"Nightmare?" Valen asked softly.
Amber affirmed it with a small nod.
Valen held her hand and silently established the Spirit Channel again. Mana surged into her, and she activated her self-restoration spell. Strength filled every cell, muscles steadying, breath evening out.
But her external mutations remained—the elongated nails, the wildly grown hair, the enhanced musculature visible beneath her skin.
Valen slowly explained what had happened to her.
Amber listened silently, sitting still on her bed, gaze fixed somewhere past his shoulder. Her expression did not change as he described the corruption, the sedatives, the healer's diagnosis about her awakened bloodline.
When he finished, she slowly turned her head and clasped his hands.
"You have saved me again," she said.
A faint smile touched her lips.
She rose from the bed and embraced him.
Her head rested against his shoulder, breath warm against his neck.
"How can I become stronger?" she asked quietly.
Valen slowly separated from the embrace and looked at her directly.
"True strength comes from understanding and conquering oneself."
She pouted.
"You sound like an old man again."
"You have already taken the first step," Valen continued, ignoring the interruption. "You understand your strengths and weaknesses. You have faced your fears and insecurities."
"The next step is overcoming them."
Someone cleared their throat.
Valen glanced toward the others.
The protagonist trio stood near the doorway, politely averting their gazes. Elara's cheeks were faintly pink.
"Looks like you have recovered enough," Elara said. "We can go to our dorms to rest."
Amber turned to face them.
Despite the faint flush of embarrassment on her own face, she thanked them properly for staying with her through the night.
On the way back to their dorm, Amber appeared more spirited than before.
The mutations had not faded, but she seemed unbothered by them now. She walked with her usual confident stride, claws clicking faintly against the cobblestones whenever her fingers brushed the hilt of her saber.
"I have awakened the bloodline from my mother's side as well," she said.
She held out her hand.
A thin stream of water coiled up from her palm, twisting in lazy spirals before pooling into a floating sphere.
Valen observed the control.
Smooth. Instinctive. Far cleaner than most beginners managed with elemental manipulation.
"Be careful," he said. "With that look, adventurers will hunt you as a sea monster."
A jet of water struck his face.
Or would have, if his barrier had not snapped into place in time.
The water splashed harmlessly against the translucent shield, droplets sliding down its surface.
Amber smiled sweetly.
They reached Dorm Mansion 11, and Amber ran ahead to her quarters after bidding farewell.
Valen continued on his way toward the guest house.
"Master," Iris said quietly, "what do you plan to do?"
Valen looked down at his hand.
Mana twirled around his fingers, faint threads of light weaving between them.
"There is a gap in my knowledge," he said. "Healing magic. Medicines. Medical knowledge."
"As a former engineer, you had subconsciously ignored this path," Iris added. "I ought to have reminded you. But you were already learning so many different things. I did not want to overburden you."
"I need to be well-rounded to handle anything this world throws at me." Valen looked ahead with quiet determination. "Iris, we need to accelerate our learning."
"Understood," Iris replied. "But we have not done any practical work yet. Neither brewed a potion, nor set up a formation, nor cast an enchantment."
Valen considered that.
"There is still time before the fundamentals exam," he said. "They will not allow us to do any of those before we pass. I will not be able to leave campus without a suitable mission either."
"Master, calm down. Let us spend this time mastering more spells and acquiring all the basic theoretical knowledge."
Valen exhaled slowly.
"You are right."
He paused.
"I also have no leads regarding Amber's case. However, if someone is involved, I suspect that wooden doppelganger who escaped. Otherwise, there should be no more enemies."
"Master, basic criminal psychology suggests they will appear again, likely to make another attempt. Since we are at a disadvantage now, we have no other option but to wait."
"I will try to keep Amber occupied so she does not do anything risky."
"Take her out regularly," Iris suggested.
Valen did not reply to that.
Upon reaching his apartment, Valen took a proper bath and had a hearty lunch.
Rain began to fall outside.
He brought a chair to the window and sat down with a cup of tea in hand.
The sound of rain filled the silence—steady, rhythmic, washing over the Academy grounds in sheets. Water pooled in the courtyard below, rippling outward wherever drops struck the surface.
Valen's mind calmed.
The tension that had knotted in his chest since Amber's collapse slowly loosened.
Then he felt it.
A fullness in his Mana Core.
Not painful. Not even uncomfortable. Simply…complete, like a reservoir filled to the brim and waiting to overflow.
"The breakthrough came sooner than expected," Valen said.
"Master, what is your strategy?"
Valen set down his tea.
"The spells I activate during the breakthrough will be strengthened and imprinted deeply in my core," he explained. "It is tempting to breakthrough using some of my most powerful compound spells."
He paused.
"But that will limit my future growth. I should strengthen my fundamentals instead."
"In that case, you can activate at least six spells simultaneously," Iris added.
Valen nodded.
He rose from the chair and moved to the center of the room, settling into a cross-legged position on the floor.
His breathing steadied.
He closed his eyes.
The Mana Core sat at the center of his awareness—a sphere of condensed energy, glowing faintly with accumulated power. Hairline cracks were already forming along its surface, fractures spreading slowly outward as pressure built within.
The breakthrough was inevitable now.
The only question was how he shaped it.
Valen reached inward and grasped the first spell structure.
Solid Barrier.
The formation unfolded in his mind—geometric precision, interlocking planes, the concept of resistance woven into every angle. He fed mana into it, letting the structure stabilize and harden until it felt as permanent as stone.
The first crack in his core widened.
Light bled through.
He did not stop.
Earth Control.
The second structure rose beside the first—heavier, denser, rooted in the idea of mass and permanence. Stone obeyed will. Ground shifted at command. Valen poured mana into the spell until it felt as natural as breathing.
Another crack spread.
Water Control.
Flow. Adaptation. The spell structure was smoother than the others, fluid in a way that resisted rigid form. Valen shaped it carefully, letting it coil around the edges of his core like a river finding its course.
The cracks deepened.
Fire Control.
Heat. Transformation. Consumption. The structure burned brighter than the rest, eager and volatile. Valen tempered it, forcing the wild energy into stable channels, binding it with discipline until it obeyed without hesitation.
His core trembled.
Root Control.
Life. Growth. Connection. The spell was slower, quieter, but no less powerful. Roots reached deep, anchoring themselves in whatever they touched. Valen let the structure spread through his awareness like mycelia threading through soil.
The surface of his core fractured completely.
One spell remained.
Self-Healing.
The final structure was the most complex—interwoven layers of restoration, vitality, and balance. It required precision. A single mistake could weaken the entire foundation.
Valen built it carefully.
Thread by thread.
Layer by layer.
When the spell settled into place, his core shattered.
Light exploded outward.
For an instant, there was only formless energy—raw, uncontained, flooding through every channel in his body. It burned along his meridians, seared through his limbs, pressed against the edges of his awareness like a wave breaking over stone.
Then the six spell structures flared.
They absorbed the chaotic energy, drawing it inward, shaping it, defining it.
The light condensed.
The formless mana crystallized into something new—not a single core, but a lattice of interconnected structures, each spell anchored within the whole, supporting and reinforcing the others.
His new Rank 2 Mana Core solidified.
Valen opened his eyes.
The room looked the same.
But everything felt different.
Sharper.
Clearer.
He lifted his hand.
A barrier shimmered into existence above his palm—faster than before, stronger, requiring less conscious effort. He dismissed it and reached for the earth beneath the floorboards. Stone responded instantly, eager to obey.
Water condensed from the air around him.
Fire flickered at his fingertips.
Roots stirred faintly in the soil outside his window.
And beneath it all, the self-healing spell circulated quietly through his body, mending minor strain, keeping everything balanced.
Valen exhaled slowly.
"Success," Iris said.
"Yes."
He stood, stretching slightly.
His body felt lighter. His mana channels, which had been strained from continuous casting during the Dawn Forest adventure, were completely restored.
Outside, the rain continued to fall.
Valen returned to his chair and picked up his tea.
It had gone cold.
He heated it with a thought, flame dancing briefly beneath the cup.
Then he sat back and watched the rain, letting the quiet settle over him once more.
The breakthrough was complete.
The foundations were set.
Now came the real work.
Valen pulled out his first Chaos Crystal from his pocket. He had collected more during the Dawn Forest incident.
The dark gem caught the dim light from the window, its surface swirling with faint, oily patterns. Even now, after the breakthrough, he could feel the chaos energy radiating from it—foreign energy that his newly stabilized core recognized and rejected instinctively.
He turned it slowly between his fingers.