Chapter 36: Silver Radiance
Regaleon’s grip tightened around the pulsing amber crystal.
The Core was warm; unnaturally so.
It was not the warmth of heater stone or lingering flesh, it was something deeper, almost intentional...
The glow inside it pulsated in slow, steady beats, like it was synchronized with something beyond perception.
Then suddenly, a faint intrusive urge rose from somewhere beneath Regaleon’s thoughts.
It wasn’t something like hunger or instinct. It felt more like... Recognition.
As though something inside him had reached out to him, demanding that he devour the Aether Core. The feeling was unnatural as it settled within him...
Regaleon frowned at that subtle urge, his grip tightening further around the crystal despite it not being his intention...
"Guys..."
Suddenly, Valmyr’s voice broke the stillness, snapping Regaleon out of his thoughts. The failed Vanguard’s voice was sharp with realization as his eyes shifted to the rest of the dead monstrosities...
"What about the rest of the corpses? If this one had a core, then..."
He stopped midway, but he didn’t need to complete his sentence as the group already understood his insinuation.
There were five corpses. Only one had received a Core... But that didn’t mean the others were empty.
Without hesitation, Aureleah moved towards the next corpse...
Steel flashed, and flesh was parted with grim precision. And as predicted, Aureleah retrieved another core from the creature’s heart.
A wet glow spilled from the cavity as she lifted it free, holding it between bloodstained fingers before cleaning it with a flick of her wrist.
The Core shimmered with an amber glow, just like the first...
Seeing this, the air in the cavern changed instantly.
The group’s fatigue didn’t vanish, but something sharper overwhelmed it. Perhaps it was purpose, anticipation... Or greed.
One by one, they worked through the remaining bodies following the same pattern: Carve... Extract... Reveal.
Moments later, three more amber Cores lay gathered between them, faintly glowing like trapped embers pulled from a dying fire.
"Why does this one have such a shade?" Sylveris asked softly.
She leaned closer, peering at the crystal resting in Valmyr’s palm. Unlike the others, this one wasn’t purely amber.
A faint violet sheen shimmered within its depths, like twilight bleeding into flame.
Regaleon’s golden eyes sharpened as he replied.
"That’s probably because the creature was likely on the cusp of evolving."
Sylveris tilted her head towards him. Her expression was open, almost childlike in it’s curiosity.
She then asked in her usual naive tone.
"What does color have to do with the creature’s evolution?"
There was a faint pause...
Then Regaleon exhaled, as if organizing his thoughts.
"... That’s a good question."
He lifted his Core between his fingers, letting its glow reflect across his golden eyes.
"You see, Aether Cores can only be distinguished by their colors alone. That color reflects density; that is, the quality and quantity of Aether that is compressed within them."
Raising the Core, he continued...
"This yellow amber Core is a Rank One, the lowest tier. This means that the Aether stored inside it is equal to or less than what a Rank One Etheryean can utilize."
There was another pause as he let that explanation sink. Then he continued...
"However, do not underestimate it. These Cores are just as valuable as the Essence Crystals Caelestra gathered this morning. But unlike those Crystals, which require refinement into Aetheric concoctions to be utilized or direct lineage use, Aether Cores can be absorbed directly."
Sylveris blinked. "Directly...?"
Regaleon nodded.
"Yes. Humans normally cultivate by slowly absorbing ambient Aether from the air. But this process is painfully slow; because sometimes, years can pass with minimal change."
Then he looked at the Core in his hand.
"...But Aether Cores bypass that entirely. The stored energy within them can be drawn out and absorbed immediately making cultivation clean, fast, and efficient."
Sylveris nodded in understanding. Then, her eyes sparkled as she skipped to towards Regaleon...
"Wow, Regaleon... I didn’t know you were this knowledgeable."
Regaleon froze.
For a moment, the compliment hung in the air. It was soft and sincere...
Then his expression twitched slightly.
Why did that sound less like praise and more like she was surprised he knew anything at all?
Valmyr snorted immediately before laughing loudly...
"Hahahaha! Regaleon, did she just call you stupid indirectly?"
With that, the whole group erupted into laughter...
But Regaleon did not.
He slowly turned his head towards Valmyr, his expression flat enough to freeze fire.
"Say that again..." He demanded.
But Valmyr only laughed harder...
Even Sylveris giggled behind her hand, clearly unaware of the chaos she wrought unintentionally.
But not everyone was laughing...
Aureleah stood slightly apart from the rest with her silver eyes glued to Regaleon.
She had watched him converse with Sylveris; watched as he explained to her in a calm, measured and patient manner.
She also observed the way her younger sister leaned toward him without hesitation; the way Sylveris smiled when he spoke and how she practically skipped towards him as if drawn to him naturally.
It had only been what? Two or three days; yet the girl had warm up to the members of the cohort, especially Regaleon.
Even a blind person could tell that Sylveris adored him greatly.
Aureleah’s expressiom did not change outwardly. Yet something lingered behind her gaze.
It was unlabeled and unfocused. Like a thought that had not yet decided what it wanted to become.
Also, it was neither jealousy not recognition. It was something softer and less defined. Like a pause where understanding should have existed...
As if sensing the unnatural attention, Regaleon suddenly turned toward her...
His eyes met hers.
Gold met silver...
The moment stretched; not tense nor obvious but strangely weighted. As if a thread had been pulled between them without either of them agreeing to it.
Aureleah didn’t look away instantly... And neither did he.
Instead, they remained just long enough for something unspoken to exist in the space between them.
Then, Regaleon cleared his throat awkwardly before breaking contact first.
Aureleah followed a heartbeat later, turning her gaze away as if nothing happened.
But the silence left behind was different.
Meanwhile, Veyrath watched everything unfold with the intensity of a man observing a forbidden manuscript.
His lips curled slowly as he murmured.
"...This is interesting..."
No one heard him...
And the moment dissolved.
Sylveris clapped her hands lightly before asking.
"So what do we do with the Cores?"
Hearing her question, Caelestra stepped forward.
"I can store them." The failed Merchant said simply.
She placed a hand on her ornate Chest and continued, "One of my Essence Runes allows spatial storage. Anything sealed within the Chest remains stable and retrievable."
The group nodded. They were about to hand the crystals over when...
"Wait!" Regaleon called out. "I want to try something."
The group looked at him but Regaleon’s attention was fixed on the Core in his palm.
That strange pull had not faded yet. If anything, it persisted strongly...
It was urging him to consume the core. He didn’t know how he was supposed to, but he let instinct guide him...
CRACK!
"Regaleon... What the hell are you doing?!" The failed Alchemist snapped, stepping forward immediately.
But it was too late. The Core fractured completely in Regaleon’s hand.
Veyrath looked personally wounded. Forgetting his previous anger, the failed Alchemist now resembled a man whose favorite wife had been snatched from him...
"No... NO! Do you have any idea what you just..."
He wasn’t able to complete that sentence as he watched in disbelief...
The broken Core didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, it dissolved into rising strands of amber light. Like smoke pulled upward by an unseen sky.
The energy hesitated for only a fraction of a second... Then surged straight into Regaleon; into his Soul Essences.
Crimson lines pulsed visibly like veins of molten blood as the Soul Essences stirred.
The amber streams continued pouring in, flowing into Regaleon as it he were not absorbing them, but receiving them.
Regaleon stood perfectly still for a few moments.
Then...
BOOOM!
A burst of silver light erupted outward...
