Martin stood there, the night air cool against his skin, his heart racing as the full implications of his wish settled in.
He had asked for understanding, and now he had it. But it wasn't the understanding he had expected.
With newfound clarity, Martin realized that his power, though immense, wasn't limitless. And if he didn't figure out how to replenish that mysterious energy, or at least manage it wisely, he might find himself running out of it when he needed it the most.
His eyes, wide with the weight of his discovery, slowly narrowed in determination.
He couldn't afford to slip up now. Not when the stakes were higher than ever.
Martin didn't want to be the pessimistic kind, but a foreboding intuition gnawed at the back of his mind—perhaps a product of his bronze wish.
The mysterious energy he had been tapping into for his wishes, for his strength, suddenly felt less abstract and more tangible. A vague concept began to take form in his thoughts, one that sent shivers through him: life-force.
The driving catalyst behind life itself, the force that propelled species toward evolution during every extinction-level crisis. It had pushed organisms to survive through the ages—the time of the dinosaurs, the ice age, and every natural disaster known to man.
Now, it seemed to fuel him.
Martin's thoughts darkened. Was this energy—this life-force—connected to the very essence of his being? The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't shake the connection to the idea of the soul.
Souls existed according to countless philosophies, even if science had yet to prove them. If life-force and the soul were connected, were they two sides of the same coin?
A new, chilling thought entered his mind. Was he draining his soul, his very essence, with each wish and power he claimed? Was his pursuit of strength and wealth, granted by the system, slowly drawing from the one thing he couldn't afford to lose?
No medical equipment could detect an ailment of the soul, but could that mean he was in perfect health—or that modern science simply couldn't find what was wrong?
Would there come a day when his body would shut down—young, strong, and vital on the outside, but hollow on the inside?
The more he dwelled on this idea, the deeper his fear became. Hours passed as he paced the rooftop, his mind spinning with terrifying possibilities. He searched desperately for an answer.
The system couldn't just lead him to a dead end... could it?
As dawn approached, the cool morning breeze swept across the rooftop, caressing Martin's tense form. He paused, inhaling deeply, closing his eyes as though an instinctive pull from within compelled him to connect with the early morning air.
It was subtle at first, but Martin sensed something. The ever-so-slight depletion of the mysterious energy in his body, which he now called life-force, began to slow. Then, much to his surprise, it stopped altogether.
And then—it bounced back. He could feel it. The faintest replenishment.
Shocked but unwilling to disrupt the process, Martin slowly lowered himself to sit on the rooftop, allowing the first rays of sunlight to bathe him. He relaxed, syncing with the rhythm of nature, and for the next two hours, he sat in peaceful meditation.
By the time six o'clock rolled around, his clothes were damp with dew, but he felt... restored. Not fully, but enough to notice the difference.
His life-force, though still diminished, had replenished slightly during those hours of peaceful meditation under the morning light.
His senses remained heightened, his body enhanced, yet the drain had halted.
Opening his eyes, Martin found himself filled with a strange mixture of confusion, relief, and hope. The passive depletion had stopped. He was still operating at an enhanced level, but his body wasn't suffering for it, at least not at the moment.
During those hours of reflection, Martin had pieced together a theory. His life-force wasn't static—it could grow, and with the evolution of his body, the capacity for life-force must have increased.
But his panic attack, he realized, had likely been the result of his body running low on this essential energy, which explained his lethargy afterward.
His first bronze wish, which evolved his body, had increased his life-force, but it hadn't replenished it. His early morning workouts had likely helped maintain it, but if he hadn't been careful, if he had continued experimenting recklessly, he might have met an untimely death without ever understanding why.
The thought still scared him, but at least now, he had some answers. Martin stood and stretched, the cool morning air invigorating him. A two-hour window of replenishment wasn't enough to sustain his future plans.
He needed more ways to regenerate life-force, and he had a feeling the answers lay somewhere in nature.
As the first rays of sunlight fully broke over the horizon, Martin felt a renewed sense of purpose. He would find a way. Now that he had a clue, he would track down every lead, search every avenue, to ensure that his ambitions didn't come at the cost of his soul.
For the next few days, Martin was gripped by something akin to a frenzy.
The moment he sensed the first inklings of an answer, of understanding this mysterious force within him, his focus shifted.
Lucia was left to handle all the company matters, making crucial decisions about recruitment, headquarters, and operations.
Meanwhile, Martin threw himself into research, dedicating every waking moment to uncovering the nature of life-force.
He bought stacks of books—some as abstract as ancient philosophies on the concept of the soul, others more practical, like natural medicine, herbal remedies, and outdoor survival manuals.
There were documentaries about higher-dimensional beings, speculative essays on the metaphysical, and even modern scientific attempts to explain the idea of the "soul."
Martin spent days scouring historical records and cultural philosophies, both ancient and modern, from every corner of the globe. His linguistic mastery, now encompassing 83 languages thanks to the system, made the process far easier than it would've been otherwise.
He tore through texts at a speed most scholars would envy, digesting the essence of thousands of years of human thought in a matter of hours.
But for all his intellectual searching, there was a growing part of Martin that recognized something important: this was not a matter to be solved purely by intellect. The system had already shown him that the best answers were often the simplest ones, and that nothing came without a cost.
In his search for understanding, he'd come to realize that exhausting his life-force for superficial gains like learning languages was no longer an option. He couldn't afford to waste it on things his heightened mind could now achieve on its own.
Thus, he didn't touch the system's rebate. Instead, he invested his energy into his daily routine, focusing especially on the meditation sessions in the back garden of his lakeside villa.
Every morning, from four to six, Martin would sit quietly in nature, breathing deeply and allowing the first rays of dawn to bathe him in their light. It was during these two hours that he felt the world—and his soul—settle into harmony.
For seven days straight, his life followed this rigorous pattern. By day, he buried himself in research, dissecting ancient texts and modern theories alike. By night, he prepared for his next meditation, spending hours absorbing what he had learned, trying to make sense of the hidden connections between life-force, the soul, and existence itself.
Yet it wasn't until the seventh day—the night when his seven bronze tokens combined into a single silver one—that Martin felt a shift. His capacity for life-force, which had grown steadily over the past week, now felt saturated, full to the brim.
The meditation sessions had clearly paid off.
His body and mind were now attuned to the ebb and flow of the mysterious energy, and he had a newfound sense of balance.
As Martin sat in the tranquil garden, gazing up at the stars, the soft breeze rustling the trees around him, he realized it was time for the next step.
His mind drifted toward the thought he had been entertaining for some time now—buying a personal island. A place far removed from the chaos of the city, where he could meditate and grow his strength in complete peace.
A green haven, where nature would be his only companion.
The villa had been a temporary sanctuary, but it wasn't enough. Martin needed more than just luxury; he needed seclusion, a place where he could focus all his efforts on honing his powers and discovering the full potential of the system.
As he rose from his meditation, the silver token glimmering in his mind, Martin knew the next phase of his journey was about to begin.
The thought of owning an island, a place where he could fully embrace his new reality, felt like the only logical next step.
And so, he made the decision.
The hunt for his island paradise was on.