Ashen Ascension: The Divided Flame-Chapter 77: Not Useful

He rested the scrolls on his lap but did not open the next one immediately.

Speed.

That was the real bottleneck.

Attuning nodes was taking too long. Every skill demanded more, and the higher the node count, the slower the process became. If he continued at this rate, he would spend months just unlocking capacity before he could truly grow stronger.

He needed to increase the speed of attunement.

And that meant absorbing mana faster.

Not just pulling it in passively but drawing it in deliberately.

His mana pool refilled, yes—but refill speed was different from absorption efficiency. Right now, he was letting the environment feed him at its own pace. That was acceptable for survival. It was not acceptable for advancement.

His fingers tapped lightly against the bark.

The Scar was rich in mana. If he could endure the strain, he could turn that volatility into acceleration. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He picked up the next scroll, but his thoughts remained elsewhere.

If he wanted to survive the Scar and rise beyond it, he needed a way to devour mana, not sip it.

The old paper unrolled quietly.

Skill: Quiet Field

Type: Umbra

Category: Presence Suppression

Nodes: 7

Skill type: Intermediate Skill

Seven nodes again. The repeated number was like a toll gate. It didn’t stop him, but it made him truthful. He looked past the price and focused on the purpose.

The scroll described the skill, Quiet Field, practically. It reduces mana leakage and noise, making existence "cleaner," but doesn’t offer invisibility, scent erasure, or blurring.

The effects seemed both a warning and a promise. It made the user harder to find by dampening mana leaks and suppressing tiny movements, breathing, and steps. It also lessened their sound signature, not by silencing the world, but by preventing the body’s energy from "ringing" through the environment, which trackers could sense.

Ivor immediately saw the value. He was already physically quiet, he could move and breathe silently and hide in shadows. However, as mana nodes increased, the mana itself often made noise. When he practiced, he felt the mana push out, leaving a faint trace.

Quiet Field seemed to cover up this trace.

The scroll clarified that it wasn’t invisibility, a disguise, or a block against detection. It was a technique of suppression, using discipline to stop the user from leaking mana information.

That fit him.

The technique fit his style: how he moved, listened, and avoided unnecessary fights. It also helped with his partnership with Nara; when Nara started refining crystals outside, Ivor got busier. Being busier meant more risk of being seen and tracked. By leaving fewer traces, he could steal from stronger rivals and disappear quickly.

The training section of the scroll explained that suppression, called "Quiet Field," wasn’t a simple switch but a habit layered over normal mana flow.

The first step was learning to feel your own mana leakage, something most people ignore. The user was told to stand still, circulate mana, and gently tighten the flow at the edges to soften the outward ripple. It warned that beginners often over-suppress, making movements stiff and mana unstable. The skill requires balance: quiet enough to hide, but open enough to act.

Ivor realized that Quiet Field needed to be active for a long time, not in short bursts. Using too much power would make it too expensive and impossible to maintain. A steady, layered approach would keep it active without draining the core.

He grasped the idea. It was like coating, but for suppression and restraint, not protection. Both required control and patience.

He saw the seven-node cost, a large commitment and an Umbra skill. His mana circuit only had one attuned node. He could practice the habit, but couldn’t use the full structure yet.

He set Quiet Field carefully aside.

The next scroll was also marked sensory. He unrolled it, expecting something related to tracking, detection, or perception.

Skill: Shadow Echo

Type: Umbra

Category: Presence Distortion Detection

Nodes: 7

Skill Type: Intermediate Skill

The unusual core idea of the skill is that shadows subtly react to movement and mana. The skill improves your ability to notice these subtle changes. Instead of directly sensing an enemy, you detect "wrongness" in the shadows, when a shadow acts unnaturally.

Practically, this skill lets the user sense shadow disturbances within about ten feet. It’s good for spotting hidden movement, especially in low light where shadows are varied. It’s weak in bright light. The scroll stresses that this is not direct detection or a guarantee; it’s a perception skill based on reading indirect signs.

Ivor reread the text. Shadow Echo seemed like a useful tool for hunters with poor senses, helping them spot hidden things like attackers or thieves. However, he already possessed Soul Sense, which made it unnecessary.

Soul Sense didn’t need light or shadow. It directly sensed presence and movement, giving him better information than Shadow Echo. Shadow Echo might eventually increase perception or detect distant changes, but the scroll only promised subtlety, not range.

He kept reading anyway, because even a redundant skill could have overlap that mattered.

Training involved long practice in dim light.

The user had to sit near moving shadows to learn their normal movement, then add small movements to see how the shadows changed. Practice near water, trees, and uneven light was recommended because complex shadows taught better recognition. The guide warned that being impatient would lead to paranoia instead of precision.

The warning almost made him smile, not because it was funny, but because it sounded like it was written after watching trainees lose their minds.

Ivor was already cautious; he didn’t need paranoia training. He needed efficiency. Shadow Echo seemed like a skill that would waste resources on information he already possessed.

He rolled the scroll back up and set it beside Quiet Field.

He sat, staring at both, lost in thought. Umbra skills felt more natural than mana skills. Mana was a tool; Umbra felt like a part of him. Shadow coating flowed easily. Umbra was steady when he was calm, but became erratic with strong emotion or hunger..

He felt he’d need ’Quiet Field’ not to be invisible, but to be unknown. Being invisible means people don’t see you. Being unknown means people can’t prove you were there, even after you’ve passed through their lives.

He checked his mana. He sent a small thread of mana from his core into his arm, trying to keep it from spreading out by focusing, as the scroll suggested. He felt a difference when he concentrated. The mana stayed closer, and the feeling was less noticeable.

Holding the flow in made his arm tense, unlike pushing it out. He slowed down, and the tension eased, making the flow steady. He realized a dedicated structure would simplify this, as doing it manually took too much focus.

He put the two sensory scrolls away. He couldn’t afford "Quiet Field" now, and "Shadow Echo" wasn’t needed as long as "Soul Sense" worked. He tied them back up. Only one scroll was left.

He held it, wishing it wasn’t another demanding, long-term technique. He needed something useful right away to help him survive the next week, not the next year.

He unrolled the last scroll slowly, letting the parchment settle across his lap, and he leaned forward slightly as the title came into view under the dim light.