***
“It works!” I exclaimed when the full Ether Gate settled in the weave without any specific Body Tempering technique.
There was no special method or ritual, which would have been a disaster for most Blessed. For me–it didn’t matter, did it? Since I couldn’t seal my Gates in the tempering process, they’d leak ether one way or another. Thus, no special technique was needed to distribute the Gates’ physical empowerment.
It might even be better this way, given how time-consuming good Body Tempering techniques were.
Ether flushed through my intestines, crushing the earlier excitement. Claiming control of the ether stream took a moment. Worse, even the annexation process induced a headache that wouldn’t fade until I had full control over every trace of foreign ether in my body. But once annexed, it was a simple task to guide ether in and through my weave.
While I could have infused the ether at any spot in the weave, I split it into four strands and infused them nearest to the remaining empty 1-Star Ether Gates.
A groan from the other side of the room caught my attention, and I looked over to see Wesley squinted his eyes.
“You menace!” Wesley croaked, sweating bullets. “Why can’t I sleep in peace for once?”
He didn’t even bother using his Charm to shove me out; he just kept cursing under his breath, though the words lacked venom. If anything, I was certain they were aimed more at himself than me. Who else was to blame for drinking that much?
I bit back the urge to lecture him. You should get your act together. Drinking in the middle of the week is not a good thing.
But his misery wasn’t my business. At least, it shouldn’t be. He was legally an adult–Blessed, over sixteen. He could make his own choices. Still, watching him curled in sweat and regret made something twist uncomfortably in my chest.
What pushed him to this point?
Betrayal? Women? Family?
Aureus guessed in my stead. I didn’t know. And I wasn’t sure if I was meant to ask.
Wesley had never struck me as ambitious, yet I’d seen him in the training rooms more than once, which was an oddity in and of itself. With his rank, he should already have access to the main district and its superior equipment. In fact, I was fairly sure he was high enough to qualify for the Grand Camp. What happened? Why now?
The questions lingered, heavy and unanswered. But it was not my business to pry into Wesley’s personal issues. If he needed someone to talk to, I’d listen and help him with everything I had.
If things get worse… I shook my head. Turning to the bottle once was bad but not disastrous. I told myself to wait and see. Maybe Wesley would get his act together without any help. If not, I would help even if he didn’t ask for it.
For now, however, I had better things to do.
The ether stones I’d purchased dimmed, and the ether stream faded slowly. Putting aside the searing pain caused by the loss of a few hundred coins; I focused on my Ether Gates. I redirected the ether streams to the 1-Star Ether Gates and filled them slowly. That, too, worked out very well until there was no more ether to distribute.
Six hours. That was how long I spent annexing and using the ether of a pair of ether stones, and connecting a full 1-Star Ether Gate to the weave. That was phenomenal!
Beat up Scott!
Aureus’ roar rang in my mind, flooding me with ambition. I almost caved in. But instead of trying to beat him in a physical fight, I chose a different path. Scott wanted me to focus on growing stronger, to impress Instructor Kalifer with my growth, so that was exactly what I was going to do.
First, I opened the Camp Shop and purchased three dozen ether stones.
“What else do I need?” I murmured quietly to myself, but Aureus answered in my stead.
Cube.
Memories of the ethermist cube we’d used together in Beaster Bert’s basement flashed through my mind.
“Yeah, the ethermist cube would have been great,” I conceded, but alas, there was nothing like an ethermist cube in our district. Maybe in the Grand Camp, possibly even greater in quality than Bert’s, though that mattered little at this moment.
I need some time off, or if Nathaniel doesn’t want me to neglect my duties, he has to provide me with a private space in the Beastarium.
That wasn’t fair for the old man, and I already felt bad for pushing his generosity, but…it had to be done. I messaged Nathaniel and also messaged Fabienne. I was definitely in need of her Accelerated Regeneration. The more the merrier.
Finally, there was Scott.
[Messenger: Scott, I need like seven–no, let’s say ten days off. I won’t be able to participate in any other mission until then. After that, I’m all yours.
P.S. You said we had to grow stronger to impress Instructor Kalifer. If you really meant it, invest some coins in me. Better even, invest in me and Fabienne.]
We were the only Adepts in the group, which greatly limited the missions we could accept. If Scott was as obsessed with the Mission Board of the Grand Camp as I suspected, he was going to invest a good coin into our growth.
Bad boy.
Aureus commented half-serious, half-snickering in delight.
Of course, I will repay him if he gives me something.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
I felt a little bad, but only a little. After all, Scott’s words were the sole reason I was going to upend my entire schedule. All the plans I’d come up with were going to be changed because of him, so he might as well loan me a few coins.
[3000 coins have been transferred into your account.]
My eyes widened in pure terror, and it took me a good minute before I finally looked at the message on my watch.
[Scott (Oracle?): I double-checked the Mission Board. You have 14 days. Use them well. P.S. I gave Fabienne some coins too. P.P.S. I was already planning to give you and Fabienne some coins, but you beat me to it. Since I don’t have to save up for etherous guns anymore, I may as well strengthen the weakest links in our group. P.P.P.S. If you want to repay me, make sure Instructor Kalifer notices us. That’s all I need.]
The “weakest link” part stung a little, but it wasn’t as if Scott was wrong.
The messenger flashed up again, displaying a message from Fabienne. Apparently, Scott “hired” her to grow stronger and to support me at the same time. That only left Nathaniel, who was willing to house me in his little hut beside the Beastarium for as long as I wanted.
I took the old man up on the offer after adjusting my purchase in the Camp Shop. I expanded my purchase by another 30 ether stones and redirected the order to Nathaniel’s house.
At last, I left the dorms, leaving Wesley alone in his misery. But before I put myself in the misery of growing stronger with little to no sleep, I had to fill my stomach.
***
Two weeks later, my finances were a disaster. From the 7500 coins I’d amassed with Scott’s generous donations, only 27 remained. I had never felt poorer–or stronger, for that matter.
“You look…different,” Sophie said the moment we gathered in the cafeteria, at the same isolated corner as always.
“Better?” I asked, trying out a sly smile as I placed two trays full of delicacies on the table before me. Those dishes drained all but 27 coins from my remaining balance, but they were more than worth it. Furthermore, we were bound to make a windfall on the next mission. Or so I was hoping.
“Definitely. You are even hotter than before!” Sophie said, but her voice was too eager, her smile too bright, and for a moment she looked like the words coming out of her mouth surprised even herself.
Heat crept up my neck, and my chest tightened. Pride, a touch of disbelief, and something I couldn’t quite grasp surfaced.
Sophie noticed my reaction and faltered, cheeks turning crimson. “That… that was awkward, wasn’t it?”
For a heartbeat I couldn’t meet her gaze, and neither my instincts nor my oh-so-helpful Soulkins were of any use. Aureus urged me closer, to jump straight into mating, while Nox’s whispers contained darker cravings. Yet, while my Soulkins had some influence on me, beneath it all it was still just me.
I swallowed the words forming on my tongue and looked away again, trying to kill the moment before it could become something.
“And here I thought I was the shy one,” Fabienne snickered, clearly enjoying what she saw.
After spending a few weeks with Fabienne, she had warmed up to us. She was still shy at times, but I doubted that had anything to do with us.
“Oh, shut up, Fabs!” Sophie said, lunging at Fabienne’s tray to steal a fry.
“That’s mine!” Fabienne leaped to her feet and a battle of thieves ensued before my eyes.
Watching them eased the awkwardness fairly quickly. As Aureus and Nox appeared beside me, their hunger filling my mind, the last traces of awkwardness faded.
Before I could even retrieve pieces of meat from my small storage belt, Scott sat down with two plates piled high with food.
“You can give them that. It will keep them busy while we chat,” he said, sitting down beside Nox. The Ferronox Mantis stared at Scott for a good moment, murderous intent radiating without restraint, but he didn’t attack. Instead, he turned into a flash and leaped onto the table, his scythes descending into the meat the moment Scott released it.
“Thanks,” I said, but Scott waved me off.
“Don’t think about it,” he replied. His eyes lingered on Nox, and he even went as far as to reach out for the Ferronox Mantis’ exoskeleton. It was a new, brighter shell, overflowing with ether that permanently augmented it. Even before Nox advanced to the Awakened Rank, he had shed part of his exoskeleton as it grew too tight. A new, soft layer had formed beneath the old one, but that too was shed when the mantis advanced a few days ago. The soft exoskeleton was now hardened, continuing to strengthen without losing a trace of its durability. If anything, it kept growing tougher.
“He’s grown quite a bit,” I pointed out, trying not to flinch as Scott’s fingers moved dangerously close to the edges of Nox’s scythes.
Those had grown the most. No longer just echoes of blades, they were fully formed now–and much longer. So was the Ferronox Mantis himself, who had grown to the size of a smaller Goblin. He looked like a killing machine, or a beast knight clad in shining armor. At least, that was what Fabienne had said.
“So has Aureus. His wings are longer,” Daniel noted, glancing up from his watch. His narrowed eyes lingered on me before shifting to Aureus, who had not only grown longer and heavier but whose wings had stretched dramatically as well.
“I think his wings are still developing. He might be able to fly–maybe a little–once he advances to the Evolved Rank,” I said with a smile.
The last two weeks had been a whirlwind of emotion and chaos, especially with Nox’s second growth spurt being several times worse than his first, but I was managing. Especially now that I had started practicing the fifth Volume of Blastor Refinery. Under normal circumstances, I would have needed the soul energy production rate of a World two or three dozen units larger than mine, but with Accelerated Regeneration, I could make it work. It was far from perfect, but it allowed me to practice Blastor Refinery’s next level–and I badly needed that.
I had to expand my World by more than two units a day, even with Aureus demanding much less nowadays, and that was too much for me, even with Accelerated Regeneration active. But with the fifth Volume, everything would change–so long as I managed to push my experiments into a low enough mastery to actually use the technique within the next two weeks. One, if I was unlucky.
“A scout in the air would be great,” Scott nodded, turning to Aureus before looking back at me with sudden seriousness. “How much stronger did you get?”
I couldn’t help but smile at the question I had been waiting for.
“I’m confident.”
Spending two weeks on nothing but Body Tempering, using those damn ether stones, had changed everything. My body would have been filled with toxins if not for my physique, Fabienne’s support, and more than a few healing potions and antidotes–but nobody needed to know that part. Regardless, I had successfully filled the remaining 1-Star Gates, bringing me to a grand total of eight refined 1-Star Gates, each more valuable than the last. Even better, I managed to fill and refine the 2-Star Gate I had started working on when Nox’s Gates weren’t yet in the picture.
“Do you think you can beat me?”
That, I wasn’t so sure about. Nox’s advancement to the Awakened Rank had altered my physique tremendously. The empowerment had been vastly different from Aureus’ breakthrough, and my body was still adapting. I had grown so much stronger in the last two weeks, I couldn’t even tell how powerful I was anymore. My Gates were four to five times more valuable than those of others, and my purely physical Soulkin empowered me as well. Surely, I could keep up with Scott, whose only physical empowerment stemmed from his Ether Gates.
I remembered Scott’s other fights, and a trace of excitement bloomed in my chest.
“Is that a challenge?” I asked, Nox’s murderous intent and raw battle lust flaring up inside me.
“What if it is?” Scott smiled, but there was an edge to his tone.
“I accept,” I said, embracing Nox’s wild nature for the first time. “Let’s have a spar.”