Chapter 132: [Affinities]
A full day had passed since Selena had begun cultivating the creature’s core, and she had expected it to take several more days to absorb all the energy contained within it. After all, the higher the rank of a mana core, the more concentrated and abundant the energy inside.
The same should have been true for this pearl.
But it wasn’t.
Her mana core had digested the pearl’s energy with surprising ease, none of the usual absorption, refinement, and assimilation process. Just absorption and assimilation, clean and direct, like opening a channel between two points and letting the energy flow on its own. No real effort required.
What she hadn’t expected was the sheer volume of it.
It was like breaching a dam. The strange energy poured into her continuously, without interruption, at a speed that left her no room to pause, and after an entire day of cultivation, she had finally absorbed everything the pearl had to offer.
’Lirien would lose her mind if she found out about this,’ she thought, mildly stunned, feeling the new strength settle into her body.
She had been close to mid-stage D-rank, a progression that should have taken another couple of weeks at minimum. But today she hadn’t just made that step. She had gone past it, pushing close to advanced-stage in a single session.
She was certain that with a few more of those pearls, she’d reach it completely. And if she kept up this pace, reaching the peak of this rank wasn’t out of the question within a week or two.
The pearl crumbled the moment it emptied, dissolving into particles of light before disappearing entirely.
The sight caught Selena off guard.
It was the first time she had ever seen something like that happen.
Then again...
Everything about this strange energy was new to her.
She exhaled slowly, letting the energy inside her settle.
After a full day of cultivation, she’d come to one conclusion: this energy was unlike anything she had ever encountered. Its purity surpassed everything she’d previously experienced, and it integrated with her mana seamlessly, so seamlessly that her mana core was now saturated with it.
More than that, she could feel that this energy carried a different kind of power. If she pushed it to its limits, she estimated she could release something on par with a peak advanced-stage Awakener. In other words, she had just become the second strongest in her group.
’I wonder how she’s doing,’ she thought, her mind drifting to her friend who had also ended up here somewhere.
She was a solitary person by nature. Always had been. But Lirien had been one of the few who had managed to find her way in.
She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she was glad to have found a friend like her.
’She should be with the instructor. I hope she’s alright,’
As she stood up, she immediately noticed something else.
That mysterious energy had completely refreshed her body, filling her with a vitality she hadn’t felt in days. She hadn’t eaten, but somehow, she didn’t need to. That energy had taken care of it on its own, a side effect she hadn’t expected, but it was one she welcomed wholeheartedly.
Then, the calm expression on Selena’s face gradually turned serious.
With her sword in hand, she drew a thin thread of energy from her mana core.
The moment she did, her instincts fired.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she stepped sideways, not to create distance from the creature that had just appeared, but to launch herself straight at it.
’Just as I thought. I can sense them now,’ she realized, feeling the creature materialize even before she could see it, along with a clear read of its strength.
It was similar to the last one. Maybe marginally stronger, but not by much.
During her cultivation she had wondered how she was going to detect these things, mana was a gamble, and there was nothing about the creatures themselves that gave her reliable early warning. She’d been relying on survival instincts honed over years, but she knew there was a limit to how far that could take her.
Then the idea had come to her, absurd, almost embarrassing to consider.
If that energy existed inside these creatures, and she had now absorbed it herself... could she use it to sense them?
It was a reckless hypothesis that needed to be tested before she could believe it. She hadn’t expected much. But the creature had appeared, and she had felt it, clearly, with more detail than any of her senses had ever given her before.
She exhaled.
She finally had an edge.
Sword raised, she didn’t waste another second. If every one of these things carried a pearl, then she was going to cut through every last one she could find and use them as stepping stones.
They were far too valuable a training resource to waste.
The fear that these creatures had once inspired in her was nowhere to be seen.
In its place was something quieter, and considerably more dangerous.
Selena wasn’t the only one in that kind of mood.
After waking up and eliminating several Forsaken with his Void Energy, Evan found himself in exactly the same state of mind, right up until the system notification arrived.
[Ding! You have reached 100% ESS for your current rank.]
[Processing...]
[Ding! A new advancement mission is now available.]
Evan didn’t waste any time. He immediately opened his status screen to check his progress.
---
[Name: Evan]
[Age: 15]
[Rank: D]
[ESS: 69% → 100%] (!)
[Bloodline: God of Life (5%)]
[Divine Clone]
> [God Of Death]: 27%
> [God Of War]: 21%
[Affinities]
> [Void Energy]: 26%
> [Poisons]: 10%
> [Life Energy]: 11%
> [Law of Space]: 3%
> [Law of Time]: 0.01%
[Skills]: 4
[Storage]
---
Most things had stayed roughly the same, but two things had changed. The first was obvious: 100% ESS, with the advancement mission flag sitting right there waiting for him.
But that wasn’t what caught his eye.
’An affinities section?’ he thought, staring at the new addition to his status screen. He had never seen it before. He found himself wondering why it was only showing up now.
