myself and another being not as something I could immediately overcome, but as something I would have to grow into. His presence had ignited something within me that I had not felt since the earliest days of my ascent.
Excitement.
It began as a faint sensation deep within my mind, then spread outward, stirring something restless beneath the surface of my thoughts. The familiar inability to remain still returned, the quiet urge to move forward, to grow stronger, to push beyond whatever limits still remained.
A faint smile formed on my face as I rolled my shoulder slowly, feeling the stability of my body, the flow of Essence through my channels, the steady pulse of my core.
For too long, I had been ahead.
Now, I had something to chase.
I knew what awaited me would not be easy. Theras was not simply strong. He existed at a level far beyond what I had faced so far, and if I intended to stand against him when the time came, I would need everything. Every law. Every refinement. Every fragment of strength I could claim.
I welcomed it.
The staircase ended beneath my feet, and I stepped forward into the new hall. I lifted my gaze and stared ahead.
The hall was large but simple, supported by massive grey pillars that stretched upward into shadow. There were no markings, no runes, no signs of anything extraordinary. Only silence.
At the center stood a shadow.
It was nearly my height. It did not move or react when I arrived. It simply stood there, waiting. I stepped forward and flashed across the distance, stopping a few meters away from it. The shadow did not respond.
Without hesitation, I lowered myself into a squat.
I forced my body to move slowly, suppressing the overwhelming strength I now possessed and moving instead at the pace of an unawakened human. My muscles resisted the restraint out of habit, but I controlled them, grounding myself in the motion.
Down.
Up.
Down.
Up.
"You know," I said casually, continuing the movement, "it has been a long time since I did squats like this."
I rose again and rolled my shoulders, loosening the tension in my body.
"But squats are the king."
I let out a faint breath and lifted my head, my eyes settling on the shadow once more.
The excitement that had begun earlier had not faded. It had only grown stronger.
"I am excited again," I said calmly. "So tell me..."
I straightened fully, my Essence settling into perfect readiness beneath the surface.
"What do you have for me?"
As though it had been waiting for that exact invitation, the shadow responded.
It slowly raised both its hands outward, spreading its arms wide. The air behind it distorted faintly, and then a low bell chime echoed across the hall. The sound was soft at first, almost harmless, but it carried a resonance that did not belong to ordinary vibration.
Behind the shadow, a massive bell began to form.
It was not entirely physical. It existed somewhere between matter and illusion, its surface black and smooth, its shape stabilizing as faint ripples spread outward from it. Runes flickered across its surface briefly before settling into stillness. The domain completed itself silently, the bell suspended behind the shadow like the core of its authority.
"Oh," I said casually, studying it. "Is that your domain?"
Even as I spoke, I could already feel it. The subtle pressure that spread across the space around me, redefining the environment under its control. The bell finished forming completely.
And then it struck.
The chime did not travel through the air. It appeared directly inside my mind.
A violent resonance erupted within my soul, bypassing physical defense entirely. My consciousness trembled as the vibration spread through my inner structure, targeting the foundation of my existence rather than my body. For a brief instant, my vision blurred, and a faint wave of dizziness passed through me as my soul absorbed the impact.
But it was not enough. I clenched my will around my soul and crushed the resonance, forcing the vibration to collapse before it could propagate further.
The pressure vanished.
"Hmm," I murmured, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. "That is clever."
I looked directly at the bell.
"Sound as the core of a domain. That is a good idea."
The shadow remained silent, waiting.
"But it has one weakness," I continued calmly. "Sound needs a medium."
I snapped my fingers.
A ripple spread outward instantly and space obeyed my command. Every particle within the immediate region ceased to exist. Matter disintegrated. Air vanished. Even ambient Essence was stripped away completely. The space around the bell became empty, devoid of anything capable of carrying vibration. Without Essence it could not target my soul as well.
"Go ahead," I said, folding my arms across my chest. "Try again."
The shadow did not hesitate. A massive club formed near the bell. The weapon rose and then slammed down against the bell’s surface with tremendous force.
But there was no sound.
The strike landed. The bell vibrated. But without a medium, its laws could not propagate.
I shook my head slightly.
"You need to overcome your weaknesses," I said quietly. "Otherwise, someone like me will exploit them."
Before the shadow could respond, I vanished. I appeared directly in front of it, my hand already moving forward. My palm touched its chest gently, without force.
The effect was immediate.
Cracks spread across its form, fracturing its structure from the inside. Its domain collapsed instantly, the bell behind it shattering into fading fragments as its authority lost cohesion.
The shadow exploded. Its form dissolved into darkness, leaving nothing behind.
Nothing except a soul.
An old human woman appeared where the shadow had stood, her form translucent, her expression calm. She looked at me, then at the hall around us, understanding settling into her eyes.
She bowed in gratitude just like other souls.
Then she vanished. Her soul energy flowed toward me and merged into my own, strengthening it. I felt the density increase, the stability deepen, but the change was small.
Insignificant compared to what was required. Three hundred and thirty-three feet.
That was the height Amun had demanded. This was barely a drop within an ocean.