"Alright," I said, turning more serious. "I’ll absorb the energy, and you can observe it. Then isolate it. Hopefully, that’s all we need to do to solve this problem. Otherwise… we might need you every ti we cultivate."
I sat down, ready to start, but Elric stopped .
"Wait," he said.
I looked up at him, confused.
"There are too many variables still," he continued. "What if I have to be at the Perfect Conversion stage to see it?"
I froze.
If I had started and Elric was right and Thea didn’t wake up…
Pop.
Elric must have noticed my expression because he laughed.
"I could be wrong," he said, shrugging. "How about this. We wait. You two hold off on cultivating until I reach your stage. Then, once I do, Lyra will test if she can sense it in the Energy Gathering stage while I check at your stage. That way, we remove variables and know for sure if it's sothing only I can see."
I nodded, agreeing, as Lyra blushed in the back from the complint. Sia whispered sothing in her ear, and suddenly, she turned the sa shade as Sia’s hair.
Apparently, retaliation was warranted because Lyra whispered sothing back, resulting in both of them turning red.
…Wait.
I can’t hear them.
I turned to Elric. "Did you, by any chance, find a way to… whisper?"
Elric sat down next to , completely relaxed. "Why, you wanna whisper sweet nothings into Thea’s ear?" he teased.
I stared at him seriously. "What, jealous?"
I thought I finally had one over on him, but his next statent stopped in my tracks.
"Why would I be jealous?" He paused, as if I was supposed to understand sothing.
Then he stood with a sigh.
"Why don’t you get Thea in bed? I’ll cultivate with Sia and Lyra."
I nodded, standing as well. "I’ll see you tomorrow. Or later tonight, I guess."
"Tomorrow," he confird.
As I carefully picked Thea up, I walked toward the exit, but sothing caught my attention.
Elric was talking to the girls.
I wasn’t paying attention to the words… but he seed different. More genuine, maybe? Not like how he was with his fans. Not even like when I first saw him with Sia and Lyra when we t.
It couldn’t be…
He caught looking and winked.
"What a—"
Main character.
That was the only thing that ca to mind.
Then again, it seed like Sia was being targeted by both of them in so whispered teasing. Just as I left, I could’ve sworn she turned redder than her hair… I really gotta learn his trick for that.
I walked down the stairs but didn’t see the usual attendant.
Just as I opened the front door, causing Thea’s legs to shift slightly in my arms. She stirred a bit since I had her in my now official Princess Grandmaster carry…it was a normal princess, but you know…she’s the grandmaster.
I don’t know if Lyra’s spell was similar to those numbing dicines that make you act all silly back ho, but imdiately, that cute grin of hers stretched even wider than usual.
"Morning, Grandmaster," I said brightly, looking down at her. "You feeling okay?"
No response.
Now that smile is sort of freaking out.
"Thea?"
Then, she hugged .
Hard.
Her arms wrapped tightly around my chest, her face pressed against , and suddenly. She erupted into a fit of muffled giggles.
Like a little kid.
I actually started laughing too.
"Mff mfm mfm," she mumbled into my chest. Then she continued her important speech, "mmfmf mfm mm mff fffm."
"Oh yeah?" I pretended to understand, barely holding back my own laughter as I carried her toward the inn. "What else is going on?"
She lifted her head, her smile now more natural, though her eyes were still a little hazy.
"I’m sleepy," she murmured.
"I bet," I chuckled.
Then, half-lidded eyes blinking at , she added in a sleepy, brutally honest but sweet tone.
"You're really warm… and I like it. But if you drop , I’m making Elric my new servent."
"So I’m your servant?" I asked, amused.
She shook her head but then, oddly, nodded at the sa ti.
"Yes."
I opened the door to the inn. The front desk was empty, so I started up the stairs.
"You’re holding like this," she continued, waving her hands vaguely toward . "So you are my servant."
I laughed again. "So you’d leave if I dropped you? That’d make so sad."
She paused, like she was seriously thinking about it.
"I’ll just shock you," she finally decided. "I like you more."
Then she hugged tighter, maybe to soften the next blow, before adding,
"But he is muuuuuch, muuuuuuch, muuuuuuuch prettier than you."
Yep. I may hate Elric. I can admit that now.
"Maybe," I said. "But I’m the one holding you. So who wins?"
"," she said resolutely. "Neither of you get carried."
I opened the door and gently placed her onto the bed, the door shutting behind , leaving us in darkness.
I grabbed so blankets, but before I could cover her, she started laughing again.
She’s kinda strange… I should ask Lyra to do this again.
I draped the blanket over her, and she imdiately tucked herself in, cocooning herself tightly.
"Goodnight, Thea," I said, heading for the door.
"You’re going alone?"
Her voice was noticeably more sober now, and I guess she took our don’t travel alone anymore rule pretty seriously. Rightfully so. The last thing I wanted was to be kidnapped again.
"I’ll go straight to Greats and get soone," I reassured her.
She shifted slightly on the bed but said nothing. I took that as acceptance.
I moved quickly back toward Greats, jogging lightly across the street. Just as I reached for the door, I heard a noise.
At first, I thought I imagined it.
Then, a low murmur. A soft, breathy sound. A quiet giggle.
Another voice, hushed, followed by sothing that definitely wasn’t words, just a sound.
Oh.
Oh… no.
Oh heck no.
My brain caught up a second too late.
My feet, however, acted imdiately.
I slowly, very carefully, turned right back around and walked straight outside.
Guess I wouldn’t be asking for company.
I hated to do it, breaking our rule, but I needed to tell soone about the near disaster of the cultivation session. Commander Griffith.
Now, for sothing I hated even more.
I sprinted as fast as I could toward the old campsite Thea and I used to call ho.
It didn’t take long.
I stopped just outside the tents, catching my breath, when—
"What are you doing here, Peter?"
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
How does he always know where I am?
I ignored that train of thought for now. "There’s sothing I need to tell you. About Body Refinent."
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Found sothing new?"
I nodded. "Yeeeeah, but it’s… not good. I think."
He didn’t speak, just stared expectantly, waiting for to explain.
"It’s not enough to have soone with you when you cultivate," I said, trying to piece my words together. "You know, um, when you’re doing it."
Gotta work on my teaching skills.
"What do you an?" he asked, frowning slightly.
"Well. It’s hard to explain. It’s like… sothing else. Another energy is invading while we cultivate. It’s almost hypnotic. Euphoric, even. The first ti or two, we could pull each other out of it, but…"
I hesitated, thinking back to Thea’s condition earlier.
"What happened to the girl?" he asked, his voice sharp with concern.
I held up a hand. "She’s okay. But I think it was almost really bad. Disastrous."
"Deadly?"
I nodded. "I think so."
He exhaled, rubbing his chin, but I caught the subtle relief in his posture.
"I’m glad you two are okay," he said. Then, after a pause, "Another energy, separate from world energy and internal force…"
He trailed off, deep in thought.
Then his eyes widened.
"Could it be—" He glanced at . "Keep up."
I groaned. Maybe I should’ve just let him figure it out on his own.
Still, I followed him, thankfully not far, to a private tent, which I assud was his.
He rummaged through a chest at the foot of a massive sleeping bag, pulling out a journal.
"Here," he said, flipping through pages before pointing to a passage.
"I thought about this long ago but never pursued the theory further… there was nothing to support it."
It took a second to process the words.
Then, my jaw dropped.
I should’ve realized this sooner.
The writings didn’t explain why the energy seed hostile, but it did describe what it might be.
We use our systems as if they are a given, an immutable part of life. But though it has been asked countless tis, and countless answers given… where does the energy co from?
SP and MP. The fundantal forces of combat and magic. Are they truly separate? If so, why? If not, why do they behave differently?
All energy must have a source. The system does not generate power from nothing. We see this most clearly in magic tools, which absorb and store nodes of light to fuel their abilities. Likewise, healers manipulate visible strands of light, transforming them into restorative force.
Yet, despite these differences in form, all these energies must originate from sowhere.
A system that grants power must also draw power from sothing.
It shocked how deep his thoughts went.
It was easy for to grasp the concept, energy can’t be created or destroyed, but for soone from what I’d consider a rudintary ti period, where people could bend energy to their will without understanding the chanics behind it…
Griffith Ironscribe was no ordinary commander.
He was a true genius.
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