I sat cross-legged, forcing my breath steady, calming my mind for what was to come.
The room was unnaturally still so still it felt as though the world itself was holding its breath.
Noctharion's voice echoed in my head, low and merciless.
"Once it begins, there will be no turning back. Your core will shatter. Your veins will rupture. Your soul itself will bleed. But endure, Kael endure, for there is no easy path in this world. Remember no matter what happens, do not lose consciousness."
His warning sent a chill through me, but before I could steel myself further, it began.
My mana stirred on its own. No he was moving it. Controlling it. I felt his claws inside me, tugging at the very currents of my being.
At first, it was heat. My core grew hotter, hotter still, until it felt like a sun was caged inside me. The warmth quickly twisted into fire molten lava pouring through my veins.
A groan escaped me, then another, until I couldn't stop the ragged sounds tearing from my throat. The pain was beyond words. My veins throbbed, glowing dark beneath my skin, as if corruption itself was coursing through them.
The fire spread arms, legs, chest, skull.
And then it struck my mind.
There are no words for that kind of agony. Not fire. Not knives. It was like my very thoughts were being burned, like every memory and dream was being split apart. A scream ripped itself from me before I even knew it.
My body convulsed, jerking violently on the floor, but I clung to consciousness with everything I had. My body begged me to shut down, to sleep, to escape but I knew the moment I surrendered, it would all end. Permanently.
Through the haze of torment, I could still sense Noctharion. He was flooding me with mana far beyond my limits, stretching, tearing, breaking me apart. And yet, every time I was about to shatter, he forced my body to hold together. Like a cruel blacksmith, hammering until the steel screamed, but never allowing it to break.
Seconds felt like hours. Minutes—like lifetimes. And still it went on.
This was hell. My veins were burning rivers. My soul was bleeding chains of fire. And yet this was the path I had chosen.
I clenched my teeth, my nails digging into the stone floor. No matter what I will endure. I will not stop. I will not fail.
Because this is my promise.
That was the fastest path to strength and I seized it.
The consequences were mine to bear, and I accepted them.
No matter the cost. No matter what I must sacrifice.
I swore to myself: I will grow stronger. I will endure.
I was barely clinging to my consciousness, drowning in the waves of agony, when I heard Noctharion's voice cut through the haze.
"That's enough. Let's move on to the next part."
Relief surged through me. Finally, this wretched torment was about to end. In my desperation, I forgot that the next part was the most dangerous of all.
Then it began.
The molten, lava like mana that had been searing my veins surged toward my core. My body trembled violently, shuddering as if the air itself recoiled from me. It was as though I had become a black hole, dragging mana from every direction into myself. The reserves already overflowing inside me churned violently, rushing into my core with terrifying speed.
At first, a wave of exhilaration struck me my body felt alive, reborn, as my strength multiplied. My mana reserve swelled until it was completely full yet it didn't stop. The absorption continued, relentless, until the mana inside me doubled, far beyond my natural capacity.
The pain was still there, gnawing at my insides, but compared to the earlier torture, it felt almost merciful. And yet, deep inside, I could feel it my core was on the verge of shattering. No, by all rights, it should have broken a hundred times over.
But it didn't.
Because Noctharion was holding it together.
The precision of his control was terrifying, flawless in a way that defied belief. Watching him manipulate the unstable torrent within me, I was certain what he was doing now was something no one else in this world could ever achieve.
I could feel it.
My core… it was trembling, pulsating with unimaginable power—struggling to hold itself together. It resisted, screaming in defiance, trying to stop itself from absorbing more mana. But in front of Noctharion's control, that resistance was meaningless.
He kept feeding me more.
Endlessly.
Mana surged into me in torrents so vast it felt like drowning inside fire and lightning. My core cracked under the strain, splintering, shattering piece by piece… but each time, impossibly, it was restored. I didn't know how. I didn't know what he was doing. All I knew was that Noctharion was playing with the very laws of this world, toying with the impossible as though it were nothing.
The cycle continued.
Feed. Crack. Restore. Feed again.
Until the amount of mana condensed within me surpassed my rank. No, this was more. Far more. Enough to rival an S-rank… perhaps even beyond.
The pain was unbearable. Agony burned in every nerve, in every corner of my being. My body cracked like porcelain, glowing lines spreading across my flesh as if I couldn't contain the storm inside me.
I begged him. Again and again, I begged Noctharion to stop.
He didn't even acknowledge my words.
Finally… he paused. Crimson eyes glimmered with some unreadable amusement.
"That should be enough." His voice slithered into my mind. "Now… brace for the impact."
Before I could respond, I felt it.
A command.
And then
Shatter.
My core exploded.
A sun's worth of mana was released in an instant, flooding outward in a tide so vast I was sure the world itself would be torn apart. I expected annihilation—an explosion that would reduce everything to dust.
But Noctharion, once again, defied reality.
The unleashed energy didn't destroy. Instead, it was reclaimed. The torrent surged back, pouring into me, weaving through the strengthened mana veins he had carved into my body.
But this time, it wasn't pain.
It was… harmony.
I felt the mana flow through me, reshaping me, remaking me. A new core began to form stronger, sharper, alive with power. But it wasn't mana alone. Another force threaded through it, moving side by side with mana, resonating with it.
Aura.
Two energies. Two worlds.
Mana and aura, intertwining, fusing, coiling together into something never before seen.
And with their union
A new core was born.
My body, with this newfound core, pulsed with power.
The cracks that had marred me before… were gone—restored as though they had never existed.
I could feel it.
This power was unlike anything I had ever touched, far beyond what I thought possible. The core inside me radiated with strength, its energy surging, boundless, intoxicating.
A part of me wanted no, ached to test it, to unleash it, to see what this power could really do.
But my body my mind had reached their limit. Exhaustion pressed down on me heavier than any chain. The torture, the pain I had endured it had subsided, leaving behind only the single desire my body demanded now:
Rest.
Slowly, my eyelids grew heavy, my vision dimmed, and the world faded into darkness.
And then, just before I drifted completely
"You can rest now."
Noctharion's voice. Low. Certain.
I surrendered to it. Sleep claimed me.
Noctharion materialized beside the sleeping Kael.
Contrary to what Kael believed, the process he had endured was anything but simple. In truth, there had only been the faintest chance he would survive it.
Kael had placed complete faith in Noctharion believing, wrongly, that the ancient being could save him if he failed. But that was not the truth.
Had Kael resisted, even for a moment had he lost consciousness at the wrong time the process would have unraveled. His core would have shattered entirely, and Kael would have perished.
Yet he did not resist. He had begged. He had pleaded. But he had endured.
And now, the result lay before Noctharion:
Something humanity had never achieved before.
Even Noctharion, in all his vast existence, had not expected Kael to succeed. And yet, here he was.
The boy had done it.
Curiosity stirred within the ancient being. To others, the unknown was a thing to fear dangerous, terrifying. But to Noctharion, the unknown was irresistible. A puzzle. A promise. A mystery to be unraveled.
And Kael Kael was becoming the greatest unknown of all.
Noctharion's gaze shifted. He felt it the presence drawing nearer.
The commander.
Of course he had noticed. The shattering of Kael's core had sent ripples through mana itself, a disturbance no ordinary person could sense. The commander, a peak S-rank awakened, had felt it faintly just enough to come investigate.
But beyond him? No one else.
No one weak could perceive what had taken place.
If Noctharion had been even slightly stronger, not even the commander would have sensed it. But his authority was tied to Kael now. That link had left a trace.
Still, Noctharion was not concerned. He had observed the commander. Watched him. Judged him.
He knew the man would do nothing to Kael.
And for Noctharion, that was enough.