Born In Ashes: The Enigma

(You have awakened your attribute)

[Attribute — Astral]

As his wind power activated, Azrael felt an extraordinary closeness to the wind.

It was as if with just a single thought, he could command the wind at will— and so he did.

Azrael stretched out his palm and attempted to mobilize his wind power. It was his first time using it, yet thanks to the Heart of Wind, which raised his affinity with the wind element to a remarkably high level, controlling it felt effortless.

The moment he focused on using his power, gales of wind began to swirl around his palm. Soon, they formed into a small, rapidly spinning tornado suspended above the palm of his hand.

When Ashara and Maelir saw this, their mouths couldn't help but twitch, remembering just how difficult it had been for them to control their powers when they first activated them.

Azrael's ease in wielding his power wasn't solely due to the Heart of Wind. His trait Infinite Comprehension and his mid-level breathing method also played crucial roles in his ability to grasp and control the power of wind so quickly, even on his first attempt.

To use the wind's power, he also needed to circulate his cosmic energy. But after months of refining it through the mid-level breathing method, he could now channel it effortlessly.

The small tornado spinning above his palm was initially green, but as Azrael willed his attribute to activate, the color immediately shifted to a stunning, ethereal purple— a radiant, Aurora like hue.

Though this transformation slightly increased the consumption of his cosmic energy, it wasn't significant. With over 200 points of cosmic energy at his disposal, Azrael could easily sustain his attribute without worrying about running out of energy.

"Azrael, your attribute... it's related to targeting spiritual lifeforms such as souls, ghosts, spirits, and other similar entities, right?" Ashara asked as she observed the purple energy around the small tornado.

Azrael stopped testing his wind power, and the spinning tornado above his palm vanished.

"Yes," He replied, standing up and turning to face Ashara. "It's called the Astral Attribute. When I attack someone, I can directly cause damage to their soul through this attribute."

Ashara and Maelir both drew a sharp breath upon hearing his confirmation.

They had already sensed that his attribute was related to spiritual lifeforms, but they hadn't expected it would allow him to directly damage the soul.

What did it mean to directly harm a soul?

Simply put— suppose Azrael used a wind blade to strike someone. If the blade hit its target, it wouldn't just inflict the usual physical damage; it would also deal spiritual damage to the target's soul.

Harming someone's soul was not a trivial matter. In battle, even a momentary injury to the soul could prove deadly, as spiritual damage was far more dangerous than physical wounds.

Ordinarily, targeting someone's soul required rare spiritual skills or powers such as Curse, Mind, or other similar ones.

But Azrael's attribute changed everything. Even his normal attacks could now harm the soul.

For now, due to his low level, the damage he could inflict on a soul was limited. However, as his strength grew, this attribute would become truly terrifying.

"Try attacking me," Ashara suddenly said, pointing at herself.

Azrael raised an eyebrow at her words, but after considering the massive gap between their powers, he nodded in agreement.

With a mere thought, a sharp blade formed beside him, composed entirely of wind. Since he was using his attribute, the blade shimmered in brilliant purple.

Azrael waved his hand, and the wind blade tore through the air, slicing apart the surrounding winds as it flew toward Ashara in an instant.

Ashara calmly stretched out her palm, letting the wind blade strike it without any attempt to defend herself.

The moment the blade struck her palm, it immediately stopped, as if it had struck an iron wall, and a moment later, it disintegrated into countless motes of glowing purple light.

Ashara could clearly feel the wind blade's effect. The moment it hit her, a force tried to pierce her soul.

Though her soul was far too powerful to be affected, she was still astonished that even a basic attack from Azrael had the capacity to reach her soul.

'This attribute is really dangerous...' She thought to herself, imagining what could happen if Azrael were at the same level as her— A cosmic king level being.

'If he had been on par with me, I would have definitely been stunned for at least a second from a direct soul hit... and in a battle, even a split second delay can be fatal...'

Ashara took a deep breath and smiled at Azrael.

"This attribute is very powerful. If you develop it properly, it won't be impossible for you to fight against opponents at much higher levels."

Azrael's face lit up with delight at her words as he could also sense just how formidable his natural attribute truly was.

Just as he was about to respond, his expression shifted. He suddenly frowned, feeling as if someone was watching him.

Ashara and Maelir's expressions changed as well. They too sensed that someone— or something— was watching their location.

Azrael wasn't sure why, but he felt an inexplicable closeness to the gaze. The sensation it gave him was deeply familiar.

'The feeling it's giving me... it's almost identical to the sensation I get from the wind around me. Like something intimately tied to me.'

The sensation lasted only a second before vanishing completely and no one could feel the presence of the gaze anymore.

But the mood in the room had already shifted and the light-hearted atmosphere from earlier was gone.

Ashara's face wasn't looking good as she suspected the gaze had been drawn to them because of the Heart of Wind that Azrael had just used to activate his power.

Maelir, on the other hand, wore a serious expression—not only because he was the guardian of Arkanis, but also because the entrance to Eonrift was located here.

If anything went wrong due to that mysterious gaze, the consequences could be dire.

He glanced at Ashara and, seeing the deep frown on her face, immediately understood her concern.

"I will go check out what just happened," He told her, fully aware that this wasn't a trivial matter.

Ashara took a deep breath and silently nodded.

Maelir promptly left, and Ashara turned back to Azrael, who wore a thoughtful expression.

"You don't have to worry about what just happened," She said, noticing the look on his face.

Azrael snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her and simply nodded.

He didn't mention that he felt the mysterious presence held no ill intent toward him. After all, it was only a feeling—there was no certainty.

What if that being did harbor hostile intentions?

Just to be safe, it was better to remain cautious and let Ashara handle the matter.

He pushed the matter to the back of his mind and looked at Ashara with anticipation.

"Now that my power has awakened, should we proceed with the most important part—the class advancement ritual?"