I'm AJ, and while my wish gave me everything I asked for, I'm starting to question whether I asked for the right thing.
The morning meditation session was in full swing when I arrived at the main plaza, where nearly 30 people sat in a circle with their eyes closed in concentration.
I positioned myself at the edge of the group, watching the subtle mana flows around each person as they absorbed the surrounding mana.
My strength kept pace with the others easily enough—Victor, Ethan, and the rest had progressed to the Earth Realm, and I could still match or exceed their physical capabilities. But there was this feeling, I felt... incomplete.
I could sense the mana flowing through my body, manipulate it with precision that would make anyone envious, and my entire form served as one giant mana channel. Yet for all that advantage, I felt like I was missing something fundamental.
Studying the people meditating, I tried to understand what they were doing that I wasn't. Their mana moved in deliberate patterns, circulating through vague pathways that had been carefully developed through practice.
I attempted to copy their techniques, focusing on my own energy circulation and trying to establish similar patterns. But my physiology was so different that their methods felt awkward and ineffective.
Maybe that's just the nature of being different, I thought, shifting my attention to my core. It was a gift of my transformation, I hadn't yet truly understood what it was for or what it did. The only thing I had to go off of was the vague feeling that it was important.
After a few more futile attempts at copying the people around me, I decided to leave the meditation session and find something more productive to do.
"Brooding again?" Sam's voice came from nearby.
"Trying to figure out why my cultivation feels stagnant despite my abilities improving," I replied.
Sam approached with a warm smile. "So, how are you going about it?"
"I've been trying to copy what you guys do, absorb mana, circulate it, and so on but since mana is already so deeply embedded in my body that does nothing for me."
"Hmm." Sam stroked his chin. "The core—how are you using it?"
"Like a storage unit, mostly, and even then the majority of my mana is spread out in my body for quick access."
"Your mana is spread pretty evenly throughout your body... why don't you gather it all in your core?" he asked.
"It takes a while to pull it back out for use." I replied.
"What if you tried gathering more energy in your core and see what happens? It could be that there's a threshold of energy that it needs before you can progress. Like how we had to fill our mana reserves before breaking through to the Earth Realm."
"Concentrate more mana into the core itself huh..." I wondered aloud.
My core did store energy, and I did try to pour mana into it before, why not try again, maybe I simply didn't give it enough mana for anything to happen.
"Worth trying," Sam nodded. "Could be nothing, but it might give you some insight."
After Sam left, I spent the next hour redirecting mana from throughout my body towards my core. The process was surprisingly difficult—my natural state involved having energy distributed throughout my body, and moving it required conscious effort.
After gathering almost all of the mana I had and pushing it into the core the density of mana inside had risen drastically.
Some subtle changes were taking place inside my core now, pulling mana back out was quicker, and the mana felt different in a way I couldn't describe, it was like it had been refined.
The refined mana flowed more efficiently, my control felt sharper, and there was a sense of... potential that hadn't been there before.
This is it, I realized. This is what I've been missing.
Before I could explore the discovery further, Victor appeared with an urgent expression on his face.
"AJ, I need you for a mission," he said without preamble.
I shifted to my human form. "What's happened?"
"We've been tracking signs of razor bears getting closer to the settlement. Maya's spotted one about 2 kilometres southeast of here."
We'd encountered signs of these creatures before not too far from the first wolf nest in the form of territorial markings and tracks.
But recently there had been an increasing number of those signs as well as a few distant encounters. They were bear-like creatures that were larger and, from what we could tell, more aggressive, with claws that could slice through stone.
They were solitary hunters but that didn't make them any less dangerous than the wolves. A single bear could probably take on a pack of 5 wolves without much trouble.
"My team's assembling now," Victor continued. "We're going to find the nest and destroy it and then track down the bears that are a bit close for comfort."
Victor's team was waiting by the bridge when I arrived. Alex stood silently, twin daggers secured at his sides. Tyler adjusted his rapier, while Zoe practiced swinging her curved sabre. Maya held her bow ready, and Nate checked his short sword.
"We've worked out the general area where the nest should be which is roughly 3 kilometres southeast," Victor briefed us as we set out. "Based on the territorial markings, we're looking at maybe half a dozen bears total. They're stronger and more dangerous than wolves, but fewer in number."
Along the way, I spotted several mana-rich fungi growing in the shadows of larger trees. Without breaking stride, I absorbed them as we passed, adding their mana and material to my collection.
"There," Maya pointed towards a rocky outcropping that looked suspiciously regular. "That should be it right?"
Victor nodded. "The plan is pretty simple, we take it slow, killing all of the creatures we encounter. The main chamber will have the majority of them and the artifact is likely to spawn more creatures as we fight. That's all there is to know."
We approached the cave entrance, I was leading and Alex covered our rear. The opening was larger than the wolf cave, otherwise it seemed mostly identical.
I produced a trail of glowmelt, the luminescent substance casting light into the darkness ahead. As we moved deeper in I found a bear, it came charging at us before I could warn the others.
The creature was massive—easily 3 metres tall when standing on its hind legs, with claws that gleamed in the glowmelt's illumination. Its dark fur was streaked with hints of red.
I reacted instinctively, my body hardened into dozens of spikes as the creature collided with me, the points penetrating its hide.
The bear roared, trying to slash me with its claws, but Victor was already moving. His dagger cutting into the bears neck, ribs, and back.
Tyler and Zoe flanked the bear from opposite sides while Nate and Maya watched for any additional threats.
The coordination was impressive—Victor's team worked together smoothly, each one finding a role without having to communicate.
The bear fell within mere moments, but I could already sense movement deeper in the cave.
"More coming," I warned, shifting into human form and producing an axe.
The next section of tunnel opened into a larger chamber where 2 bears were staying, the space reeked of old kills.
The bears attacked together, but their coordination was sloppy as they got in each others way.
I engaged the bear that came towards me, my axe work drawing its attention while Victor circled around it. Alex coordinated strikes against the second creature with Tyler and Zoe who struck at the bear while Alex drew its attention away from them.
Maya's arrows proved quite effective, her patience allowing her to time shots that, avoided her allies, and strike at vital points, piercing deep into the bears flesh.
It was Alex who impressed me most. Throughout the fight, he was always able to anticipate his teammates' needs.
When Tyler overextended during an attack, Alex was already moving to cover him. When Zoe drew the bears attention, Alex created an escape route.
His reliability wasn't flashy, but it was absolute. Every member of Victor's team could fight knowing Alex would be there when they needed him.
We were able to dispatch the 2 creatures after a couple minutes, as it turns out they're harder to kill when they don't run straight into a spiked wall.
"Crystal chamber ahead," I called out as we continued further. The artifact's energy signature was unmistakable, similar to the wolf nest but seemingly more concentrated.
The final chamber contained what we'd expected—a floating crystal artifact but to my surprise there was only another set of 2 bears here.
While there were only 2 of them, they were different from the others. They were even larger, with enhanced muscle definition and an aura of mana that radiated off of them.
"Even larger ones, great," Victor scowled.
The fight was more intense than anything we'd faced in the cave so far. The larger bears moved with surprising coordination, one trying to flank us while the other charged head-on.
I jumped back to avoid its massive claws before hardening into a wall of spikes. The bear slammed into me, several spikes penetrating its thick hide, but its momentum drove me backwards pushing me up against the chamber wall.
Victor darted in from the side, his dagger finding gaps between the creature's ribs while Alex moved to intercept the second bear that was trying to circle around us.
"Tyler, Zoe, Maya with Alex!" Victor called out, his blade work keeping the first bear's attention focused on him.
The second bear was clever, using its bulk to try and corner Alex against the chamber wall. His twin daggers were a blur of motion, each strike precise and calculated as he gave ground slowly, drawing the creature into a position where Tyler could strike from behind.
Zoe's curved sabre caught the bear across its snout as it lunged at Alex, the unexpected pain making it rear back directly into Tyler's rapier thrust.
I shifted back to human form as the bear backed up, and produced an axe as I moved to support Victor. The first bear's claws caught my shoulder in a glancing blow, opening a shallow cut that stung but didn't slow me down.
"Need something with more reach," I muttered, absorbing the axe and creating a spear instead. The longer weapon let me strike at the bear's neck while staying back from its devastating claws.
Maya's arrows found their marks consistently. Each shot struck deep, gradually wearing down the creatures' stamina.
The first bear made a desperate lunge at Victor, who rolled aside as my spear stabbed through its throat. The creature's death throes were violent, claws scoring deep gouges in the stone floor.
Alex finished the second bear with a nicely timed strike to the base of its skull, his daggers punching straight through.
"That was a step up in difficulty," Tyler said, wiping blood from a scratch on his cheek.
Both bears lay motionless, their size making them imposing even in death.
"Time to deal with that thing," Victor said, pointing at the crystal with his dagger.