Scarlet

I smile up at the ceiling as I enjoy the water in the bath for several minutes before eventually taking a deep breath.

[You have completed all the requirements to reach Class IV. Would you like to ascend?]

“Yes, I would,” I state out loud in response to the System, my voice echoing through the bath chamber after I let out the breath.

[Confirmation received. Ascension to Class IV will now begin.]

Several seconds pass in silence before I feel the extreme pain from the past ascensions return. But this time is different. I can tell almost immediately that it is.

Instead of the absolute burning pain across my body, this one feels more like that of a papercut. But all over. A simple, sharp, stabbing pain everywhere that has me instantly screaming out loud.

And I already know why it’s so different. It’s because this ascension is directly changing my reality itself. My soul as humans used to call it in old-world Earth.

A process that is making me want to tear my own skin apart just to feel something else, because not only does it hurt, but it’s fucking uncomfortable. Like I have an itch everywhere on my body and don’t at the same time.

But I don’t do anything. I just stay stiffly underwater.

Because I know better than to scratch myself at this time. All that’ll do is end up tearing apart my skin and further extending the process of the ascension to repair that damage.

The stabbing pain and discomfort continues for who knows how long as I scream my voice hoarse, only to vanish out of nowhere. Then I hear cracking sounds along with the feeling of severe discomfort and some minor pain all over my body, causing me to look down just to find my bones shifting back and forth between my beast form and my lycan form on their own with no usage of the skill. Which surprises me a little.

Not to mention the fact that judging by its appearance, it should hurt quite a bit. But it’s just uncomfortable with only some pain instead.

Strange.

The discomfort grows more when I feel my face elongating into that of the muzzle I have in my beast form, only to turn back. Then to do it again and turn back again.

Please make this stop.

As if responding to my thoughts, everything stops. And I briefly wonder if the System actually listened to me, or rather the universe since ascension isn’t actually the System’s doing.

Only for a flash of pain to echo throughout my body as the shifting suddenly starts again, but this time joined with my size growing larger. And larger. And larger, only stopping when I reach about three meters in height, at which point I feel my entire form shifting along with it.

Then everything just resets, and I end up back in my lycan form while panting heavily, unable to move as my head rests on the edge of the bath, some of the water having overflowed thanks to my increase in size.

That… was weird.

“It looks like you’re probably going to get a major upgrade to your beast form skill this time,” Tar comments. “And yeah, the Class IV ascension focuses more on the reality than your physical body. So the pain is more spiritual in form than physical, with a lot more discomfort than the others rather than actual pain.”

A lot of discomfort. I really hope I don’t have to go through anything like that again.

“You will for your eventual ascension to Class V,” Tar says, crushing my hopes rather brutally. “Class IV just partially merges your reality and your body. Class V fully merges them, so it’s a lot worse than Class IV’s ascension.”

I’m starting to wish you kept that to yourself.

Well, at least I’m not passing out from exhaustion this time. There wasn’t as much pain after all, and the type of pain felt less exhausting somehow.

So I let my System Messages flow.

Ascension complete.

User is now class IV.