The air was warmer now, though it carried the damp scent of melted frost and overturned soil. John stood quietly, letting the silence settle, before finally glancing at Tony and Eccaruss.
Tony spoke first. "What happened to you in there, John?" His voice was steady, but his eyes were sharp, scanning his younger brother as if looking for something wrong.
John's reply was calm. "What do you want to know?"
Eccaruss stepped forward before Tony could answer. His gaze was unwavering, his tone clipped. "Physically—what's changed?"
John took a slow breath. "My muscles, bones, even my skin—they've been reforged. Every movement feels sharper, cleaner. My frame's leaner but stronger. My bones are denser than steel, but lighter than before."
Tony gave a small nod but stayed close enough to reach out if John swayed. Eccaruss, however, didn't stop.
"And your spiritual sea?" the old man asked.
John's voice dropped slightly. "My crystal core used to be a swirl of colors—each one tied to the powers I'd earned over the years. Now, it's pure white. Not empty, just… brighter than anything I've seen. Like it's alive."
Tony exhaled slowly. For him, that explanation was enough. His little brother was breathing, talking—still here. That was what mattered.
Eccaruss, however, leaned in further. "During meditation—what kind of energy did you draw into yourself?"
"Origin energy," John answered plainly.
For a moment, Eccaruss froze. His mouth closed, then opened slightly, as if words were trying to form but couldn't. His eyes lit with a mix of disbelief and realization. Seconds passed before he whispered, almost to himself, "I understand… now I understand."
Tony glanced between them. "Understand what?"
Eccaruss turned to them, eyes bright. "Listen carefully. In any world, in any universe, when people begin to cultivate, they start with mana—the base energy. As they grow stronger, they unlock higher forms of energy, step by step. It's a ladder everyone climbs slowly. But you—" He jabbed a finger lightly toward John. "—you've skipped the ladder entirely. You're directly absorbing origin energy, the very top. The purest form."
Tony's brow furrowed slightly. John stayed silent, letting Eccaruss speak.
"That's why," Eccaruss continued, "you've always been stronger than opponents who, by level, should have crushed you. That's why your calamity was so vicious—it was responding to your true level of energy. It all makes sense now."
John met his gaze, calm as ever.
"How," Eccaruss pressed, "did you learn to do this? Who taught you? Where did you discover such a method?"
"I didn't know I was absorbing origin energy untill recently," John said simply. "So I can't tell you anything about how it happened."
It wasn't a lie—just… not the whole truth. He didn't mention the strange runes he could see appearing out of thin air, or how he could inscribe them into his spiritual sea. That secret stayed where it was.
Eccaruss's face flickered with disappointment. "Hmph. Instinct, then," he muttered.
"If that's all," John said, "we should leave."
Tony nodded almost immediately. "Fine by me. It feels, I have been staying here for years."
Eccaruss grunted in agreement, though his gaze still lingered on John.
Before they moved, John said, "First, we go back to the small dimension."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Nyx?"
John nodded.
When they stepped back into the pocket space, the air felt different—thick with an almost tangible energy. The dim light pulsed faintly, like the heartbeat of the place itself.
But the first thing they noticed wasn't the air—it was the egg-like structure in the center.
The last time they had been here, it had loomed over them like a giant monument, nearly as tall as a ten-story building. Now, it had shrunk drastically, standing only as tall as a single-story house. The once smooth surface was now cracked in jagged patterns, faint trails of soft light seeping out from within.
Tony's brow furrowed. "It's… smaller?"
John nodded slowly. "Yeah. Nyx's going through a transformation. What kind… I have no idea."
Eccaruss stepped closer, narrowing his eyes at the faint glow. "Hatching like this isn't ordinary. She's undergoing some sort of deep change. If we move her now, we could disrupt it."
"Then we wait," John said simply.
Tony huffed, glancing around. "Guess we're setting up camp again."
They worked in silence, clearing a small area and setting down supplies. The air inside the small dimension was oddly calm compared to the chaos outside. Every so often, John's gaze drifted back to Nyx's shrinking shell, watching the slow, rhythmic pulse of light from within.
" I have a feeling that Nyx's going to be something else when she comes out," Tony murmured, half-smiling.
John didn't answer right away. His thoughts were split—partly on Nyx, partly on the white crystal core in his spiritual sea.
Eccaruss sat a short distance away, arms crossed, studying John. "You may not understand what you're doing, boy, but mark my words—using origin energy this early is a double-edged sword. Power comes fast, yes. But so do the trials meant for those far beyond your level."
John met his gaze steadily. "Then I'll deal with them when they come."
Tony smirked faintly. "And that's exactly why you scare me, John."
A rare chuckle escaped his younger brother.
They settled in, the three of them bound in a quiet, watchful wait. Outside the small dimension, the world was slowly healing from the calamities. But here, in this pocket of stillness, all that mattered was the faint glow of an unhatched creature.
A few days passed as they waited for Nyx to hatch. Then, without warning, a soft crack echoed through the pocket space. Their eyes snapped toward the egg just in time to see the shell breaking apart. From within, a blinding light burst forth, forcing John and the others to shield their eyes with their hands.