The subdued mood threatened to be replaced by a group of idiots who quickly forgot about Saphira’s death and what it meant, but they were quickly silenced by those around them.
We returned to our districts, avoiding the modernized warehouse the Grand Camp had decorated for the after-graduation party, and made our way to the flying ships. The cadets from our district were already boarding, while the staff shuffled around. Several pale-faced workers ran past me, their thoughts and feelings written on their faces.
“Looks like we’ll depart ahead of time.” Daniel grimaced.
“Looks like it.” I grunted, looking around, searching for familiar faces. Predator triggered as I infused a lot of ether into my eyes, but I couldn’t find them. “Sophie and Fabienne left already.”
Scott scooted in between Daniel and me, his arms coiling around our shoulders. “Don’t worry about them. They’ll be fine. Even more so with that gift of yours.”
“Look who’s there,” Daniel said. “Where have you been, Scott?”
I patted my chest in relief at Scott’s words. “The Tokens were helpful? That’s good to know.”
“We will see them again. That’s all that matters, isn’t it?”
As far as I was concerned, I’d much rather see them again sooner than later. However, as long as they survived the terrors of war, I couldn’t complain.
“So long as it’s not their graves we’re visiting, yes.”
We chatted a little longer, my not-so-subtle attempts at learning more about Scott’s visions failing miserably, even as we boarded the flying ship.
Every cadet was given his or her own little room, a small bedroom with little more space to stretch. It couldn’t be larger than six square meters, but that was more than enough for me. Daniel complained about the rooms and disappeared, searching for someone with the authority to transfer rooms. For all the luxury he was used to, he cared little about comfort. Instead, he was attached to his friends, hoping to find a room large enough for the three of us to stay.
The journey in the flying ship wouldn’t take longer than a few days. Days during which we could rest, or focus on the opportunity at hand. The Aspect Ring still circulated in my core, its fiery exterior releasing tendrils of lava-like substance into my core, pushing it to crack open and expand as it recovered. There was never a full recovery, as the Aspect Ring instead formed by the Elemental Phoenix supplied the perfect amount of pressure to make things work, without interrupting my normal World refinement schedule at that.
The Aspect Ring pushed the World’s growth to new heights, and so did the 6th Volume of Blastor Refinery, which I wanted to practice and use. It was about time.
“I’ll take my leave. Have to refine my World a little,” Scott said, turning to enter the room next to mine.
I regarded him for a moment, unsure if it was fine to ask, but curiosity got the better of me. “You still refine your World?”
My friend slowed and turned to regard me as though I were an ignorant child. “I don’t want my World to atrophy. Plus, I need as much ether as possible if I want to fight a Guardian beast as an Expert. I have neither the quality nor quantity needed to fight a beast at that Rank alone. Maybe if I had a few more traits or higher-ranked Ether Gates to temper my body. Alas, I can only refine my World and purify the core.”
That did make sense. Scott had only Ether Gates up to the peak of the Evolved Rank–from a single Soulkin. Worse even, that Soulkin did not provide him with physical empowerment. Destiny was powerful in its own regard, but the squirrel was certainly not a brute. Nox was a physical power, but even the old Mirage Serpent and Aureus were physically stronger than Destiny.
“Right, there was that–purifying ether,” I recalled.
My World was already much larger than the average Blessed at this point, but it was a far cry from meeting the requirements needed to purify ether. Usually, Masters started purifying their ether as they prepared for the advancement to the next level, but it was not until one became a Grandmaster that ether’s purity played a more pivotal role.
Scott was on a different level entirely. His World–the core, to be precise–was probably durable enough to endure the strain that came with purification. I’d have to reach the 8th volume of Blastor Refinery to start purifying ether. That was going to take a while. Quite long, to be frank.
“Don’t go hunting the divination beast on your own. I’ll join you once you’re ready,” I said.
“You said that already.” Scott snickered, the door to his room swinging open.
“I know. Just wanted to remind you.” I laughed, stepping into my room.
Several screens materialized with a wave of my hand, displaying the 6th Volume of Blastor Refinery. The first two volumes were meant for young children, the third for elementary students, and the fourth for younger teens. Starting with the 5th Volume, the technique’s tone shifted, becoming far more serious.
As for the sixth volume, it depicted a complicated technique requiring immense control over both ether and soul energy. It was dangerous and had to be practiced with caution.
I didn’t expect a miracle, but I was confident in my mastery. My daily training schedule was horrendous. It wasn’t something most people could–much less wanted to–go through, yet here I was, playing masochist. Or…was I secretly one? Regardless of my preferences, I had to do this. I wanted to get it right.
Over the next few hours, I didn’t hear anything from Daniel or Scott. I focused on the files and read through them again. Most of Blastor Refinery’s ten volumes were already etched deeply into my mind, but being meticulous could harm no one.
With my mind refreshed, I gathered the golden soul-energy particles and merged them with ether. Fusing the two energies was easy at this point. A year ago, it had been complex, but now it felt natural. However, the 6th volume was not the same as the earlier ones; the proportions changed significantly. Liquefied ether in small quantities was required to move onward–or if condensing ether was still too difficult, one could compensate with an enormous amount of ether.
I didn’t have enough ether for the latter, so I compressed the ether within my core before releasing it into the World. Stretching it thin, I split it into dozens of streams resembling white noodles threaded with vibrant gold sparkles. It looked magnificent, but maintaining the shape of a few dozen thick strands of ether and soul energy was far from easy.
Beads of sweat trickled down my neck and cheeks, soaking into my already-drenched button-down shirt.
Moving the strands, I imagined them as hair as I started the next step. I gathered three strands and began with a normal braid. However, after the first crossover, I dropped the bottom strand to join the remaining strands. The dropped strand was replaced by the one directly behind it, creating an effect resembling a waterfall.
That part was simple–just as it was supposed to be–yet the pattern continued. The waterfall segment repeated once more. The strands moved at my will as the pattern unfolded: the top strand crossed over the middle, the bottom strand dropped, and a new one was picked up from beneath. The braid stayed close to the core and the Aspect Ring, curving gently toward the other side of the core. As I guided the strands, the dropped ones hung vertically, creating evenly spaced ribbons for later use.
Securing the second step with a mental clip, I split my mind further and moved to the other side of the core to repeat the process, guiding the braid to the exact point where the first ended. That one, too, was held in place, forming the foundation for the lattice.
To create the lattice, I reached for the dropped strands from the first braid and gently pulled them across the back of the core, weaving them over and under the dropped strands from the second braid, crisscrossing them like threads in a woven pattern.
Each crossing point had to be secured to keep the lattice tight, which put even more pressure on my mind. A headache crept across the back of my skull. Blood dripped to the ground, pouring from my nose, ears, and eyes as I forcefully split my mind further.
I couldn’t stop now–not when I was already at the final step. The Aspect Ring rumbled and rotated within the confines of Blastor Refinery’s technique, and my core pulsed, the fiery cracks across its surface opening like pores on skin. The core bled as I did, but we were one and the same–though one of us was greedier than the other.
Enduring the pain, I brought the ends of the waterfall braids together at the back, right where the woven lattice ended. Once aligned, I combined them into a single three-strand braid.
The initial process was complete, but the result was lackluster. Gentle tugs fixed small sections of the lattice in a failed attempt to make the pattern look fuller, but it still resembled a jumbled mess.
If not for the core reacting wildly to the braid of ether and soul energy, I would have torn it apart, dissolving the ether and starting over later. But that wasn’t necessary–I pushed the waterfall lattice into the core.
For a moment, the core resisted, but traces of the lattice latched onto the fiery cracks and seeped inside. What had been healing moments before cracked open again–torn apart as fiery streams from the Aspect Ring followed, amplifying Blastor Refinery’s effect.
The World expanded further, pulling a smile to my lips even as pain took over. My body collapsed before my willpower did, holding the soul-ether structure together until its last remnants disappeared, accelerating my growth a little more.
If I keep pushing like this, I can advance you further, Volix. Enough to turn you into a Guardian Beast soon. I thought, my smile widening.
I need far more energy than you assume. If you let me devour the rest of the Runic Heart, I could grow faster, but you don’t want my power.
“I want your power, but I have time,” I grumbled, feeling a bit less pleased. My strategy was more efficient in the long run.
Then again, the Elemental Phoenix was a strange Soulkin to have; his desire to regain his power was understandable. He was not wrong, but neither was I…in my own way.
I had time, yet it felt like I was running toward a dead end–like it was slipping through my fingers. Chaos reigned all around me. I was bound to be pulled into trouble soon enough. It had been that way for a long while, and it certainly wasn’t about to change.
Still, there was calming silence in the growth of my power.