In the quiet of his cabin, Lassim and Sanvra convened to deliberate over the unsettling revelations brought forth by Faelan’s actions. The room felt unusually tense as they discussed the situation.
Sanvra, her expression thoughtful, leaned against the wooden table, her fingers tracing the grain. "[We need to ensure that everyone understands that the expansion efforts and cleansing process are for everyone’s benefit. What worries me more is that Faelan’s fears might not be isolated.
His actions could have endangered us all, and there may be others that feel similarly, but he’s the first with initiative. We must address this carefully.]" Her voice was steady, yet there was an undercurrent of concern.
Lassim nodded, pacing slowly by the window, watching the eternal night outside. "[Yeah, the fear of the unknown can drive even the best of us to desperation. We should try and speak with everyone one by one or in small, personal meetings, explain the safeguards we have in place, and openly discuss their concerns while sharing the details of our plans.
Maybe then we can restore some confidence and prevent further incidents.]"
"[Agreed,]" Sanvra replied, "[But let’s give it a day or two. Let everyone cool down a bit, including ourselves. We need to approach this with clear heads and open hearts.]" She suggested, knowing well the emotional toll the recent events had taken on everyone, herself included.
Before departing, Sanvra paused at the door, turning back to Lassim with a slight hesitation in her stance. "[Is there anything else on your mind, my star? You seem... preoccupied.]"
Lassim exhaled deeply, a mix of resolve and anticipation in his tone. "[Actually, there is. I feel that I’m on the verge of a breakthrough to the next stage—Spirit Transformation. I believe it’s time for me to return to the cliffs we set up for the cleansing experiments. It’s far enough that I won’t risk damaging the village or alarming the community during the commotion.
The last time I broke through… well, let’s just say it got a bit intense.]"
Sanvra raised her eyebrows, a flicker of concern passing through her eyes. "[Are you sure you want to go alone? It might be safer if I or someone else came with you, just in case.]"
"[I appreciate your concern, but I need to do this alone. Plus, I’ve got Zaphy and Mari with me and the three of us can protect ourselves against nearly anything in this realm that might be stupid enough to approach during the breakthrough. Besides, I’ll be inside the barriers we set up. If anything goes wrong, I’ll call for help immediately through the contact crystals,]" Lassim reassured her.
Reluctantly, Sanvra nodded with understanding, "[Alright, just... be careful, my star. We can’t afford to lose you.]" Her voice was slightly thick with emotion, betraying her usually composed demeanor.
With a final nod of determination, Sanvra left while Lassim gathered his few necessary belongings—a pack with some provisions, his fur lined jacket that he’d set resting on the chair after coming inside and the communication crystal.
He might not need the provisions, but he wasn’t sure how long the process would take him and he might be hungry after it finishes. He remembered that he felt great physically during the last breakthrough in stages, but his stomach was a bit empty. If he hadn’t been fighting for his life so desperately and saving other students, he would’ve struggled more with it.
The journey to the cliffs would take him through untraveled snow, which was blanketed perpetually it seemed and shadowed by the towering formations of rock and ice that characterized the landscape where they had set up the barrier for his experiment that went awry a few months ago.
As he approached the designated area, the cliffs loomed ahead, their daunting presence a stark reminder of the last time he had been here, touched by the shadow of something ancient and formidable.
But today, he was not here to confront ancient or mysterious entities. Today, he was here to push the boundaries of his own potential, to step into a realm of power that would bring about more strength to personal safety through his own prowess.
He’d been able to achieve progressing through the entirety of the Spirit Growth stage in a year and a half, which was absolutely insane by any standard set in the history of Nexaria. Lassim himself was unsure why this was possible, but his conversations with Mari suggested that the answer definitely lay in the cleansed mana he’d been absorbing.
She’d been quiet on sharing her own idea on why this was possible, but she’d tell him eventually.
Inside the barrier, Lassim settled into a meditative position at the center of the cleared area. Surrounded by the natural barriers of rock and the artificial ones they had erected through the array poles, he closed his eyes.
He then began to draw upon the deep reserves of corrupted mana that flowed through this land. He transformed his spirit sense into tendrils that reached out and cleansed the surrounding air under his guided use of lightning.
He attuned to the now purified mana that awaited him as he pushed to absorb it and break through the barrier as he sat at the cusp of Spirit Transformation stage.
As he delved deeper into his cultivation, the air around him began to crackle.
The cleansed mana surged through Lassim’s halberd, it carried with it the transformative power of the realm’s life-force, channeling into his inner heart world.
Within this mystical inner space, the vast mana pool undulated beneath where Mari and Zaphy hovered next to the soul-fragment-encased ice statue of Lassim’s [Grand Aegis] technique.
The pool of mana began to bubble and churn, growing thicker and more volatile with each passing second. It swirled into a giant whirlpool at the center of his heart realm, drawing in streams of purified mana with an insatiable hunger.
As the whirlpool intensified, lightning burst forth from its core, illuminating the inner world with flashes of electric blue and silver.
Amidst this tempestuous scene, a crystal began to form, emerging slowly from the center of the whirlpool. It was like the birth of a miniature island, rising gradually as it absorbed the surging mana around it.
This crystal grew in size and complexity, drawing nearly ninety-five percent of the mana pool into its structure until it finally halted, a shimmering monument to Lassim’s impending transformation.
Back in the physical world, the repercussions of Lassim’s breakthrough were immediate and dramatic. The earth beneath him trembled as if resonating with the monumental shift occurring within his spirit. The cliffs surrounding the clearing shook violently, dislodging rocks and sending echoes through the valley that amplified the intensity of the breakthrough.
Above, the sky transformed into a theater of natural power. For as far as twenty kilometers, the clouds roiled with energy, and giant lightning dragons roamed the heavens.
These colossal beams of lightning, made entirely of brilliant, crackling violet colored energy, danced among the clouds. Their forms cast vast illuminations over the land below. Each movement of these ethereal dragons was accompanied by a thunderous roar that seemed to shake the very air.
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As Lassim centered himself within the eye of this storm, his consciousness expanded, reaching new heights of perception. He could feel the subtle pulse of the realm around him, the life force of the plane intertwining with his own essence.
The connection to the mana felt oddly deeper than it should have, but the changes in his body were taking all of his attention as he strode towards crossing the line into the next stage.
The breakthrough into the Spirit Transformation stage was imminent!
Despite the chaos outside, within the barrier, there was an eerie calm. Lassim, at the heart of this maelstrom of power, felt a profound peace as he bridged the threshold into Spirit Transformation.
His body and spirit were no longer merely containers of power; they were not becoming more intertwined with each other as the crystal itself had not only been formed as a conduit for the profound energies of the world around him—mana— but was also slowly absorbing fragments of his soul.
Tiny specks of light could be slowly integrating into its depths giving the violet and blue flashing crystal an odd glow while more lights migrated towards it.
The Spirit Transformation stage was named as such as this was one of the first steps in the cultivation journey where the spirit warrior truly began to embody their elements.
The biggest marker of this was the physical manifestations that heralded the deepening of Lassim’s connection to his elemental lineage.
As he sat meditating, his dark black hair began to shift in hue, transforming into a deep, velvety blue that seemed to absorb and reflect the faint light within the barrier space. It was a vibrant, yet muted color that spoke of the sky just before a storm, rich and full of clouds.
Simultaneously, his pupils underwent a remarkable change. Once a dirt brown, they now shimmered a bright violet, alive with flashes of lightning that crackled quietly within.
If he were to open his eyes, these streaks of lightning would occasionally jut out into the air, a visible manifestation of the power he was coming to wield more expertly with each advancement.
The air around him also seemed charged, and those close enough might notice that his natural odor had changed; he now carried with him the fresh, invigorating scent of spring rain.
This transformation was not just cosmetic.
Lassim felt his senses sharpen, his perception of mana intensifying. He could now sense the flow of elemental energies with acute precision, and his affinity with lightning and water deepened, anchoring his abilities in the natural world.