It was night.
Due to the thick clouds enshrouding the sky, the world has become much colder than before.
That is why, even though he can utilize World Energy to make his body tougher than common Soul Practitioners, Asher had to rely on fire to keep himself warm.
He is knowledgeable in wilderness survival: how to pitch a tent, create a fire, get food and water from the environment, avoid beasts, and so on. The problem was, there was no longer a 'wilderness'.
Solvarya has become a different world.
Grrrr*
His stomach is empty, asking for nutrition.
There was no hare to hunt nor fruits to be picked. No matter how far he walked and traveled, there was nothing but ashes and hills of ashes.
It had been several days since his encounter with that devilish bitch of a Phoenix.
Why did he let her go?
Was it because she is a Divine Being? Is he not confident in killing her?
Or was it because he had never killed anyone before? Maybe his emotions subsided seeing her desperate for air.
Or... was he still hoping a Phoenix can revive this dead world?
Or maybe the reason is all of them.
Asher didn't seek the answer. For the past few days, his mind was blank. Only his body did what it needed to do for survival.
To survive, he had to learn more about the new age this world had abruptly entered. These are what he learned over the first few days of exploring.
Firstly, around three inches of ashes covered the ground. Some places have four, and other places have two, probably because of erosion. However, below the bed of ashes was black solidified ground. It seemed that due to the plummeting temperature, a lot more water condensed especially during the night, making ashes stick to it. Once they dried up, they created a thin black covering the ground. Conclusion? It's only a matter of time before these pesky ashes brought into the air come down and meet the ground.
Secondly, almost all life had died: humans, beasts, animals, trees, plants, and others alike.
Those two points are obvious at a glance. But what's interesting is that not all life has disappeared. Which is explained in the next point.
Thirdly. The fire that swallowed everything only traveled on the surface. Although it burned and melted some stone above, under a few inches below, the soil was left untouched. It had heated up but further below, everything was normal.
Right.
Asher was getting food from underground such as tubers and other root vegetables. Right now, he was roasting some carrots to fill his empty stomach.
The problem was water. Although he could squeeze some moisture from the root vegetables, most of it was dried due to the intense heat they endured. There are other methods to get water from the wild. But again, the 'wild' no longer exists.
Whatever, it'll take months before I die of thirst.
With that keeping him alive, Asher would walk straight for days in the hope of seeing a landscape other than this darkened version.
Days gone by...
Asher found nothing until he reached the foot of a tall mountain cliff. He seemingly reached a dead end.
But he didn't see it as such.
Asher bested against the Third Royal Prince -the second-most talented man among his peers in the whole Neixe Kingdom- just recently.
As one who can freely utilize the World Energy, this steep cliff was just another path.
Tightening the cloth covering his nose and mouth, the lone survivor began his climb. This was an especially tall mountain. Asher intentionally chose this mountain for that reason.
He climbed and climbed. Not for minutes, nor for hours. Asher climbed for days. When his skin was peeled off the first time and blood had dried out, he used one of the many Soul Skills in his arsenal.
[Minor Healing]
The wound closed up slowly. But that didn't stop his hand from trembling. It was fatigued from all the climbing he did. Furthermore, the skill didn't remove the pain.
[Strength Boost: Upper Limbs]
Forcing his way up, Asher didn't pause nor rest. The wind up here was biting, yet it wasn't able to pierce through the heat within his body.
There was no reason to rush. In fact, Asher was not alarmed by time at all. It feels like he had all the time in the world.
It was just that, he didn't want to rest. Was he tired? He didn't feel it. In fact, he didn't feel anything.
Damn...
Asher silently muttered. He wanted to busy himself, lest his mind wander and think about things he didn't want to think about.
So, he continued.
Another round of days had gone passed when Asher's bony hands grasped the peak of the mountain.
After setting his footing, he didn't feel relieved that the climb was over. Even though it was something that even experienced Soul Practitioners wouldn't be able to do easily, Asher didn't feel accomplished as well.
For the first time since he departed from the devilish bitch, Asher felt anxious. He gulped audibly, wondering what he would see here at the mountain peak.
The wind howled piercingly and the atmosphere was so light that it should make humans dizzy up here. That didn't bother Asher though as he utilized the World Energy to keep himself oriented.
Preparing himself for this moment, Asher looked far ahead and saw the blinding sun ahead. Based on its position, it's around an hour past noon.
When he gazed down, he saw the sea of clouds covering the land. It's like another continent of white fluffy land.
It was like heaven if the land below it was hell.
Asher removed the clothing around his mouth and breathed in the fresh air, untainted by the soot and ashes typical below.
But even that failed to reduce the tension he was feeling.
He went there for one reason and so, after a pause, he used another skill. A skill that lets vision pierce through obstacles according to the user's will. This is not an easy skill to use or obtain because it is an Epitome-Rank Soul Skill: [Transcendent Vision].
A Soul Skill is neatly ranked into four categories: Earthen, Grand, Empyrean, and Epitome.
Even top powerhouses in Solvarya would not be able to stay composed at the thought of having an Epitome-Rank Soul Skill.
Amer O'lothe, Asher's father. A dignified duke of the Neixe Kingdom, head of a Pureblooded Family. Reaching the level of Transcendent, he would be in the top 5% in the whole world of Solvarya in terms of pure strength.
Yet, even such a powerhouse, among his four Soul Skills, only had one Epitome-Rank Soul Skill.
Amer wouldn't even get this skill if it was not passed down from generation to generation within his family.
This is how rare an Epitome-Rank Soul Skill is.
Using [Transcendant Vision], the clouds that covered the world disappeared whenever Asher's eyes would lay upon it. Not that it literally disappeared but his sight would go past it.
He could see through walls!
With no barrier stopping him, Asher looked at the landscape as far as he could. To do that, he expended the World Energy stored within him and did something other Soul Practitioners would never believe lest they see it for themselves.
Along with [Transcendant Vision], the Grand-Ranked Soul Skill [Eagle Eyes] was activated.
Two skills at the same time, stacked on top of one another!
This is how he defeated the Third Royal Prince even with a limited time to train. Nobody, even the Royal King, saw through it. Everyone thought that he was using a skill to an extraordinary degree back then.
[Eagle Eyes] increased his vision as if he were looking through binoculars. Asher gazed through the world and finally saw what he wanted to see when he chose this tall mountain.
At the far horizon, past the clouds and the mountains, there were black lands.
The same landscape as he has been seeing these past week.
Huh...
Even when standing on the cold mountain peak, beads of cold sweat formed on Asher's forehead.
There was nothing but black lands. No sign of any life or color.
Even with the world's curvature, he could see around three thousand kilometers away. But the landscape still looked the same.
Asher's hand trembled. He looked left and right, horizon to horizon. He turned around and like a madman, tried to search for something, something other than the darkened lands. Any sign of life, anything!
The measly amount of World Energy stored within him was rapidly being consumed until it reached dangerously low levels.
It was the only thing protecting him from the harsh environment.
So, he stopped.
Hopelessness settled in.
Dumbstruck, Asher fell on his back and lay down flat on the ground.
Feeling listless, he stared at the sky for hours on end. His emotions dried up and felt like they were slipping from his fingers. Even though the wind was harsh and the cold catching up to his body, Asher didn't feel like standing up and moving on.
There was nowhere to go.