บท 26: Forming a Core
This happened for the next sun without change.
In the meantime, Ania made a breakthrough after three days of nonstop cultivation and was the first to receive one of the perennial cores as a gift from Rathe. On the fourth day, Vloz was the one to make a breakthrough and become a high-perennial. And Rathe was happy to have Fontu breakthrough on the fifth day and become the fourth perennial in the clan.
With two perennials to keep the clan safe, Rathe finally convinced Vloz to take him to the new territory and claim it before the clan migrated. This would make the transition easier and give the others time to stabilize their new levels of cultivation.
Oli was always gone during the day and would only return to sleep after nightfall. The only thing on his mind was forming that core. He knew that he was insane for wanting to try the impossible, but he wouldn't let himself back down from the challenge and was set on making a miracle happen.
After nine days of cultivation inside the formation, Trada finally spoke, "It's time, Oli."
She pulled out the pitcher from her void gem and placed it in front of him. "Are you ready? Once you start, there's no going back until you either die or you succeed."
Oli didn't let her persuade him and nodded, waiting for her to guide him through it. "Very well. The first step is to let the circulating energy gather in the center of your chest, but you can't go against the flow or else it will never work."
Doing exactly as she said, Oli relaxed and let his energy flow naturally. From there he slowly guided it around his body until it finally reached his chest after a few minutes. Once there, it felt as if flood gates had opened inside his ribcage and the essence energy began to flow there to no end.
"Good, now comes the first difficult step. Take the pitcher and drink the blood. You should drink it all, or else there may not be enough to create the mutation," Trada spoke firmly.
Oli followed orders and began to drink the blood by the mouthful. Getting past the aftertaste in his mouth wasn't that bad, but soon a burning sensation began in the pit of his stomach and spread like wildfire to rest of his body.
He could feel the energy in his core begin to change as another essence type began to gather there. Knowing that this was dark essence and that things were going according to plan, Oli bore the pain and finished drinking the last of the dragon blood before dropping the pitcher without caring if it shattered.
The burning grew worse by the second. His body and internal organs did as well, with the dragon blood and dark essence permeating his entire body.
"Don't stop there, Oli. Now you must reach out with both your aura and your spirit to interact with the soul jade and begin fusing with it." Trada was reluctant to remind him of this, but she admired his courage to try it and knew it was what he wanted.
Grabbing the soul jade at his side, Oli held it against his chest as his spirit led a strand of the growing essence energy into the jade, triggering the fusion process.
The level of pain Oli felt skyrocketed at that moment as his soul trembled while the spirit jade began to gradually dissolve into his chest. His soul was aching, and his body felt like it was breaking. Oli had to force himself to stay conscious. He gritted his teeth and grunted wildly in an attempt to reduce the pain, even clenching his fists together and convulsing.
This went on for five long minutes before Oli's mind couldn't take it anymore. He kept blinking in and out of consciousness, afraid to fail and lose this one-of-a-kind chance to gain strength along with his life. Blood dripped from his hands as his fingernails pierced his skin and from his lips as he coughed wildly.
Seeing him at the brink of collapse, Trada was sad at her inability to help him. Desperate to motivate him, she said, "Oli, don't forget about your father. Didn't you promise to protect your mother in his place? And what about your clan, don't they need your help too?"
Those words reached Oli as he managed to cling to consciousness and last a little while longer. Three more minutes passed, and the soul jade finally vanished from sight, now fully fused with Oli. The crazy energy in Oli finally began to calm as it all finally entered his chest and began to solidify.
At that moment, Oli blacked out, unable to hold on any longer. He fell over and laid in the formation undisturbed by the world.
Trada relaxed when she felt his core begin to harden, knowing that the worst part was over, and the rest would happen naturally, even if he slept through it. She then blew out the flames, revealing the blood she had used to form the formation.
Trada finally let her weakness show. Her eyes were growing dimmer by the day and her scales had lost their luster long ago. If she hadn't been resting for the past few days, Oli would've noticed it for sure. Trada looked around the cave, at her wealth, and then back at her egg.
With no one able to hear her, she spoke aloud to herself, "I'm glad you finally did it Oli. You scared me for a moment, but you pulled it off like you said you would. I'll have to trust you from now on since I won't be here much longer."
Reluctantly, Trada cleaned off her egg and embraced it one last time.
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