Each time Zane Leveled now, it was a challenge. Killing Monsters did not feel like enough anymore. Like trying to fill up a lake with buckets of water. Toward the end of it, demolishing an army barely gave him a few.
But the vat he'd just gotten was filled to the brim with the densest essence he'd ever felt.
He dove in eagerly.
It still took half an hour of chugging or so beforeโ
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ -> ๐๐ก๐ก
He felt like his Core felt was starting to run up against some impossible wall. A natural barrier. The more essence he took in the more started leaking out of him.
He was getting close.
He grabbed the thing and started dumping it straight into his mouth. He put it down, wiped his face with the back of an arm, took a couple of deep breaths, and went straight back.
Glug-glug-glugโ
He needed more.
Much more.
***
Not long after, thoughโ
He looked up. The day was changing over, the skies darkening to a witching purple.
And stars started streaking again.
Their gifts were coming.
Reina got an essence treasureโjust a basic Essence Vial, but it was a high enough grade she couldn't complain. It would boost her to the mid-Level 280s. Avery and Evan both got comprehension boostersโEvan, a 'Great Fortune Cookie'. He gasped as it dropped in his hands. As he started munching he cheered up again. He had the attention span of a small fish, which turned out to be a good thingโhe forgot all about being scared, at least for now. Evan would be okay.
Avery got another serving of spring water. They really liked giving her spring water.
Zane's treasure crash-landed right in front of him, sinking a good two feet into the ashes. The light faded.
โ๐๐๐ช๐๐'๐ค ๐ผ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ โ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ [๐ผ๐๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ (๐+)]
๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ โ๐๐๐ช๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐น๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐ค. โ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ช ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐ฃ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐, ๐ก๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ค๐ค๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐.
It came from that one fellow from the Steelheart Conclave according to a hastily scrawled note.
Zane looked up. "Thanks."
He still wasn't sure what Nascent Soul really meant. Then again, he hadn't known what Core had been either when he went into it. And that had worked out fine.
He scratched his head, looked around. It wasn't like there was anyone here to tell him. Reina's best guess from what they'd seen was that it involved somehow bringing the soul into the body. Fusing the physical and the spiritual. He took her word for it.
He told them he was going to go for it. He wasn't sure how long it would take. But historically speaking, Zane going for things tended to mean explosions. Often in his own face. So they quickly shuffled off, gave him a safe distance. Reina went off to ponder a Mid-Tier Concept, Evan and Avery their Levels.
Leaving Zane there to try to hammer this thing out.
First he uncorked the Elixir. And drank.
It felt like a sauna within. His insides felt hot all of a sudden, like he was running a high feverโhe felt his blood start burning, lighting up his veins. Then his tendons. Then his muscles, tooโa kind of pleasant pain. Like the sort you get after hard exertion.
He let out a breath. A steam-cloud wafted over. His skin went red, like he'd been sunburned all over.
He started to sweatโnot water, but a cloying black oozeโฆ
When it stopped he was caked in the gunk.
He had to set himself on Stormfire to get it all off him.
He felt like he had been scrubbed clean. Every inch of himโfrom his skin to his bones to his organs. There was a certain lightness to him. Like he had just woken from a long restful sleep.
So far, so good.
At last, he stared down the barrel of essence. At that last swill of it sloshing away inside. Took a breath. Tipped it over. And drank.
The essence gushed down his throat. Hit his Core. And filled it to the brim.
His Core shuddered. And its spin began to slow, sagging under its own weight, nearly overflowing. More and moreโฆ
Until it ground to a final halt.
Zane blinked.
โฆWas that supposed to happen?
"Hmm," said Zane.
Thenโ
"HNGGGG," groaned Zane.
He felt very strange thenโa lurch, an unsteady, wobbling feeling, a sense of vertigo deep in his soul. He didn't really know what to make of itโhe was sure he had never felt this before. He would've remembered.
Then he doubled over.
It was still going. Growing more intense, a little earthquake going off inside him, rumbling awayโฆ he felt the tremors not in his body but his soul. His body felt perfectly fine.
The one place it showed up was his Core. The very center of it. There the sensations were strongest.
His Core began to shiver.
โฆHe really hoped that was supposed to happen.
He felt a sudden connection.
Right at that point. It had always been there, Zane realized. Just distant, faint. So faint he hardly felt it. But it was clear to him nowโthat was where his soul attached to his body. His center in physical and astral space. The core of Zane.
It was where his Core formedโand that connection, that link to his soul, was what set it in motion. Gave it its power. Granted his essence its vitality. Without it, his Core would be little more than that vat of essence he had just drunk.
His soul gave it life. Made it his own.
He felt it happening even nowโmore strongly than ever beforeโฆ
It had always animated his essence. The way the sun heats you from a great distance. You never really notice until you look up.
Now it was getting closer.
That heat of it was intensifying. Growing quite noticeable; Zane felt the connection more and more intenselyโ
His essence began to burn.
And thereโright at his centerโthere was a breakthrough.
His soul broke through. And claimed his Core.
Just a little at first. Like a splash of new color on a blank canvas. But it was there.
He felt that connection solidifying.
Its influence was quickly growing. And it started to change the very character of his Core.
Not its aspects, or its Lawsโฆ it just started to feel like him.
You could sense it in his new aura. There was a sense of great weight, of strength, an unyielding stubbornness, and above all, a sense of vastness. If you stood in its presence, it'd feel like staring up from the foot of a mountain at a peak lost in distant clouds.
It began to give his essence, his very being, the character of Zane.
It began to claim his essence as his own. Claim his body for his own.
That sense only grew stronger.
His Soul began arriving in this world. Not merely as some distant connectionโit was here, fully present, powering all that he was.
Body and Soul were merging as one.
That was Nascent Soul.
๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ โ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐!
๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐-๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ โ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐
But Zane was not doneโnot by far. He was just getting started. He could sense a new strength, a new heat, pouring down his limbs already. Imbued with a sense of himself. He knew if he powered any attackโwith Stormfire or Steelโit would gain a boost. The strength, the vastness of his essence. A boost unique to him.
The more of his Core his Soul claimed, the greater that boost grewโฆ
Already it had spread to a good tenth of his Core. But he could will more in if he really tried. His Soul right now was crossing some barrier, the gap between the physical and the spiritualโฆ
Zane frowned. And focused hard.
He focused his desire on willing his soul through. On claiming his body wholly.
Instantly, he began to sweat.
It felt like he was fighting the nature of the world itself. He had to tear that barrier wide, force his way throughโand it was tough going. There was a lot of him to fit through.
Once he did, thoughโthat color only started spreading faster and faster.
๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ ๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐๐!
๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ -> ๐ผ๐๐ฃ๐ฅ๐
He kept forging ahead.
***
"He's at Earth already," said Burnwater faintly. The old Sage shook his head. "My Heavensโhow much of his soul has he gotten through? 10%?!"
"Perhaps," said Noughtfire.
The two of them watched their scrying glasses in tense silence.
By now they were aware they were not the only ones in the Azure Flame faction watching this. Word had spread shockingly fastโthis was a once-in-a-Chaos-Cycle event, after all.
Burnwater had just gone to the Spring Banquet hosted by the Rising Phoenix Sage, and had heard of this super-talent 'Zane Walker' spoken of between Elders in the Inner Faction.
Even top-ranking Outer Faction Chosen hardly got such attention from the Inner Faction. A Pre-Integration Candidate was unheard of! If Burnwater didn't know who Zane Walker was, what that man was capable of, he would've thought everyone had lost their minds.
He was sure there were just as many skeptical Inner Faction Elders watching as curious ones. Wondering what all this fuss was about. If this so-called once-in-a-thousand-generations talent was all he was cracked up to be.
Nascent Soul was a critical foundational stage.
It was the stage that determined your potential. Once you fused soul and body, that fusion could never be changed. Manage something poorโsuch as low-Mortal-Gradeโand you would be forever capped under Level 400. You would never glimpse Tier 5 Laws.
Something averageโsay, high-Mortal or low-Earthโmeant you had hopes for Level 500. Sky and Profound talents often wound up in the Inner Faction.
And those Heaven-grade talents, the rarest of the rareโฆ they had Patriarch potential. They could shake the Dragonspire Galaxy.
Just what would Zane Walker turn out to be? It was the question on everyone's minds.
"โฆYou could be right," said Burnwater. "Regarding his potential soul grade." He could hardly believe he was saying it. "If the grade depends on three thingsโthe size of the soul, the size of the Core, and how well he can merge themโฆ at this rate, a 75% merge could be enough for Heaven-grade! And with what willpower he's shownโฆ"
Burnwater hesitated. "Perhaps it's possible?"
It was still quite unlikely. A 75% merge would require an effort far beyond most men. And Heaven-grade was one of those nearly mythical grades. Burnwater almost didn't dare admit it was possible still with any confidence. But as Zane Walker set his jaw, and frowned, and kept on bulldozing aheadโฆ Burnwater began to doubt.
Noughtfire stayed silent.
"What is it?" said Burnwater, since he could tell his master was turning something over in his mind.
"It's possible," said Noughtfire slowly. "When I predicted Heaven-gradeโฆ I may have even underestimated him."