“Finally!” The shout ripped out of loud enough that Thea flinched and blinked out of her focus.
She glanced over, hand already held out without a word. I pressed the notebook into her palm, still catching my breath a little. “Okay,” I said, tapping the page. “This one is the opposite feeling, I think.”
“You think?” she asked exasperated, but I ignored her and began describing, describing the distinct pattern that gave the reverse feeling from the high-pressure flow I’d been using. All the while, she sketched the grooves and notes as I spoke.
Apparently my ‘unprofessional’ points would confuse her later down the line when she finished her manual.
“Drybel’s villi coiled first,” I said, tracing a tight spiral with the tip of my finger. “Then they tightened and collapsed inward along the channels, like a funnel choking down into a single thin line. When I mirrored it, that light, empty feeling in my body condensed into sothing sharper. Not like Water Force dominance, but… close.”
Thea’s pen never stopped moving as I talked. She darted a few odd looks my way, but didn’t interrupt. I hadn’t told her much about Drybel; just that there was another presence inside helping with internal patterns. That Serith had sothing similar—though I still wasn’t sure how sentient Serith’s Voidseed was.
“All that’s left now is to practice,” I said, rubbing the back of my head as she finished jotting down the last line. “High pressure, low pressure. Switching between them until it feels natural.”
Thea arched a brow and leaned closer, closing the notebook and setting it aside. “Would Grand Carving even be necessary,” she asked, “if you can just shape the inside of your channels using that thing?”
I thought about the question. For a second, it was tempting to just let him do all the micro-work forever, and I’d ride along. But I shook my head. “Having him do everything for wouldn’t be a good idea,” I said. “Plus—”
I grimaced, rembering the lag I’d felt. The patterns were strong once they settled, but they didn’t snap into place the way I would need in a fight.
“He doesn’t exactly transform instantly,” I admitted. “There’s a delay. I need sothing more instantaneous.”
“Hmmm.” She humd thoughtfully. “But carving patterns that only help one system wouldn’t be good either. You still have all the other elents, and so would we. If we ruin flow for those just to make air tricks easier…”
I nodded, already having chased that line of thought and run into the sa wall. “Yeah... We could… carve multiple patterns,” I said slowly. “Separate sets of grooves. One tuned for compression, one for release, maybe others for whatever else we figure out next—leaving room for the future.”
Her lips pressed together, considering it. “Yes. Maybe. That way, we could at least learn to divert the energy down the pathways ourselves. Like opening and closing gates.” she added. “Or we could just learn to be like Elric—able to do this without any help.”
I let out a quiet breath, looking away. “Unlikely for now. Anyway, a little help would go a long way. I’m sure the less attention he’d spend on redirecting his flow, the more he could do other things.”
I’d seen what it looked like from the inside when Drybel moved my energy: thousands of tiny motions all at once. Elric did sothing similar with his own control, but still, all that focus had to drain him.
“This way, we won’t have to constantly alter ourselves from scratch. Just redirect… in theory.”
“In theory,” she echoed, smirking faintly.
I huffed a soft laugh. “Yeah. In theory.”
From beside , a form stirred, head rising slightly.
Bristle chose that mont to clamp his jaw around my hand.
“Hey,” I muttered, looking down as his teeth closed firmly over my fingers. He gave a low, stubborn grumble and refused to let go.
At the sa ti, a soft—plap—nudged Thea’s arm. The sli had oozed up from her lap and was now bumping persistently at her elbow, as if trying to push her.
We both paused.
Thea glanced from the sli to Bristle, then back to . I t her eyes. “You find it weird,” I asked slowly, “that both of them decided they want to start Extraction after the first attempt?”
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Bristle released my hand just then only to rest his head heavily on my thigh, pushing his skull insistently under my palm. The sli wriggled closer to Thea’s side, half-sprawled against her hip, pulsing faintly with internal light.
“The mont they recover, they start to pester us, volunteering.”
Thea watched them for a long, thoughtful beat, then exhaled. “It is odd,” she agreed. “But they know their bodies best. If it was really hurting them, I doubt either of them would be this eager.”
I let out a quiet breath. She wasn’t wrong, but it still made uncomfortable. Taking Animora—life energy from them felt off. But in the end, progress had to be made.
“Alright,” I said softly. “Let’s go carefully.”
I shifted so Bristle could climb more fully onto my lap. He grumbled in satisfaction, curling his body while still pressing his head firmly into my hand. I rested my palm atop his skull and let my eyes fall.
Precursor Sense flared.
Fur, bone, muscle, blood all fell away in my awareness, replaced by channels of energy that threaded through his being. The familiar green of his altered core releasing Internal Force pulsed steadily.
And layered through that, subtler threads glowed with a different texture: Animora. Life.
I focused, drawing a line between the two in my mind.
Very gently, I began to Extract that underlying Animora, teasing just a thin stream of it along the paths that existed between us.
The effect was imdiate.
It hit like warm air rushing cool lungs. My fatigue peeled back; any aches in dulled, then vanished entirely.
And then Bristle shuddered.
The movent was a tiny twitch along his back, but it might as well have been a thunderclap with my focus on him.
I yanked my hand away, cutting Extraction off in an instant.
My eyes flew fully open as I looked down at him, heart thudding. The dog exhaled in one long, rasping breath… then sagged, body going boneless against . His breathing settled into slow, even pulls, tongue lolling out just slightly.
No pain, just a sudden drop into deeper sleep.
“Bristle?” I murmured.
He didn’t stir, only snoring loudly, legs giving a little involuntary kick.
“How is he?” Thea asked, leaning in, already finished with her session; the sli sagging slightly at the surface.
I brushed my fingers lightly along his side, feeling the warmth through him.
“He’s fine,” I said, letting out the breath. “Just like before, they need to rest.”
The sli gave a faint, pleased wobble, then settled again.
“We gotta keep an eye on them,” she said.
I sat back, nodding, staring down at my own hands now. The Animora I’d taken still buzzed faintly in my channels, flowing into my Inner World unbidden.
“It’s a little scary how nice it feels. Like Precursor Energy,” Thea admitted. “If I wasn’t being careful, I could see myself draining them without realizing.”
She went quiet at that, fingers absently stroking the sli’s surface as if soothing the idea from her mind.
I swallowed, then closed my eyes again. “I’m going to check sothing,” I said. “See if I can figure anything out about Animora.”
Thea nodded. “I’ll watch them until you’re done, then I’ll try.”
“Thanks.”
I closed my eyes and fell inward.
My Inner World, the looming World Seed, and the band of energy encircling it like a halo ca into view.
Only now, that halo now humd differently. The ring, composed of an even, controlled energy, now held an erratic pulse of lightning-like power that shot out every few monts—dispersing raw Animora.
“Drybel,” I called, stepping toward the seed. “Thanks for earlier… You got any ideas on this?”
A familiar mass of tentacles shifted in response, turning its attention fully toward as I approached the ring.
“If I could just touch it,” I murmured, more to myself than anything, “do anything… I know I could figure it out with the others.”
Drybel shifted to the ring, once again trying to interact himself, but the result was the sa as before. “I’m not sure. There must be a way. That man before was excited to have access to this space, so perhaps you only need to be patient.”
I nodded, but felt unsatisfied. The conversion wasn’t necessarily the greatest issue, but the transformation. i had said the process was almost instinctual. She only thought, felt, then ‘boom’—cat-girl.
“Have you truly used everything?” he asked after so monts.
I paused, looking at the mass of him surrounding my World Seed. “What do you an?” I asked, figuring he already had sothing in mind.
“Your body right now… Perhaps, it is still incomplete.”
I looked at myself, holding a hand up to see the collection of lights of the Internal Force, then shrugged. “I’ve still got so more elents to go I guess, but—”
“No,” he softly interrupted. “That body. It lacks all of your current powers. Perhaps…”
The idea struck hard.
Without a farewell, I entered my Inner Realm.
A blackhold was locked in the center.
Red lightning tinged with a purple fla encircled it.
Could it really be this?
I took in a heavy breath, then willed my Beast Force and Precursor Energy to move—entering my Inner World in large streams.
Imdiately, my Nexus began to vibrate.
Rumbling.
Reviews
All reviews (0)