This book won't be contracted and will be published in Amazon after the completion of volume 1. Regular release 5/week will be done in webnovel. Advanced chapters (10 chaps) will be in my Patreon. Those who are interested and want to support me can join using the link below.
??"www.patreon.com/Writer_Kyn"??
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When Ryan focused inward and touched his second heart, the first thing he felt was certainty. Not confidence, not calm, but certainty in a negative sense. He knew, with an almost unpleasant clarity, that trying to decay the energy residue directly would fail. He had tried too many times already. Those failures had carved the lesson into him far more effectively than any explanation ever could.
Different structures demanded different inputs. Energy was not a single, uniform substance. What worked on one thing meant nothing to another. Overspending energy would only exhaust him without result, while underspending it would dissipate uselessly, barely disturbing the residue at all. Both paths were equally wasteful.
'I need to be as conservative as possible,' Ryan thought, tightening his focus. 'No more reckless spending like before.'
That resolve did not make the situation easier. If anything, it sharpened the pressure. He did not have the luxury of endless attempts. Time was pressing in on him, slow but relentless, like water filling a sealed chamber. A minute, perhaps two at most, before the spreading residue reached a point where it would begin damaging the walls beyond repair.
If it were only the walls, like he had said earlier, he could have brute-forced the problem. He could have poured his energy out indiscriminately and accepted the cost. But the residue was not behaving like a passive structure. It was already weak in presence, yet it spread with quiet persistence, thinning the material wherever it passed. Worse, it showed no sign of weakening or dispersing on its own. It was subtle, patient, and stubborn.
Ryan forced his awareness deeper and deliberately bumped his second heart.
A pulse of energy surged outward, flowing through his body in a controlled wave. This time, he did not concentrate it into his hands. He did not immediately try to apply it to the residue. Instead, he shifted his approach entirely.
He remembered the earliest days of his training, back when he barely understood what his ability even was. Back then, before techniques and shortcuts, he had been taught to circulate energy internally, to feel it move, to distinguish its texture and weight. He had practiced that endlessly, learning to recognize his own energy as something intimate and familiar.
Now, he returned to that foundation.
He let the energy circulate through his body, slow and deliberate, and focused on the difference between what was his and what was not. At the end of the day, both his energy and the monster's residue were still energy. Their existence followed similar principles. If he could identify the point where they diverged, then maybe, just maybe, he could decay that difference itself.
As the energy flowed, Ryan felt something unexpected. A faint pull tugged at his circulating energy, subtle but unmistakable. It was like a weak attraction, as if the residue was responding to his presence, reaching out instinctively.
His breath hitched.
But the sensation did not help him. If anything, it made everything worse. The pull disrupted the circulation, creating uneven currents inside his body. His control was not refined enough to maintain a smooth flow under interference like this. Every attempt to adjust only made the imbalance more pronounced.
Ryan clenched his jaw and forced more energy into circulation.
If the residue wanted to interfere, then he would drown it out.
More energy pumped through his second heart, the pulse growing heavier with each cycle. His body responded almost immediately. A sense of fullness spread through his limbs and chest, an unnatural pressure building beneath his skin. It was not pain yet, but it was close. Too close.
His instincts screamed at him to stop.
It felt like a natural limit, a warning ingrained into the body itself. He knew, without needing explanation, that forcing more energy past this point would have consequences. The kind that could not be brushed off later.
But when Ryan tested the circulation again, he noticed something important. The faint pull from the residue had weakened. It struggled to affect the greater volume of energy moving through his body, like a weak current fighting a flood.
That alone made the risk feel worth it.
Now that the interference was suppressed, Ryan shifted his entire focus outward. He reached for the residue again, not with his hands or his ability, but with perception alone. He observed it carefully, tracing its presence through the structure.
The residue was thin, fragile in quantity, but persistent in behavior. Its weakness made it difficult to sense clearly. Unlike his own energy, which he could recognize instantly, this felt elusive, slipping away whenever he tried to grasp it fully.
Ryan pushed through the frustration and kept observing.
Slowly, painfully slowly, patterns began to emerge.
A dull ache formed in his head, faint at first, like pressure behind the eyes. Ryan noticed it and dismissed it without hesitation. Pain was irrelevant. He was too close to stop now.
The difference revealed itself in fragments. Not enough to act on yet, but enough to confirm he was on the right path. His breathing quickened despite his attempts to steady it.
Then the pain sharpened.
It spread through his skull like a wedge being driven deeper with every heartbeat. His vision blurred at the edges, and his concentration wavered. This was no longer the mild discomfort from before. This was something else entirely, something invasive and aggressive.
'What happened?' Ryan thought, a flicker of alarm cutting through his focus. 'Why is it suddenly this painful?'
He did not stop.
Instead, he ground his teeth together and forced himself to continue. He refused to let go now, not when he was so close. He could feel it. One more step, one more insight, and the answer would be his.
That was when Anya's voice cut through the haze.
"Ryan, stop it! Stop it!"
Her shout reached him dimly, distorted as if it came from underwater. He barely registered the words, only the urgency in her tone.
'Stop?' he thought bitterly. 'Now? After all this?'
There was no chance. Not now. He ignored her and pressed on, pouring everything he had into maintaining his focus. The residue had not yet reached the point where it would compromise the wall entirely. There was still time, and he would not waste it.
"Ryan, stop it!" Anya shouted again, her voice closer, sharper. "You're bleeding all over your face. You have to stop now. It's really dangerous. You can't continue. Please, stop it!"
The words grated on him. They were a distraction, an obstacle. His head throbbed violently, and then, without warning, the pain vanished.
The absence was so sudden it felt unreal.
Ryan's awareness shifted, slipping into a strange clarity. His thoughts slowed, then sharpened, aligning with unnatural precision. There was no discomfort, no resistance, no noise. Everything felt distant and yet perfectly within reach.
In this state, he felt an overwhelming certainty. There was nothing in front of him that he could not decay. The residue, the structure, even the boundary between them all felt fragile, as if they were already falling apart under his gaze.
He did not hear Anya's next shout.
"Ryan, what you're doing right now is fatal," she screamed, her voice breaking. "It can't be healed with supernatural abilities. You're putting your life in danger!"
The warning never reached him.
Instead, something else surfaced in his consciousness. Something cold and impersonal, yet unmistakably clear. Text appeared within his thought world, sharp and intrusive, cutting through the trance like a blade.
[Requirements met…
One of the conditions to evolve your ability has been met.
Unlocking hidden potential of the ability.]