Ascender

Biodata

Power Progression

Advancement Mechanics

• Ascension progress measures the concentration of Star Essence within an Ascender’s body 10.
• Combat ordinarily raises that concentration gradually: Star Essence is mobilized and consumed, then accumulates through cellular regeneration 10.
• Star Marrow Pillar absorption provides another advancement method, but fortress cities cannot afford to supply these scarce resources freely 10.
• Class-specific advancement remains a hypothesis in Tianyang’s case. His unusually large gain after killing Qin Wu leads him to suspect that the Avenger class benefits from revenge 10 30.

Documented Example: Tianyang

• Numerical inconsistency: the Demon Hound’s stated four-point gain does not match the earlier displayed 25% and subsequent 28%. Later passages also describe the Qin Wu gain as ten points rather than the eleven shown immediately afterward 10 30 41.

Rank Significance

Background / History

The first Ascender appeared approximately a thousand years before Tianyang’s awakening. Nine classes emerged over that millennium, and experience established that certain classes countered others. Limited resources led fortress cities to specialize in different classes, shaping their diplomacy and military planning 8.

Ascenders helped open the Inverse Realm to exploration. Chu Yan credits them with advancing into unexplored territory and establishing the foundations of the Fortress’s expansion 23.

Tianyang’s Avenger awakening introduces a tenth class. Ling Feng treats its discovery as a potential strategic deterrent and diplomatic bargaining chip, making its rank information, abilities, and class matchups valuable intelligence 8.

Awakening

• Star Pillar contact: Xun awakens the Radiance class after touching the recovered pillar, which surrounds her with silver light and streams of starlight 33.
• Public opportunity: Skyhold’s annual coming-of-age ceremony gives residents who have turned eighteen a chance to touch a Star Pillar 32.
• Additional attempts: Han Shu allows personnel to touch the recovered pillar despite Chen Liu’s objections. Xun’s successful awakening vindicates the practice 32 33.
• Rarity: Fei Mei reports an average of approximately 10.5 new awakenings per year in the Fortress 22.
• Inheritance: Fortress policy holds that Ascenders’ descendants are particularly likely to become Ascenders themselves 14.

Known Classes

The following classes are named in the documented chapters; they do not constitute a complete list of the original nine.

Abilities & Skills

Star Essence

Star Essence is the internal energy required to activate Ascender abilities 8.

• Channeling it can produce visible motes of light and activate a class emblem 8 24.
• Processed Star Essence gas can briefly enhance an Ascender’s abilities when inhaled 16.
• Star Essence Weapons resonate with the energy inside an Ascender, allowing arrows, bullets, and melee weapons to carry class abilities 21.
• Excessive expenditure can leave an Ascender exhausted; Tianyang experiences severe weakness and soreness after defeating the Demon Hound 30.

Physical and Environmental Advantages

• Improved physique: after awakening, Tianyang completes fifty-five running laps while only slightly out of breath 18.
• Reduced reliance on protective suits: Tianyang and Luo Shan can operate in the Inverse Realm without the bulky suits used by ordinary personnel 7 20.
• Class-dependent performance: Tianyang’s rank-one speed rivals that associated with the Hunter class, while War God fighters demonstrate powerful cleaving strikes 21 31.
• Not invulnerability: Ascenders suffer fatal injuries and severe burns during the Ghost Car battle. Its extreme heat prevents those below rank four from approaching 36.

Class Emblems

• Tianyang’s emblem appears on the back of his right hand: a black-flamed hand holding a crescent scythe, marked with the numeral Ⅰ 6.
• Zhou Wang’s Elemental Heart emblem appears between his brows and displays his rank at its center 24.
• Ling Feng authenticates Tianyang’s unfamiliar emblem by observing its response to Star Essence 8.

Legal Status & Privileges

Protection Under Fortress Law

One of the Fortress’s Three Fundamental Laws declares Ascenders inviolable. These laws supersede other Fortress legislation 9.

• No individual or group, regardless of status, may attack an Ascender through provocation, physical harm, or verbal abuse 9.
• When their lives are threatened, Ascenders may retaliate without restriction and are exempt from liability 9 13.
• Qin Wu’s death is officially treated as lawful retaliation because he threatened Tianyang with a firearm 13.
• Upper Citizen birth alone does not place someone above an Ascender’s legal protection 10.

Citizenship and Family Rights

These protections do not eliminate every danger from Fortress institutions. Ling Feng warns that Qin Jie could use well-equipped Security Office personnel against an exhausted Tianyang 49.

Military Role & Equipment

• Squad composition: a typical Nightwalker squad fields three to five Ascenders as its main fighting force, supported by six to eight ordinary soldiers handling logistics and support 18.
• Officer standing: second lieutenant is the lowest military rank held by an Ascender in the Fortress 16.
• High-level threats: Nightwalker leadership considers Ascenders indispensable against powerful Children of Darkness; Chu Yan argues that contemporary armaments cannot handle even danger-level-three Darkfolk 10 23.

Documented Nightwalker Issue

• High-Vibration Particle Combat Knife — cuts at the molecular level; made from durable, wear-resistant metal obtained from Inverse Realm No. 78 16.
• Assaulter Star Essence Rifle — uses Star Essence gas magazines holding more than five hundred shots; includes cooling, a long-range scope, and a folding tripod 16.
• Assaulter Defense Armor — incorporates Star Crystal fragments for protection against certain contaminating and invasive Darkfolk attacks 16.
• Multipurpose belt — carries tools, an energy pack, and high-energy rations for independent survival in the Inverse Realm 16.
• Nightwalker officer uniform — black, high-collared, and double-breasted, with silver military insignia 16.

Star Essence Weapons beyond standard issue may be purchased with contribution points, commissioned from weapons dealers, or awarded for outstanding service 21.

Funding Dispute