"Enforcer Raion…" Dante straightened at once, his tone respectful but calm.
Raion nodded lightly, his presence steady, carrying the weight of a man long accustomed to command. "I came to instruct you, Dante Grimwold. The matter of your External Resonance with the second artifact cannot be delayed—"
As he was about to say, he felt something from Kaios. His words cut short. His gaze fixed on Kaios. For a brief instant, his expression sharpened, a glimmer of disbelief flashing in those aged eyes.
Kaios, feeling the gaze of Raion, flushed from the embarrassment. He gently pushed Lyra away from him, freeing himself from her embrace.
"…Stage 10?" Raion murmured, more to himself.
He folded his hands behind his back, his expression unreadable. "So soon after becoming my disciple… you dare to walk this far already?"
There was no warmth in his voice, only a steady calm that carried both acknowledgment and challenge.
Dante and Lyra tensed after hearing it; they immediately pulled Kaios behind them. Kaios was also stunned—he was just accepted as a disciple by him. Now this—
"Maste...."
Before he could say something, a smile appeared on the face of Raion, contrary to their expectations.
"Good," he said at last, dismissing his own surprise.
"You, my disciple, are really something." He exhaled, his voice steady but excited.
"To complete both Internal and External Resonance at your age… in all my years, I have witnessed it but once."
"Then you will have no excuse for the future arrangements." Raion said while smiling and hidden intention laced with it.
At that time, a chill ran through Kaios's chest. He felt something dreadful inside, as if hell was waiting for him in the future.
Raion then turned towards Dante. "The ER of the second artifact awaits, it should not be delayed further."
Dante understood this and gave a firm nod in reply.
"Now listen attentively, the method of second ER is different than the first one."
"You can start, Enforcer Raion. I am listening," Dante replied back.
Raion nodded, then started the instruction.
"Second ER is only the same with the first ER in name; it is fundamentally different. In the first ER, we are done through the use of our core."
That much Dante knew, as he had just instructed Kaios to the ER.
"But... in the second, that is not the case. After Stage 5, you no longer have the NMT core to repeat the same process. But it leaves us with something more complex—it made our cells micro-reactors. These micro-reactors then form a network, which we call the Bio-quantum Network.
This will be the one that will help you in the second ER."
Dante also had knowledge of the Bio-quantum Network, not that much, but he knew. Because of them, humans could use Psion as innate energy, even when it was not.
But he also had the doubt of how they could be used in the second ER, so he asked Raion.
"How can they be of any use, sir?"
Raion answered, "Hmm... The second ER uses this distributed network, forcing the artifact to synchronize with the body's living lattices. This follows the theory of Conduction synchronization and lattice harmonics."
"Though there are some severe risks to it, if you don't do it properly."
Dante's brow furrowed, his eyes narrowed. "Risks... what type of risks, Enforcer Raion?"
"Crippling due to misalignment, burning an entire section of lattice, or creating 'Psionic Phase Tearing' inside organs."
gasp
Lyra inhaled sharply as she heard it, her concern for Dante's second ER growing.
"D..Dante..."
"Don't worry, honey, nothing will happen to me," Dante assured Lyra, then turned towards Raion.
"So, what are the odds for that, Enforcer?"
Raion shook his head. "It is not that much, with only the probability of 0.003%, but it is not zero."
Dante considered for a second, then nodded. "I will do it, Enforcer." He made up his mind.
Raion smiled, seeing this. "Good, and you will get a benefit that an ordinary Terra Resonant could never receive."
"What will that be, Enforcer?" Dante asked curiously.
"I will be telling you, but it is a top secret of the Solaria Empire and Military. Not even the IGHF knows about this, so be careful and don't tell anybody," Raion's voice dropped as he warned everyone present there.
Lyra as well as Kaios both straightened and nodded seriously.
"This ability is called Bio Fold. It will give you the ability to store weapons or other important things within your body, not needing any storage spaces," Raion dropped the bombshell.
As they heard this, the trio became gobsmacked. It was information that changed their view.
Raion expected this reaction—that is why it was a top secret. Even the military who went through this didn't know about it. He only told Dante because Kaios was his disciple.
He explained then, "Bio Fold lets you store weapons inside the lattice of your body. As the Second ER happens, the lattice harmonics create gaps between the lattices, and then Psion bends it to make the storage. But it has a limitation..."
Dante wondered, "What is the limitation, Enforcer? Is there any risk to the body or Resonants?"
"No, not that," Raion shook his head. "The limitation is that only objects with your Psion imprint can be stored."
As Dante heard, he didn't take it too seriously. Even though it severely limited the storing of objects, it was for the better.
This would be much more secure. Storage spaces bend space to make more space inside it, then stabilize that. By using energy, it destabilizes the one object you need, which is then thrown outside. So it is easy to be tampered with, even when people add safeties to it.
But in the case of Bio Fold, if it worked as per the description of Enforcer, then it would be fully secure. It would also provide a large benefit during many secret services.
"I understand, Enforcer," Dante replied.
"Now for the steps." Raion started to talk about the steps he had to do.
"First, spread the Psion to your whole body, but this time include even the inside organs. Keep in mind the Psion must cover every cell."
"Then check the lattices and align each micro-reactor inside the cells."
"In the next step, resonate all the Psion with each other, synchronizing them. When you do that, it will seem like—this." Raion showed them as he explained it.
Psion flowed from the tip of his finger like liquid, steady and smooth. What was more shocking was that there wasn't a trace of turbulence—no splashes, no breaks—just a clean, laminar stream that looked almost unnatural.
They were marveled at the sight of this level of control of Psion from Raion.
"After you can maintain it throughout your body, you will pour this into the artifact you want to ER."
"When you have done this, you will enter the last phase. This is the most dangerous phase, so you have to be laser-focused without any slight distraction," Raion warned Dante.
"Here, you will have to close the artifact with your skin. As you do it, you have to check the change in Resonance and harmonize it. Slowly, your fold in the lattice will take the approaching artifact inside it, and when that happens, know that you will have successfully completed the ER." Raion concluded.
"After it, don't take it until you receive a Pulse of Confirmation from the Psion. That will inform you that the ER is complete and your abilities were adapted and mutated accordingly."
Dante took in all the information and steps that Raion told him about the Second ER, from its advantages to its demerits.
"I understand the steps and will finish it before my military recruitment letter, sir."
Raion nodded, and just as he was about to leave through teleportation, he remembered something.
"Kaios, be ready. Explore and train your Special Attributes you had unlocked. After a month, there will be a trial for you."
This was the last sentence Raion spoke before he disappeared from the training room.
A/N: Read Author's thoughts, there is an important message.