When I stood up, I froze.
Another pair of arms wrapped around . I was completely caught off guard. Seriously, totally frozen. I don’t know how else to describe it. I an, I get it. He was probably worried, especially with Lyra on his mind, but for him to be so openly grateful?
That stunned more than the embrace.
He pulled away just as quickly and turned, avoiding eye contact. “I’ll—Yeah… I’ll head back first. Thanks, man.”
Was it obligation? Guilt? So sense of loyalty he felt he had to uphold? If he hadn’t wanted to go with to this place, I wouldn’t have minded him staying behind with the others. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he gave a quick wave over his shoulder and bolted off into the distance.
“That was unexpected,” Thea said, squeezing my hand gently. “So… what’s next?”
“I form a core,” I replied. “Or… see if I even can. There’s already one floating above my Nexus, so I’m not sure how that works…” I trailed off.
Thea reached up and pecked my chin, her eyes clouded with worry. “I thought you said there was sothing that would make you stronger.”
“There is,” I said with a shrug. “But I’m not totally sure. I just have to try, right?”
She looked down, hesitating. Her voice softened. “Thank you, Peter.”
Since I didn’t need to absorb any more energy at the mont, I sank back down to the ground, and imdiately noticed sothing missing.
“Wait… where’s the little sli?”
As if on cue, the tiny creature popped out from behind a ruined building, hopping over at its own steady pace.
Was it my imagination, or did its eyes look happy? It's eyes seem so wide.
“Helping browse,” Thea said with a small laugh, watching her new pet with growing fondness.
I wondered if she knew how it even ate or transford. Well… she’d find out eventually.
“I’m going to start now,” I told her, closing my eyes as she sat down beside .
It took no effort at all to drop into my Inner Realm. Silence. Darkness. And sothing new, brushing against and through .
Nothing like the slow, earthy rhythm of Natural Force or the fluid, cooling grace of Water. No, this was sothing wilder. Fiercer. It surged past in sharp, unpredictable waves, each pulse like a spark grinding off tal. It flickered and stung with sothing primal.
Each pulse made my skin crawl in my mind’s body, like touching a current I wasn’t grounded for. I tried to steady my breathing, but even that seed to provoke it. This wasn’t just a new Force, it was one with its own presence.
But it was there. Fire Force. Real and flowing within my reach.
I took a deep breath, centering myself. The energy already within —condensed Water and Natural Force—began to stir, gathering toward a single point. It moved quickly, obediently. My control over it had co a long way. Still, I activated my Precursor Sense to guide the process with more precision.
Now… where should I place it?
The Natural Force core floated above the ring of purple fire and red lightning that surrounded the yawning black hole at the center of my Nexus. It hovered in place, steady. That had been my first attempt, necessary at the ti. But still, was that decision too impulsive?
No. It had worked, and besides, I wasn’t trying to fix the past. Just adapt now.
Next to it is fine. This is just a trial run.
As I channeled more energy, a wave of nausea crept through . I kept going, draining every reserve I could muster. The dark blue and gold mixture of Water and Natural Force began to coalesce, gathering just off-center of my Nexus, near the first core. Slowly, it thickened, swirling into a viscous sphere of potential.
Still not solid but close.
And just as consciousness began to tug at , pulling downward like a slow, heavy tide, the feeling of being drained overwheld .
Everything in scattered at once. It was like the energy fought back.
That swirling mass of Force, so close to solidifying into a core, suddenly rebelled. It resisted my control, snapping back with such force that it shattered apart in an instant, and finally dispersing through my body like broken starlight before I could even react.
That’s… not good.
Could the body really only hold a single core? Was that a hard limit? Maybe I could try again, redirect it sohow. I focused my will on the lingering strands of energy still coiling faintly through my limbs, but just like before, nothing entered . The existing Force in my body repelled it, like oil refusing to mix with water.
That’s a bust.
Luna? I called out.
No answer. She was probably too deep in her own cultivation.
Wyrem? Still nothing. Silence filled the space.
I had to do sothing. If I couldn’t place a second core directly... what if I moved the first one?
False cores could be created and broken. I bet they could move too, but this was a stable and solid core. Not one that would just fade over ti. Well, worth a shot.
I sent my awareness surging through the darkened corridors of my Harmonic Channels and roots. The full culmination of my power moved as one, converging again at the sa spot above my Nexus.
Then I issued the command:
Move.
The energy obeyed. One side of the still-forming sphere compressed, then pressed outward, hard.
The sphere trembled, shuddering under pressure, but didn’t budge. Still, it responded. That was sothing. I pushed harder. Greater force. Greater intent.
More.
It condensed further, fighting the strain, nearly pressing against the limit. The trembling intensified, a violent vibration shivering through my Inner Realm.
Just a little more.
There! Just the slightest shift. One last push. A little—
CRACK!
“Arrgh—AH!”
Pain exploded through my skull.
It wasn’t enough to knock out, but it was far beyond any migraine I’d ever had. Sharp and instant. It pierced through like a jagged spike, stabbing into every corner of my awareness.
Nope. Not doing that again.
And worst of all? I failed.
There was a mont where the core drifted, just a hair’s breadth from its anchor… and then it retreated instantly, floating back into its place as if nothing had happened.
DAMMIT! MOVE!
Crrreeek.
Sothing shifted deep inside . A vibration from one of my Spiritual Roots that had been quiet since the foundation had solidified. A branch? It was tiny, barely a nub, but undeniably there.
How was it growing without ener—oh. It stopped.
That soul… the one I had taken in. It hadn’t done anything harmful so far, right? In fact, it had only ever helped. So…
I sent a pulse of energy toward the tiny protrusion. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. Wrong place for nourishnt, so instead, I sent that energy deeper into my Inner Space, letting it seep toward the Nexus.
Just like before, when my foundation was first forming, the root began to grow. It didn’t take much. It extended gradually, naturally, wrapping itself toward its target.
Wait!
I tried to stop it, cutting off the flow of energy that fed the tendril, and called out ntally, trying to halt the process.
But it didn’t stop.
Just like Luna. Just like Wyrem. This one seed to hear my thoughts, or at least, it seed to respond to my earlier curse.
But this ti, it chose to ignore them.
The newly grown tendril, now alive and wriggling, reached the Natural Force core, wrapped around it, and began to pull.
Stop! That won’t—
Rumble. Ruummmble.
My Inner Realm quaked.
But instead of resistance, instead of pain, the core moved smoothly, slipping away from its central point without so much as a shiver of protest.
And best of all?
No pain. None at all.
The tendril carried it past the barrier of fire and lightning, depositing it gently on the edge—out of the way, but still secure.
That was… convenient. An instant solution delivered exactly when I needed it. And not that I was complaining, but... Still, this was likely sothing only I could do. This root—this soulbound helper, is unique. It might let create a second core now, sure, but what about the others?
Eventually, they’d all need to form a second core too, and unless we planned to trap another soul inside a root system of their own… Yeah. They’d be stuck. Blocked from advancing past the second stage of Body Refinent.
Not a problem I could solve today.
…
…
We’ll tackle that when we get there.
I sat still for a mont, letting the passive abilities of my Harmonic Foundation restore the small amount of energy I’d used to grow the tendril. It didn’t take long, but honestly, in this state, ti didn’t really feel like ti. It just drifted past .
Then I made my third attempt.
I gathered everything I had left and directed it toward the center of my Nexus, pulling energy together with practiced precision, letting it solidify more and more. The familiar side effects hit again. Nausea, dizziness, so on and so forth.
Ugh. I really hate doing this.
Aaaand—
Click. Whoosh.
A sudden rush of vitality burst through , sweeping the lingering dizziness away in a single breath. The drained, hollow ache vanished, filled in by a fresh current of strength that flowed through every fiber of my being.
I had done it.
There was a minor caveat, but worth noting. The energy I’d used, a blend of Water and Natural Force, hadn’t perfectly fused. In fact, looking closer, it hadn’t fused at all.
Despite my efforts, considering the golden force that solely circulated within , the new core now pulsing at the center of my Nexus was composed entirely of pure Water Force. Nothing else. It emitted a faint vapor, cold and slow, like a block of glacial ice.
Still, there was a simple solution.
Feed the egg.
I poured everything I had left into my Inner Space, willingly embracing the discomfort of dancing too close to collapse. Nearly killing myself just to make sothing new.
Then, once again, I turned my awareness outward.
Focused on the unseen world that hovered just beyond perception. Force that swam invisibly around my body, waiting to be noticed.
I took one deep breath.
And in that mont, my body lit up, and heat flooded through .
I had taken in my first stream of Fire Force.
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