Modern Awakening - A cultivation, LitRPG, apocalyptic novel

As Shen descended, he considered what he had learned of the Concept of Boundlessness and himself.

To be Boundless was to let nothing limit him. That such a Concept could be found in the Spear was unexpected, to say the least.

Space and Time were Boundless; they were everywhere, and Reality couldn't exist if they were missing. But a spear was a weapon, a limited physical object that others could control. It existed to further someone else's goals.

That had been Shen's understanding before he became one with the Laws of Spear for a moment.

All Laws were Boundless by definition.

The same Laws of Spear found in Shen's ancient world were found in modern Earth and the other side of the universe. How could that be considered limited? How could he ever think the Spear wasn't Boundless?

That was enough to show how wrong he had been, yet there was more.

Shen used to see Laws as building blocks of Reality, and while not wrong, that was incomplete. Laws were the pages in the book of existence, yet he had seen them only as paper. He had utterly disregarded their content.

The Laws of Spear were not just about spears. It was about everything a Spear was. A Spear was sharp; thus, it contained the Concept of Sharpness. The Concept of Sharpness governed how all sharp things interacted with anything else, be it the sharpness of a sword, a knife, or a spearhead. Both Spear and a myriad of other Laws that contained the Concept of Sharpness determined how any sharp object interacted with other things.

Of course, the Laws closest to the physicality of a particular existence were the ones that held the more significant sway over it. The Laws of Sword had a much more powerful influence over a sword's sharpness than the Laws of Spear—and they would both have particularities related to their own Laws.

That was usually found in cultivator medicine. A human's lungs were not made of metal, yet they were considered a metal-type organ. It was also not yin itself, yet it was a yin organ. The Laws of Metal and Yin were present, yet the Laws of Life were stronger than both in a lung.

Therefore, the Laws of Spear were Boundless both in existing in the entire universe and in not being confined to only the Spear.

That still wasn't all.

The Laws of Spear also weren't limited to mere physical applications. The spear was a tool too, used for different purposes, and they could all be found in its Laws.

Men used the spear for carnage, protection, and seeking freedom; thus the Concepts of Carnage, Protection, and Freedom could be found in the Spear. Wherever those things happened, the Laws of Spear would be present, whether a spear was involved or not. Though, of course, those Laws would rule stronger when those things were done using a spear.

The Spear was indeed genuinely Boundless.

Shen...

Well, Shen wasn't.

He was limited; there was no way around it. He was human, not a Law. His application over Reality could be only found on what he affected physically, for he had no Concepts pinging back to him in other objects.

But he aimed to use the spear to break free from all limitations.

It wasn't about the Concept of Freedom because he didn't consider himself a slave or similarly limited. He felt limited by enemies and their attacks, techniques and weaknesses, undesired situations and physical boundaries. And he had taken a liking to surmounting all that.

For Shen's very history was one of overcoming limits.

Shen had been a mortal once and overcame it by becoming a cultivator. He had been afraid of those stronger than him and overcame it by physically fighting against them in the tutorial. He had lied to himself a couple times about the situation he had found himself in when waking up and overcame it by accepting the truth.

He broke the chains binding him time and time again, and he sought to continue doing so.

And his spear had been by his side most of the time. It was the reflection of his past hopes, the core of his clan's ultimate martial art, and the key to his future. He couldn't see himself without it any more than he could see himself without a head.

That's who Shen was.

Whatever or whoever stood in his Path was a limiter, and his goal was to crush them with his spear.

That was his Boundless Spear.

When Shen's feet touched the ground, the first thing he noticed was that Alicia was missing. He wondered whether she had run, but she had no reason to unless she had provoked a werewolf. That reminded him of the moment when he had seen a missing bracelet in the dome, and he concluded she had tried to help and paid for it.

He immediately discarded the possibility she had managed to escape after provoking one of his attackers. If that was the case, she would've returned by now.

Alicia had either died and was expelled from the tutorial, or gone to the final boss.

He smiled slightly. Her attempted help was ultimately useless yet honorable. She might be a better person than he gave her credit for.

The second thing he noticed was that the Techmages had new bracelets and were back to their rows. They didn't move a single inch while Shen descended despite his proximity. The system seemed to have learned that messing with the heavens would only lead to punishment.

However, the moment his feet touched the ground, they moved.

They got away from Shen while their bracelets flew to recreate the dome around him. He didn't try to escape. The desperation he had felt in the dome had been the catalyst to help him evolve, and going back in to use his new Concept to free himself would be just perfect.

Soon, he was once again surrounded by the dome and getting attacked.

Shen's core was filled with Heavenly Qi, though he couldn't use it for anything special. It wouldn't even be useful to add runes to his core because it was too refined for his level of existence. If a powerful cultivator was nearby, they might take it from him for greater purposes, but that wasn't the case. Shen could only waste the Heavenly Qi as any other Fate Origin realm cultivator.

So he pushed the qi into his body.

Shen's qi now had the properties of Boundlessness. It was anathema to being limited. So when it got under the effects of the gravity spell, it fought ferociously against it. Whatever Concept that spell had—it probably had one—fought against his own Concept.

Shen lost.

How much he could take from a Concept depended on his power and comprehension. He had just entered the Fate Origin realm and gotten his first touch with his Concept. He was weaker than the werewolves on both fronts.

It was already great that he felt the effects lessen a little.

Then he pushed qi out of his body and into his weapon.

When a cultivator comprehended any Concept, even if barely, they became able to push qi into the physical manifestation of the Laws which the Concept originated from. His Concept of Boundlessness came from the Spear, so he could use qi on his weapon. If he understood a Concept from the Laws of Wind one day, he would be able to use qi on the wind.

Qi had no visible form, but the spear got a slight luster when affected by it. When the first metal ball came, he struck it head-on, and it shattered like the last one.

He dodged the resulting broken shards—without interruption this time—and proceeded to deal with the other spells. The ice spikes fared no better than the metal balls. His Boundless Qi hated being limited by enemy attacks, so it wasn't just his qi empowering his spear. His very Concept was also behind his every strike, though it wasn't a perfect application of the Concept, so it wasn't an enormous advantage over any other kind of qi. It was just enough to be noticeable.

Shen's spear then struck the fireball, and this time, the Concept of Boundlessness helped more.

Shen could deal with shards created from broken objects well enough, and he felt limited by only his own ability to dodge them. However, the fireball explosions felt limiting in a much deeper way. To be denied the right to hit an enemy's attack because of the consequence felt wrong and constricting. So when he hit the fireball, his qi fought against its magic structure too.

The ensuing explosion was at least a fifth smaller than usual. It was still annoying and limiting, but it was better than nothing. But more importantly, Shen could deal with it.

While jumping back from the explosion, he held his spear with both hands in front of him and rotated it.

Shen had tried that before, but he faced an explosion, not just fire. The shockwave and the flames should be much stronger than whatever pitiful wind or barrier he could generate like that.

However, this time, his spear was covered with Boundless Qi. Qi fought mana, and his Concept fought the limiting flames, as much as his spear's rotation fought the explosion.

So he was pushed back, but the damage was minimal. Even his body was protected by Boundless Qi now. His health points were only lowered by mere three points.

Shen had never felt freer before.

He started using the dome for training. He had no precise number, but he felt his body should be able to take qi for at least forty minutes, double the previous time. The dome's challenge was now just right in difficulty, and he could use it to train footwork, spear art, and the applications of his Concept.

So he focused and trained...

...for five minutes.

That's when he realized a stupid mistake. His body might withstand qi for longer, but he didn't have the reserves for that. Using qi in his spear and actively fighting spells with it spent his qi much faster than just using it to strengthen his body.

So it was time for the true test of his Path.

Shen approached the dome's wall. Once there, only half the bracelets kept attacking him, while the other half fueled the energy shield locking him in. He dealt with incoming spells for a couple minutes until he found the perfect opportunity.

It was a mere moment of relief between attacks, but that was enough. Shen twisted his body, held his spear firmly, and thrust with all he had.

The dome felt the most constraining of all the things he was dealing with in that place. That was the very thing his Concept hated the most, so it was the strongest when dealing with it.

Spear hit energy shield, qi met mana, Boundlessness faced a boundary.

The shield covered about one-fifth of the dome. An enormous spiderweb-like crack appeared on half of it, but it held.

Yet how could the Boundless Spear let a single failure limit it and its attempts?

Shen pulled and thrust again.

The crack increased, filling the entirety of the shield. It still held.

Shen screamed, pulled, and thrust.

A werewolf had arrived on the other side by now. It touched a bracelet, and the cracks disappeared at the same moment Shen's spear hit the shield.

All the cracks appeared back, then the energy shield shattered into a million pieces. Shen's spear continued and pierced the werewolf's throat. The beast and six of the dome's bracelets turned into motes of light.

Shen didn't stop to see if the dome would regenerate. The place inside might be good for training, but it was time to end this. He refused to stay bound to that row of enemies.

He rushed toward the nearest werewolf. The dome moved to surround him again, though six bracelets flew to his target instead. They weren't as fast as Shen.

Shen decapitated the beast and rushed to the next one.

He managed to kill one other before he was finally surrounded by the dome again. He crushed the energy shield and killed another werewolf before the enemy realized the dome's time was over and pulled their bracelets back to themselves. He was left fighting six Techmages, each one with its own set of bracelets.

They weren't stupid. Five werewolves focused on attacking while Shen rushed toward one focused on defense. His All-Encompassing Pursuit allowed him to reach his target without trouble. It created two triangular shields on top of each other to defend itself, each using three bracelets.

Shen snorted. He had destroyed a shield created by thirty bracelets; what were six for him? Both shields broke with ease, and he killed his foe. Soon, three others joined the fold.

The last two took flight.

Shen laughed heartily at the useless gesture. His spear was boundless! How could mere distance limit its reach?

He filled it with qi and threw it with all his power.

The weapon flew true and faster than it had any right to. When its speed should've decreased, it kept going. Shen's qi and connected will were filling it, fighting the effects of gravity to a point.

His enemy tried dodging, but he redirected the weapon. It was hard to move it even the seven degrees he needed, but it was enough—the werewolves weren't great at aerial maneuvering.

The foe hadn't expected that move, so it wasn't even using shields to protect itself. Shen's spear went through the beast's head and killed it quickly.

One to go.

The last werewolf tried to defend himself with a triangle and one smaller shield fueled by a single bracelet as he needed two bracelets to fly. Unfortunately for him, four bracelets weren't enough to resist Shen's throw. Its shields shattered, and it died.

At long last, Shen had won.

And he had a big smile on his face, for his Boundless Spear had proven itself.